Call to battle by Sajeeva Vahini Digital Library

PRAISEFOR CALLEDTOBATTLE, DESTINEDTOWIN

One of the greatest joysof my life andministry hasbeen my up-close, personal andcovenant relationship with Jerry andCarolyn Savelle. For 40 years I have watched them walk in love, by faith, from victory to victory in integrity beforetheLordJesusChrist.They havebeen agreat inspirationandblessingtomylife.

KENNETHCOPELAND

Founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Fort Worth, Texas When I think of Jerry Savelle, I think of integrity, I think of honor, andI think of loyalty. Godtruly hasblessedthisgeneration with aman who hasnot only touched the world for the Lord Jesus Christ but also touched the hearts of many people including mine! You won’t find a finer man thanJerrySavelle.

JESSEDUPLANTIS

Founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, Destrehan, Lousiana I congratulate my dear friendJerry Savelle on 40 yearsin the ministry. I salute you, honor you and cherish your friendship. Called to Battle, DestinedtoWinwillblessmultitudes.

DODIEOSTEEN

CofounderofLakewoodChurch,Houston,Texas

Jerry Savelle is always anointed. He is always prepared by the Holy Spirit, andhe gets the jobdone. I rank Jerry with Stephen in the Bible andadmirehimwithallmyheart!

ORALROBERTS

FounderofOralRobertsEvangelisticAssociation

FounderofOralRobertsUniversity,Tulsa,Oklahoma

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CONTENTS 1.MakingChampionsOut ofNobodies 2.CalledtoBattle 3.WakeUptheMightyMenandWomen 4.OutwittingYourAdversary 5.TheShadowofaDogNeverBit Anyone 6.LooksLikeaJobforElShaddai 7.Waiting,Falling,Arising 8.ThrowintheTowelorStickIt Out 9.TheFourthMan 10.TheLawofProgression 11.APathRunsThroughIt 12.GodWillBeEverythingYouNeed 13.Pursue,OvertakeandRecoverAll

14.Shout It Out

CHAPTER1 MAKINGCHAMPIONS OUTOFNOBODIES

BorntoBeaChampion

If you’ve ever been called a nobody, then you qualify to become a champion. God is a masterat making champions. If God can do what He did with Saulof Tarsus, He can do the same foryou.IfHe can do what He did with Simon Bar-Jona, Hecandothesameforyou.IfHecandowhatHedidwithme, Hecandothesameforyou.

I was once a nobody. I was insignificant. But God found this nobody in an auto body shop in Shreveport, Louisiana, andsaid,“Youknowwhat?IbelieveIcanusethatnobody!”I askedHim,“DoYouhaveanyideawhatYouaregettingwhen Yougetme?”Godtoldme,“Don’tworryaboutit.Iamamaster atmakingchampionsoutofnobodies!”

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster,togiveyouafutureandahope’”(NLT).God doesn’t have one evil thought in His mind about you. He is not planning disasterordestruction foryourlife.Somefolks have the idea that God sits around thinking up ways that He can wreak havoc on their life just to teach them something. But

that’s not what He does.God thinks thoughts ofpeace about youto“giveyouhopeinyourfinaloutcome”(Jer.29:11, AMP). ThepassageinJeremiahcontinues,“‘Inthosedays whenyou pray,Iwilllisten.Ifyoulookformeinearnest,youwillfindme when you seekme.Iwillbefound by you,’says theLORD. ‘I willend yourcaptivity and restore yourfortunes’” (Jer.29:1213,NLT).

Failure is not in God’s plan for any of His children. His desire is that you thrive in every endeavorin life.God wants you to succeed. He wants you to live in divine health. He wants you to be prosperous.IthankGod formen like brother OralRoberts, who let us knowmany years ago that God is a goodGod.BrotherRobertsbeganpreachinganumberofyears agofromthethirdbookofJohn,“Beloved,Ipraythatyoumay prosperineverywayand[thatyourbody]maykeepwell,even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers” (3 John 1:2, AMP).

I think about half the church world fought him over it. Many people didn’t think it was God’s will that we live in health or that we live prosperously. God bless the pioneers who kept on preaching this message regardless of public opinion.ThankGodthatmanyofus todayholdstrongtothat revelation. FailureisnotinGod’splan foranyofHischildren.His

desireisthatyouthrivein

everyendeavorinlife.

Someone once asked the well-known entrepreneur J. C. Penney,“Whatwouldyousayis thekeyorthesecrettoyour success?” He answered, “Adversity. I’ve always faced adversity,butithasbroughtsomethingoutofmeandmademe asuccess.”Ifthat’s whatittakes toliveasuccessfullife,then you and I have got what it takes, because we have an adversarywhoispersistentinhisattemptstokillus,stealfrom usanddestroyus.Thatdoesn’tmeanwehavetoliedown,roll over,playdeadandlethimdowithuswhathewill.Satanseeks whomeverhemay devour,but you can tellhim,“You may not devourme!”

I’msureyouhavehadyourshareofadversity,andIknow you’llcontinuetohavemore,butthesechallenges haveaway ofbringingoutthechampionontheinsideofyou.Whenyou were born again, you were born to be a champion. You were borntobeawinner.Youarenotaloser,sodon’tcallyourselfa loseranddon’tallowanyoneelsetoconvinceyouthatyouare aloser.

Irealizethatoneofthegreatestbattles peoplefightis with words that have been spoken over them. I’ve heard many people speaknegative words overothers.It grieves my spirit when Iheara parent callhis orherlittle child “stupid” orsay thingslike,“Youwillneveramounttoanything.Youwereborn poor and you’ll always be poor.” You may have had such “curses” spoken over you, and I know it’s hard for you to

overcome those things.But be encouraged,because you can overcome them. The Word of God is more powerful than anything someone says. There is no weapon formed against youthatwillprosper(seeIsa.54:17).

God has planned a bright future for you. Before He ever flungthestarsintospace,Hehadalreadyplannedyourlife.He knows howit’s goingtoturnout,butit’s uptoyoutogetinto theflowofwhatGoddesignedforyou.Ourlivesneedtomatch Hisplan.

GodWantsYoutoBeBlessed!

The bookof Psalms tells us that God is “mindfulof us” (Ps. 115:12, KJV).He’s got us on His mind.But what exactly is He thinkingabout?This versegoes ontosay,“Hewillbless us.” Now that should answer the question of what God thinks about when He thinks about you. God wonders, How can I bless my people? How can I get them in a position to experience my blessings? God’s nottryingtokeepthings from us.He’s doingHis besttogetgoodthings tous.BecauseGod orders the steps of good men and women, He is always endeavoringtogetusintoapositiontoreceive.Ifwewilllisten to Him, then we willalways be in the right place at the right timeandbecometherecipients ofHis blessing.That’s whywe needtobesensitivetoHisleadership.

There are miracles out there that belong to you.There are blessings out there that belong to you. There is financial prosperity out there that belongs to you.“He [God]willbless themthatfeartheLORD,bothsmallandgreat.TheLORD shall

increase you more and more” (Ps. 115:13-14, KJV). The most naturalthingforyoutoexperienceasachildofGodisincrease in every area of your life your spirit, soul, mind, body and finances. All areas. God has no problemwith you increasing moreandmore.

The secular world, however, has a problem with us increasing,and carnal-minded Christians have a problemwith you and me increasing. But God has no problemwith it. He really doesn’t care how many banks it takes to hold allyour increase. The only thing He’s concerned about is how you handletheincreaseandthatyouhonorHimwithit.Remember, itisGodwhogivesus“powertogetwealth”(Deut.8:18,KJV).

I remember a few years ago when brother Roberts was involvedinaparticularprojectandIsenthimanofferingthatI considered to be a sizable seed back then. I received a handwrittenletterfromhimthatsaid:“DearJerry,EvelynandI appreciate you and your family and your daughters. We appreciate yourpartnership in this ministry. . . . I’mbelieving foryouforathousandfoldreturnonyourgift!”

A thousandfold! I’ve had days when I was happy if God wouldmatchmedollarfordollar.Haven’tyou?Iusedtothink, God,I’mnot even going to be concerned about thirty fold,just with what I’ve sown. That will meet my need today.Wecan’t thinklikethat.Wehavetoenlargeourvision.

The Bible tells us that obedience is definitely a key to the miraculous.God told Job,“Ifthey obey and serve [Me],they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures”(Job36:11, KJV).Afewyears ago theSpirit ofGod

said this to me: “Many of My people go around confessing and believing that Abraham’s blessings are theirs. Well, if they’re going to believe for the blessings of Abraham, then theymustacceptthecallofAbraham.”Doyouknowwhatthe callofAbrahamwas?Tobless thefamilies oftheearth.This is especially why God has no problemwith you increasing and beingblessed.

The word “blessed” means empowered to prosper. God wants you to prosper.But ifyou’re going to lay hold ofthat, then you must also use it for the reason for which God is givingittoyou tobeablessing.Thegreatestjoyyou’llever know in your life is when you are a blessing. I also like to defineblessingas theabilitytopreventmisfortuneinthelives ofothers.Ifsomebody can’tpay his rent,and you’reblessed, thenyoucanpreventmisfortuneinhis lifebypayinghis rent. Ifafamily’s old caris worn out,and you’reblessed,then you canpreventmisfortuneintheirlifebybuyingthemanewcar.I found out that ifyou stop being a blessing,then you willcut off the blessings in your own life. So don’t abuse or misuse prosperity. Believe God for it, and then use it for the reason Godgaveittoyou.

Themomentyoubeginto seekGodwithallyourheart, Hewillbegintheprocessof turningyourlifearound.

God has always intended for us to live a blessed and prosperous life.He’s gotsomeextremelyexcitingthings onthe horizonforyouandme.Ourfutureis bright;andaccordingto the verses that we read in Jeremiah,God wants us to be filled with hope regarding our final outcome. No matter how miserableyourlifemaybeatthisverymoment,God’splanisto turnitaround.Hesaidthatifyouwon’trunfromHimbutturn to Him when you’re distressed, He will bring you out of captivity. The moment you begin to seek Him with all your heart,Hewillbegintheprocessofturningyourlifearound.

“I [God] will answer them before they even call to me. While they are stilltalking about their needs, I willgo ahead and answer theirprayers!” (Isa. 65:24, NLT). God is declaring that before you even utterthe very first word ofyourprayer, He’s already preparing a solution or a way out of your circumstances.WhileyouarestillcallingonHim,He’s already involved in dispatching His angels to go forth and change your circumstances. Why? Because it’s never God’s willthat you fail. It’s never God’s will that you stay in captivity. It’s never God’s will that you stay in bondage. The miracle you need, the manifestation you are believing for and the answer you’ve been praying forcould come to pass even before you finishreadingthisbook!

ForgetAboutWhatOthersThinkorSay; It’sGodthatMatters

Godintendsforyoutobeawinner,notaloser.“Nowthanksbe untoGod,whoalways causethus totriumphinChrist”(2Cor.

2:14,KJV

).God’swillisthatwe always win!Don’tevergiveup untilyoutriumph.Idon’tcareifyoufallandstumble10times. Getupandgoagain!Youdon’tget3strikes inthis game.You getasmanypitchesasittakestoknockitoutofthepark.

You have the blood ofJesus running through yourveins. Youareabornwinner.You areachampionon theinside.And it’s time the devil begins to see that champion arise on the outside. Your background has nothing to do with whether or notyouqualifytobeachampioninlife.Yourpastfailureshave nothing to do with it.Yourpast mistakes have nothing to do with it. You need to always put your confidence and trust in God’sabilitytomakeyouachampion.

Paulwrote,“Remember,dearbrothers and sisters,that few ofyou were wise in the world’s eyes,orpowerful,orwealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things theworldconsiders foolishinordertoshamethosewhothink they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shamethosewhoarepowerful.Godchosethings despisedby the world,things counted as nothing at all,and used themto bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that noonecan everboastin thepresenceofGod”(1Cor.1:26-29, NLT).

God is not necessarily looking for people who have impressivecredentialsortherighteducationasfarastheworld is concerned to qualify to be a champion. There’s nothing wrong with credentials or education, but God doesn’t really care if you are an expert in those areas. He is saying that whomever the world says can’t be used, He can use. If the

worldsays thereis absolutelynohopeforyou,Godsays you areacandidateforHisuse.Ifyourparents,yourrelatives,your friends oryourcoworkers thinkthat you willneveramount to anything, just remember that God says you can amount to something.Allnobodiesqualify.

Ibelieve God is looking fora group ofwinners to rise up today and showtheworld that theGod you and Iserveis far greaterthantheimagethatstuffyreligionportrays ofHim.For the most part,the world thinks that Christians are a bunch of weaklings, misfits and castaways who are useless to society. But we are changing the image of Christianity. We are not losers;wearewinners.Wearenotfailures;wearechampions! On the inside of you is unlimited potential. God has chosen you.

WhenIthinkofmyfriendevangelistDennis Burke,oneof thegreatest teachers in the Body ofChrist today,Iappreciate theanointingofGodonhis life.Butwouldyoubelievethathe used to be a long-haired, drug-addicted hippie who doesn’t even remember high school because he was in some other world while it was going on? If he had never shared that testimony,Iwouldn’thavebelieveditmyself.

I think about Pastor Happy Caldwell. This man, who pastors one of the greatest churches in America today and pioneered the very first Christian television network in the stateofArkansas,usedtobeanobody.Heusedtobealiquor salesman. And lookat himnow. BrotherCaldwellhas come a longway.

Iftheworldsaysthereis

Ithinkabout anotherpreacher,JesseDuplantis.God made a champion out of a rock-’n’-roller-heathen-from-hell. And I alsothinkaboutbrotherOralRobertswhoasayoungboywas ashamedofhisstutteringproblemandbelievedhewouldnever amount to anything.No one elsedid either.Satan had marked him to destroy his life, but God looked at this nobody and turnedhimintoachampion.BrotherRobertshasaccomplished so much in his life and has brought much healing to his generation.

It’s timeforyou to get overyourpast.It’s timeforyou to getoverwhateverybodythinks ofyou.It’s timeforyoutoget overallthe negative words that have been spoken overyou. It’stimeforyoutogetoverallyourpreviousmistakes.It’stime foryoutogetoverallyourfailures.Godsays Hecanuseyou. He needs you. He wants you. He desires to turn you into a champion.

Thereareplenty ofpeoplein theBiblewho,in theeyes of others,wereconsiderednobodiesthatGodusedtochangethe world.Astory is told in 1Samuelabout a boy named David. God had instructed the prophet Samuelto go and anoint the

absolutelynohopeforyou, Godsaysyouareacandidate forHisuse.Allnobodies qualify.

next king ofIsrael.Samuelwent to the house ofa man named Jesseandtoldhimtobringoutallofhissonstolethimlookat them.GodtoldSamuelthatoneofthemwouldbethenextking. Jesse brought themout one by one except for the youngest son.Theinsignificantone.Asimplesheepherder.ButGodtold Samuel,“Don’tjudgebyhisappearance....TheLORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions”(1Sam.16:7,NLT).Iamsothankfulforthat.

After I accepted the call to the ministry, I came to Fort Worth to hear brother Kenneth Copeland preach at a church calledGraceTemple.Mywife,Carolyn,andIwerejuststarting toprepareourselves fortheministry.Wewentoverthereinan olddoggedcarthathadover100,000milesonit.Webarelyhad enough money to get to that meeting. Once we arrived, I stopped by brotherCopeland’s office and he happened to be there. At the time, he had maybe three employees. I walked rightinandannouncedthatIhadshutdownmybusiness and was going into full-time ministry. Later, he told me that he immediatelythoughttohimself, Oh, God! Jerry’s not ready for this. He even once publicly said that he thought I had the anointingofaduck,andprobablycouldn’tpreachmywayout of a wet paper bag. Well, the Spirit of God spoke to himand said,Don’t look on the outward appearance.

Godlooksatwhat’sontheinside.Menlookattheoutward appearance.They’lltellyou that you don’t qualify,that you’ll nevermakeit,thatnothinggoodcouldhappentoyou.Butyou can’t go by what others say. It’s not others who are responsible for your calling. It’s God. It’s not others who

determinewhetheryouareanointedofGodornot.It’sGod.It’s nototherswhowillmakeyousuccessful.It’sGod.

Getting backto Samuel,afterlooking at allofJesse’s sons and knowing not one ofthemwas right forthe job,he asked Jesseifhehad any moreboys.In THE MESSAGE translation, Jesse responded, “Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep” (1Sam. 16:11). Boy, be very carefulwhen you run into “runts.” When people start talking about other folks like they are nobodies, watch those nobodies very closely. They’re liable to turn into champions. When Jesse brought David in,you can imaginewhat he must have looked andsmelledlikeaftertendingthesheep.Helookednothinglike a king.But what happened? “So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it on David’s head. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightilyuponhimfromthatdayon”(1Sam.16:13,NLT).

Samueldidn’tanointDavidprivately.Hediditinfrontofall theothers who qualified in thenatural.Hedid it in front ofall those who surely thought they would have been chosen. In theeyes ofmen,Davidwas theleastlikelytobethenextking; butnotintheeyesofGod.

Sowhatifothers can’tseeinyouwhatGodsees?Sowhat if your family doesn’t think what you are believing for can happen to you? So what if your friends laugh and persecute you?So what ifthere’s neverbeen any indication in yourlife that you areapotentialchampion?So what ifyou’vefailed at everything you’ve ever attempted in days past. If God says youareachampion,thenyouareachampion.IfGodsays you

candoit,thenyoucandoit.IfGodsaysyouare,thenyouare.

ChampionsAreNotCreatedOvernight

There’ssomethingveryimportantaboutthisstoryin1Samuel. EventhoughSamuelanointedDavidtobekingwhenhewas a young boy,itdidn’thappen overnight.In fact,as soon as the ceremony was over, David went right back to what he was doing, herding sheep. Even though you find out today that God sees you as a champion, don’t become discouraged because you don’t turn into one by tomorrow. You will probablygobacktodoingwhateveryouweredoing working in thatoffice,thatshop orthatplaceofbusiness and others maynotbeabletoseeanychangeatall.

While David was anointed king and still tending his father’s flocks,his brothers mocked him.“So,you’retheking, huh?Whatareyouthekingof?Abunchofsheep?”Thereare alotoffolks outtherewhowon’tseewhatyousee.Youneed to learn notto bemoved by whatyou see,whatyou hearand what you feel.Some ofmy relatives thought I’d lost my mind when they found out I was going to be a preacher. But now whentheyareinsomekindofneedtheycalltheboytheyonce thought had lost his mind. Why? Because that little nobody hasbecomeachampion.

Ifyou read the rest ofthe story,the leaderofIsrael,King Saul,finally called forDavid’s help and found himright where the prophet Samuelfound himthe first time,in the fields with the sheep. But David wasn’t discouraged. He had stayed faithfultothecallingofGodonhislife.

Don’tgiveup.Don’tbe discouraged.Don’tquit.God isstillworkinginyourlife eventhoughyoumayfeel nothingiscomingtopass.

YoumuststayfaithfultoGodandHis Wordandnotallow otherstodistractordiscourageyou.Todayyoumaybeindebt up to your eyeballs. You may be the most miserable person around. You might not be able to rememberthe last time you succeeded at anything. But on the inside of you there is a championthatisreadytocomeout,achampionthatisreadyto be born into this earth. So don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged.Don’t quit.God is stillworking in yourlife even thoughyoumayfeelnothingiscomingtopass.

BrotherKennethCopelandandhis wife,Gloria,startedout as nobodies.Just over43ago they wereboiling potatoes in a coffee pot because they had no stove.They were so deep in debtthattheycouldhardlyseestraight.Itdidn’ttake40years, however, for them to accomplish what they have achieved through that time.God was working the entire time.There are noshortcutstovictory.Youaregoingtohavetokeepstanding ontheWordofGod,justlikealltheotherchampions,butalso understand that God is accelerating things. In the meantime, you must stand. You must persevere. You must be

uncompromising.

GoliathandtheRoadtoVictory

The true test of David’s faithfulness was when he faced the giant Goliath.Goliath represented David’s first majorobstacle that attempted to keep himfrombecoming what God said he was to become. Goliath, like our adversary Satan, stood between David and his destiny. Satan will create all sorts of barriers,obstacles,testsandtrials,becauseheknowsthatGod hasawonderfulfutureplannedforyou;soSatanwantsyouto become discouraged and quit. I want you to understand that even though Goliath symbolized David’s firstmajorroadblock, David chose to make Goliath a stepping-stone instead of a stumblingblock.

Ilike what Iheard Jesse Duplantis say one time.He and I were tag-team preaching together about David. I’d say something about the story and then Jesse would take it over fromthere.Inourmessage,I’dgottentothepointwhereDavid had cut off Goliath’s head and was carrying it around as a trophy. I tagged Jesse to take over, and his opening remark was,“WhatGodwas tryingtoshowDavidwas howtoget‘ahead’in life. Most people think God made David a king, but GoliathmadeDavidaking!”

The very thing that was standing between David and his future was what God used to make him a great leader. The adversityyou’reexperiencingtoday,thethingthatis tryingto keepyoufromyourdestiny,couldbecomeastepping-stoneto yourgreatest victory.In otherwords,you can turn every test

intoatestimony.

ChampionsAttractNobodies

David not only became a champion, but he also had this unique ability to turn other nobodies into champions. I remember hearing brother Oral Roberts talk about how his ministry attracted nobodies as far as the religious world was concerned. He attracted the unlearned, the ignorant, the nobodies. But those unlearned, ignorant nobodies built a famous university that has been led and inspired by the Holy Spiritformanyyears.Afterawhile,whenotherfolkswhoonce sawyou as anobody nowrecognizeyou as achampion,they suddenly want to be around you.They start to believe that if God can turn yourlife around, then He can do it forthemas well.

Let’s look at the kind of people David attracted. “David therefore departed, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and whenhisbrethrenandallhisfather’shouseheardit,theywent down thitherto him.And every one that was in distress,and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,gatheredthemselves untohim;andhebecamea captainoverthem:andtherewerewithhimaboutfourhundred men”(1Sam.22:1-2,KJV).

What in the world are you going to accomplish with 400 people who are in distress, in debt and discontented? If you study this passage, however, you’ll find out that this same groupofpeoplebecamethemightymenofDavid.Italkabout someoftheminchapter2.Thesewerethemightiestwarriorsin

allofIsrael,buttheywerenobodieswhenDavidfirstmetthem.

The word “distressed” in the Hebrewlanguage is literally translated as “under great pressure or stress.” You may be reading this booktoday while undergreat pressure and great stress. But I’ve got a good report for you. If you feel under heavypressure,youareintherightplace.Youareintheplace tobecomeachampion.Haveyougotsomanydebtsthatthere is absolutely no way to pay themalloff? Then you are in the right place to become a champion.Are you discontented? Do you feel wounded in your spirit and your soul? Do you feel rejected and ridiculed? Then you are in the right place to becomeachampion!

Pastor Creflo Dollar’s beginning days were full of debt, distress anddiscontent.His congregationatfirstwas abunch ofwoundedpeoplewithdebtuptotheireyeballs.Butdownon theinsideofCreflo and allthemen and women who werepart ofhischurchwerechampions.

You might bethinking, I hear what you ’ re saying, brother Jerry, but you don’t understand my past. Isay, “Get overit!”

Youmightbethinking, But you don’t understand where I come from. I say, “Get over it!” You might be thinking, You don’t understand the mistakes I’ve made. I say, “Get over it!” You mightbethinking,I’ve never amounted to anything.Isay,“Get overit!”Youareachampion;andit’s timeyoustartforgetting abouteverything behind you and startwatching as God turns youintoachampionwhocanchangetheworld.

CALLEDTOBATTLE

NoExceptions:GodWantsYouinHisArmy

Wearecalledtobattle.This is notanoption;itis acommand. TheapostlePaultellsusthatweare“called”or,asIliketosay, summoned:“Fight the good fight offaith,lay hold on eternal life,whereuntothouartalsocalled,andhastprofessedagood profession before many witness” (1 Tim. 6:12, KJV). When a person is “called”ofGod,thatmeans God has summoned him orher.Ifyougetaspeedingticketandaresummonedtoappear incourt,youarerequiredtoshowup.Sure,youcanignoreitif youwant.You cancrumpleitupandtoss thesummons in the trash, but I’ll tell you what, the law will catch up with you soonerorlater.

When God calls someone into the ministry, He summons himorher.Ifirst heard that callin 1957,when Iwas 11years old. I was visiting my grandmother in Oklahoma City, and I heardbrotherRoberts preachingas Iwatchedonanoldblackand-white television. I had never heard of him and knew absolutely nothing about him. My relatives, though, because they lived in Oklahoma, were very familiar with his ministry. Brother Roberts was preaching one of his most famous tent meetingsermons,andIwas captivatedbyit.Atthatmoment,I feltcalledbyGodtopreachthegospel.

I’ll be honest. Preaching was the last thing on my mind when I was 11 years old. When I was 9, I had already determinedwhatIwas goingtodowithmylife.Iwas goingto be just like my daddy, who was in the automotive business. When it came to cars, you name it and he did it. He repaired wreckedcars,builthotrods,andcustomizedandracedthem.I just knew, even as a 9-year-old kid, that one day my life was going to becentered around automobiles,especially around a racetrack.EveryweekendmydadandIwereatsomeracetrack. He raced everything sports cars, sprint cars, stock cars, modified hot rods. I wanted himto teach me the trade and I wantedtoknoweverythingheknew.I,too,wasgoingtobuild, fix, customize and race cars. Nothing and nobody could stop me frombelieving in this dream.Nobody but God,that is.He haddifferentideas.Hehadsummonedme.

When you are 11 years old and have already figured out what you’re going to do with your life, and God shows up interfering with allyourplans,you get alittleupset.So here’s what I planned. I just thought to myself, Well, if I never tell anyone about this experience, then I won’t have to do it. God will realize that He made a mistake and He will choose somebody else.SoIkeptmymouthshutandneversaidaword about it to anybody. I just got real busy pursuing what I wanted to do and just assumed I’d never have to do this preachingstuff.IignoredmyGod-givensummons.

By 1966, when Carolyn and I married, I was working at automotive dealerships and endeavoring to make enough moneytogointobusinessformyself.Twoyearslater,Iowned my own shop and was doing exactly what I said I would do.

ButGodhadn’tgivenuponmejustyet.Yousee,Carolynwas a filled-with-the-Spirit believer, and the night before we got marriedshetoldme,“IjustwantyoutoknowImadeavowto GodwhenIwas eightyears old.IpromisedHimthatthemanI marry willbeborn again,filled with theHoly Spirit,preach the gospeland go to Africa.” Ijust about burst out laughing and said, “Honey, then you are marrying the wrong man! I’mnot doinganyofthosethings.Iamgoingtoraceautomobiles.And ifyou aregoing to marry me,then you aregoing to spend the restofyourlifeonaracetrack.”

Carolyn didn’t backdown.She said,“You don’t knowthe power of prayer.” My blood was practically boiling at this point,andItoldher,“Baby,youdon’tknowhowdeterminedI am.”“Don’tworry,”my beautifulwifeassured me,“Ican pray allofthatoutofyou!”

IwaslivingtheAmerican dream.SowhywasIso miserable?BecauseIhad receivedacallfromGodI hadpurposelyignored.

Guesswhat?Shewasright.Youdon’tseemeinorhearmy name announced at NASCARorat Indy 500events,do you? No! Why? Carolyn prayed it out of me! I’mtelling you, this

woman knows how to pray. The truth is, she prayed a lot of otherstuffout ofme too,but Iwon’t get into that right now. Believe me,Iknowthere are many wives out there who have prayedmanythingsoutoftheirhusbands!

In1969,Icouldnotrunfromthiscallanymore,eventhough I was doing what I had dreamed of doing as a young boy. I should have been the happiest person on the planet. I was married.Ihadtwodaughters.Iownedmyownbusiness.Ihad a newhome.Iwas living the American dream.But you know what?ThetruthwasthatontheinsideIwasmiserable.Sounds ridiculous,doesn’t it? But it wasn’t.Why was Iso miserable? Because I had received a callfromGod that I had purposely ignored.

The Bible says that the callings of God are without repentance (see Rom.11:29).What that means is this:Icould have lived and died not preaching the gospel,but when Igot to heaven, God would judge me according to my calling. He wouldn’taskme,“So,Jerry,howdidyoudoatIndy?”or“So, Jerry,howdid you do on the racetrack?” No.God would say, “So, Jerry, what did you do with that callon your life?” The callingsofGodarewithoutrepentance.

Thatyear,IfinallysurrenderedmylifetoGod’s calland,as it was (and still is) in my nature, I went all-out for God 200 percent.Iwasneverabletodoanythinghalfway,andfollowing the Lord’s command was no exception.As we say in Texas,I wentwholehog.Igaveitmyall.NowGoddidnotdestroymy passionforautomobiles,particularlyforthefastkinds.Hehas given memy dreambackand turned even that into aministry.

OurorganizationcreatedaChristianmotorcycleoutreachcalled Chariots ofLight and Christian CarClub,and weare invading carandmotorcycleshowsallaroundthecountry.Ialsohappen toownsomevery,veryniceclassicautomobiles.Infact,oftenI win “Best in Show” with my ’57 Chevy Bellaire Convertible. Not only can I still compete with the best of them, but wheneverwewin,IhaveanopportunitytopreachGod’sWord. He has turned everything I was passionate about before I surrenderedmylifetoHimintoanevangelisticoutreach.Praise God!

You have a calling on your life. It may be to raise your children in aloving,peacefulenvironment so teach themthe Word of God by example. Your calling may be as a business owner, a manager or a supervisor, and God wants you to financethegospel.YouhaveacallingbyGod.It’s nottoolate too much time hasn’t passed. You haven’t blown it. You haveacallingtofulfill.

It’s a very serious thing to be called ofGod.Ourlives are not just about playing church. I know that in some circles today it is a very popular thing to be involved in ministry, because it may look glamorous and can make you feel like someone important; but that is not the case. The callof God involveswarfare.

AllIamsayingrelates towhatPaulsaidaboutfightingthe goodfightoffaith.Noticeheusedthewords “whereuntoalso yewerecalled.”AsI’vesaidbefore,thisfightismorethanjust a command; it’s a call. God has called you to fight the good fightoffaith.Youdonothavetherighttorunfrombattle.You

do nothavetherightto giveup.You do nothavetherightto quit.Youdonothavetherighttothrowinthetowel.Andyou donothavetherighttoallowthedeviltodefeatyou.

I realize many Christians want a comfortable Christianity. It’ssoeasytoserveGodwhenthingsaregoingsmoothly.Just about anybody can raise theirhands and shout,“Hallelujah!” But boy, oh boy, you just watch what happens to many believersthefirsttimeadversityrearsitsuglyhead.Theywant torun.Theywanttohide.Theywanttodoanythingbutstand andfight.TheonethingIlearnedmanyyearsagoisthatifyou are not experiencing opposition from the adversary, you are apparently not much of a threat. You must already be compromising in some way because everybody that I know who believes God, stands on His Word and lives by faith inevitably comes under attack in some way, shape or form. When Ipreached this message once,some fellowcame up to meandasked,“ShouldIbelieveformoreattacks?”Myanswer was, “No. Just get serious with God and get into His Word. You willhave allthe attacks you can handle,but at the same time,get ready to walkin thegreatest victories you haveever known.”

Godhascalledyoutofight

thegoodfightoffaith.Youdo nothavetherighttorunfrom thebattle.

In 1967, I received a letter from the United States government that began with the word “greetings.” They decided they needed me to serve my country during the Vietnam War. I wound up at Fort Dix, New Jersey, for basic training. After those eight grueling weeks were over, I spent another eight weeks in AIT (Advanced Individual Training). LaterIwenttoFortPolkinLouisiana.IfyouwenttoFortPolk in the 1960s, you knew your next stop was Vietnam. The southernpartofthatstateis famous forits ricefields andwas theclosestreplicaofVietnam.Itwastheperfectplacetotrain.

But I had a praying wife. Matter of fact, Carolyn was praying like crazy.Ourfirst daughterwas born when Iwas in basictraining,andshewas three-and-a-halfmonths oldbefore Ieversawher.Mywife,undernocircumstances,was goingto let me spend more time away frommy family. But you know what? I was summoned by the government to serve my country and had to do whateverthey asked ofme.UncleSam sent me a letterthat could not just be thrown away.Can you guess whathappened?Carolyn’s prayers worked!Iwound up stayingstatesideandneverwenttoVietnam.

QuittingIsNotanOption

Ilikewhat brotherKenneth Copeland said morethan 30years ago:“Thegoodfightoffaithis thefightthatyouwin.”As we fight the good fight of faith, we are winning! This means we needtogettheword“quit”outofourvocabulary.Forthoseof youwhohaveeverbeentobootcamp,youknowverywellthe temptation to quit.When Iarrived at Fort Dix,Iwas in forthe

shockofmy life.Here Iwas,this good ol’Southern boy who didn’t even know New Jersey existed. So when I got there, I was blown away. New Jerseyans talked so different that I couldn’tunderstandwhattheyweresaying.

I arrived at the barracks on a bus with a group of young men,andthereadrillsergeantwholookedlikeSmokeytheBear greeted us. He started screaming and cussing and calling us every name in the book. Every name, that is, except our real names. Iwasn’t whateverfilth he was calling me, so Iwaited untilIheardhimsay“Jerry.”Heneverdid.Thismangotmeout ofthebussofastthatIneverevenknewwhathitme.

He told our group to line up, and when we did, I looked around at this ragtag,motley crewofyoung men.On oneend there was a guy in a three-piece suit; on the other end there was a Gomer Pyle look-alike wearing overalls; and standing rightbesidemein themiddlewas ahippiewith hairas long in thefrontasitwasintheback.I’llneverforgetthatguy.Hehad on these bright green-and-white striped, bell-bottomed, hiphuggerpants with flowers sown everywhere.Theman was so stoned he didn’t even know he was there yet. The drill sergeant put his nose right on that hippie’s nose and started yellingathim.“Youfilthy,sorryexcuseforahumanbeing.I’m gonna be your father, your mother, your brother and your granddaddy.I’mgonnamakeamanoutofyou.I’mgonnamake asoldierout ofyou.”Finally thehippiecameout ofhis druginducedcomatosestate,smiledwithoutacareintheworldand said,“Peace,brother,peace.”

Istartedlookingupanddownthatlineofmenandthought,

Is this all we have to work with? Are we going to war with this pathetic bunch? Dear God, help us! But once I got involvedinthebasictrainingprocess,Iquicklyfoundouthow serious themilitary leaders wereaboutgetting us prepared for war. They rode us. They harassed us. They beat us into physicalandmentalshape.Theminutewewereallowedtorest inourbarracks,theycamebackandstartedalloveragain.You know, allof us were wondering, What on earth did we do to deserve this kind of treatment? It was so bad that we wanted to write letters to our mothers asking them to tell our congressmen how badly we were being treated. Some of the guys in ourcompany couldn’t take it,so they went AWOL.I willneverforget what it was like seeing themget caught.The sergeants slapped handcuffs on themand marched thempast the rest of us. The message was clear. “You have been summoned and you will do this thing whether you like it or not.”

ThankGod Hedoes not haveto put us in handcuffs.Still, I’ve noticed that many of us don’t take the fight of faith as seriouslyasHedoes.Yousee,Goddoesnotintendtolose.He is goingtogetthis jobdone,whateverittakes.WhenIlooked at the line of men at basic training, I felt sorry for the U.S. governmentbecausewewerealltheyhadtoworkwith.AfterI becameaChristian,Istartedlookingupanddownthelineofall the other believers, and I started feeling sorry for God. But we’re growing, we’re learning, we’re being trained for battle andwe’redifferentnowthanwewerebefore.

We have been called to battle. We have been called to fight. We have not been called to crack under pressure and

giveup.Wearetold in 2Corinthians 2:14,“Nowthanks beto GodwhoalwaysleadsusintriumphinChrist”(NKJV).WhenI readthat,hereiswhatIgetoutofit:Weare destined towin!In themindofGod,wearecalledtobattle,butwearedestinedto win.Thebattleisnotoveruntilyoutriumph.Goddoesn’thave the“winafew,loseafew”mentality.InGod’s mind,it’s about winningthemall.Hehasdestinedustowinallofourfights!

Wehavebeencalledtobattle.

Wehavebeencalledtofight.

Wehavenotbeencalledto crackunderpressureand giveup.

Godtells usto“triumphalways.”Ifwe’rehonestwitheach other,we’veallexperiencedsetbacks atsometimeoranother.I knowIhave.There have been times when Ifelt like a failure. There have been times when it looked like defeat was inescapable.There have been times when I’ve wanted to give up.ButI’vestamped thatverseon my heartand determined a long timeago thateven though Imay getknocked down from time to time, and even though it may look like losing is unavoidable,thebattleis notoveruntilItriumph.Ihavebeen destinedtowin.

Ourproblemis that we give up too quickly.Iama boxing

enthusiast.Idon’tknowagentlewaytosaythis,butneversit inthesameroomwithmewhenboxingis onTV,becauseIwill literally hurt you!My wife and daughters have gotten quite a kick out of this for years; they always laugh when I throw punchesintheair.Igetsointothesportthatwhenmatchesare overIneedamassage!Iamabsolutelywornout.

Several years ago, I was given ringside tickets to the rematchbetweenSugarRayLeonardandRobertoDuranatthe Super-domeinNewOrleans.Itookmyfamilywithmeandmade alittlevacationoutofthistrip.TheystayedatthehotelwhileI tookmyseatatthematch.Iwas thrilledandcouldhardlywait forthefightofalifetime.As myadrenalinestartedpumping,a man who looked like a high rollerfromLas Vegas tooka seat nexttome.InicknamedhimAmarilloSlim.Ontheothersideof mewas aguywhowas deckedouttothenines andlookedas coolastheycome.IcalledhimSuperFly.

In a matter of seconds, we started talking about who we wererootingfor.TheybothaskedmewhosesideIwas onand I told themSugar Ray. Super Fly agreed with my choice and AmarilloSlimtoldus hewas rootingforouropponent.As the lights started blazing and the announcers came out to introducethetwofighters,AmarilloSlimleanedoverandslyly askedme,“Howmuchdoyouwanttobet,buddy?”Itoldhim that Iwas a preacherwho likes boxing but didn’t bet.He was okaywiththatandthencockedhisbodytowardSuperFlyand asked him,“Hey,you.Ibetcha $5,000that Duran beats Sugar Ray!” Super Fly thought for a minute and upped the ante, “Only$5,000?Youmustnotbethatconfident.Makeit$10,000 andI’min!”

In the middle of all this, the two guys started wondering who was going to be the holder of the money. Amarillo Slim came up with the perfect solution and said,“Let the preacher hold the money. We can count on him!” Before I knew what was happening, my coat pockets were bulging with $10,000 cashineach pocket.Igotalittleworried thinkingofthemany cameras intheplace.Ihopednobodywouldrecognizemeand makeahastyassumptionthatIwasinthemiddleofadrugdeal orsomething.

Right before the bell clanged and the first round started, thecelebratedMohammedAligracefullytookaseatintherow infrontofmine.This aboutclinchedmyexcitement.Ifeltlikea sugar-deprivedkidinacandystore.Thenextthingyouknow, SugarRay was frustrating Duran almost immediately afterthe bell echoed in our ears. By the eighth round the real drama unfolded.Duran,oneofthegreatestlightweightchampions in theworld,justquitwiththewords“No mas”pouringoutofhis swollenlips.His managerbegantopleadwithhimtocontinue fighting,but Duran refused to listen.Thecrowd erupted in an uproarandtheentireplacewentcrazy.Abruised,batteredand self-defeated Duran kept repeating, “No mas. No mas. I’m done. I quit.” As fights broke out throughout the crowd, I quickly gave both Super Fly and Amarillo Slim their money backandmadeamaddashtowardsafety.

What’s my point? Roberto Duran, a professional boxer, quit. I’m not talking about a man who was a novice in the sport;I’mtalkingaboutachampion.Alegendarychampion.He did what hewas trained not to do he quit.Those ofus who havebeen in theword offaith fora long time arelikewise not

supposedtoquit.WehavetheauthorityinthenameofJesus. We do not have carnal weapons, but supernatural arsenals withthepowertodemolishstrongholds.Wehaveallcometoo farinthebattleoffaithtoeventhinkaboutquitting.

CalledtoWin

The society we live in today is shadowed by a quitter’s mentality.Theworldquits atthedropofahat.Theyquitwhen it gets too tough.They quit ifthey don’t like theirjob. They quitiftheydon’tliketheirspouse.Theyquitiftheyaretiredof tryingtoraiseafamily.Unfortunately,thatsamespirithascrept rightoverintotheChurch.TherearetoomanyChristians who wastetheirtimewhiningandorganizingpityparties whenthey need to jump up,brush the dust offtheirclothes and tellthe devil,“Ifit’s afight you want,it’s afight you’regoing to get. And when the dust settles, believe you me, God and I will triumph!”

When I was a little boy, my daddy told me never to run fromafight.IgotpickedonalotwhenIwas youngerbecause Iwasrealsmallinstature.Therewereplentyofbulliesraringto pick a fight with me because beating me would be easy. My dad, who boxed in the Navy during World War II, taught me how to boxand defend myself. I had no choice but to learn howtofight;myfatherwouldnotletmequit.WhenIgotolder and became a believer, I became acquainted with a new opponent,thedevil.Ilearnedthathis missionwas tosteal,kill anddestroy.Iamgratefulformyfather’slessoninnevergiving up because I took the same no-quit attitude and used it to

defend myself against an enemy who prowls around like a roaringlion.

Thesocietyweliveintoday isshadowedbyaquitter’s mentality.Thatsamespirit hascreptrightoverintothe Church.

Let’slookatwhatGodsaidinthebookofIsaiah:“Behold,I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire,and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have createdthewastertodestroy”(Isa.54:16,KJV).Inthispassage the“waster”is areferencetoLucifer,thedevil.Recognizethat God says He created him. When God created Lucifer, he was notknownas thewasterorthedestroyer;hewas knownas an anointed cherub.He was a heavenly being.But theBible also says that iniquity was found in him. Lucifer wanted to exalt himselfabovetheMostHighGodandledathirdoftheangelic hosts against His kingdom.God retaliated by casting himout, and Lucifer then became known as Satan. What’s most important to remember is that God didn’t create the devil to wasteanddestroy.Hefellfromgraceonhisownmerit.

Verse17continues,“Noweaponthatisformedagainstthee shall prosper.” God is simply saying, “I created Satan; and

since Icreated him; Itake fullresponsibility forhis actions.I promise you if he forms a weapon against you, it shall not prosper.It shallnot succeed.” Those ofyou who are parents have experienced (many times, I’m sure) the frustration of watchingyourkidsmisbehave.Sayoneofyourchildrenstarts throwing rocks at a neighbor’s windowand breaks the glass. The neighbor will be justifiably upset and likely to come running to you, the parent, to fixthe problem. Now, did you createyourchildtothrowrocks atpeople’s homes?Ofcourse not. But are you responsible for the damage? Absolutely! In the same way,God is responsible forSatan’s actions,and He promises us that the devil’s efforts to destroy us will not succeed.God has assured us thatfailureand defeatarenotin our future. What is in our future? Triumph, winning, overcoming,rulingandreigning.

Jesus said it this way:“These things have Ispoken unto you,thatinmeyemighthavepeace.Intheworldyeshallhave tribulation:but be ofgood cheer; Ihave overcomethe world”

(John 16:33, KJV).NoticeHesaid,“In theworld yeshallhave tribulation . . . ” Challenges are inevitable. Weapons will be formed against us.Trials willcome.Tribulations willbepart of ourlife experience.But the biggerpicture is that these things donothavethepowertodestroyus.Theconjunction“but”is oursavinggrace:“but beofgoodcheer”;wecanovercomeall ofthosethings.The Amplified Bible states this passagewitha greateremphasis:“In theworld you havetribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcometheworld.[Ihavedeprived it ofpowerto harmyou

and have conquered it foryou].” What is Jesus saying? You havebeencalledtobattleandyouhavebeendestinedtowin.

The Bible tells us, “though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again” (Prov. 24:16, NIV). My philosophy has always been:Ifthe devilknocks you down seven times,then getupeight.Quitgivingyourmindroomtoacceptdefeat.Quit talking about failure. Quit talking about defeat. Quit talking about how you can’t take it anymore. Get up and declare to youradversary,“It’s not overuntilIsay it’s over,and it’s not overuntilIwin!”

Thismessagefiresmeup.Icanalmosthearthethemesong fromthe Rocky filmringing in my ears. It makes me feel like Rocky Balboaand reminds meofascenein Rocky II.Rocky’s health is failing himafterhis firstboutwith Apollo Creed,and he retires from fighting at the same time his wife, Adrian, becomes pregnant.Apollois notabouttobackdownfromhis demands for a rematch and puts an overwhelming amount of pressure on Rocky. Rocky ends up accepting the challenge, butAdrianrefusestosupporthisdecision.

Sometimebefore thefight,Adrian gives birth to theirson and slips into a coma afterexperiencing severe complications fromthedelivery.Rocky is besidehimself.Herefuses to leave her side and spends time in the hospitalchapelwhen forced outofherroombythenurses.Adrianremainsunconsciousfor severaldays;andRockyis hunchedoverherbedside,reading herstoriesandevenpoemsthathe’swrittenforher.Hetellshis comatosewife,“I’mgoingtobeherewhenyouwakeup.”

When Adrian wakes up and regains her strength, and as

theyarecradlingtheirnewbornbabyintheirarms,Rockytells herheiswillingtogiveuphisdreamoffightingApollo.Hewill do whatevershewants himto do.Adrian pauses foraminute andwhispers,“Thereis onethingIwantyoutodoforme... win!”Andasloudbellskickofftheinspirationalthemesongin thebackground,awide-eyedAdrianrepeats herrequesttoher championhusband,“Win!”

WhenIwatchedthis movieinthetheaterwithmywifeand a fewfriends ofours,Igot so pumped up Iaccidentally hit a guywhowas sittinginfrontofme!Thinkaboutyourlifefora minute. That popular song needs to be blaring in the background ofyourlife right now.You may need to stand up and tell the devil, “This is the last time you are going to torment me.This is the last sleepless night Iwilleverhave in my life. This is the last time you are going to damage my marriage. This is the last time you are going to control my children. This is the last time you are going to steal my finances.This is thelasttimeyouaregoingtorobmeofgood health.In thenameofJesus,Ideclareastateofwar!Ideclare thatIamdestinedtowin!”

We need to start declaring waron ourenemy.We need to put on the armor of God and never take it off. We have to march into battle knowing that our victory has already been settled.It has been guaranteed.It has been written,“You will win!You willtriumph!” The bookofPsalms encourages us to “ShoutuntoGodwiththevoiceoftriumph....He[God]shall subdue the people underus,and the nations underourfeet” (Ps. 47:1,3, KJV). The voice of triumph didn’t come after the subduing; it came first. You may be facing real and difficult

challenges,orafightoffaithofsomesort;butbelieveinyour heartthatyouaredestinedtowin.

Declare those truths and lift up a voice of triumph. You shallnotbedefeated!

WAKEUPTHEMIGHTY MENANDWOMEN

WakingUp

“ProclaimyethisamongtheGentiles;Preparewar,wakeupthe mightymen,letallthemenofwardrawnear;letthemcomeup”

(Joel3:9, KJV).In this Scripture,Joelis telling themighty men and women ofGod,thegreat warriors who had goneto sleep, towakeupandfight.

ThatverseastoundedmewhenIfirstreadit.Iwas greatly impressedthatwecannotplaychurchanymore.Thisistheday ofagreatpeople,and they arecalled theBody ofChrist.This is the hour for the Church. This is the hour for the mighty warriorsofGodtowakeup.

Years ago, I was supposed to preach in my hometown of Fort Worth.Ihad been involved in some board meetings that day,and when Igothome,Iwas exhausted.Iwas going to lie downandtakeanapbeforeIpreachedthatnight.Ifellintoone ofthose deep sleeps.The minute Ihit the pillow,Iwas gone. An hour later, I felt somebody shaking me. It was my oldest daughter.Icouldbarelymakeitoutofmysleep,andIheardher say,“Daddy,it’s time to get up.” Ionly slept fora short time, butitfeltlikeIcould havesleptforamonth.When Iwas first

awakened,Iwasn’tofusetoanybody.WhenIputmyfeeton thefloor,IhadnoideawhereIwas.Ididn’tknowwhattimeof dayitwas.Ididn’tevenknowwhatdayitwas.Butstill,Iwas awake.

This is exactly where the Church is spiritually a sleeping giantthathas finally awakened.Wemightnotknowwherewe are,but we’reabout to get there.Iwant you to knowthat the scalesaregoingtocomeoffofoureyesandwe’regoingtosee exactly what God is doing. We’re going to find out what the strategies are.We’regoing to besensitiveto theSpirit.We’re going to be so alive that the devil is going to wish he had neverattackedus.

Thisisthedayofagreat peoplecalledtheBodyof Christ.Thisisthehourfor themightywarriorsofGod towakeup.

Nowwhatwe’vegottodois getthesleepoutofoureyes. We’ve got to clearourminds.We’ve got to keep hearing the instructions oftheHolySpirit.We’vegottokeepflowingwith God.And as we keep doing these things,we’re going to see what God sees. We’re going to have the mind ofGod. We’re going to think like He thinks, talk like He talks, fight like He

fightsandwinlikeHewins!

TheProblemwithGod’sArmy

TheprophetJoelwrotesomethingverypowerful:“Blowyethe trumpet in Zion,and sound an alarmin my holy mountain:let alltheinhabitants ofthelandtremble:forthedayoftheLORD cometh,foritisnighathand”(Joel2:1, KJV).Hestartsoffwith the command to blowthe trumpet.Have you noticed that the phrase “blow the trumpet” is mentioned several times in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament? There are many different types of trumpets mentioned and they all mean something different. The jubilee trumpet, for example, means freedomandredemption.Theram’shornsignifiesacovenant.

ThetrumpetmentionedinJoel,however,isabattlecry.Joel is saying,“Getreadyforall-outwarfarelikeyou’veneverbeen inbefore.”It’smuchlikethebuglebloweryouseeinthoseOld West Army movies. When the Indians pulla surprise attack, you hear the bugle blower sounding that particular series of notes,andallofasudden,youseeabunchofmencomingout oftheirtents,pullinguptheirsuspenders,grabbingtheirrifles and getting ready for a battle. God is blowing the trumpet today. He is calling us to prepare for war. Christianity is not aboutfunandgames.It’s afighttothefinish.Butlet’s getreal mostofus aren’treadyforbattle.Whatis wrongwithGod’s armytoday? We

Don’tKnowWhoOurEnemyIs

Wehavebeensoignorantthatsometimeswedon’tevenknow who our enemy is. That’s a very sad thing. The Church is fightingoneanother.Dothefollowingwordssoundfamiliar?

“Doyoubelieveinspeakingintongues?”

“No.”

“Well,you’regoingtohell.”

“AreyouaBaptist?”

“No.”

“Thenwedon’twantyouinourcamp.”

“Doyoubelieveoncesavedalwayssaved?”

“No.”

“Youmustbeofthedevil.”

Words like that thrill our enemy. The devil just sits back and lets us kill off each other and then takes the spoil for himself.Jesussaid,“Anykingdomdividedagainstitselfwillbe ruined,andahousedividedagainstitselfwillfall”(Luke11:17, NIV).The deviltookthat verse and is using it to destroy the BodyofChrist.Heis saying,“I’mgoingtodividetheirhouse. I’mgoing to get one side believing one thing and the other side believing something else. I’mgoing to get themfighting withoneanother,andeventuallytheirkingdomwillfall.”

We Don’tKnowWhatOurWeapons Are

Godwantsaveryhighlyorganizedandsophisticatedarmythat He can depend on. He needs soldiers who are highly trained andskilled.Heneeds us tounderstandtactics,warfareandthe weapons ofbattle.So many Christians don’t even knowwhat theirweapons are.Speaking in tongues is apowerfulweapon, but many people think it’s only a sign of being Pentecostal.

No!It’sapowerfulweapontopulldownstrongholds.Also,the nameofJesus is anotherpowerfulweapon.TheBibletells us, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and thateverytongueshouldconfess thatJesus Christis Lord,to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11, KJV). All principalities,powers,mightanddominionareunderthatname. The name of Jesus is far above and highly exalted above everything. Another powerful weapon is the Bible God’s Word.Itisasword.Youdon’tplaywithswords;youfightwith them. God doesn’t want us thinking that the Bible is just a book.It’soneofourweaponsagainsttheEnemy.

We Don’tListen

The armies in the naturalrealmcourtmartialpeople who don’t obeycommands.Byallrights,Godshouldhavecourtmartialed us years ago. He gives us orders that we don’t think much about.We’lldoitwhenwewantto.Whenitfeels comfortable. Whenwegetaroundtoit.Trysayingthattotheleadersofthe UnitedStates Army.Ifacompanycommandertells youyou’re goingona20-milehikeat4:00inthemorning,youwouldn’ttell

him,“Listen,Ididn’tgetmuchsleeplastnight,soIdon’tthink I’mgoingtogo.Sendsomeoneelse.”Believeme;thatwillnot gooverwell.WeChristians knowwhatweneed todo,butwe don’twanttolisten.Whydowethinkwecandowhateverwe wantwheneverwefeellikeitin themostimportantarmy ofall God’sarmy?

Wehavebeeninsucha slumberthatthedevilhas beenabletotakecontrolof everything.Thetimehas cometowakeupandfight back.

We’ve Fallen Asleep

Wehavebeeninsuchaslumberindayspastthatthedevilhas been able to take control of everything. We sit in our living rooms, for instance, and spend hours in front of the TV watching junk. You can hardly turn on any programwithout seeingsomekindofadultery,fornicationorperversion.

It’s time to wake up, folks! It’s time for us to shake ourselves andrealizethatthedevilhas setus backsomewhat. He’s taken territory; he’s taken ground that should have been God’s allalong.Thetimehas cometo wakeup and fightback. It’s time to take backeverything that was stolen fromus and

claimitbackasGod’sproperty.

WhereDoWeStart?

We’renotgoingtowakeupandwinbybeingreligious.Thisis war. We have to make sacrifices. We have to get right in the middleofit.Wehavetogetrightintheheatofit.So,wheredo westart?

Blowingthe Trumpet

Weneedtoblowthetrumpetandattack.Theonlythingthatis going to get the devil’s attention is blowing the trumpet and declaringwaragainsthim.

I can remember the day I told the devil, “In the name of Jesus,you’renotlordofthis house.You’renotlordofmylife. You’re not lord of my kids. In Jesus’name, you get out and don’tyouevercomeback,becauseI’mfedupwithyourlies.”

HeknewImeantbusiness.Aslongasyoukeepdoingnothing exceptgripe,complainandwhineaboutwhatyouthinkGodlet happentoyou,thedevilis goingtobeatyourbrains out.The momentyougetfedupwithbeingoppressed,themomentyou put your foot down, the moment you take on your spiritual weaponsisthemomenthe’llhavetoflee.

There were times Ihad to literally grab myselfby the ear, pullmyselfup out ofthe chair,sofa orbed,lookinto a mirror, point my fingerand say,“Jerry Savelle,you listen to me.You straightenup.Youquitlisteningtotheliesofthedevil.Youdo what you know the Bible says, and I don’t want to hear

another negative word out of you. Do you understand?” Do youknowwhatIwas doing?Iwas blowing mytrumpet.Iwas soundingthealarminmyownlife.Everyoneofushastoblow ourtrumpetandletthedevilknowthatwemeanbusiness.

Training

What good is a soldierifhe’s not trained? The Army doesn’t takesomecivilian,stickan M14riflein his hand and say,“Go gettheenemy.”Hehas togothroughtraining.Heneeds boot camp.It’snotfun;it’snotcomfortable;butit’snecessary.Well, Godhas His ownbootcamp.Heintendedfromdayoneforus to get into training because, whether we’ve recognized it or not,Godconsidersussoldiers,andwe’regoingtowar.

In military boot camp, if at the end of eight weeks of training you don’t pass theexams,you get recycled and have to go through it alloveragain.In God’s army,ifyou do what God tells you to do, training doesn’t take all that long. But mostofuscomplainandwhine.“Idon’twanttokeepstudying theWord.”“Idon’twanttokeeppraying.”“Idon’twanttogo tochurch.”“I’msick.”“I’mtired.”“I’msickandtired.”

Bootcampisvital.Godisaimingtomakeanarmyoutofus, andHecan’taffordtohaveabunchofquittersassoldiers.We have to hang in there. Why? Because God said so, and He knows best. You’re going to have it do it sooner or later, so youmightaswellmakeupyourmindnowtolearnwhatGodis tryingtoteachyouinbootcampsothatyoucangraduateand getontoAIT.

AdvancedIndividual Training

This is wheretheBodyofChristbelongs rightnow.Weought to havegraduated outofbootcamp,had aglorious ceremony and moved right on into AIT. Here is where the Holy Spirit beginstomakespecialistsoutofus.HereiswhereHetellsyou whatyourjobisbecauseyoucannowbetrusted.You’vegota soldier’s intellect.Youtakeprideinyouruniform.You’reready forwar.

I remember the day I graduated from basic training. Oh, whatareliefitwastohaveallthatbehindme!TheminuteIwas done with basic, I was sent off to AIT. All of a sudden, I wantedtobeasoldier,andIwantedtobethebestoneIcould possibly be.The Army was nowgoing to train me to become whatthey wanted meto become.In my case,they putmein a 4.2mortarplatoon and wanted to makeagunnerout ofme.In an instant, Igot interested in howto become a gunner. Igot interested in howto do it right.Istarted listening to what the leaders said to me.Istarted watching more closely during the instruction time. I never will forget how proud I was when I acedthefinalexam.

Godisaimingtomakean armyoutofus,andHecan’t havequittersassoldiers.

You and Iare in AIT.God is making specialists out ofus. HeknowshowtotrainpeopletodowhatHewantsthemtodo. If you’re a pastor, quit trying to be a teacher. If you’re a teacher,quittryingtobeanevangelist.Ifyou’reanevangelist, quittryingtobeaprophet.BewhatGodhastrainedyoutobe. When Iwas stationed at Fort Dix,NewJersey,there were many times when some of the guys coming out of Vietnam would come through before they got discharged. Whenever the Airborne Rangers and Green Berets passed through, everyone stopped and stared. There was something different aboutthem theymeantbusiness.Thesewereguyswhowent through extensive training to become the best they could possibly be and excel under tremendous adversity. I believe God’s gotsomespiritualAirborneRangers.IbelieveGod’s got some spiritualGreen Berets. I believe God’s got some people that He causes to go through more extensive training than others.

Someofyougothroughthings thatotherpeopledon’tgo throughandyoudon’tunderstandwhy.God’stryingtomakea mightymanorwomanoutofyou.He’llevenusethetrials that Satan puts you through. The reason is, He wants to make a winneroutofyou!

Let’s lookat apowerfulstory in theBible.“Nowtheseare they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because ofSaulthe son ofKish:and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war. They were armed with bows,and could use both the right hand and the left inhurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul’s

brethrenofBenjamin”(1Chron.12:1-2, KJV,emphasis added). This passage has severalreferences to the description ofthe mightymenofDavid.Iwanttotalkaboutafew.

IaskedtheLordoneday,“Whatdoes itmeanforus today to be able to use both our left and our right hands?” God shared with me that it meant being able to adapt to any situation. Why is that important to us today? There may be times when you’llbecalled on by theHoly Spiritto do things that you’ve never done before and, when you are, you had better be able to use both hands; or in other words, be adaptable. Mighty men and women who can use both hands arenevercaughtoffguard.Theyarealertatalltimes.

“And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto Davidintotheholdtothewildernessmenofmight,andmenof war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions,and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains” (1 Chron. 12:8, KJV, emphasis added). These warriors had faces of lions. To me that means they were determined. If you ever watch a person with a determined expression on his face, you will notice that expression never changes. Every vein in his entire body expresses determination.Godneeds peoplelikethat.Heneeds soldiers whoaredeterminedtowin.Healsoneeds peoplewho are unafraid. These mighty men of David had the heart of a champion on the inside ofthem,and they were determined to winnomatterthecost.

This verse also says the men “were as swift as the roes upon the mountains.” I see a mighty man or woman who is

swift as a roe as having diligence. They are neverlazy. They neverquit.Whiletheymayexperiencesomesetbacks,theyare quicktorecover.Theymightgethedgedin,buttheyneverget crushed.

“AndofthechildrenofIssachar,whichwere men that had understanding of the times,to knowwhat Israelought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment” (1 Chron. 12:32, KJV, emphasis added).This descriptiontells methesemightymenwerefullof wisdom.It also means to me that they nevergot cut offfrom headquarters.Godneedsustoknowwhattodo.Theonlyway we’regoing to knowwhatto do in waris to belinked up with headquarters.

“OfZebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with allinstruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart” (1 Chron. 12:33, KJV, emphasis added).These guys were skillful.They were experts in war.God wants us to be experts.We need to practice what wepreach;weneedtowalkthewalkandtalkthetalk.TheBible also says these men “were not of double heart.” What does thatmean?Itmeans theywereunwaveringandwerewillingto fightforalongtime.

“Allthese men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfecthearttoHebron,tomakeDavidkingoverallIsrael:and alltherestalsoofIsraelwere ofone heart tomakeDavidking” (1 Chron. 12:38, KJV, emphasis added). These men “were of oneheart.”Theywereknittogether.Therewasnostrifeamong them.Togethertheybecameanunbeatableforce.As theBody

of Christ, we need to come together and quit fighting over stupidthings.Weneedtobeofoneheart.

WhenIt’sJustTooMuch

“In the last days perilous times shallcome” (2Tim.3:1, KJV). The Amplified Bible calls this “times of great stress and trouble.”Weareliving in stressfultimes.That’s thereason so many people have lost their joy and are not experiencing somethingfreshintheirlifetoday.Theyaresobeatdownthey can’t even work up enough initiative to go seek God. Sometimes you just get tired.Lifecan betoo much.But don’t giveup.Godisonyourside.

Paul reminds us, “I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anythingthroughHimwhoinfusesinnerstrengthintome;Iam self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]” (Phil. 4:13, AMP). Without Christ there is no empowerment. We don’t have the powertodowhatweneedtodoonourown.Weneedtocome to the place where we say,“God,Icannot do this anymore.I can’tdoallthesethingsYou’vegiventometodo.Ican’tcarry theloadofthis anymore.It’s toobig,it’s too much.”Weneed Christtoworkinus tobecomethemightymenandwomenHe wantsustobe. WeneedChristtoworkinus

tobecomethemightymen

andwomenthatHewantsus tobe.

Godwants His peopletoexperienceafreshinfusionofthe Holy Spirit.Paulgave us the idea in Ephesians that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit (see Eph.5:18).The literalGreek translation ofthis text means “to be filled and keep on being filled.”Thisisnotaone-timedeal.Itiscontinual.You’vegotto get into a position where the Holy Spirit is infusing into you His strength and the mind, the ways and ideas ofGod. Allit takes is one God idea to change your life, change your finances and changeeverything around you.But you haveto get into a position to receive it. So howdo we get this fresh infusion?I’d liketo sharewith you seven decisions you need tomaketoexperiencethis refreshingandkeepbeingfilledwith theHolySpirit.

1.Be in God’s Presence

This is asimpleone.Ifyou’renot in His presence,you won’t receivethatrefreshing.

2.Crave God

God gives this infusion only to those who crave it. It’s not going to happen to you because it’s happening to me. The

Bibletellsus,“Seek,inquireofandfortheLord,andcraveHim and His strength (His might and inflexibility to temptation);

seek and require His face and His presence [continually] evermore”(Ps.105:4,AMP).

Whenwegetupinthemorning,weneedtocraveGod.We need to put God first in ourlives.The minute oureyes open, we need to seek Him. We need to praise Him. We need to worship Him.Itwillmakeyourcoffeetastebetter.Itwillcause you to sing in the shower.Getting close to God is as easy as gettingclosetosomebodyyouadmireandrespect.Infact,it’s easierto get closerto God than some people you’d like to be closeto.You can becloseto God anytimeyou want.He’s not too busy for you. There is no line at the throne room. You don’t have to wait for a million people to get out of the way beforeHehastimeforyou.

When you begin to look at God as your indispensable necessity,thereisanintenselongingforHim.KingDavidgave usanexampleofthatcraving:

My lifedissolves and weeps itselfaway forheaviness; raise me up and strengthen me according to [the promises of] Your word. Remove fromme the way of falsehood and unfaithfulness [to You], and graciously impart Yourlawto me.Ihave chosen the way oftruth andfaithfulness;Yourordinances haveIsetbeforeme. I cleave to Your testimonies; O Lord, put me not to shame!Iwill[notmerelywalk,but]runthewayofYour commandments, when You give me a heart that is willing.Teachme,OLord,thewayofYourstatutes,and I will keep it to the end [steadfastly]. Give me

understanding, that I may keep Your law; yes, I will observeitwithmywholeheart.Makemegointhepath ofYourcommandments,forinthemdoIdelight.Incline my heart to Yourtestimonies and not to covetousness (robbery, sensuality, unworthy riches). Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity (idols and idolatry); and restoremetovigorous lifeandhealthinYourways (Ps. 119:28-37,AMP).

Notice that David wrote, “Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity (idols and idolatry); and restore me to vigorous life and health in Your ways.” What he was saying was,“Turnmyeyesawayfromdistractionsandgivemeafresh infusionoftheHolySpirit.”Afewverseslater,Davidcametoa realization that he couldn’t do this on his own. “I have seen that everything [human]has its limits and end [no matterhow extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]”

(Ps.119:96,AMP).

When you crave God fully, you willget to a place where yourealizethateverythinghumanhasitslimits.Youcan’tdoit on your own. You can’t think up all by yourself how to overcome allof the adversity and trials you are experiencing. You can’t figure out howto do allofthis because everything humanhas itslimits.Nomatterhowextensive,hownoble,how excellent,orhowintelligentweare,wearelimited.This is why God says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit”

(Zech.4:6, KJV).Ifyou don’t cometo this realization,you are

going to be in serious trouble, because neitherthe world nor the devil is going to let up any time soon. The warfare will intensify.KnowthatGodisgreater.

3.Deepen YourRelationshipwith God

Renew your quest to know God intimately by making a commitment to deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Thereis anewawareness ofneedingtobecomeclosertoGod.

IbelievethatthecloserwegettotheSecondComing,thenthe closerto God you and Imust get.“Drawnigh to God,and he will draw nigh unto you” (Jas. 4:8, KJV). I like how the Amplified Version states it:“GetclosetoGodandHewillcome closeto you.”Ifyou takeastep toward God,He’lltakeastep towardyou.

4.Press in toJesus

WhatdoImeanby“pressin”?Letmegiveyouanexample.Do you remember the biblical story about the woman with the issueofblood?Foryears shesufferedwiththedisease.When she discovered Jesus was going to be in town, she did whateversheneededtodotogetnearHim.Shefoughtcrowds ofpeopleto just touch Him.Shewas convinced onetouch of Hisgarmentwouldhealher.

She had her mind made up. She didn’t care how many people were standing around Jesus. She didn’t care if she might get trampled. She didn’t care what the consequences mightbe.Shedidn’tevencarethattherulerofthesynagogue

wasstandingrightnexttoJesus.Thismanhadtheauthorityto stone herbecause,underLeviticallaw,she was considered to be an unclean woman. She had no business being in that crowd,but she didn’t care.She pressed in.She knewthat the presence of God was available. How desperate are you to touchJesustoday?

WhenyoucraveGodfully, youwillgettoaplacewhere yourealizethateverything humanhasitslimits.

This story also reminds me of the story of a taxcollector named Zacchaeus. He, too, was desperate to see Jesus. He heardJesuswascominghisway,andhemadeuphismindthat hewas goingtoseeHim.Ifyouarefamiliarwiththestory,you knowthatZacchaeuswasashortman.Hewouldneverbeable to see Jesus in a crowd, because he was so small. What did this man do? He climbed up a sycamore tree and shouted at Jesus to captureHis attention.Jesus heard himand thatnight they had dinner together. Zacchaeus is the man Jesus went homewithbecauseZacchaeuspressedin.Jesuswantstositat yourtabletoo,butyou’vegottopressin.Howhungryareyou forGod?Areyou going to let people stand in yourway? Are yougoingtofollowthecrowd?Orareyougoingtogetintoa positiontoreceive?

5.Rekindle YourDesire forthe Word

If the Bible is no longer exciting for you, then you need to rekindleyourdesireforit.EverytimeIgetupinthemorning,I amso excited to study the Word ofGod.I’mhungry fornew revelation.I’vebeen astudent oftheWord for40years,but I amhungrierforrevelationknowledgenowthanI’veeverbeen before. This is not just so that I will have more sermons to preach,butalsosothatIcanknowHimmorefullyanddeeply. Ifyoudon’tfeelthatwayrightnow,don’tfeelbad.Justaskthe Lord to give you a fresh desire to read His Word and understanditinawholenewway.

6.KeepYourLife Pure

“TheLORDshallutterhisvoicebeforehisarmy:forhiscampis verygreat:forheis strongthatexecutethhis word:fortheday ofthe LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Thereforealsonow,saiththeLORD,turnyeeventomewithall your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto theLORD yourGod:forhe is gracious and merciful, slowtoanger,andofgreatkindness,andrepentethhimofthe evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessingbehindhim;evenameatofferingandadrinkoffering untotheLORDyourGod?”(Joel2:11-14,KJV).

What does keeping pure mean? Simply that we’ve got to clean up our lives. God is saying, “I don’t want an outward appearanceofholiness;Iwantaninwardholiness.Idon’twant an outward appearance of servitude; I want it coming from

your heart. I don’t want it just looking as though you’re serving Me; Iwant you truly and fully serving Me.” It means stop playing church. Stop the religious games. Don’t be satisfiedwiththenormanymore.Cleanyourlifeup.Demandof yourselfthatsinhas gottogo;strifehas gottogo;bitterness has got to go; jealousy has got to go.We don’t have time to play around with those things anymore. They are luxuries of the flesh, and God wants us to take authority over them. He wants us to take authority over our minds and become holy andmightymenandwomenwhoarefittoserveinHisarmy.

7.Give YourselftoPrayerandIntercession

Amighty man orwoman is a person who is strong in prayer. Hisorherattitudeistoprayfirstbeforedoinganythingelse.A lot of people use prayer as a last resort. When any problem comes up,they try this and that,and it is only afterthis and that doesn’t work that they decide to pray. Mighty men and womenknowtoprayfirst.Theyarestronginprayerandstrong infaith.

It’s timetowakeup!Youneedtorealizethatwe’realready on the winning teamand what God needs is for all of us to prepare forwar. Ifyou listen closely, you’re going to hear, in the Spirit, His trumpet. You’re going to hear the battle cry. Prepareyourself.TurntoGodwithallyourheart.

Get ready for battle! Prepare for your greatest warfare. Preparealsoforyourgreatestvictories.You’recalledtobattle, butdestinedtowin.

OUTWITTINGYOUR ADVERSARY

What’stheDevil’sPlan?

I’ve had the privilege oftraveling alloverthe world.Because we have a staff in Africa, I’ve been all over that continent preaching, training leaders and building churches. When I went to South Africa one time,Itookwhat’s called a “camera safari” to a very famous place called Mala Mala. One of the tourguidesonthistriptoldmethattheencountermostsought is to watch a lion stalkhis prey and actually witness the kill. While that may not sound too glamorous, it is quite an adventurous experience.It’s fascinatingtowatchwhatthelion goesthrough howsubtle,persistentandpatientheis when hestalkshisprey.

Anotherinteresting event is watching a giraffe attempt to getadrinkofwater.Thereasonis notonlybecausethegiraffe is so talland has to get in position to drink through several awkwardmovements,butalsobecausethis is atimewhenitis most vulnerable for the lion to attack it. On this safari, the rangerassigned to me drove me to an area where we sat in a bush waiting for this one giraffe to get a drink of water. We waitedformorethantwohours!

When I saw what the giraffe had to go through, I was amazed. This animal’s legs are so long that it can’t just bend down and get a drink.It has to spread its legs a little bit at a timewhilelookingaroundandlisteningforanyunusualnoises, like the stalking of a lion. If it thinks the coast is clear, it’ll spread its legs a little bit more and then look up and around again.Whenitfinallygetsitslegsspreadoutasfarastheycan go and bends its knees where it can get a drink,the giraffe is nowataveryvulnerableposition.That’sthebesttimeforlions to attack. Keep in mind, the lion is a very patient animal. It’ll waitand wait,and then waitsomemoreuntilthegiraffeis in a perfect position of vulnerability. Then it’ll attack. This is exactlywhatthedevildoes.

“Besober,bevigilant;becauseyouradversarythedevil,as aroaringlion,walkethabout,seekingwhomhemaydevour”(1 Pet.5:8,KJV).Petersaysthatwemustbeonguardbecausethe devilgoesaroundlikearoaringlion.Noticehedoesn’tsaythat he is a roaring lion.That’s very important to understand.Just because the devilcan prowlaround and roarorstalkhis prey likealiondoesn’tmakehimone.

Paulwrote,“LestSatanshouldgetanadvantageofus:for we are not ignorant ofhis devices” (2Cor.2:11, KJV).Paulis telling us to be mindful of the devil’s tricks. Now I’m not suggestingthatwespendallofourtimestudyingthedevil,but atthesametime,ifyouarenaiveastohowheoperates,you’re going to beatadisadvantage.In competitivesports,notonly do two teams play each other,but they also spend much time practicingonthefieldgoingthroughbasicfundamentals.They willspendmuchtimeexercisingandpracticingtheirgameplan

onandoffthefield.Theylearnasmuchastheycanabouttheir opponent. They do all of these things to gain an advantage against their opponent. And the team that knows the most about howthe other teamoperates and reacts willmore than likelybetheteamthatwins.

In this verse,the word “advantage” in the Greekmeans a favorable position. It also means superiority. The devil is always looking for an advantage. He’s always looking for a favorable position. He’s always looking for superiority. The only way for us to be defeated by the devil is if he gains a favorable position.So howdoes he do this? He studies your weaknesses.He finds out what it is that causes you to break under pressure. He’s not going to attack you in your strong areas.Ifalcohol,cigarettes orlustarenottemptations foryou, he’snotgoingtousethosethingstotemptyou.He’smuchtoo craftyforthat.

Theteamthatknowsthemost abouthowtheotherteam operatesandreactswill morethanlikelybetheteam thatwins.

Satanis amasterdeceiver.Oneofhis mightiestweapons is deception.“Nowthe serpent was more subtle than any beast

of the field which the Lord God had made” (Gen. 3:1, KJ21). The word “subtle” means crafty or seductive. In the Hebrew translation,theword“serpent”means tohiss,towhisperorto enchant.That’s theway thedevilattempts to gain afavorable position.Didyouevernoticethatoneofhis favoritetactics is to whisperthings to discourageyou?Howmany ofyou wake up in the morning, barely have one eyelid open and he’s already hissing in your ear. “It’s not gonna work.” “You’re gonna lose your job.” “You’re never going to get healed.”

“You’llneverreceiveyourmiracle.”

Here’s an example of how Satan did this to Jesus. Luke writesthatJesushadbeenfastingfor40daysinthewilderness and that during the whole time He was tempted by the devil. What was the devillooking for? Afavorable position so that hecould defeatJesus.Afterthe40days ended,theBibletells us “[Jesus]afterward hungered”(Luke4:2, KJV).IfJesus was hungry, any opportunity to eat could have constituted a real temptation,sothedevilusedthattohisadvantage.

“And thedevilsaid unto Him,IfThou betheSon ofGod, command this stone that it be made bread” (Luke 4:3, KJV). NoticehowJesus answeredback.“Itis written,Thatmanshall not liveby bread alone,but by every word ofGod”(Luke4:4, KJV).HowdidJesus resistthetemptation?ByusingtheWord ofGod.Jesus didnotsay,“Gettheebehindme,Satan,forIam the Son of God.” No, He based His success on something Moses wrotemanyyears before.IfJesus canwinquotingOld Testament Scripture, then we can win quoting the New Testament.ItworkedforJesus,anditcanworkforus.

Let’slookatthenextfewverses.

And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devilsaid unto him, Allthis powerwillIgivethee,andthegloryofthem:forthatis delivereduntome;andtowhomsoeverIwillIgiveit.If thou therefore wilt worship me,allshallbe thine.And Jesus answeredandsaiduntohim,Gettheebehindme, Satan:foritis written,ThoushaltworshiptheLordthy God,andhimonlyshaltthouserve(Luke4:5-8,KJV).

Ifthedevildidn’tgetJesus thefirsttime,hewas certainto try again. The devil was running all over the place trying to gain a favorable position. Just because you ran the devil off this morning,don’tthinkhewon’tbeback.TheBibledoes tell us that if we resist him, he’ll flee. But he doesn’t flee permanently.He’llbeback.Ifthedevilcouldn’tgetyoutofight withyourspousethismorning,he’lltrytogetyoutofightwith hertonight.Ifthat doesn’t work,he’llattackyourfinances.If hecan’tgetyouthere,he’lltrytostopyourcarfromrunning.

ThedevilcameafterJesus athirdtime.“Andhe[thedevil] broughthim[Jesus]toJerusalem,andsethimonapinnacleof thetemple,and said unto him,Ifthou betheSon ofGod,cast thyself down fromhence: For it is written, He shall give his angels chargeoverthee,tokeepthee:Andintheirhands they shallbeartheeup,lestatanytimethoudashthyfootagainsta stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou

shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Luke 4:9-12, KJV). Once again,Jesus kept the Word ofGod in front ofHimin orderto keep the adversary fromhaving an advantage over Him. We needtodothesamething.Weneedtocontinuallyconfessthe WordofGodeverytimethedeviltriestohavehiswaywithus.

Finallythedevilgaveup,butnotforlong.“Andwhenthe devilhad ended allthetemptation,hedeparted fromhimfora season” (Luke 4:13, KJV). One translation says the devil left Jesus “for a more opportune time.” If he doesn’t find a favorable position oran advantage in yourlife,he’llleave for justenoughtimetogetyoutostartrelaxing,andthinking,Well, hallelujah! I won that one.Butdon’tletyourguard down.Be sober.Bevigilant.Atalltimes.

ThePowerofKnowledgeAgainsttheDevil’s Deceptions

The bookofGenesis tells us the story oftwo brothers,Jacob andEsau.Jacobwastryingtotaketheirfather’sblessingaway fromhis brother,Esau,who was entitled to it as the firstborn. Esau was just about to receive it because their father, Isaac, was on his deathbed.Esau went to Isaac,who was practically blind,andaskedhim,“WhatcanIdoforyou?”Hisfathersaid, “Go and get me my favorite venison meat,prepare it the way that I like, and bring it to me. Then I willeat it, give you my blessing,andthenIwilldie”(seeGen.27:3-4).Inobedienceto hisfather,Esaulefttodothat.

Theirmother,Rebecca,who considered Jacob herfavorite,

hadalreadybeenschemingabouthowtheycouldrobEsauof his blessing.ShecameupwithanideaforJacobtopretendhe wasEsaubecauseIsaac,blindasabat,wouldn’tbeabletotell thedifference.Shecovered Jacob,who had smooth skin,with thesmelland hairofanimals so that hewould feelas hairy as hisbrotherandcarrythesamekindofsmell.Youmightsaythat RebeccaandJacobwereabletogainafavorableposition.

Sounknowingly,IsaacconferredtheblessingonJacob,the blessingthatrightfullybelongedtoEsau.Esaucamebackwith themealandtoldhisfather,“Hereisyourfood,nowblessme.” Isaacwas confusedandaskedhimwhohewas.“I’myourson Esau,”thetrickedbrothersaid.AndallofasuddenEsaubegan to realize that his brother Jacob had deceived him. Esau was obviously very torn up about this and he begged his father, “Isn’t thereanything you can do?Can’t you reverseit?Can’t youtakeitback?”ButIsaaccouldn’tdoanythingatall.

Genesis27:35tellsus,“Thybrothercamewithsubtlety,and hath taken away thy blessing” (KJV). This is descriptive of howouradversary,thedevil,operates.Heis verysubtle.Heis very crafty.Heis amasterdeceiver.Oneofthemajorways he deceives the Body of Christ is by keeping themignorant of what is rightfully theirs. God said, “My people are destroyed forlackofknowledge”(Hos.4:6,KJV).

OneofthemajorwaysSatan deceivestheBodyofChristis bykeepingthemignorantof

whatisrightfullytheirs.

Idon’tknowhowyouwereaffectedbyreadingthatverse, butwhenIreaditbackin1969,whenImadeJesus theLordof my life, I began to really dig into the Bible and started to receive revelation from the Holy Spirit. Eventually, I became angrybecauseIrealizedChristianshadbeenlyingtomeallmy life.Preachers had been lying to meallmy life.Iwas told that God was my problem, not the devil. For instance, they were tellingmethatGodwouldmakemesicktoteachmesomething. This was Satan’s way to steal my health. He wanted me to believealie,butIrefused.

I’ll never forget one time when Carolyn and I were first married.She went to church allthe time,but Ididn’t go very much.Onemorning,sheleftforchurchandIstayedhomeand workedonmyhotrod.Iwasworkingonmy’57Chevywhenall ofasuddenthecarfelloffthejackandshouldhavepinnedme under it. Somehow I was not crushed, even though I should have been. But if I had been an inch or two thicker, it would havecrushedme.

When Carolyn came home from church, I told her what happened.Whenshewentbacktochurchthatnight,shetold someonethat story,and you knowwhat they said?They said God did it because Iwas skipping church.They said He was trying to teach me something.Are you kidding me? Honestly, do you think that made me want to jump up next Sunday morningandgotochurch?Iwasn’tinterestedinservingaGod

whowantedtokillme.

WhenIdidstartgoingtochurch,Iwouldn’tjustsitinthe pewandgoalongwiththeirreligioustraditions,andIdidn’tfit intheirreligious box.IchallengedthemwithwhattheWordof God said.And let metellyou,they didn’t likeit onebit.They didn’tlikepeoplewhorockedtheboat.Butthat’s thewayIam withtheWordofGod.Idon’tacceptitjustbecausesomebody says that’s thewayitshouldbe.Isearchitoutformyself.My attitudeis,“IfGodsaysit,thenthatsettlesit!”

God’s people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. One ofthemostseductivethings thedevilcandotoachildofGod is keep himor her ignorant. That’s why God told Joshua to meditateontheWordbydayandbynight.Ifyoudothat,the mind of Christ is going to begin to function in your life. Knowledgeisgoingtocome.Revelationisgoingtocome.

Jesus once asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” “‘Well,’they replied, ‘some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.’Thenheaskedthem,‘WhodoyousayIam?’Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, becausemyFatherinheavenhasrevealedthistoyou.Youdid notlearnthisfromanyhumanbeing’”(Matt.16:13-17,NLT).

JesuswastalkingtoPeteraboutaknowledgethatdoesnot comethroughthefivephysicalsenses.Hewas talkingabouta knowledge that is revealed only by the Holy Spirit. Jesus finallysaidtoPeter,“UponthisrockIwillbuildmychurch,and allthe powers of hellwillnot conquer it” (Matt. 16:18, NLT).

When you areoperating in revelation knowledge,thegates of hellcannotprevailagainstyou!

It’sobviouswhySatanwouldwanttokeepusignorant.He doesn’tcareifwe’rereligious,justaslongaswearespiritually oblivious.ReligionisaworsedopethanLSD,crackorcocaine. It’s the worst dope a man can get because it dopes himinto thinking he is doing something for God when he is doing nothing at all. We need to be studying the Bible and continually receiving revelation knowledge because we are dealing with an enemy who is trying to rob us of what rightfullybelongstous.

ItisobviouswhySatanwould wanttokeepusignorant.He doesn’tcareifwe’re religious,justaslongaswe arespirituallyoblivious.

Had Isaac’s eyes not been dimmed, Rebecca and Jacob would nothavebeen ableto pulloffthatstunt.Ifyou arenot spiritually dim, the devilcan never pulloff deception in your life. That’s the reason the Bible says the entrance of God’s Word gives light (see Ps. 119:130). The more of God’s Word you havein you,thebrighterthelight is allaround you.And thebrighterthelightis aroundyou,thebetterandquickeryou

canspotthedevileverytimeheshowsup.Hecan’thideinthe darkwhereyouareconcernedbecauseyou’vegotthelighton.

Getting into the Word needs to be the most instinctive thingaboutyou.Whenyougetupinthemorning,getintothe Word. When you go to bed at night, get into the Word. In every situation, lookto the Word. Getting into the Word is a good habit to develop.The more you continue in it,the more revelation you will receive. It’s amazing how it works. For example, the more of God’s Word you inject into your spirit regardinghealing,thelessyouhavetodealwithsickness.The more of God’s Word you inject into your spirit concerning prosperity,thebetteroffyoubecomefinancially.

GetAggressiveandGetFedUp

The devilloves it when you are passive. It makes his job so much easier.Butwhen you startgetting aggressive,alarms go offin his domain.You becomeaprimetarget becauseyou are nowdangerous. You have become a threat to his operations.

IsaactoldEsauinGenesis27:40,“Andbythyswordshaltthou live . . . and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke fromoff thy neck.”

The New International Version puts it this way: “When you growrestless,youwillthrowhisyokefromoffyourneck.”

Whatdoes this mean?Youaregoingtolivewithwhatever you are going through untilyou get restless or fed up. Until you get fed up with being thetail,not thehead; untilyou get fedupwithbeingthesick,notthehealed.Untilyougetfedup with being the broken,not the restored.Untilyou get fed up

with being the broke,not the prosperous.It’s only when you get fed up that you move toward action. If you’re not spirituallyrestless,thenyou’llkeeptoleratingthedevillording it over you. The devil will keep pushing and pushing and pushing you untilyou totally giveup; but ifyou everget fed up,thenhe’sintrouble.

Let’slookat2SamuelandletmeshowyouwhatImeanby “fedup.”ThispassageofScripturetalksaboutthemightymen of David. I want you to notice their attitude. “These be the names of the mighty men whomDavid had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whomheslewatonetime”(2Sam.23:8, KJV).This Adinoguy got his fillofthe Philistines.They pushed himtoo far.He got sofedupwiththemthathetookhis swordandheswungthat thingaroundsothatbythetimeitwas allover,therewere800 Philistines stacked up around this man. Enough was enough forAdino.

Let’s look at another one of David’s men, one of my favorites. “And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite,oneofthethreemightymen....Hearoseandsmote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned afterhimonly to spoil” (2Sam. 23:9-10,KJV).Every timeIread that verseIthinkthere’s hope forallofus.Ifit’llworkforaDodo,it’llworkforallofus.

Eleazar, the son of Dodo, was pushed too far. He got fed up. When this guy got through with the Philistines, people

literally had to pry his hand offthe handle ofhis sword.You canpushaDodotoofar.Thenexttimethedevilcomesagainst you,tellhim,“YouhavepushedthisDodotoofar.”

Here’s the last guy.“And afterhimwas Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils:and the people fled fromthe Philistines” (2Sam.23:11, KJV). I like to think of lentils as another name for beans. So we’vegotthisyoungmannamedShammahwhoownedabean patch. The Philistines kept trampling down his beans to the point where he finally got fed up.What Shammah had wasn’t all that much; it was just a little bean patch. But you know what? It was his bean patch. So he got fed up with the Philistines messing with his bean patch,and he stood right in the middle of it and killed the Philistines in defense of it. He declared war over his bean patch, and God gave hima great victory.

Think about your own life for a minute. You may be thinking that your house or your health or your finances or your spouse may not be much to anyone else but they do matter. If it’s yours, defend it. Don’t let the devil steal it. Energize your faith the next time the devil is trying to steal something of yours by calling it a bean patch, and act like Shammah. Tellthe devil, “You are not taking my bean patch. You are not taking my blessing. You are not taking my inheritance. You are not taking my health. You are not taking myhusband.Youarenottakingmywife.Youarenottaking my kids.These are mine,and Iamdefending themin the name of Jesus,andGodisgoingtogivemeagreatvictory!”

RiseupwiththefireofGod

inyoureyes,HisWordin yourmouthandHispowerin yourhands,anddefeatthe devil.Stopbeingpassive.

What made these men mighty? They were pushed too far andgotfedup.Theminutetheystartedgettingaggressive,the anointing of God came on them and they were able to do supernaturalthings.Nothing’s changedtoday.Youcanbejust as aggressive.You can defend yourstuffand take backwhat thedevilstolefromyou.YoucanriseupwiththefireofGodin your eyes, His Word in your mouth and His power in your hands, and defeat the devil. Stop being passive. Start being aggressive.

Some time ago, my wife and I were being spiritually attackedfromeveryangle.Thisorthatwouldbreak,something elsewouldstopworking,andotherthingskeptfallingapart.At onepoint,wewerealmostateachother’sthroats,bickeringlike nothing we’ve ever experienced before. We were incredibly drained by these attacks.One day we both left the office and were going to have lunch somewhere. We walked into a restaurant where we were told we had to wait 45 minutes. Neither of us wanted to wait, so we went back outside to decideonanotherplacetoeat.

We hadn’t been in that restaurant more than 10 minutes when we got back outside and saw that the wire wheel hubcaps were missing off our car! Someone had stolen them withinthattinyspaceoftime.Nowthatwas thesecondtimein two weeks we had experienced this.My wife just about came undone.Itwas thestrawthatbrokethecamel’s back.Boy,the fireofGodcameoverherandshetookauthorityoverthedevil, andIjoinedrightinwithher.Wegotfedup!

Iwantyoutoknowthatbysunsetthatdayeverythingthat hadbeenstolenfromus hadbeenreturnedtous.Thatnight,I realized that wecould havehad thevictory earlierin theweek instead ofgoing through allthe harassment ifwe had gotten more aggressive.We allhave times when we become passive. Instead ofgetting fed up,wetoleratethings and just rollwith thepunches.But wecan’t win that way.Weneed to besober and vigilant. We need to be on guard. We need to refuse to listentothedevil’senchantingwhispers.Don’tletthedevilget youoffinacornersomewhereandstartdeceivingyouwithhis flavored words. Don’t let him convince you that nobody understands whatyou’regoing through and,even ifthey did, wouldn’tcare.Theonlywaytobreaktheyokeoffofyourneck istogetfedup,takeyourswordandlaunchanattack.

FightFear–DeveloptheAttitudeofFaithand BeSteadfast

In the book of Deuteronomy, God revealed to the nation of Israel a proper attitude for engaging in warfare with the adversary.“When you go out to fight yourenemies and you

face horses and chariots and an army greaterthan yourown, donotbeafraid.TheLORDyourGod,whobroughtyououtof thelandofEgypt,iswithyou!”(Deut.20:1-2,NLT).

DidyounoticethatGodisalreadywarningtheIsraelitesof thestrongpossibilitythattheymightbeoutnumbered,thatthe situation they would face might seemimpossible? Have you ever been there before? Do you regularly face impossible situations?This is anormalpart ofspiritualwarfare.But what God is reminding us is thatin themidstofthesebattles “Do not be afraid.” What this verse tells me is that fear is a favorable position as far as Satan is concerned. It is a disadvantageforus tooperateinfearbecauseitmeans weare operating in the opposite force offaith. Fearbrings Satan on thescene.FaithbringsGodonthescene.

Faith and fear are opposite forces. They arrive the same way but from different sources. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word ofGod” (Rom. 10:17, KJV). Sothen fear comes byhearing,andhearingbythewordofthe devil. Faith is not a mental force; it is a spiritual force that comes to the heart. Fear is not a mentalforce, but a spiritual force.Itcanaffectthemindjustlikefaithcan.Whenyouhave faithinyourheart,itwillaffectyourattitude.Inthesameway, ifyou havefearin yourheart,itwillaffectyourattitude.Faith and fear are also released the same way: by words and by actions.

Satanknows thatifhecancreateenoughpressureonyou fromnegativecircumstances ifhecanmakeitlookas though the odds against your winning are a million to one then

chances areyou willbegin to fear,and thatautomatically puts himinafavorableposition.Hereallycannotbringanythingto pass inyourlifeunless youfirstgivehimlegalright.Yougive himlegalrightthroughfear.Youmightbethinking, Well wait a minute, brother Jerry; you don’t know what I’m going through. I have a right to be afraid.Sure you have a right to be afraid; you just don’t have the right to stay afraid unless youwanttobedefeated.IamnottellingyouthatIneverhave opportunities tobefearful.Ihavetocastdownfearandresist it just like you do,because every day ofmy life Iface things thatseemimpossible.

FearbringsSatanonthe scene.FaithbringsGodon thescene.

We have to stop being so afraid. More importantly, we have to stop panicking; because when we panic,we throwall spirituallogic out the window. I don’t care how long you’ve been a Christian or have been going to church; how many sermon CDs you listen to; how many books you read; how many spiritual seminars you attend. When you panic, you forget everything you ever learned about spiritual warfare. Instead of leaning on God, you lean on your own understandingandgiveSatantheupperhand.

Therearetworeasons inthis versewhyweshouldn’tfear.

The first is because God is with us. Unfortunately, that sometimes doesn’thavetheimpactonourlives thatitshould. If that means nothing more to you than a Pentecostalcliché, you are in trouble. It reminds me of what I overheard once whenIfirstwentintotheministry.Iwaspreachinginalittlefull gospelchurchinArkansas.Duringthecourseofmysermon,I madethestatement,“Iliveby faith.God is my source.”Isaid thisboldly,eventhoughIwasalittleyoungintheLord.

Wouldn’t you know, at the end of the service, as I was walkingoutthelobbyofthechurch,Iheardtwoelderlywomen talkingaboutme.Onesaidtotheother,“Didyouhearwhathe said?”Theotherwomanreplied,“Yes,Idid.Hesaidhelivesby faith.”Andtheotherladysaid,“Poorthing...nobodytotrust butGod.”Andjustlikegoodol’Southernfolkareaccustomed to saying, she ended the conversation with, “Awe, bless his heart.” Can you imagine? Feeling sorry for me because I had nobody to trust but God?Who elsedo you need?!Don’t feel sorryformewhenIsayIlivebyfaith.Feelsorryfortheperson whodoesn’tknowhowto.

The second reason God told His people not to fear is because He had already brought themup out of the land of Egypt. God was saying, “Look, I delivered you once before, and I can do it again. I saved you out of that impossible situationinEgypt,andIcandeliveryououtofthis impossible situationtoday.”

The devil hopes you’ll forget all your past victories and miracles.He hopes that you’llget tunnelvision and allyou’ll see is the newproblemin front ofyou that has “impossible”

written alloverit.Ifyou bring yourvictories to his attention, thenthere’sastrongpossibilityhe’llflee,becausethat’soneof hisweaknesses.Hecannotstandhearingabouthisdefeats.

Ifyou’veeverbeenhealedbefore,youcanbehealedagain. Ifyou’veeverhadafinancialmiraclebefore,youcanhaveone again. If God has ever delivered you before, He can come through for you again. Don’t forget the last impossible thing thatGod gotyou outof;Hecan do itagain!Don’tfear.Don’t panic. Don’t give Satan the favorable position he needs to defeatyou.

The book of Psalms warns us to not be like some of the people of Israel, who were “a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whosespiritwasnotsteadfastwithGod”(Ps.78:8,KJV).Think aboutthesewords:“whosespiritwas notsteadfastwithGod.” These people were a compromising people. They gave up under pressure. They gave up at the very slightest sight of defeat.Theywerenotsteadfast.

Ifyou do not develop a steadfast spirit,Satan knows that he can get you to compromise under pressure. He will keep attacking that one particular area of weakness to gain a favorable position. If he gets you to compromise once, he’ll make a record ofwhat it actually tookforyou to compromise. And he’llstart at that sameplaceagain.Heknows that ifyou gave in before,then it won’t take as much effort fromhimthe secondtimearound.

Afterthe writerofthis psalmtells us about the rebellious generation whose spirit was not steadfast with God,he gives

usanexampleinthefollowingverse:“ThechildrenofEphraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle”(Ps.78:9, KJV).Theseguyswerearmedanddangerous. They were well equipped to win the battle, yet they allowed what they saw of the enemy to convince themthere was no waytodefeatthem.Sotheydroppedtheirweaponsandfled.

This is exactly what happens to a lot ofChristians. Satan has only one weapon deception. He can breakit down into other forms, but it’s his mightiest weapon. It’s all he’s really got.On the contrary,we,as believers,have multiple weapons throughGodthatareabletopulldownstrongholds.Wesimply havemorepowerthanthedevildoes.Becausetheenemydoes not havethearsenalto beat you,what does hehaveto do to win?Hehas toconvinceyoutodropyourweapon.He’llhave to be a good talker. He’ll have to use some very deceptive wordstoconvinceyouthatyoucan’twin.

Iremembersomething thathappened to meonceas aboy. Every time I think about this, a part of me laughs, because I realize how stupid kids can be. I grew up with a boy named Johnnywhowasthesameageasmeandlivedoneblockaway. His parents owned a big vacant lot next to theirhouse,and a bunchofuswouldgooverthereafterschoolandplayfootball. One day, my best friend, Kenny, and I were playing football withJohnny.Forsomereason,KennyandIdidn’tlikeJohnny very much.So on this one day,we decided to give this poor fellowahardtime.KennyandIplottedandplannedthatevery timethiskidhadtheball,weweregoingtogangtacklehim.We were going to hurt himjust because we didn’t like him, even thoughitwasJohnny’sballwewereplayingwithandJohnny’s

propertywewereplayingon.

Oneday,Johnnygotmad.Hegotsomadheraninsidehis house, came back with a shotgun and pointed the thing at Kenny.Man,I’llneverforgetthisaslongasIlive.Istoodright nexttoKennyandwatchedJohnnyshovethatguninhis face while he was crying and yelling, “I’m going to kill you. I’m goingtoblowyourheadoff.”Kennydidn’tbataneyelash.He reached up and stuckhis fingerin the barrelofthat gun and told Johnny,“I’mnot kidding you.Ifyou pullthat trigger,I’m gonna break your neck.” He started talking Johnny into dropping the gun. Minutes later, Johnny did just that. He dropped thegun,started crying again and begged Kenny not tobreakhis neck.ItneverdawnedonJohnnythatifhepulled thetrigger,nobodywas goingtobebreakinganybody’s neck. KennymanagedtoconvinceJohnnytodrophisweaponoutof fear.

The devildoes to us what Kenny did to Johnny.Here we arewiththearmorofGod,thepowerfulnameofJesus,theHoly Spirit and angelic beings at ourdisposal,and the devilcomes up to us and threatens us by saying, “I’m gonna take everythingyou’vegot.”Andwedropallourweapons andact like heaven doesn’t exist, like the name of Jesus is no more powerful than any other name, and we run away. Why? Becauseweareafraid.

YetGodhasalreadyequippedustowin.Thereisnoexcuse forus beingdefeated.Ouradversaryis alreadyadefeatedfoe. Jesus has already beaten him at Calvary. Ifwe allowfearto overtakeus,thenwearelettingsomeonewhohasalreadybeen

defeated talk us into dropping our weapons. That’s not very smart.

Let me tell you something. The storms you may be experiencing in yourlife right nowcould very wellbe at their end.Theeyeofthehurricanecould havealready passed over you. But Satan is going to keep throwing up smoke screens andthunderandlightningandallkinds ofthings tomakeyou think this is going to be with you forever. He’s going to do whateverhe needs to do to cause you to panic.Don’t be like thepeoplewhodidnothaveasteadfastspirit,whodidnotset theirhearts right and gave up in the day ofbattle.Remember, theLordhasgottenyououtofseeminglyimpossiblesituations before, and He’ll get you out again. Don’t give the devil a favorableposition.Donotfear,becauseGodisonyourside.

THESHADOWOFA DOGNEVERBITANYONE

ShadowsandSmokescreens

IreceivedoneofmygreatestrevelationsfrombrotherKenneth Copeland when he came to preach in my hometown of Shreveport,Louisiana,in 1969.Iwas running fromGod then.I knewIwascalledtopreach,butIdidn’twantto.Whenbrother Copeland came,my wife begged me every day to go hearhim speak.Finally,on his last night there,to keep Carolyn quiet,I told her, “I’llgo on one condition. We’llsit on the back row closest to the exit, and when he starts telling all those tearjerkingstoriesandbeggingformoney,that’swhenI’mleaving, and you can get home the best way you can.Is that a deal?” Carolynsaid,“That’sadeal!”

So we went, and I sat on the back pew prepared not to believe anything this preacher said. I’ll never forget what happened after the worship leader sang the last song right before they turned over the service to brother Copeland. He walkeduptotheplatform,tookhisBibleandfirmlysetitonthe podium.Thenhesaid,“Don’teversingthatsongagaininmy presence. It is embalmed with unbelief!” At that moment, I became a defenderofthe faith. It made me mad.Ithought to

myself, Who does he think he is? We can sing whatever we want to in our church. Suddenly, it became my church. From thatpointon,Iwas ontheedgeofmychair,listeningtoevery word brother Copeland said, which was exactly how God plannedtogetmyattention.

As Iwalkedawaythatnight,Godbecamerealtome.Jesus was no longer in the same category as Santa Claus or the EasterBunny. The Bible was no longerjust a storybookora historybook.Inoneservice,mylifewaschanged.Later,Igave my life to the Lord.Iwanted to knowGod.Iwanted to know Jesus. Iwanted to knowthe Holy Spirit. Eventually, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Now shut your business down and treattheWordlikeit’syourbusiness.Youspendthenextthree months in your bedroom, no less than eight hours a day, studyingMyWord;andwhenyoucomeoutofthere,I’llmake apreacheroutofyou.”

Ilistenedtotapes ofbrotherCopelandfromoneendtothe other.Idissectedthem.Ifedonthem.Ialmostworethemslick. While Iwas studying the Word,Ihad a lot ofquestions.But for some reason, no one was able to answer them for me. I figured if I could just have the opportunity to ask brother Copeland, I would find my answers. I was given that opportunity when hecamebackto ourtown.You can imagine my surprisewhen hetold me,“Jerry,theLord showed methat you’vegotsomequestions thatyouneedanswered.Whatare they?” Iwas so shocked Icouldn’t even remembermy name, muchlessmylistofquestions.

Finally I said, “Brother Copeland, I have no problem

believingGodforhealing.Infact,I’mwalkingindivinehealth. Myfamilyiswalkingindivinehealth.Butwouldyoupleasetell me how to talk God into meeting my financial needs?” He looked at me and said, “God’s already done everything He’s goingtodoaboutyourfinances.”

I said, “You’re kidding me! Please tell me that He’s not going to leave me in the mess I’m in.” Brother Copeland replied, “That isn’t what I’mtalking about.” Then he shared somethingwithmethatmadeabsolutelynosensewhatsoever. He said,“Jerry,the shadowofa dog neverbit anyone.” And thenhewalkedaway!Thatwas therevelationI’dbeenwaiting tohear?!Ithoughtthatwas thecraziestthingIhadeverheard inmylife.Ihadnoideawhathemeant,andheleftmetofigure itoutformyself.

Satan’stacticistointercept thelightcomingfromthe WordofGodinordertocast ashadowonitbeforeitslight canreachourmindsand spirits.Hedoesthissowe willbecontrolledbyfear.

As crazy as it sounded,Icould not get that statement out ofmy head. Ithought about it day and night,night and day.

The shadow of a dog never bit anyone. The word “shadow” kept popping out at me,so Ithought about it some more and slowly started getting somewhere. The only Scripture Icould thinkof that even mentioned the word shadow was in Psalm 23:4:“Yea,though Iwalkthrough thevalley oftheshadowof death,Iwillfearnoevil”(KJV).

So I started to meditate on that verse. I read it over and overandover,butIstillcouldn’tfigureoutwhatitmeant.YetI knewthere had to be something in that verse that had to do with what brotherCopeland told me.Ibegan to read it slowly, word by word. “Yea, though Iwalkthrough the valley ofthe shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Finally it clicked. The verse didn’t read, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death.”Itwas talkingaboutthevalleyofthe shadow ofdeath. There’sadifference.Thevalleyoftheshadowofdeathdoesn’t meanthatdeathisinevitable.

I dug in further. I looked up the definition of the word “shadow,” which means “a definite area ofshade cast upon a surfacebyabodyinterceptinglightrays;thedarkimagemade by such a body.” When I read that, here’s how I applied it. Satan’s tacticis tointerceptthelightcomingfromtheWordof God in orderto cast a darkimage,orshadow,on it before its light can reach ourminds and spirits.Hedoes this so that we will be controlled by fear. Shadows are simply smokescreens used by Satan.He engineers themto leave a false impression on ourminds.When brotherCopeland told me,“The shadow of a dog never bit anyone,” he was saying, “Jerry, you’re dealingwithshadows.Thedevilistryingtoconvinceyouthat your financial needs will never be met. It’s nothing but a

shadow, and shadows can’t hurt you. Dogs bite, but their shadowsdon’t.”

Have you ever made shadowy figures with your hand using a projector? You knowwhat I’mtalking about.You put yourfingers up in the airand move themaround so that they resembleallsorts ofanimals andthings onthescreen.Nottoo long ago, I did this while I was playing around with my grandsons.Imademyfingers transformonthescreenintothe shape of a rabbit. The boys went nuts. “PaPa,” they cried. “There’s a rabbit on the screen! Where did it come from? Wow!”OfcourseIwas leadingthemon.Theshadowsweren’t real rabbits; they were false impressions. My grandsons, though, were totally convinced they were realuntilI showed themhowIwasdoingit.

The devil does the same thing. He casts shadows, false impressionsofthings,onourlivesallthetime.Hestandsinthe cornermakingallsortsofsignsthatyoumightimaginearereal. Shadows are intended by Satan to cause you to fear,give up andquit.

Another example of this is found in Matthew 14. The discipleswereinaterriblestormonthewaterwhenJesuscame outtomeetthem:

When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost. But Jesus spoke to themat once. “It’s all right,” he said. “I am here! Don’t be afraid.”ThenPetercalledtohim,“Lord,ifit’sreallyyou, tellme to come to you by walking on the water.” “All

right,come,”Jesus said.SoPeterwentoverthesideof the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him.“You don’t have much faith,” Jesus said.

“Whydidyoudoubtme?”(Matt.14:26-31,NLT).

NoticethatPeterwasasuccessaslongashekepthiseyes onJesus.Butwhenhesawthestrongwind,hebecameafraid. Whatwas thewind?Ashadow.Whatwas itattemptingtodo? Interceptthelightrays fromJesus’words “Come” to Peter. ItcastadarkshadowbetweenPeterandhis destiny.Itcreated fearinhisheart,sohestartedtosink.Whathaswindgottodo with walking on water? Is there some lawthat says you can’t walkonthewaterwhenit’swindy?Ofcoursenot.

So howdo we stop Satan fromintercepting the light from God’s Word? Simple.We have to stay focused.The devilwill do whatever it takes to keep you out of the Word. He’ll put televisionbetweenyouandtheWord.He’llputthe USA Today between you and the Word. He’ll put the evening news between you and the Word. He’llput a sincere but sincerely wrongChristianbetweenyouandtheWord.Keepingyoufrom theWord keeps fearin yourlife,and thatis whatSatan wants todo.

Satanhasalreadybeen

defeated.Whenyoustandup tohimwiththeWordofGod, herunsawayinstarkterror.

When you getfulloftheWord ofGod,you find outafew things.Youfindoutthatyouaretheonewiththeweaponsthat are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Youfindoutthatyou’retheonewiththeauthority.You’rethe one with the power.You find out that Satan has already been defeated.AndwhenyoustanduptohimwiththeWordofGod inyourmouthandcommandhimtoflee,heruns awayinwhat the Amplified Bible says:starkterror.Butifthedevilcancasta dark shadow over some area of your life, then he can cause youtolosethewilltoevenputupafight.

Ashadowis also defined as something without reality or substance.Inotherwords,thewindthatterrifiedPeterhadno substance,yethegaveintoitand begantosink.Now,Iknow you might bethinking, Wait a minute, brother Jerry. You said that shadows have no substance, that they are not real. But sickness is very real. I’mnot denying the reality of sickness. I’macknowledging a higher formof reality. Jesus said, “Thy Wordis truth”(John17:17, KJV).Thedictionary definition for truthis“thehighestformofrealitythatexists.”Yes,sicknessis real. Financial problems are real. Stress is real. Depression is real.ButtheTruthisahigherformofreality.Whenyouapplya higher formof reality to a lower form, allthings being equal, thenthelowerformmustbow.

I don’t live in a fantasy world. I live in faith. I live in the Word. I live in the highest formof reality that exists. When problemscome,Idon’tsay,“Thisisnotreallyaproblem.”No,I say,“Holditrightthere,problem.Let’sseewhattheWordsays aboutyou.”Whateveryouaregoingthroughtodayis notthe highest formof reality. Shadows are not the truth. But Satan wantsyoutothinktheyare.

Nomatterwhatshadowsthedevilcastsatyou,ifyouhold ontoGodandHisWord,theywillgetyououtoftrouble.That is God’s promise.IfyouallowSatan’s shadows todarkenyou, then you lose sight ofthat promise.You are not remembering your covenant. God says, “Trust me! I won’t let you down.”

Satan says, “What if God doesn’t show up?” “What if it doesn’t work?” “What if God forgets?” “What if it doesn’t happen?”Thebestwaytogetridofthedevilis totalkbackto himwith God’s Word.Hehas no defenseagainst theWord of God.

When I first left brother Copeland’s organization and Carolyn and Ilaunched out into ourown ministry, we hit the ground running!Iguess Ihad been in my own ministry about two years when we experienced a mountain of financial problems.Thedevilknockedthepropsrightoutfromunderus. Up to this point,we hadn’t struggled financially.Ourministry was young, but it was flourishing. But then things started lookingprettybad.Suddenly,itseemedlikeourwholeministry wasgoingtocomecrashingdown.

AsIwasinmybedroomprayingaboutthis,fearkepttrying toriseupontheinsideofme.Thedeviltoldme,“Youfailedin

your business, and you’re going to failin your ministry. You always getup tothis pointandthenyouhitrockbottom.You did it in business and you’re going to do it in ministry.” Fear tried to grip me through these negative thoughts, but Iknew enough about the Word to cast down those imaginations. Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I would cast themdown, theywouldcomebackagain.SoIkeptonrebukingthem,andI kept praying in the Holy Spirit, but I kept hearing the devil calling me a failure.“You’re a failure!This is as faras you’re goingtogo.I’mgoingtotakeeverythingyou’vegot.”Hekept going on and on and on. But at some point, he called me a failureonetoomanytimes.

Suddenlycomingoutofmewasthisrighteousindignation, and Iknewit wasn’t just my voice but the voice ofthe Holy Spirit. I heard the Holy Spirit say, “You want to talk about failure, let’s talk about you, Satan!” The Holy Spirit, through me,started telling the devilhowhe got kicked out ofheaven; howhewasdefeatedattheCross;andhowhewasstrippedof the keys ofdeath,helland the grave.Then I’llneverforget this Isaid,“Now,Satan.We’vetalkedaboutfailure.Nowlet’s talk about your future. That ain’t too bright either. You’re headed fortheLakeofFire.And guess whereJerry’s headed? He’s headed for victory! He’s headed for glory! He’s headed forthepresenceofAlmightyGod!”

Icame out ofthat roomwith a shout in my heart.And let me tell you what, God met my financial need during that season, and He’s been doing it ever since. Allthat trash the devilwas tellingmewas ashadow.Allhe’s gotareshadows the shadow of death; the shadow of defeat; the shadow of

failure;theshadowoffear.

ThenexttimeSatantriesto discourageyou,lethimknow thathisthreatsarenothing butashadow,whichcannot hurtyou.

Let’s look at another example found in Mark 5. Here we haveastoryofamanbythenameofJairus,whowasarulerof thesynagogue:

AfterJesuscrossedoverbyboat,alargecrowdmethim attheseaside.Oneofthemeeting-placeleaders named Jairus came. When he sawJesus, he fellto his knees, beside himself as he begged, “My deardaughter is at death’sdoor.Comeandlayhandsonhersoshewillget well and live.” Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along,pushing and jostling him....While he [Jesus] was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?” Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, “Don’tlistentothem;justtrustme.”

Hepermitted no oneto go in with himexceptPeter,

James,and John.They entered the leader’s house and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and neighbors bringing in casseroles.Jesus was abrupt:“Whyallthis busybodygriefandgossip?This child isn’t dead; she’s sleeping.”Provoked to sarcasm, theytoldhimhedidn’tknowwhathewastalkingabout. But when he had sent themallout,he tookthe child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and enteredthechild’sroom.Heclaspedthegirl’shandand said,“Talithakoum,”which means,“Littlegirl,getup.” At that,she was up and walking around!This girlwas twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves withjoy.Hegavethemstrictorders thatno one was to know what had taken place in that room. Then he said,“Give hersomething to eat” (Mark5:2124,35-43,THE MESSAGE).

That’s a very simple story,and yet it can make a powerful impact in your life if you will listen to it closely. Jesus was saying that what thosepeople had said to Jairus was nothing butshadows.Hesaidthatwhenshadowscomeintoyourlife when you’re believing for one thing and a different report comes in its stead we must continue to trust in Him. Ifyou keeplisteningtonegativereports,theshadows getdarkerand darker, and it affects your imagination and your thoughts. It gets between you and the Word.You’renot looking to Jesus, and you begin to lose yourfocus and yourfaith.Nowyou’re fearful,andfearattractsSatanlikefaithattractsGod.

If you give God’s Word first place in your life, then God confirmsHisWordwithsignsfollowing.IfyoujoinwithSatan, then Satan has legal right to confirm his word with signs following.HaveyouevernoticedhowSatanwillkeeptryingto getyoutogoforhislies?Youcanwakeupinthemorningand have a pain in your side or in your arm, and the devil will immediately say, “Arthritis.” You might respond by saying, “No,that’snotarthritis.”Andhe’llcomebackwith,“Bursitis?” You might say, “Nope, this is not bursitis.” And he’ll start namingoffailmentslikeheartattackandstrokejusttoseewhat you’llfallfor.Allhe’sdoingiscastingshadowsatyou.

RememberwhatJesus said abouttheman whosedaughter some said was dead? He didn’t say, “Did they say dead? Dead? Oh, dear God. Get me out of here quick. I’ve healed a few headaches, but I don’t know about death.” No. It didn’t frighten Him in the least. He turned and told Jairus, “Don’t listen to them, and let’s go.” Sometimes before you can get anythingdone,youhavetofirstgetridofalltheunbelief.Get rid of all the religious people. All the doubters. All the naysayers. Finally, Jesus said to the little girl, “Daughter, arise.” What that means is,“Little lamb,it’s time to wake up.” Deathwasbutashadow.

There are shadows in your life today that have no substance. Satan is trying to get you to buy into them. He’s telling you, “Oh, you’re going under this year. Business is goingtobebadandyou’renotgoingtomakeit.You’regoing toloseeverythingyou’vegot.”Justknowthatyoudon’thave toacceptthoselies.StaywithGod’sWordandjustwatchwhat Godwilldo.

I want to encourage you the way brother Copeland encouraged me. Whatever you are facing, you are not alone. Jesus is by your side. You may have been told, “There’s not enough money.” That’s a shadow. You may have been told, “You’llneverbehealedofthatdisease!”That’s ashadow.You may have been told, “Your kids will never get off drugs.” That’s a shadow.The next time Satan tries to discourage you with a lack of finances, sickness or family problems, let him knowfromthestartthathis threats arenothing butashadow, andshadowscannothurtyou.

LOOKSLIKEAJOBFOR ELSHADDAI

“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”(Matt.19:26, KJV).“‘Whatdoyoumean,“IfIcan”?’ Jesus asked. ‘Anything is possible if a person believes’ ” (Mark 9:23, NLT). Whenever a problem or what someone might call impossibility arises in my life, I don’t declare it impossible. I just smile real big and say, “Looks like another challengefortheWordofGod.”Whatlookstobeimpossibleis justanotheropportunityforyoutoturnatestintoatestimony.

Letmesharewithyouastoryaboutasituationthatlooked impossible for a man named Abrahamand his wife, Sarah. It comesoutoftheOldTestament:

AbrahamandSarahwerealreadyoldandwelladvanced in years, and Sarah was long past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought,“AfterIamwornoutandmymasterisold,will I now have this pleasure?” Then the LORD said to Abraham,“Why did Sarah laugh and say,‘WillIreally have a child,nowthat Iamold?’Is anything too hard fortheLORD?Iwillreturntoyouattheappointedtime

next year and Sarah will have a son” (Gen. 18:11-14, NIV).

Nowlet’s go backa fewchapters earlierand pickup on a conversationthathadtakenplacemanyyearsbefore:

Abramreplied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all yourblessings when Idon’t even have a son? Since I don’thaveason,EliezerofDamascus,aservant in my household,willinheritallmywealth.Youhavegivenme no children, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

Then theLORD said to him,“No,yourservant willnot be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you.” Then the LORD broughtAbramoutsidebeneath thenightsky and told him,“Lookup into the heavens and count the stars if you can.Yourdescendants willbelikethat too many to count!” And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declaredhimrighteous becauseofhis faith(Gen. 15:2-6,NLT).

It’s important to notice that God told Abrahamhe would haveachildwhowouldbehisheir;thesonhealreadyhadwas not the heir.Ifyou are familiarwith this story,you knowthat Sarahwasunabletoconceive.TheBibletellsusthatherwomb was dead. But God told Abrahamthat he would have a son fromhis barren wife.Abrahamand Sarah both thought it was impossible. It could never happen. There was absolutely no

way. It violated natural laws. Nevertheless, God had spoken somethingoverthemsupernaturallythatwas impossibleinthe natural.

Ilikewhat Iheard GloriaCopeland say onetime.Shesaid, “God has nevertold Kenneth and meto do anything thatwas possible.Ifit were possible,then it would not take faith.And it’simpossibletopleaseGodwithoutfaith.”Youmightsaythat ifeverythingyoudois possibleinthenatural,thenitjustmay bethatyouhaven’theardfromGodyet.

Everything God tells us to do is impossible in the natural because He requires our faith. If you can accomplish everythinginyourownmight,withyourownresources andin your own ability, intellect and wisdom, then you need to questionwhetherornotyouaredoingwhatGodwants youto do. If you can do it, then what do you need Him for? God wants you involved in things that,in the natural,you cannot do.Boy,whenHecalledme,Hefoundsomebodywhocouldn’t doanything.This is whatmakes mesaythatwithoutHimIam nothing,butinHimIamunlimited.“Icandoallthingsthrough Christwhichstrengthenethme”(Phil.4:13,KJV).

ItMayBe...orItMayNot

Abrahamand Sarah were faced with an impossible situation. They could not produce what God was asking them to produce,sotheydecidedtotakematters intotheirownhands. Sarah,Abraham’s wife,had not been able to bearchildren for him.But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.So Sarah saidtoAbraham,“TheLORDhaskeptmefromhavingchildren.

...Goandsleepwithmyservant.Perhaps Icanhavechildren throughher”(Gen.16:2, NLT).The King James Version quotes Sarah as having said to herhusband,“Ipray thee,go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her” (emphasisadded).

Letmegiveyouawarning.Anytimeyoustartdealingwith “it may be,” you are about to lean into the armof the flesh. Remember,Godisalwaysexact.Thereareno“itmaybe’s”with God.IrememberthefirsttimeIgotinvolvedinan“itmaybe.”I had surrendered my life to the Lord and accepted my call to preach. I was learning to live by faith the way I heard it preachedbybrotherKennethCopeland.Atthetime,Ifeltthat God was going to callmeto atraveling ministry.Well,you’ve got to have a means of transportation to do that. If you’re goingtobeamobileministry,thenyouneedsomethingtoget frompointAtopointB.

Ihad a problemin my life.My “something” was broke.It was a1964OldsmobileLuxurySedanthatluxuryhadleftmany years ago. I paid $187.50for it, and the odometer had turned overmorethan100,000miles.Thatoldcarwasabsolutelyworn out.Actually,itwasatotalwreckwhenIboughtit.Theoriginal ownerranitintoatree,soIdidalotofrebuildingonit.Bythe time Igot through with it,it looked good.You really couldn’t tellit had everbeen wrecked. But still, the engine was on its wayoutalongwiththetransmission.

IknewIwasgoingtobeatravelingpreacher,butmymeans oftransportationwas shot.Ithought, I’m just going to live by faith.IfiguredifIwas goingtobelieveforacar,thenIneeded

tocheckoutafew.Iwenttoallthedealerships.Ihadworkedin many ofthose dealerships,so the folks at those places knew me well. I picked up new car brochures, brought themhome and laid themon the floorin a circle. Igot right down in the middle of that pile of brochures and started praying in the Spirit.Surely,Godwouldleadmeandplacemyhandonthecar that He wanted me to have. So I prayed for a while and determined thatGod wanted meto havesomething in theway ofa station wagon; with a wife and two kids,we would need plentyofspace.

One day,Icame up to my wife and told herto put on her Sunday best.Wewent to thenewcardealership that sold the particularcarIbelievedGodwantedmetohaveandaskedone ofthe salesmen ifwe could take a lookat it.We tookit fora test drive,and did we fallin love with that car!The salesman camebackandaskeduswhatwethoughtofit.“That’stheone we want,allright,” Ireplied.“Great,” he said.“Come into my office.”

Theguybegantogethis paperworktogether,andIbegan to get alittlenervous.See,Ididn’t haveadimeto my name.I was believing thatGod was going to showup.Iwas thinking, Surely, it may be. We started going through the basic questions on the forms and then he asked, “So, howdo you plantopayforthiscar?”

Anytimeyoustartdealing with“itmaybe,”youare

Ilookedathimforamomentandsaid,“MyFather’s going tobuyitforme.”“Oh,really?”themanasked.“Howwillyour father finance this?” “He’s going to pay cash,” I replied. He thenaskedmewhatmyfatherdid.“Oh,Hedoes alotofstuff. You nameit;Hedoes it.Imean,you know,He’s justinto alot of things.” I started feeling under pressure. I kept looking around to see if some angel was going to fly right into the dealershipwithabagfullofmoneyanddropitonthetable.

I mean, it may be. The problem was that God had not orchestratedanyofthis.ThiswasallJerry.NotGod,butJerry.I continuedtositinthatofficewherethesalesmancontinuedto askmequestions thatkeptboxingmein.Finally,Ibroke.Itold him, “Sir, forgive me. I apologize. You’re going to thinkI’ma fool,butI’vegottotellyouwhathappened.Isurrenderedmy lifetotheLord,andrightnowI’mendeavoringtolivebyfaith. IthoughtthatsomehowGod would meetmein someway and buymethis car.Iapologizeforwastingyourtime.I’vemadea foolofmyselfandI’veembarrassedmyfamily.”

The salesman looked at me and said,“You’re a Christian.”

“Yes,”Ireplied.“Givemeyourhand,”hesaid.Hethentookmy hand and said, “Father, I agree in the name of Jesus.” That made me feel a little better, but God never showed up, and I walkedoutofthedealershipwithoutacar.IrealizedthatIhad,

abouttoleanintothearmof theflesh.Thereareno“it maybe’s”withGod.

like Abrahamand Sarah, taken things into my own hands. I believed,“Surely,God wanted this carforme.” But Iwas not beingledbyGod;Iwas beingledbymyself.You’vegottobe carefulofthinking,“Surely,it may be.”

TheProblemwithIshmaels

Now,Sarah apparently thought this way as well,because she was faced with an impossible situation. God told her and her husband that she would have a child even though it was physicallyimpossible.SoSarah,inherownmind,triedtofigure outhowitwas goingtohappen.Thestory,as youreadalittle ofit earlier,goes on to tellus that Abrahamcame in one day fromdoingwhateveritwashewasdoing,andtheconversation wentsomethinglikethis.

“Hi,Sarah,” Abrahamsaid.“Hello,Abraham,” she replied. “You know,I’vebeen praying allday.I’vebeen meditating on what God told us about this child business. You know it’s impossible forme to conceive,and while Ibelieve God wants us to have a child,Ithinkwhat He really meant was that you needtohaveitthroughmyhousemaiden,Hagar.She’stheone whocanconceive. It may be ...nowlistentome,Abraham, it may be this is theway God intended forthis to cometo pass. You pray about it and let me knowwhat you think.Take your time.” Abrahamdidn’t need much time. He looked at his wife andsaid,“That’sawonderfulidea.”Hedidn’tevenprayabout it.“Yep.SoundslikeGodtome.”

Whathappenedis thatAbrahamandHagareventuallygot together. Hagar conceived and they named their baby boy

Ishmael. At the time, Abraham was 86 years old. The next chapter in Genesis begins with, “When Abramwas 99 years old, the Lord appeared to himand said, ‘I amGod Almighty; serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenantwithyou,bywhichIwillguaranteetomakeyouinto amightynation’”(Gen.17:1-2,NLT).

After Ishmael was born, the next time God spoke to Abraham was 13 years later. There were 13 years of silence between the two of them. Why? Because Ishmael was not God’s will.Ishmaelwas aresultofAbrahamleaningtothearm of the flesh. The book of Galatians tells us that Ishmaelwas born after the flesh and Isaac (the son who would be miraculouslyborntoSarahandAbraham)wasbornbypromise (see Gal. 4:23). In other words, there are things you can produce out of the flesh and there are things that can be producedbystandingonthepromisesofGod.

Idon’t knowabout you,but I’ve had some “Ishmaels” in my life (Icallthe things that we make happen because ofour lackofpatience“Ishmaels”).Iused to thinkIhad betterideas than God because He was taking too long to fulfill His promises. I remember one time when I had sold my airplane and,by theinstruction oftheLord,Isplit themoney between twodifferentministries.Istillneededanairplane myschedule demanded it but Iwas stuckwithout an airplane.So Ibegan believingGodforanotherairplane.YouwouldthinkthatafterI had given this money away the other airplane would have shownupthenextday.Ineededitthenextday,afterall.Butit didn’tshowup.Itdidn’tshowupinaweek.Itdidn’tshowup inamonth.Itdidn’tevenshowupinayear.

Oneday,out oftheblue,aman called and told mehehad an airplaneto sellme,a“JimDandy”littleairplane.Heinvited me out to MeachamAirport to take a lookat it.That was the first thing I’d heard in a long time about airplanes,and Iwas quite desperate at that point. So I met him and looked at it closely.Honestly,IwantedanairplanesobadlythatIwouldn’t havecared ifit werealawn mowerwith wings.Ilooked at the airplane,anditlookedbackatmelikeitwantedmetoownit.

Keep in mind that God had told me years before, “I will keep you in airplanes in your ministry, but you are never to borrow money for them. I don’t want you flying an airplane with money owed againstit.”Ididn’thavemoney to buy that airplane,buttheguywhowanted tosellittold me,“I’vebeen praying.” He wanted to sell it to me at wholesale below marketvalue.Well,itsoundedlikeGodtome!Theproblemwas theguy wanted to sellit quickly.He didn’t have long to wait; heneededanimmediatedecision.

IaskedGod,“IsthisYou?”InevergotananswerbecauseI knewitwasn’tGod.Why?BecauseIdidn’thavethemoneyto pay forit.ButIwanted itso badly thatIborrowed themoney togetit.Itwasn’talot,butIhadthemostdifficultandpainful time making that payment each month. I asked God what the problemwas and He told me, “You’re flying an Ishmael. You leanedtothearmoftheflesh.Youdidn’tstandonMypromise; sowhatyouhaveproducedisanIshmael.”Ididn’tknowwhat to do about it,so Iasked Him.God told meto believeHimfor the money to pay it offand then give it away to someone He alreadyhadinmind.

Ishmaelwasaresultof

Abrahamleaningtotheflesh. Ishmaelwasbornafterthe flesh,andIsaacwasbornby promise.Therearethings youcanproduceoutofthe fleshandtherearethingsthat canbeproducedbystanding onthepromisesofGod.

You know what? When I made that agreement with God, themoneycamequicklyandIpaidoffthedebt.OnedayIwas havingameetinginFortWorth,andIinvitedthemantowhom Godhadtoldmetogivetheplaneasoneofmyguestspeakers. ButIwasalittleconfused.IsaidtoGod,“IfIgivethisairplane to that man, then he’s going to have an Ishmael, too.” God replied,“No,hewon’t.He’s believingforitdebtfree.Itwillbe anIsaacforhim.”Thatmanwas HappyCaldwell.Rightbefore hestartedtospeak,Ihandedhimthekeystotheplane.Hewas sothrilled,andtheplanewasablessingtohislife.

That’s the last time I ever flew an Ishmael. I don’t drive Ishmael cars. I don’t wear Ishmael clothes. I don’t live in Ishmaelhouses.Idon’thaveanIshmaelministry.Ishmaelwas notaproductoffaith.Ishmaelwasacompromise.

WhenElShaddaiShowsUp

Let’stakealookatapassagefromthebookofRomansandget adescriptionofAbrahamandhisfaithaswrittenbyPaul:

That’s why faith is the key!God’s promise is given to us as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it, whether or not we follow Jewish customs, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abrahamis the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.”This happened becauseAbrahambelieved in the God who brings the dead back to life and who brings into existence what didn’t exist before. When God promised Abraham that he would become the fatherofmanynations,Abrahambelievedhim.Godhad alsosaid,“Yourdescendantswillbeasnumerousasthe stars,” even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible!And Abraham’s faith did notweaken,even thoughheknewthathewastoooldtobeafatheratthe ageofonehundredandthatSarah,his wife,hadnever been able to have children.Abrahamneverwavered in believingGod’spromise.Infact,hisfaithgrewstronger, andinthis hebroughtglorytoGod.Hewas absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. And because of Abraham’s faith, God declaredhimtoberighteous(Rom.4:16-22,NLT).

Abraham’s giving in to his wife’s suggestion that he

conceiveachild with herhandmaiden certainly doesn’tsound likethemanPauldescribedhere.Whydoesn’titsayinGenesis that after Sarah said he should mate with another woman, Abrahamsaid something backto herlikethis:“In thenameof Almighty God,Irebuke that thought.Iamnot weakening my faith in the promise of God. I consider not my body or the deadnessofyourwomb.We’regoingtostandonGod’sWord. Now,Sarah,Idon’tknowwhatyou’vebeendoingallday,girl, but it’s not praying. You need to quit watching those soap operas becausesomethinggotdownontheinsideofyouthat isn’tGod.”

That’s not what Abraham said, of course. So something hereisnotmakingsense.Arewetalkingaboutthesamemanof faith in Romans as the one we read about in Genesis? What was Paultalkingaboutwhenhesaid,“Abraham’s faithdidnot weaken” and “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise”?WhatPaulwrotewas adescription ofAbrahamnot when hewas 75or85years old.It’s adescription ofAbraham whenhewas 99years old.Somethinghappenedtohimatthat age that changed his life forever. From that moment on, he neverstaggeredatthepromiseofGodagain.

So what happened? Read the verse in Genesis again. “When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; serve me faithfullyandliveablamelesslife’”(Gen.17:1,NLT).Attheage of99,Abrahamhad a visitation fromElShaddai.You may be wondering what the big dealis. You have to understand that priortothattime,AbrahamdidnotknowGodas “ElShaddai.” He knew God as “Elohim,” which in the Hebrew means “the

God who created heaven and earth,” “the God who created nature”and“theGodwhocreatedallnaturallaws.”

Thereason Sarah had ahard timewith God telling hershe wasgoingtobearachildwasbecauseinhermindthatviolated thelawsofElohim.Elohimcreatedman.Elohimcreatedwoman. Elohim created the reproductive organs. Elohim created the laws of reproduction. And in the laws that Elohim created concerningreproduction,youmusthaveasperm,anegganda womb that is able to conceive. But since she couldn’t conceive, Abraham and Sarah compromised. They hatched theirownplan.

Thirteen years later, God appeared to Abraham, but not onlyasElohim,creatororpreserverofnaturallaw.Heappeared asElShaddai,whichmeans“theOnewhoreservestherightto reverse,override,prolongoracceleratenaturallaws.”Godtold Abraham, “I amappearing to you today as ElShaddai, and I reservetheright to overridenaturallaws.”OnceAbrahamgot hold ofthat,hedidn’t waverin his faith.Hestood strong.He didn’t considerhis dead body orthe barren womb ofhis wife anylonger.Hebeganpreparingforthearrivalofhis sonIsaac, thesonbornofpromise.

Ittakes ElShaddaicomingonthescenewhenyou’refaced with a situation that looks impossible. When things can’t happen in the natural, it’s a job for El Shaddai. Paul wrote, “Whereas the child [Ishmael] of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth” (Gal. 4:23, AMP). That’s the reason Ishmaelcould neverbe the heir, the seed, to Abraham’s promise. He came by ordinary birth. God

did not want Isaac, the promised son, coming by ordinary means. He wanted Isaac coming by supernatural means. He wantedElShaddaitobeinvolvedinoverridingnaturallaws.He wantedittobeajobforElShaddai.

Once ElShaddaigot involved,Sarah conceived and Isaac was born. It was a miracle. In fact, she went around town saying,“Whowouldeverbelieveanoldwomanlikemeandan oldmanlikehimcouldbringforthachild?”Butithappened.El Shaddaigot the job done.Let me make this point.ElShaddai never goes around overriding, reversing, prolonging or accelerating naturallaws because He has nothing else to do. TheonlytimeHewilloverride,reverse,prolongoracceleratea naturallawiswhenthat’swhatittakestofulfillHisWord.

One ofthe greatest examples ofElShaddaishowing up is found in the book of Joshua. The warrior Joshua was faced with a battle where,in orderforhimto win,the sun must not set. In Genesis 1, Elohimcreated the sun and the moon and gavethemcommands:“Sun,youlighttheearthbyday.Moon, youlighttheearthbynight.”They’rebothunderthedirection ofElohim.

In this particularsituation, Joshua needed more time. The suncouldnotgodownifhewastobevictorious.(Lookslikea job forElShaddai!)Joshua pointed to the sun and the moon and commanded themto bestill.“So thesun and moon stood stilluntiltheIsraeliteshaddefeatedtheirenemies”(Josh.10:13, NLT).ElShaddaioverrodenaturallawinorderthatHisservant couldbevictorious.

Jesus Himself experienced the work of El Shaddai.

Everywhere He went, He manifested El Shaddai. Do you remember when Jesus first entered into public ministry? His first miraclewas turning waterinto wine.He and His disciples were at a banquet forquite some time when the wine ran out.

Jesus toldthemtotakeapot,fillitwithwater(whichhewould supernaturally turn to wine) and offer it to the host of this party. Clearly that violated natural laws. But El Shaddai accelerated natural law. I’ve been told that wine takes about three years to make from the time you plant the seed that produces the vine that produces the grape and becomes the wine.ElShaddaimadeithappenimmediately.

Butthestorygetsbetter.Whentheofficialtastedthewine, he said, “Usually a host serves the best wine first . . . then, when everyoneis fulland doesn’tcare,hebrings outtheless expensivewines.Butyouhavekeptthebestuntilnow!”(John 2:10, NLT). Average-tasting wine takes about three years to make; but the best wine is a minimumsix-yearprocess. So El Shaddai didn’t just accelerate something that normally takes threeyears.He did something that normally takes sixyears to doinlesstimethanittakestoblinkyoureye.

WhatDoYouSayintheFaceofthe Impossible?

In 1973,theFullGospelbusinessmen held aworld convention inHonolulu,Hawaii.IwasstillworkingforbrotherCopelandat that time and,normally,everywhere he went to preach,Iwent with him.But sincehewas aguest speakerat themeeting,he saidtherewouldn’tbeanyneedformetogowithhim.

Ihad somevacation timeon my hands,so Iasked brother Copeland ifCarolyn and Icould go on the trip ifwe paid our own way.Hesaid,“Sure.”My wifeand Ibelieved God forthe money,and we went.Many ofthe people who attended were very affluent. The men wore nice suits and their wives were decked out with diamonds.Ididn’t knowyou could wearthat much jewelry!Carolyn and Ifelt like a couple ofGomerPyles. We’dneverseenanythinglikeit.

At the time, the hippie movement was still going on. So there were folks who came right off the beach and into that meetingtogetsaved.Theydidn’tcomedressedupliketheFull Gospelbusinessmenandtheirwives.Theycameinlookinglike beachbums.Therewas onesurfer-hippieguywhoshowedup out of nowhere. He had the typical long hair and casual attitude. The most intelligent thing he’d ever said in his life was, “Farout!” So he came into that meeting, got saved and wasfilledwiththeHolySpirit.

The meeting was held at the beautiful Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.It had a glass elevatorthat hung on the outside ofthe building where you could ride up to the top and catch a magnificent view of the city of Honolulu. It was quite an architecturalfeatinthosedays.Ithoughtthatwas theneatest thingI’deverseeninmylife.MywifeandIweren’tstayingin thathotel.Itcostwaytoomuchmoney.ButItoldmywifethat Iwas going to ride that elevatorbefore Ileft.I’llneverforget thatrideaslongasIlive.

One night, affluent Full Gospel folk were eating at a restaurant that was at the top of the hotel. I was there when

they got in the elevatorto go backdown to the ground level. Suddenly, the surfer bumwho had just gotten saved opened thedoorand got in with us.Hestood therewith his long hair and flip-flops, his tank top and swimming trunks and looked unbelievably out of place with the folks decked out in diamonds, expensive suits and alligator shoes. As we were goingdown,theelevatorstopped.Itjusthungbetweenfloors atthetopofthathotel.

Pandemoniumbroke out. Afewmoments before, allthese Holy Ghost people were speaking in tongues, but now they were fearful. The beach bum, who’d only been saved a short time,lookedaroundatthefearandpanicandslowlymovedto the front of the elevator. He stood right in front of all the screaming people, got down into a surfing stance and said, “Looks like a job for the Holy Ghost!” Then he prayed in tongues for a little bit, then pushed one of the elevator buttons.Immediately the elevatorstarted moving down.Since thatday,everytimeIheartheword“impossible,”Ijustgetinto asurfer’sstanceandsay,“LookslikeajobforElShaddai!”

Sometimes in the middle of the night, the devil will wake youupandsay,“Thereisnowaythatamountofmoneyisever goingtocomeintoyourhands.”“Thereis nowayyoucanbe healed.”“Thereisnowayyouwillhavewhatyouarebelieving for.”Whatdoyoudo?Youneedtobreakoutintoyourstance and say,“Looks like a job forElShaddai!” The next time you go to church and someone tells you,“DearGod,we’re facing the most impossible thing we’ve ever faced in our life,” you just tellthem,“Looks likeajob forElShaddai!”Thenext time youareatyourjobandsomeonecries,“Oh,myGod,suchand

such happened. What are we going to do?” you just shout, “LookslikeajobforElShaddai!”

WAITING,FALLING,ARISING

WaitontheGodofYourSalvation

The book of Micah gives us a comforting and challenging message:“ThereforeIwilllooktotheLORD;Iwill wait forthe God of my salvation: my God will hear me” (Mic. 7:7, KJV, emphasis added). Isn’t it wonderfulwhen answers to prayers come instantly? The truth is, they usually don’t. Not everythinghashappenedinstantlyinmywalkoffaith.I’vehad somemiracles thathavehappenedalmostas quicklyas Icould speak God’s Word out of my mouth. I’ve had some manifestations that have happened within an hour of the prayerbeingprayed.Butwiththemajorityofmyadventuresin faith,I’vehadtowait.Andwait.Andwaitsomemore.

Iliketosayitthis way:Ilivebetween“amen”and“thereit is.”ThemomentIpray,IbelieveIreceive.ThenIstartmywalk offaith; Iamgoing from“amen” to “there it is.” Many times theperiodbetweenthetwoislong.ButIstillhavetowait.How longdomostofushavetowait?That’saneasyanswer until ithappens.I’vewaitedforweeks,months andevenyears.I’ve even had some things that have happened recently that took 10yearsbeforetheymanifested.

I like what brother Kenneth Hagin used to say: “If you preparetostandforever,thenitwon’ttakeverylong.”Yousee,

most Christians are not prepared to stand forever. They are preparedtostandforalittlewhile.Theyarepreparedtostand untilit hurts.They are prepared to stand untilmore adversity comes. They are prepared to stand until persecution comes. They are prepared to stand until everybody in town says it won’t work. You have got to come to the place in your life where you are prepared to stand forever,and yourattitude is “I willwait.” If you have this attitude, then God willcome through.

Godis faithful!IseldomknowhowGodis goingtobringit about. I don’t know how He is going to do it. However, I learnedmanyyearsagotostoptryingtofigureouthowGodis going to do whatever He is going to do. That’s not my business. My responsibility is to believe and wait. We really havetheeasy part.I’mglad that Iamnot theonewho has to removeacancer.Ijusthaveto wait.I’mglad thatIamnotthe onewho has to gatherup allthemoney Ineed.Ijust haveto wait. I’m glad that I am not the one who has to change circumstances,alternaturallaws ormanipulate things to make somethinghappen.Ijusthavetowait.Iwanttochallengeyou todaretostandinfaithandwait. Stoptryingtofigureouthow Godisgoingtodowhatever Heisgoingtodo.That’snot yourbusiness.Your

responsibilityistobelieve andwait.Daretostandin faithandwait.

Thisremindsmeofwhathappenedtomeanumberofyears ago when Ileft brotherKenneth Copeland’s organization and launchedoutintomyownministry.Iwas travelingalloverthe country preaching,and Iwas driving everywhere.Iwas going toandfromplaces likeNewYork,L.A.andMiami.Onedaythe Lord spoke to me and said,“Iwant you to start believing Me foranairplaneforyourministry.”ItoldHim,“God,Idon’tneed anairplane.Idon’tevenknowhowtoflyone.”“No,”Hesaid, “You don’t understand. I know you don’t need an airplane now, but you will need one eventually. Don’t wait until the pressureisontostartbelievingMeforit.Doitnow.”

So I started believing. Now, I didn’t go around telling anybody about it. I didn’t send out letters about it. I didn’t start preaching about it. I just believed and went about my business.Severalmonths later,therewas agreaterdemand on my ministry.There was no way Icould do allthe traveling by car. The airplane idea started making sense. It wasn’t something I wanted; it was what I needed. And now I was waiting.TheLordaskedmeoneday,“Doyoubelieveyouhave receivedtheairplaneyouneed?”Isaid,“Yes!”Hethenasked, “So why aren’t you acting like it?” What? How are you supposed to act like you have an airplane?

God spoke to me further, “How would it affect your

scheduletodayifyouhadanairplane?”Ithoughtforamoment and said, “I could get to more places in a shorter period of time.”Hetoldmetosetupmyscheduleas ifIhadanairplane. It sounded crazy, but He was making a good point. I really needed to start acting as if Ialready had what I believed for. The Bible says that “faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:26, KJV).

Itold theman in my officewho handled my scheduling to start making some phone calls. In the past, we’d had to turn downanumberofinvitations topreachbecauseIcouldn’tget thereintimebycar.Itoldhimtocallallthosepeoplebackand to start scheduling meetings. There was silence on the other endofthephone.Iknewwhathewas thinking, How on earth are we going to make this happen? Afterall,he was the one who droveeverywherewe preached.But he did what Iasked, and when Igot the schedule ofwhere Iwas going,Icouldn’t believeit.IwassetuplikeIalreadyhadanairplane.Therewas nowayIcouldgettoalltheseplacesinacar.

You would think that after I did my part, the God of my salvation would have shown up before my hectic schedule actually began. There were too many places to go and not enoughtimetogettherebydriving.SoIwaitedontheGodof my salvation.Iwaited fordays.Iwaited fornights.Ichecked the backyard to see if my airplane was there. I checked the officeandparkinglot.Icheckedeverywhere.Nothing.

Thefirstmeetingcame;noairplane.IaskedHimwhatIwas todo.“Getonacommercialairlineandflythere,”Hetoldme.I said,“Butmostofthoseairlinesdon’tgototheselittletowns.”

“Soflyas faras youcan,andgetinacaranddrivetherestof theway,”Hereplied.

Well,IdidwhatIhadtodoandsomehowmanagedtomake thatmeeting.Itwasn’teasy.Ihad no ideahowIwas going to continue keeping my hectic schedule. I didn’t know how He was going to give me the airplane that I desperately needed. Butmyjobwassimplytowait.Ayearandahalfwentby,andI was stillwaiting.At some point,ourorganization hired a man for a management position. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had morethan10,000hoursofflyingexperience.WhenIfoundthat out, I thought, “There’s my pilot!” Finally something was happening.

Some time later, I was invited by some folks froma little town in west Texas to preach to a handfulofpeople.When I got there I found out I was going to be preaching in an abandoned Laundromat. It was the only place these people couldfindtoholdthis meeting.Themanwhoorganizedittold me that the localchurch didn’t want us in there, so the only place available was this old building. I didn’t thinktoo much aboutitbecauseIhadpreachedinallkindsofplaces bowling alleys,servicestations;Ievenpreachedinaloungeonce.

I got over to that abandoned Laundromat and there were no pews,not even any realseats to speakof.It certainly did nothavethemakings ofasuccessfulmeeting.Ipreachedwith abroken-downdryerasmypodiumforabout3daysinfrontof 12people.

Right in the middle of one of the services, a man came walking through the backdoor. He looked like he weighed at

least 275 pounds. He had dust all over his bib overalls and woreastrawhat.Inarealdeepvoicehetoldme,“Godsentme. Iwas plowing myfieldand Godtoldmeto comeherebecause somepreacherboy needs my help.Idon’t go nowhereunless Godtellsmeto.”HissaidhisnamewasOop.

AshestoodtheretellingmehowGodtoldhimIneededhis help,Iwas wondering wherein theworld this guy camefrom! He looked like the least likely to be used of God to meet my need.Then he said,“God told me that you need an airplane.” That sure got my attention.You have to rememberthat Ihad never mentioned, preached or talked about this need to anyone. Oop reached into the pockets of his dusty overalls and started pulling out money. Just before he walked out the doorofthebuilding,Oop said,“God told meto giveyou that for that airplane, boy. Now God has told me to leave, and I won’tbeback’less Godtells me.”WhenIcountedthemoney, it wasn’t enough foran airplane,but it was a good start.The God ofmy salvation was showing up.What next? Wait some more.

Whileyouaresittingand

readingthisbook,Godisout thereworkingonyourbehalf inyoursituation.Ifyouare willingtowait,whatyouare waitingforwillhappen.

Don’tgiveup!

Iwent offto Omaha,Nebraska,to preach at a convention with brotherFred Price.Wehad been thereallweek.Afterthe meeting was over,we allheaded backto the airport.My wife andIweregettingreadytogetonaflighttogobacktoTexas, andbrotherFredandhis wife,Betty,wereheadedbacktotheir homeinLosAngeles.Aswepartedwaystogettoourgates,it hitmelikeatonofbricks.Iturnedaroundandstartedyellingin themiddleoftheterminaltogetbrotherFred’sattention.

“What do you want?” he yelled back. I shouted, “Fred, I just wanted to tellyou that Iamnot moved by this.Ibelieve I’ve got my own airplane. It’s coming!” Allthe people in the airportlooked atbrotherFred and melikewewereacoupleof nuts.ButIdidn’tcare.Itwasn’ttheirairplane;itwasmine.And itwascoming.

When I got backhome, our office manager picked up my wifeand me.Hehanded meanotewith thenameand number ofa couple that Carolyn and Iwere friends with.They said it was very important that Icallthembackthat night, and they even wanted to meet with us for dinner. I called them that evening,andwemadeplanstohavedinneratalocalrestaurant in Dallas.So there Iwas,sitting at the table minding my own business and enjoying somecrabmeatwhen oneofthemsaid, “Brother Jerry, the reason we called you to have dinner is becauseGodtoldustogiveyouanairplane.”

Boy,Iwas soexcitedIalmostthrewmycrabmeatintheair!

Theysaidthatayearandahalfpreviously,Godhadtoldthem thattheairplanetheywereflyingbelongedtome.Theproblem wastheyowedseveralthousanddollarsonit,andGodwanted itgiventomedebtfree.Soforayearandahalftheywaitedon God to have it paid off.And there Iwas fora yearand a half waiting on the God of my salvation for an airplane. I had no idea these people were believing God forthe money to pay it off.TheentiretimeIwas waiting,God was working.Iwant to submittoyouwhileyouaresittingandreadingthis bookthat God is out there working on your behalf for your particular situation.Ifyouarewillingtowait,whatyouarewaitingforwill happen.Don’tgiveup!

Don’tLettheDevilRejoiceOverYour Stumbles

Read what else Micah wrote.“Rejoice not against me,Omine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shallbe a light unto me” (Mic.7:8, KJV).Do you know whathappenswhenyouarewaitingonGod?Thedeviltriesto convince you that it won’t happen.He tells you that it won’t come to pass. He starts putting pressure on you. He tries to tempt you to give up. He whispers negative things in your ears.Heiswaitingforyoutoquit.

When does your enemy rejoice against you? When you fall.When you make mistakes.When you slip up.When you don’t resist temptation. When you yield to pressure. When youdon’tobeyGod.Whenyoumakevowsonedayandforget themthe next. The devil loves it when you stumble. You’ve

probably heard himridicule you. You’ve heard himintimidate you. You thought you were really trying to live by faith, but youmessedupandthedevilstartedlaughing.

It’s timeforyoutostandupandshout,“Devil,youarenot laughing at me anymore.” Howdo you stop Satan’s laughter? Howdo you stop his rejoicing? Don’t yield to his pressures. Don’tyieldtohisattacks.Don’tyieldtohisaccusations.

GetUp!

Micah said, “When I fall, I shall arise. ” Notice that he had fallen. He stumbled. Allof us have stumbled and fallen at all times.Wehaveallmissedit.Wehaveallblownit.Wehaveall made mistakes. We have all come short of the glory of God. Theworstthingyoucandowhenyoufallisrefusetogetup.If youtrip,themostnaturalthingtodoistogetup.Youwouldn’t stayonthegroundforever,wouldyou?No,youwouldjustget up. Which one do you thinkis the biggerand betterperson: theonewhostumbles andlies aroundfortherestofhis orher life, wallowing in self-pity because he/she made a mistake, or the one who stumbles,gets up,moves on,cuts the strings to hisorherpastandsays,“Yes,Ifell.Bigdeal!MyGodisbigger than my mistake. I amgoing on.” If you fall, the cycle is not completeuntilyouriseagain.

I was preaching in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and walking across ahugeplatformwhilepreachingwhenIfellofftheback oftheplatform.Guess whereIlanded?Inthebass drum.ButI jumped out ofthat drumand kept right on preaching.Inever evenmadeareferencetomyfall.IactedlikethatwasthewayI

preached allthe time. Sure, it was embarrassing. I felt like an idiot sitting there in the bass drum. But I would have looked worsethananidiotifIhadn’tgottenoutandgottenup.What on earth would those people in the audience have thought about me ifthey had come backthe next night and Iwas still sittinginthatbassdrum?

Allofushavestumbledand fallenattimes.Theworst thingyoucandoisrefuseto getup.

I remember watching a man in a shopping mall who was getting ready to go down an escalator.This was way backin themid-seventieswhenthingslikehigh-heeled,platformshoes for men were all the rage. This guy was all decked out in a fancywhitesuit,awhitefelthatwithafeatherinit,thefunniest looking pair of sunglasses and those crazy shoes. When he stepped on the escalator,one ofhis heels got caught right in themiddleofoneofthesteps.Allofasudden,thisguystarted falling allthe way down the escalator. As he was falling, his funny sunglasses flewoffhis face.But when he got down to thebottom,helandedonhis feet.Hereacheddown,pickedup his sunglasses,andsaid,“Well,allrightthen,”andwalkedoff. He acted like that was howhe rode the escalatorallthe time.

Everytimethedeviltriestotripmeupandmakemefall,Ithink

about that man on the escalator. I tell Satan, “Well, all right then,”andImoveon.

Therecomesatimeandaplaceinyourlifewhenyoufinally havetodecideonceandforallthatifyoufalldownitdoesn’t mean theend oftheworld.Many peoplehavecomeup to me and said, “But, brotherJerry, you don’t knowhowfarIhave fallen.”It makes no difference.You can’t get so fardown that Godwon’tpickyouup.“Thestepsofthegodlyaredirectedby the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble,they willneverfall,fortheLORD holds themby thehand”(Ps.37:23-24, NLT).Ifyoufall,knowthatGodis not finished with you.Hedoesn’t thinkyou areofno useto Him. Hesays,“Lookup.I’mholdingyourhand.”

Ifyou arewilling to bepicked up,God willpickyou up.If youwilltogetup,nothingcankeepyoudown.Yourneighbor can’t keep you down. Your coworkers can’t keep you down. You belong standing up.Yourfinances can’t keep you down. Yourtiredbodycan’tkeepyoudown.Youdon’tbelongdown. Godwillgotoanylengthtogetyouup.IfHehastoadmonish you,encourageyou orstand in yourfaceand rebukeyou,He willdo it untilyou get up.Iwant you to get it into yourspirit thatifyoufall,it’s notoveruntilyougetupagain.Don’tever lookatyourfallandmagnifyit.Keepyoureyesongettingup.

When achild is born,itknows nothing aboutwalking.It’s neverevenhadathoughtaboutwalking.There’s neverbeena baby born who, the minute it came out of the womb and the doctorspanked its behind,said,“Thanks,Ineeded that,” and walkedaway.Babies arehelpless.Theyjustliearoundandare

totallydependentonsomebodyelseforeverything.Sooneror later, though, they start finding out some things. They start learning how to communicate and realize that when they cry, someonecomes.

Thefirst timeIeversawmy oldest daughter,Jerriann,was when she was three-and-a-halfmonths old.Iwas stationed at Fort Dixwhen shewas born,so Ididn’t get to bethereat her birth.Irememberonedaywatchingherinthecrib,andallofa sudden shestarted moving herlegs around.Isaid to Carolyn, “What’s the matter with our kid?” She laughed and said, “Nothing.She’s findingoutthatshehas legs.She’s exercising hermuscles.”Jerriannkeptlyinginthatcrib,buteveryoncein a while, she discovered something new about her body. She startedwatchingandmovingherfingers.Shestartedwatching and moving herhands.She started watching and moving her toes.

When she was about seven months old, she was already sittingupandcrawlingandwantingtowalk.Shewasprobably thinking, “Everyone else is walking. Why can’t I?” One day ourfamilywassittingonthelivingroomfloor.Iwasatoneend oftheroomandCarolynwasattheother.Mywifewasholding our daughter up by the waist. She had never taken a step before on her own. I told my little girl, “Come to Daddy, Jerriann.CometoDaddy.”Shelookedatmewiththis hugeol’ grin across herface.She wanted to come to me realbad, but something wouldn’t work. I finally told Carolyn to let go of Jerriannsoshecouldtrytowalkonherown.

When babies take those first steps, and they fall, they

don’tliethereandstoptrying.Theydon’tgiveupandsay,“I just can’t do it. I can’t walk.” They instinctively know that whentheyfall,theywillrise.Theygetupandtryanotherstep. It doesn’t look much like walking, of course, but it’s a start. After much effort and many spills, my daughter eventually madeitintoherdaddy’sarms.

When weareborn again,wearenotborn aspiritualadult. Weareborn aspiritualbaby.Likenewborn babies,“you must cravepurespiritualmilksothatyoucangrowintothefullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment” (1 Pet. 2:2, NLT). We’ve never been in this spiritual place before in our lives.Wedon’tknowanythingaboutwalkingbyfaith.ButGod is telling us, “Come to Daddy.” And there we are, taking our first steps and falling flat on ourfaces.But we can’t quit.We can’t give up. We can’t stay down. If we keep at it, we will makeittoDaddy.

THROWINTHETOWEL ORSTICKITOUT

Don’tQuit

Success is about striving to obtain everything that God has promised is yours,no matterhowlong it takes and no matter whatkindofobstacles youmightface.Successdoes notmean youneverhaveproblems;itmeansyouknowhowtoovercome them. There is no such thing as a life on this planet without problems. We are always going to be confronted with adversity, trials and tests of all kinds. It’s our attitude about theseproblemsthatwilldeterminewhetherwefailorsucceed.

“Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matterwhathappens.Rememberthegreatrewarditbringsyou! Patientenduranceis whatyouneednow,soyouwillcontinue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised”(Heb.10:35-36, NLT).Thereis areward promised to thosewhowillnotgiveup.Thereisarewardpromisedtothose who will stick to it. I don’t see anywhere in the Bible where people who quit are rewarded. It’s only those who develop staying power. THE MESSAGE says it like this, “So don’t throwit allaway now. You were sure ofyourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with

God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.” Youhavecometoofartoquit.Youneedtostickitout.Youare notaquitter;youareawinner!

StayingPower

The book of James gives us something important to think about.“Take,my brethren,the prophets,who have spoken in thenameoftheLord,foranexampleofsufferingaffliction,and of patience. Behold, we count themhappy which endure. Ye haveheardofthepatienceofJob,andhaveseen the end ofthe Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and oftendermercy” (Jas. 5:10-11, KJV, emphasis added). THE MESSAGE puts it this way:“Taketheoldprophetsasyourmentors.Theyputupwith anything,wentthrougheverything,andneveroncequit,allthe time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course!You’ve heard, ofcourse, of Job’s staying power, and you knowhowGod brought it alltogetherforhimat the end. That’sbecauseGodcares,caresrightdowntothelastdetail.”

When Iread these verses,one sentence kept rising up in myspirit:“You’veheard,ofcourse,ofJob’sstayingpower,and youknowhowGodbroughtitalltogetherforhimattheend.”

In fact, I was scheduled to preach in a church in Pasadena, Texas, on a particular Wednesday night. I was sitting on the front rowduring the praise and worship,and as Iwas getting ready to go to thepulpitto preach,theSpiritofGod told meI was to preach on this topic that night. I kept hearing the phrase,“Iamgoing to bring it alltogetherforyou” overand over. I could hardly wait to preach and hear what the Holy

Spirithadtosayabouttheseverses.

There are severalpoints these Scriptures revealto us that will help us experience victory when we are going through difficultsituations.

1.Nomatterwhatyoumightgothrough,don’tquit.

2.Nomatterhowimpossibleyoursituationmayseem,stay oncourse.

3. When your problems seem more than you can bear, developstayingpower.

4.Whenitseemsthatnothingishappening,rememberthat Godisabouttobringitalltogetherforyou.

Itappears tomethatoneofthegreatestneeds intheBody of Christ today is “staying power.” There are way too many believers who give up too quickly. They’re ready to throwin the towelat the first sign ofadversity.These verses in James talk about Job, with whommost of us are familiar. Man, talk about somebody who experienced adversity. And I’mtalking everydayforaperiodofbetween9and12months. Oneofthegreatestneedsin theBodyofChristtodayis

believersaregivinguptoo

“stayingpower.”Toomany

quickly.

It’s important that you understand that the book of Job doesnotcoverthisman’slifetime.Mosttheologiansagreethat itonlycovers aroundayearofhis life.This booktells methat whenthedevilpullsouttheheavyartilleryandfiresitataman for12solid months,day in and day out,God can stillturn the situation around. If you are going through the worst time in yourliferightnow,it’s notoveryet.It’s notoveruntilyousee “theendoftheLord.”Thatphrasedoesn’tmeanthatGodwill no longerexistorceaseto be.Itmeans it’s notoveruntilGod hashadHissayinthematter.

You havegot to wait fortheend oftheLord.It’s not over untilGodhas doneHis part.Godis workingbehindthescenes evenas youreadthis book.Andwhenyouhaveseentheend oftheLord,thatmeansGodhasbroughtitalltogetherforyou.

What was the end of the Lord regarding Job? “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before...theLORDblessedthelatterendofJobmorethanhis beginning” (Job 42:10,12, KJV). That’s what James was referringto.

Haveyouexperiencedyourturnaroundyet?Ifnot,thenit’s notoveryet.YouhavenotseentheendoftheLord.Haveyou experienced restoration yet? Ifnot,then it’s not overyet.You havenotseentheendoftheLord.Areyoubetteroffnowthan youwerebeforethis attackcame?Ifnot,thenit’s notoveryet.

You have not seen the end ofthe Lord.Ifyou are determined thatyouaregoingtostickitout,youaregoingtoseetheend oftheLord.

StickItOut!

The King James Version calls staying power, patience. Being patient means to be constant or consistent. It means never changing,regardless ofthecircumstances.Notenoughpeople today arewilling to bepatient foravery long time.They give upatthedropofahat.They’renotconsistent.RobertSchuller is famous for saying, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Success as well as failure is a choice. Success begins when you decide you aren’t going to quit. Failure beginswhenyoudecideyoucan’ttakeitanymore.

Irealizethatallofus fromtimetotimeareconfrontedwith impossiblesituations,andwecangettoapointwherewethink we just can’t take it anymore.But the reality is that we don’t knowhowmuchwecantakeuntilwepushourselves.Bynow youknowI’maboxingfanatic.Itneverceasestoamazemethat iftheseathletes areingoodconditionandiftheyhavetrained properly,thoughitmightseeminamomentduringafightthat they are finished, they can suddenly get a second wind and completelyturnthetide.

I remember Evander Holyfield’s three most famous fights withRiddickBowe.Talkaboutstayingpower.Thereweretimes when it looked like there was absolutely no way that Evander couldwin.Yethenevergaveup.Hewouldn’tquit.Finally,that second wind came.Iwillneverforget watching one particular

fightandhearingtheannouncersay,“ItlookslikeEvanderhas finallycometotheendoftheline.”Whenthesecondwindhit andhewonthefight,thatsameannouncersaid,“Wehavejust seenalegendatwork.”

You don’t know how much you can take until you are willing to push yourself.Ipromise you,you can take a whole lotmorethan you thinkyou can.Rememberthatyou arefilled withtheGreaterOne.“Greateris hethatis inyou,thanhethat is in the world” (1John 4:4, KJV). I amnot talking about our own strength, our own might or our own ability. The Greater One indwells us.Ihave reached points in my life when it felt likeIcouldn’t takeanymore.But Iwouldn’t say it,becauseto say it would admit that theblood ofJesus wasn’t enough.To sayitwouldbetosaytheCrossdidn’twork;butitdidwork.If Ican’ttakewhatthedevildishes out,thenJesus diedin vain. Andweallknowthat’snottrue.

Notice that both James and the writer of the book of Hebrews agree that we have to stickit out ifwe expect to be victoriousandifwewanttoberewarded.Hebrewsadmonishes us to“benotslothful,butfollowers ofthemwhothroughfaith and patienceinheritthepromises”(Heb.6:12, KJV),orin THE MESSAGE,“Belikethosewhostaythecoursewithcommitted faithandthengeteverythingpromisedtothem.”Don’tgetlazy where your faith is concerned. You can only stay on course whenyouhavecommittedfaith.

It’sNotOverUntilGodSaysIt’sOver

Iliketo say; “Don’t everruleGod out.”Let Himhavethelast

say.Yoursituationmaylooksoimpossibleatthis momentthat youhavedecidedtoaccepttheworst.KingDaviddidthatone time.“Tellme,what’s going on,GOD? Howlong do Ihave to live?Givemethebadnews!”(Ps.39:4, THE MESSAGE).David was saying, “Give it to me. Just give me the worst.” This is what a lot of people do. They accept defeat as final when defeatisnotinevitable.Don’tsay,“Okay,Iwilljustlearntolive with this.Iguess this is my lotin life.Thatstuffmay workfor some, but not for all of us. I guess I’m one of the ones it doesn’t workfor.” It is going to workforyou ifyou develop stayingpower;ifyouholdontotheWordofGod;ifyoudon’t castawayyourconfidence.

Wedon’tknowhowGodisgoingtobringitalltogetherfor us.In fact,most ofthetime,wedon’t haveaclue.Behonest. When God has given you a breakthrough, did you know in advance howHe was going to do it? Of course not. We just have to let God be God. He is smarter than us anyway. And He’sgotanumberofwaysthatHecanmeetyourneedwithout youtryingtofigureitoutonyourown.

“Endings arebetterthanbeginnings.Stickingtoitis better than standing out” (Eccles.7:8, THE MESSAGE).Believe that yoursituation is going to get better.Believe that it’s going to turn out better than you can ask or think. You have to ask yourselfwhereyourstayingpoweris.Haveyouletgoofitor are you holding fast? We have to stay focused on the end of theLord.Thisiswhatwearewaitingfor.

“Marktheperfectman,andbeholdtheupright:fortheend ofthatmanis peace”(Ps.37:37, KJV,emphasis added).Peace

can be translated as wellbeing, soundness and wholeness. It can also be defined as prosperity. The Amplified Bible says, “There is a happy end forthe man ofpeace.” The NIV says, “Thereis afuturefortheman ofpeace.”Sounds to methat if this man determines that he is not going to give up, if he is going to stickwith it, if he is going to trust God allthe way, then he is going to have a happy ending. And it is going to bringpeace,wellbeing,soundness,wholenessandprosperity.

“He [God]is theirstrength in the time oftrouble.And the LORD shallhelp them,and deliverthem:he shalldeliverthem fromthewicked,andsavethem,becausetheytrustinhim”(Ps. 37:39-40,KJV).ThebookofDeuteronomyoffersthatifwekeep walking in God’s ways, God will “do thee good at thy latter end”(Deut.8:16,KJV).

Godisgoingtodosomegoodthings.It’snotoveryet.You need to tellthe devilthat he hasn’t seen the end ofyou yet. You need to tellhimthat yourbest days are ahead ofyou.If thedevilkeepsbringingupyourfuture,bringuphis.Hisisnot verybright,butyoursis.Youareheadedforsomegreatthings. You are headed for a turnaround. You are headed for restoration.Youareheadedforthedouble.AndwhereisSatan headed?TotheLakeofFire.Ifyouremindhimofthat,it’llshut himupprettyquick.

Someone once said, “There is nothing that perseverance cannot accomplish.” Someone else said, “If I persist long enough,thenIknowIwillwin.”It’syourchoice.Youcaneither giveupnoworyoucanstickwithitandwatchGodbringitall togetherforyou.

Let’s lookatacouplemoreverses in both the King James Version and THE MESSAGE translations:

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy,we faint not” (2Cor.4:1, KJV). “We’re not about to throwup ourhands and walkoffthe job just because we run into occasionalhard times” (THE MESSAGE).

“We are troubled on every side,yet not distressed” (2 Cor. 4:8, KJV). “We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized” (THE MESSAGE).

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh forus afarmoreexceeding and eternalweight ofglory”(2Cor.4:17, KJV).“Thesehardtimes aresmall potatoes compared to the coming good times” (THE MESSAGE).

“Whilewelooknotatthethings whichareseen,butat thethings which arenotseen:forthethings which are seenaretemporal;butthethingswhicharenotseenare eternal”(2Cor.4:18, KJV).“There’s farmore here than meetstheeye”(THE MESSAGE).

“Forwe walkby faith,not by sight” (2Cor.5:7, KJV).

We need to develop our staying power. We need to get tough.Weneed to getsomebackbone.Weneed to learn how to set our jaw. We need to learn howto put our hand to the plowandnotlookback.Weneedtomakeupourminds thatif anybodyis goingtogiveup,it’s goingtobethedevil,notus. You need to fully expect to seetheend oftheLord.You need to fully believe that God is going to bring it togetherforyou. Makeupyourmindthatthisisyourtimeforrestoration.Thisis yourtimefordouble.Thisisyourtimeforharvest.Thisisyour timeforreaping.Thisisyourtimetobetotallyfree.

Don’tGiveUp...GoodThingsAreComing YourWay

Iwas reading Psalm126one day and the Lord brought to my attention some things I’d like to share with you. This is the psalm:

When theLORD turned again thecaptivity ofZion,we were like themthat dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things forthem.The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. They that sow in

“It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going”(THE MESSAGE).

tearsshallreapinjoy.Hethatgoethforthandweepeth, bearingprecious seed,shalldoubtless comeagainwith rejoicing,bringinghissheaveswithhim.

I was struck by the phrase “The Lord hath done great things.” I want you to meditate on that and really allow it to sinkdeepdownintoyourspirit.Godis abouttodosomegreat things.Hehas donegreatthings intimes past,butHeis about to do some more great things perhaps even greater things than you might even imagine. You may be reading this book desperate for a breakthrough. You might be on the verge of throwing in the towel. You may need a turnaround like you haveneverneededitbefore.Butthisisnotthetimetogiveup. Ifyoucanhangonalittlelonger,youaregoingtofindoutthat somegoodthingsarecomingyourway.

THE MESSAGE translates the ending of this psalm this way:“Sothosewhowentoffwithheavyheartswillcomehome laughing, with armloads of blessing.” Could you use some laughter right now? Could you use an armload of blessings? Thedifferenceinwhetherornotyouexperiencethatsomething good that laughter and that armload of blessing is determinedbywhetherwhatyouarebelievingforisadesireor justawish.There’sabigdifferencebetweenthetwo.

Jesus said,“ThereforeIsayuntoyou,Whatthings soever ye desire,when ye pray,believe that ye receive them,and ye shallhavethem” (Mark11:24, KJV).As Iwas listening to the SpiritofGodregardingthis,Hesaid,“Withoutgenuinedesire, your faith will be lifeless.” I don’t want lifeless faith. Faith

comesalivewhenthereisdesire agenuineandintensedesire andnotjustawishforsomethingtohappen.

Nearly everything Ihave everdesired with great intensity hascometopassinmylife.IfIwanteditbadlyenough,andifI pressedtowardgettingit,itcametopass.Desiredictates how muchyoureallywantsomething.Desireis whatcauses youto stay focused. Desire is what keeps you going when others have given up. Desire is what enables you to stand when othershavequit.Desireiswhatkeepsyouenthusiastic.

Someoneoncesaid,“Nothinggreathaseverbeenachieved withoutenthusiasm.”Enthusiasmisamustifyouexpecttosee God’s promises become realities. While you are between “amen” and “there it is,” you can lose your joy. People who losetheirjoyaren’tlikelytobecomewinners.You’vegottobe enthusiasticaboutwhatyouarebelievingGodfor.

WhatDoYouSee?

If you really want your breakthrough, you had better get a vision forit and refuse to let it go.Vision is the ability to see things not seen by the natural eye. Second Corinthians 4:18 says, “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things whicharenotseen”(KJV).Throughtheeyes offaith,I see some good things coming my way. Through the eyes of faith,Iseethatbreakthrough.Throughtheeyes offaith,Ican seethat financialneed being met.Through theeyes offaith,I canseethatturnaroundIambelievingGodfor.

You can only receivewhatyou can seeyourselfreceiving.

Close your eyes right nowand visualize what you want, and say, “I can see some good things coming my way.” Imagine your bills paid in full. Imagine the miracle you need for your familycomingtopass.Imaginethathealingyouneedforyour body.Thisishowyougetyourbreakthrough.

It’s easy for most people to see bad things coming their way.Whyis itsohardforus toseegoodthings?Itis theway wehavebeenprogrammed.Wehavetoreprogramourmindsto see good coming into our lives. We need to stretch our imagination. Albert Einstein once said, “Your imagination is yourpreviewoflife’scomingattractions.”Ifyougotowatcha moviein atheater,you also seepreviews ofabout threeother moviesbeforetheoneyoucametosee.Yourimaginationisthe previewofyourlife’s comingattractions.Yourimaginationis a gift from God. Without your imagination you can’t picture God’s promises coming to pass in yourlife.You have to let it workforyou,notagainstyou.

In the book of Hebrews, we see a man’s imagination workingforhiminapositiveway.“Byfaithhe[Moses]forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeinghimwhoisinvisible”(Heb.11:27, KJV).Moseswasable to endure the circumstances he was confronted with. Why? Because he saw something that could not be seen with the natural eye. THE MESSAGE says that Moses “was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff” (v. 26). I love that. The word “recompense” is the King James word for “payday.” Moses imaginedapayday,sotospeak.“Castnotawaythereforeyour confidence, which hath great recompense of reward” (Heb. 10:35,KJV).Paydaycomestothosewhorefusetogiveup.

This is whatkeptMoses goingwhenhis mindscreamedat him, What’s the use? You are wasting your time. Nothing is happening. Why do you keep doing this faith thing? Andthis is what willkeep you going too. You need to anticipate your payday. You need to anticipate an armload of blessings. You needtoanticipateyourtimeoflaughterandrejoicing.

“We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever wewantbymeansofasmallbitinitsmouth.Andatinyrudder makes ahugeshipturnwhereverthepilotwants ittogo,even thoughthewindsarestrong”(Jas.3:3-4,NLT).Youcancausea horseto haveaturnaround by putting abitin his mouth.You cancauseagreatshiptohaveaturnaroundbycontrollingthe rudder.

“In the same way, the tongue is a smallthing that makes grandspeeches.Butatinysparkcansetagreatforestonfire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness,corruptingyourentirebody.Itcansetyourwhole life on fire,forit is set on fire by hellitself” (Jas.3:5-6, NLT). Your tongue acts like a bit or a rudder. You can turn your circumstances around by speaking right words. Stop saying, “Nothing good everhappens to me,” and start saying,“Some goodthingsarecomingmyway.”

Psychologists have estimated that we can hear up to 500 words a minute in our mind. For most people, 498 of those words are negative. Here is an important biblical principle. What you hear repeatedly forms what you believe. “Faith comethbyhearing,andhearingtheword ofGod”(Rom.10:17, KJV).Ifyou have these 500words crossing yourmind every

minuteand most ofthemarenegativethoughts,themoreyou hearthemthemoreyouaregoingtobelievethem.Youbelieve what is going on inside your mind. When what you believe drops down into your spirit, then your spirit is designed by Godtomakethosethoughtsandbeliefscometopass.

Jesus said it this way,“Thegood man brings good things out ofthegood stored up in him,and theevilman brings evil things out ofthe evilstored up in him” (Matt. 12:35, NIV). If youbelievethatyouwillfail,thenwhatyoubelieveandspeak will come to pass. If you believe that you will have a breakthrough, then what you believe and speak will come to pass. It’s your choice what you willbelieve. It’s your choice whatyouwillspeak.

Itdoesn’ttakeanymoreenergytobepositivethanitdoes tobenegative.Wedon’thavetopsychourselves out.It’s like drivingacar.Itdoesn’ttakemoreefforttoputitinreversethan itdoes to putitin drive.You don’thaveto sitthereand pray, “OhGod,givemetheenergytoputthis thinginreverse.”No, you just shift thegears and it’s done.It is allabout what you choosetodo.

“Don’t be afraid, my people! Be glad now and rejoice because the LORD has done great things” (Joel2:21, NLT). If youtrulybelievethatGodis abouttocausesomegoodthings tocomeyourway,thenyouhavetoactas thoughitis already happening. Act on what Joel wrote. Notice he didn’t say, “When good things come,be glad and rejoice.” He said,“Be glad and rejoice”first.Often wewant to wait untilwecan see the manifestation before we rejoice and be glad. But that’s

backwardsinthemindofGod.

You need to get rid offear,and start being glad and start rejoicing,even ifin the naturalit doesn’t appearthat there is anythingtorejoiceabout.Thisiswherestayingpowerkicksin. Thisiswheredesirekicksin.Thisiswherefaithkicks.Wedoit evenifwedon’tfeellikeit.Wedoitevenifinourminditlooks foolish. We do it even if others think we’re crazy. Show the devilthroughyourrejoicingandbeinggladthatyounolonger believehis lies.Showhimthatthereis nowaythatheis going to keep you down.Showhimthat you believewhat God says morethanwhathesays.

“Worship GOD if you want the best; worship opens doorstoallhisgoodness”(Ps.34:9,THE MESSAGE).

“Omy soul,bless GOD.Fromhead to toe,I’llbless his holyname!Omysoul,bless GOD,don’tforgetasingle blessing!...Godmakeseverythingcomeoutright”(Ps. 103:1-2,6,THE MESSAGE).

“ThankGOD becauseHe’s good....Thehand ofGOD has turned the tide! The hand of GOD is raised in victory! The hand of GOD has turned the tide!” (Ps. 118:1,15-16,THE MESSAGE).

“Hallelujah!It’sagoodthingtosingpraisetoourGod.. ..GOD puts the fallen on theirfeet again” (Ps.147:1,6, THE MESSAGE).

Thereis astoryintheOldTestamentaboutsomethingthe prophetElijahtoldthepeopleofGodtodoinpreparationfora comingevent.Thisprophettoldthemtodigditchesinorderto catchthewaterfromtherainthatwas coming.Buttherewas a problem.Therewas aserious drought in the land.The people had not seen rain in a long time. There had not even been a cloud in the sky.Yet the Word ofGod came to themto dig a ditch.“Rain is coming,” God said.“You’d betterget ready for it.”

If most of us had been there, we would have said something like,“Iamnot digging a ditch untilIat least see a cloud.” God doesn’t work that way. He wanted them to dig while there was no evidence in the natural that rain was coming. These people were told to act as though the results they desired were going to happen.So what happened? After theditchesweredug,theraincame.

I’m quite sure at some point that the people out there diggingditcheslookeduptoseeifanycloudshadcome.They were probably getting frustrated and disappointed as they weredigging.Theywereprobablyonthevergeofthrowingin the towel. But the prophet Elijah kept telling them, “Just keepingdigging.Don’tgiveup.Don’tquit.Don’tthrowinthe towel.Keepdigging.Therainiscoming.”

We need to dig a little more.And we need to dance,sing and shout while digging. We need to remember it’s not over until God says it’s over. We need to hang in there and stop whining. We need to keep on digging until we see our breakthrough.Ipromise you that ifyou continue to do those

things,yourmanifestation willcome.Ifyou don’tgiveup and if you don’t quit; if you don’t throw in the towel, you will receivewhatyouarebelievingfor(see2Kings3:16-17).

THEFOURTHMAN

Don’tCompromise

In the third chapter of Daniel, we have the record of three Hebrewchildren who dared to believeGod.Let megiveyou a bitofhistoryaboutthisstory.KingNebuchadnezzarhadtaken captive some of Israel’s young, mighty men. He then establishedadecreethatwheneveraspecificsoundofspecial musicalinstruments rangout,thepeopleweretofalldownand worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected of himself. Whoever refused to bow down would be thrown into a furnace offire.These instruments rang out one day, and three Hebrew men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not bowdown and worship this idol.One of the things I want to share with you is something Dr. Oral Roberts taughtmeyears ago:Hesaid,“Ifyoudon’tbow,then youwon’tburn.”

The law of compromise is if you bow, then you burn. I remembersomething brotherKenneth Copeland said to me as weweredrivingtoameetingonetime.Hepointedhis fingerat meand said,“Jerry,anything you compromiseto get,you will ultimatelylose.”Atthetime,Ididn’tunderstandthatfully.But as Ibegantolearnmoreabouttheprinciples offaithandwhat it meant to stand on God’s Word, I figured it out. Once you receive a revelation fromGod, then you need to decide that

you are going to live by it no matter what. If you start to compromise,however,thenyouwilleventuallyfail.

The devilloves to cause people to compromise.The devil loves to put pressureon us untilwebackoff.Thedevilloves to get you in a situation where while you are standing for healing,hecreatesenoughsymptomsinyourbodysothatyou start believing that healing is impossible. Compromise is a majorproblemin the Church today.However,when you get a revelation ofwho you are in Christ and what belongs to you, then compromise is out of the question. Why compromise if God is on your side? Why compromise if you know how it’s goingtoturnout?

The Bible tells me that God is going to deliverme fromall my adversities. Why wouldn’t He? I’m His child. I’m the righteousness ofGod.I’masonofGodjustlikeJesus is.Why wouldn’t God deliverme? Jesus said,“Father,showthemthat you love them as much as you love me.” If I can see God deliveringJesusoutoftrouble,thenIcanexpectHimtodeliver Jerry out ofit too.And sinceIknowthis is true,then thereis noneedtocompromise.

Let’s say that somebody told me,“BrotherJerry,the Lord has dealtwith meaboutgiving you onemillion dollars.Atthe end ofthe month,I’mgoing to send you that money.” In the meantime,therecouldbeanattackinmyfinances,anditcould lookas though everything is falling apart.Imight not have a dime,anditmightappearthatthereisnowayI’llovercomeit.If this man who promised me the money is a man of his word, thenIknowhe’llbefaithfulandwon’tcompromise.Therefore,

Iknowhowthesituationisgoingtoturnout.

Why compromise when the heat is on? Why compromise becauseofthepresentcircumstances?TheBiblesays,“Many aretheafflictionsoftherighteous:buttheLORDdeliverethhim out of them all” (Ps. 34:19, KJV). See, if you refuse to compromise, then you will be delivered fromyour situation. Most of the time when the Amplified Bible uses the word “righteous,” it is prefixed with the word “uncompromisingly.” Weneedtobecometheuncompromisinglyrighteous.

TurnthePressureAround

King Nebuchadnezzarcommanded the inhabitants ofthe land to bow or burn. But these three Hebrew men refused to compromise.Hereiswhathappened.

Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach,and Abednego,that you refuse to serve my gods ortoworshipthegoldstatueIhavesetup?Iwill give you one more chance. If you bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the soundofthemusicalinstruments,allwillbewell.Butif you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. What god will be able to rescue you frommypowerthen?”(Dan.3:13-15,NLT).

This is a perfect example of the way the devilchallenges thechildrenofGodtoday.Thedevildoesn’tplayfair.Whathe loves to do is create enough pressure to get you to backoff. Don’t think that I’ve never been challenged. We all are challenged at one time or another. Many times I have been temptedtogiveup,butI’vehadtocastdownthosethoughts.

Satanis acompromiser.Hedoesn’twantyoutoknowthis. The same God who said, “Let there be light” and there was light, also proclaimed, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The same powerful word of God that created the universehas alreadybeenspokenoverthedevil.SoSatanhas to compromise or break down when pressure is applied, and the pressure that you must apply is through speaking the WordofGod.

ThesameGodwhosaid,“Let therebelight”andtherewas light,alsoproclaimed, “Resistthedevilandhewill fleefromyou.”Satanhasto compromiseorbreakdown whenpressureisapplied,and thepressurethatyoumust applyisthroughspeakingthe WordofGod.

The Bible tells us that God “turned” the captivity of Job. As I spent time studying this phrase, I began to realize that what this means in common vernacularis “to turn thetables.” It’s one thing to get someone free from some pressure situation,butit’ssomethingelsetothenputthatpressureback ontheenemy.

Pressure is not fun. It’s not comfortable. I’ve had times when I got up in the middle of the night, walked out to my backyard and screamed at the devil. I found out that God wouldnotallowthedeviltoputanythingonmethatIwas not abletobear.Hewouldalways provideawayofescapeforme. Godstartedturningmycaptivityaround.Ikeptconfessingthe Word over and over and over again until the devil couldn’t take it anymore, and he fled. It’s time for you to put some pressureonthedevil.

ThePowerWeHaveinJesus

King Nebuchadnezzarwas one ofthe proudest men that ever lived.Hethought ofhimselfas agod.Hehad built acity that was second to none. He had constructed a fortress that was magnificent.The architecture ofhis city was the finest ofany citythathadeverbeenbuilt.Therehadneverbeenanymanas mighty and moreoppressiveto thechildren ofIsraelthan this king.

Satan has even more pride. He especially loves being praised.When Jesus was hanging on the cross,and He cried

out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Satan was convinced he had won, and all of his domain began to rejoice.TheythoughtJesushadfailedinHismissiontoredeem mankind. Satan was receiving the cheers and congratulations from all his cohorts. In his mind he was being exalted even above God, because he thought that he had defeated Jesus and that hehad defeated God.And as faras his cohorts were concerned,Satanwaschampion.

Forthree-and-a-halfyears duringHis publicministry,Jesus dealtSatannothingbutmisery.Satanandhis cohorts couldn’t touch Him. Satan couldn’t make people sick fast enough because Jesus healed them one after another. He couldn’t cause people to be filled with demons fast enough because Jesuscastthemoutoneafteranother.Hecouldn’tkeeppeople blind because Jesus opened their eyes. He couldn’t keep people deaf because Jesus would unstop their ears. He couldn’t keep people in bondage because Jesus would set them free. You can imagine how frustrated Satan must have been.

But then one day Jesus dropped His guard and allowed Satan to take Himcaptive. He hung on the cross dying, and questioned why God had forsaken Him. And Satan’s domain begantocelebrate.Theydidn’ttotallyunderstandit,ofcourse. They didn’t know why during those three-and-a-half years they couldn’t touch him. They tried their best. They tried to pushHimoffacliff.TheytriedtostoneHim.Theytriedtotrip Himupbythereligious leaders.Nothingworked.Jesus was in controlofeverysituationduringthatentiretime.

When Jesus was taken by the soldiers, bound and shackled,to Pilate’s court,they sawa side ofJesus they had never seen before. He was bound. He was stripped of His clothes. He was blindfolded. He was slugged. He was spit upon. He was bruised and battered. And as far as they were concerned, Satan had finally gotten to Jesus. They began to incite the people into crucifying Jesus. The crowd went wild. They began yelling,“Crucify Him.Crucify Him.Crucify Him.” And He was crucified. When Jesus took His last breath, the party in Satan’s domain began. Satan was worshiped as their champion.Hewasliftedupinpride.

Godhadturnedtheuniverse overtoJesus;andnowJesus issayingtoyouandmethat wedon’thavetobeaslaveto Satananylonger.Wenow haveauthority.

But on the third day after Jesus’ death, as they were rejoicing and telling Satan what a master he was, something happened.The Bible says that Jesus was justified.His blood had paid the price. God said, “It’s enough. Let My Son go.” And Jesus walked right over to Satan, and the first thing He didwas stripthedevilofthearmorhetrustedin.Thenhetook

backthekeysofdeath,hellandthegrave.Hellitselfwasleftin shambles. The rejoicing ceased. Jesus left Satan absolutely powerless.

JesusascendedfromtheregionofthedamnedandthenHe stood before the throne ofGod,who anointed Jesus with the oil of gladness, put the scepter of righteousness into His hands and gaveHimHis throne.This was Jesus’inauguration day.God turned the universe overto Jesus.But that was not theendofit.Jesus immediatelydescendedbackintoEarthand He appeared to His disciples.The first thing He said to them was,“Ihavebeen given allauthority in heaven and on earth” (Matt.28:18,NLT).Thismeansthatallthepowerthedevilonce had now belonged to Jesus. Jesus then commanded His disciples to go and heal the sick and cast out devils in His name. God had turned the universe over to Jesus; and now Jesusissayingtoyouandmethatwedon’thavetobeaslave toSatananylonger.

Wenowhaveauthority.Andifwedo,thenwhyshouldwe compromise? Why should we quit? Why should we give up? Youmightbethinking, But, brother Jerry, you don’t know how hard it is. You don’t know how long I’ve been standing. Ifyou getarevelationofthepowerandtheauthorityyouhave,then youareabouttoexperiencevictorylikeneverbefore.

GodIsAbleandWillDeliverYou

Paulwrote,“IknowwhomIhavebelieved,and ampersuaded thatheisable”(2Tim.1:12, KJV).Godis able.Thereasonalot ofpeoplecompromiseis simply becausethey don’t knowthat

Godisabletodeliverthem.Whenyouarefullypersuadedthat Heis abletodeliveryou,thenyouwillneverbowdownagain. Andguesswhat?Youwon’tburneither!

Once again I learned from Oral Roberts that the law of compromiseis if you bow, you burn.Ifyou fold up,you lose. The Lord said to me one time, “Son, I want to tell you something,and Idon’t want you to everforget it.Every time thereis pressureonyoutoquit,yourememberthis,anditwill be your deliverance: I want you to realize that if you are standing on my Word and you are under the most severe attack that you’ve ever been under, and when there’s more pressure on you than you’ve ever experienced before, that’s thetimeto rejoice.That’s agood indication that thedevilhas just fired his best shot,and ifthis one doesn’t get you,then he’sgotnothingleft.He’sfinished,andyouwin.”

Wedon’thavetocompromise.Wedon’thavetobow.Why bowifyou knowno weapon that is formed against you shall prosper?Whybowifyouknownothingcanseparateyoufrom theloveofGod?Why bowifgreateris Hethatis in you than He that is in the world? Why bowifyourfaith can overcome the world? Why bow if you can do allthings through Christ who strengthens you? There’s no need to bow. There is no needtocompromise.

ThesethreeHebrewmenmadeuptheirminds.“Wearenot going to bow. We know our God is able to deliver us.” The reason they wouldn’t compromise was because they knew God. They didn’t just know of Him. They knew how God operated. They knew His delivering power. So they didn’t

budgewhen thefurious king insulted themby saying,“What God is going to saveyou?”They instead responded,“Weare not carefulto answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,andhewilldeliverus outofthinehand,Oking”(Dan. 3:16-17,KJV,emphasis added).Theydidn’tevenhavetothink aboutit.They didn’thuddlearound each otherto discuss the matter.They said,“This is the way it is; so do whateveryou aregoingtodo,andourGodisabletodeliverus.We’retelling you right now,King,we are not going to bowand we are not goingtoburneither.”

I want you to know that no one had ever talked to King Nebuchadnezzarthat way. And most people don’t talkto the devilthatwayeither.That’swhyitshockshimfromtimetotime when somebody who has been programmed by religious tradition all of a sudden gets full of the Word of God and launches an attackon himthat he didn’t plan on.It’s time for you to surprise him.Stand up to him.Let himknowthat you aren’tgoingtobackdownthistime.

The devil is not the powerful lion he would like you to believethat heis.LikeCharles Capps says,“Even ifhewas a lion,he’sgotnoteeth.Jesuspulledthemoutinthepitofhell.”

The message I want you to get today is that not only is Godable,buthe will.HalftheChurchtodayis runningaround saying,“OurGodisable,butyoujustneverknowwhatHewill do.” If one of those three men had thought that way, they wouldhaveburnedtodeath.ButthosemenknewthatGodwas able, and that He was going to deliver themout of that fiery

furnace.

After these three men said what they said to King Nebuchadnezzar, he became furious. He commanded the guards to turn up the heat seven times greater. That furnace was so hot that the men who threw them in were instantly consumed by the flames. But it did not consume the three young men who knewtheirGod.Why?BecausetheGod who wasabletodeliverthemhadalreadybeguntowork.

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames. But suddenly, as he was watching, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” “Yes,” they said, “we did indeed, Your Majesty.” “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walkingaroundinthefire.Theyaren’tevenhurtbythe flames!Andthefourthlooks likeadivinebeing!”(Dan. 3:23-25,NLT).

Theywouldn’tcompromiseGod’s Word.Theyknewthatif they obeyed God and kept His commandments (the most important for them being “Do not serve other gods before Me”), then God promised them He would conquer their enemies.Hehad promised that ifthey were attacked fromone direction,thenGodwouldscattertheminsevendirections(see Deut. 23). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood on their covenantwiththeLordandtrustedinHim.Sowhathappened?

TheFourthManshowedup!

TheFourthMan

WhowastheFourthMan?LetmetellyouaboutHim.

InGenesisHeistheseedofwoman.

InExodusHeisthePassoverlamb.

InLeviticusHeisthehighpriest.

InNumbersHeisthepillarofcloudbydayandthepillaroffire bynight.

InDeuteronomyHeisaprophetlikenedtoMoses.

InJoshuaHeisthecaptainofoursalvation.

InJudgesHeisthejudgeandlawgiver.

InRuthHeisourkinsman-redeemer.

InFirstandSecondSamuelHeisourtrustedprophet.

In First and Second Kings and Chronicles He is the reigning king.

InEzraHeisthefaithfulscribe.

In Nehemiah He is the rebuilder of broken-down walls of humanlife.

InEstherHeisourMordecai.

InJobHeisourever-livingredeemer.

InPsalmsHeisourShepherd.

InProverbsandEcclesiastesHeisourwisdom.

IntheSongofSolomonHeisourloverandourbridegroom.

InIsaiahHeisthePrinceofpeace.

InJeremiahHeistherighteousbranch.

InLamentationsHeistheweepingprophet.

InEzekielHeisthewonderfulfour-facedman.

InDanielHeistheFourthManinlife’sfieryfurnace.

InHoseaHeisthefaithfulhusband.

InJoelHeisthebaptizerwiththeHolyGhostandfire.

InAmosHeisourburden-bearer.

InObadiahHeismightytosave.

InJonahHeisourgreatforeignmissionary.

InMicahHeisthemessengerwithbeautifulfeet.

InNahumHeistheavengerofGod’select.

InHabakkukHeisGod’sevangelist.

InZephaniahHeisoursavior.

InHaggaiHeistherestorerofGod’slostheritage.

In Zechariah He is the fountain in the house ofDavid forsin anduncleanness.

In MalachiHeis theson ofrighteousness with healing in His wings.InMatthewHeistheMessiah.

InMarkHeisthewonderworker.

InLukeHeistheSonofMan.

InJohnHeistheSonofGod.

InActsHeistheHolyGhost.

InRomansHeisourjustifier.

InFirstandSecondCorinthiansHeisoursanctifier.

InGalatiansHeistheredeemerfromthecurseofthelaw.

InEphesiansHeistheChristwithunsearchableriches.

InPhilippiansHeistheGodwhosuppliesallofourneed.

InColossiansHeisthefullnessoftheGodheadbodily.

InFirstandSecondThessalonians Heis oursoonandcoming King.

In First and Second Timothy He is the mediatorbetween God andman.

InTitusHeisourfaithfulpastor.

InPhilemonHeisthebelovedbrother.

InHebrewsHeisthebloodandeverlastingcovenant.

InJamesHeisthegreatphysician.

InFirstandSecondPeterHeisthechiefshepherd.

InFirst,SecondandThirdJohnHeislove.

InJudeHeistheLordJesuscomingwith10,000ofhissaints.

InRevelationHeistheKingofkingsandtheLordoflords.

WhoisthisFourthMan?

HeisAbel’ssacrifice.

HeisNoah’srainbow.

HeisAbraham’sram.

HeisIsaac’swell.

HeisJacob’sscepter.

HeisMoses’rod.

HeisJoshua’ssunandmoonthatstoodstill.

HeisElijah’smantle.

HeisElisha’sstaff.

HeisGideon’sfleece.

HeisSamuel’shornofoil.

HeisDavid’sslingshot.

HeisHezekiah’ssundial.

HeisDaniel’svision.

HeisAmos’sburden.

HeisMalachi’ssunofrighteousness.

HeisPeter’sshadow.

HeisStephen’ssignsandwonders.

HeisPaul’shandkerchiefandaprons.

HeisJohn’spearlywhitecity.

Heisfathertotheorphan.

Heisthehusbandtothewidow.

Heisthebrightandmorningstartothetravelerinthenight.

Heisthelilyofthevalley.

HeistheroseofSharon.

Heisthehoneyintherock.

HeisthebrightnessofGod’sglory.

HeistheexpressimageofthepersonofGod.

Heisthepearlofgreatprice.

Heistherockinawearyland.

Heisthecupthatrunnethover.

Whois this FourthMan?Heis Jesus ofNazareth,theSon ofthelivingGod.

IftheSon oftheliving God is notenough to getyou over andoutofyourdesperatesituation,thenthereisn’tanyhope. Jesusisallthatyouneed.Don’tbow.Don’tcompromise.Don’t sway to theleft orto theright.Keep standing,and knowthat GodisableandHewillseeyouthrough.

Note

Heistherodandstaffthatcomfort.1

Taken by permission from an Oral Roberts sermon preached at a tent revivalin1957.

THELAWOFPROGRESSION

When you were born again, it was your spirit-man that was recreated. However, you probably didn’t immediately change yourthinking.Youdidn’tinstantlybecomematureinthethings of God. It took some time. In fact, I like to call it the law of progression.When a baby is born into this world,the lawof progressionis atworkinthatchild.Overtime,ababylearns to talk,walk,andthenbeginstogrowinallareasofhisorherlife. Thisisthelawofprogression.

Thelawofprogressionworkseveninthespiritrealm.Peter wrote,“Youmustcravepurespiritualmilksothatyoucangrow into the fullness of your salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2, NLT). Paul wrote, “Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right” (Heb. 5:14, NLT). God wantsustogetoffofthespiritualbottle.Inthenaturalrealm,a child doesn’t stay on the bottle its entire life.The same thing appliesinthespiritualrealm.

AswebegintogrowinChrist,itisthemeatofGod’sWord thatisgoingtobringaboutmaturityinourlives.Youwillnever gettotheplaceinyourChristianlifewhereyounolongerneed toreadGod’s Word.Youwillalways needittobetransformed totheimageofJesus.

But we all,with open face beholding as in a glass the gloryoftheLord,arechangedintothesameimagefrom glory to glory,even as by theSpirit oftheLord (2Cor. 3:18,KJV).

And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continuedtobehold[intheWordofGod]as inamirror thegloryoftheLord,areconstantlybeingtransfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] fromthe Lord [Who is] the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18, AMP).

Paulexplainedthatwearebeingtransformedintotheimage ofGod’s Son.God’s Wordacts as amirror.Whenwelookinto themirrorofGod’sWord,itwillreflectanimage;andthatimage is God’s image of how He sees you. In other words, God’s Wordimpartedintoyourheartis goingtochangeyouintothe image of Jesus Christ. This doesn’t happen overnight, of course.Youcan’tpickupyourBibleonedayand,bythenext morning,expectto bemadeinto theimageofGod’s Son.It’s a process.

Wearebeingtransformed intotheimageofGod’sSon.

God’sWordimpartedinto

yourheartisgoingtochange youintotheimageofJesus Christ.

Jesus said to His disciples, “You are truly my disciples if youkeepobeyingmyteachings.Andyouwillknowthetruth, andthetruthwillsetyoufree”(John8:31-32,NLT).WhatJesus was saying was that being made free is a progressive thing. ThemoreoftheTruththatwelearn,themorefreewewillbe.In thespiritrealm,thelawofthespiritoflifeinJesushasmadeus freefromthelawofsinanddeath.WearefreefromSataninthe spiritrealm.Wearefreefrombondageinthespiritrealm.Butas we continue in the Word, we willbecome freer in the natural realm.

The definition of progression is to move forward or onward.Itmeansdevelopment.Itmeansimprovement.Itmeans to continue toward completion. If God tells you to do something,thenyoucan’tstopuntilit’s completed.Ifyoudo, thenyouwon’tberewarded.Refusetobackoffuntilwhatever Godwantsyoutodoisaccomplished.

Thelawofprogressionrelates tothefaithwalk.Stabilityin faith comes as a result of standing on God’s Word. That is, stabilitycomes whenyoukeeponbelieving,eventhoughyou see nothing happening. Many have become discouraged, sidetracked and beaten down because, after they’ve prayed andstoodinfaithandnothingseemstobehappening,theyfall back. They withdraw and consider it a bad experience. But

something is happening. There is a law at work, the law of progression.Yetyoucannegatethatlawbydrawingback.You canstopthelawofprogression.

All of nature functions on this law. Jesus said, “This is what the kingdomof God is like. Aman scatters seed on the ground.Nightandday,whetherhesleeps orgets up,theseed sproutsandgrows,thoughhedoesnotknowhow.Allbyitself thesoilproducesgrain firstthestalk,thenthehead,thenthe fullkernelinthehead.Assoonasthegrainisripe,heputsthe sickletoit,becausetheharvesthascome”(Mark4:26-29,NIV).

Lookat the lawof progression at workhere. The harvest doesnotcomeinonestep.Youdon’tputaseedintheground and then expect it to become a stalk overnight. Jesus mentioned several steps in that passage after the seed is planted. First, the leaf blade pushes through. Second, the heads form.Third,the grain ripens.Then it’s time to harvest. JesussaidthatishowthekingdomofGodoperates.

Whenyoubegintomakeyourapplicationoffaith,andyou begin to say what God’s Word says, you are like that farmer planting a seed into the ground. Once you speak forth that word,itis goingtobeyourresponsibilitytoprotectitjustlike itis theresponsibilityofthefarmertoprotectthatseed.Don’t letweedsgrowuparoundit.Don’tallowdoubtandunbeliefto gather up around it. Don’t let anything destroy that seed beforeithas opportunitytotakerootandgrow.Youaregoing tohavetostandguardovertheseed.Youaregoingtohaveto stand guard over the Word. You are going to have to stand guardoveryourfaith.

Irememberthat when my daughters wereyoung,Ibought themsomelittlechicks to raise.My girls loved them.Soon we hadabunchofhens runningaround,soIbuiltalittlecoopfor them.Afriendofminegavemearooster.Ithoughtitwouldbe excitingformygirlstoseehoweggsturnintochicks.Sobefore long,oneofourhens was laying eggs.Icould hardly waitfor the first chick to hatch. I’d sit out there night after night waitingforthemtohatch.Nothingwashappening.

But then one day, when Iwas feeding themand was just about to walk away, I looked down and saw an egg moving around.Icouldn’t believe it.Iwas so excited.Iran inside the house,grabbedmygirls andshowedthemwhatwas goingon. Theysawthefirstcrackinthateggandwatcheduntilthelittle chickwashatched.

Iwant you to knowthat ifyou let the lawofprogression work and not negate it, there will come a time when it will produceresults.Youaregoingtoseeabladecomeup.Itmight take some time, but be willing to wait for it. Stay patient and singleminded, and before long, you will see that the law of progressionreallyworks.

“This is what the kingdomof God is like. A man scatters seed on theground.Nightand day,whetherhesleeps orgets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how” (Mark 4:26-27, NIV). This is important. This farmer has totaltrust in the seed.He plants it in the ground and goes to bed.Oncetheseedis intheground,it’s beyondhis controlat that point. He doesn’t know how it’s all going to work. He believes the seed will do what it is designed to do, and he

doesn’tgetdiscouragedinthemeanwhile.

I’m reminded of what someone told me once. She said, “Brother Jerry, I’ve confessed the Word three times, and nothing’s happened.”Ireplied,“Boy,youreallyhunginthere, didn’t you? Wow! You confessed three times. That’s perseverance.” I was being sarcastic, of course, but I was tryingtomakethepointthatthatis notwhatthelifeoffaithis about.The life offaith is not a two-weekexperience and then yougiveupifitdoesn’tseemtowork.It’sawayoflife.

You can’t see what the word,orthat seed,is doing in the spiritrealm.Ourchurchis inabuildingprogramrightnow.We are constructing new facilities, and the Lord told me that we wouldn’thavetoborrowanymoneyforthem.

I’ll be honest, sometimes it has been tight, especially considering the huge general operating expenses we have in additiontobuildingnewbuildings.Often,Icouldn’tfigureout how the money was going to come in. But we’ve stood firm and believed God, and we’ve received. We had to keep the wheelsofprogressturning.

Ifyouletthelawof progressionwork,itwill produceresults.Staypatient andsingleminded,andbefore long,youwillseethatthe lawofprogressionreally

works.

Sometimeago,theSpiritofGodspoketomeandtoldmeto put$5,000intoaparticularministry.Iwrotethecheckandgave it to the minister. Five thousand dollars is a lot of money. I couldhaveusedthatmoneyforplentyofthings ourbuilding project for one. But God gave me a taskand I did it. What I didn’tknowwas thatthatveryday,Godspoketoamanoutin California and told him to write a check for $10,000 to our ministry.Anditcameinattheexacttimeweneededit.Ididn’t knowwhat was happening behind the scenes.Ijust believed thattheseedIsowedwasgoingtodoitsjob.

OneStepataTime

“ThestepsofagoodmanareorderedbytheLORD”(Ps.37:23, KJV).What does this mean? I’ve had people tellme they are tired of hearing me teaching about “all them steps.” Seven steps tothis,foursteps tothat.Butthat’s howGoddeals with us.Hedealswithmostofusinsteps.

Alotofpeoplearenotwillingtotakesteps.Alotofpeople ignore steps. A lot of people think they don’t need steps. That’s why a lot ofChristians are fumbling through life.They disregardGod’s orderedsteps.Inthenaturalminditmaymake sense to jump from one point to another instead of taking smallersteps.We might thinkwe’llget somewhere fasterorit would be more fun or it would save us some time. But if we

jump instead of step, what’s going to happen? We might get hurt.Wecouldstumble.Wecouldfall;andthenwe’regoingto getdiscouraged.Andthatwillprolongthemanifestation.

Every step we take gets us closer to our manifestation. That is what the law of progression is all about. We keep moving forward.We gain momentum.We take step afterstep untilithappens.Thenameofthegameiswinning.It’snothow longittakesorhowfastwecangetthere.It’sallaboutwinning andlivingavictoriouslife.

LetGodbethenavigatorofthesteps youtakeinyourlife. Ifyou’lljustbeobedient,thenyou’llendupwhereGodwants youtobe.

LetPatienceBePerfected

Continueto listen to God and don’t get sidetracked.Don’t be like the children ofIsraeland wanderaround in circles for40 years. They could have crossed that desert in 40 days, but because they weren’t willing to obey God, it took them 40 years.

ManyChristiansdothesamething.Theyfeelstronginthe LordonSunday,butbyWednesday,they’resayingthingslike, “Thisfaithstuffdoesn’twork.”Youhavetobesinglemindedin orderforthelawofprogression to workforyou.You can’tbe lookingforexcusestogiveup.

“Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patiencehaveherperfect work,that yemay beperfect

andentire,wantingnothing”(Jas.1:2-4, KJV).James toldus to be patient so that it could have her “perfect work.” Patience workshandinhandwiththelawofprogression.

When you are standing on the authority of God’s Word, there are opportunities foryou to cast yourfaith aside.There areopportunitiesforyoutodrawback.Thereareopportunities foryou to give up.But you have to remain patient.You start out by confessing God’s Word.You believe; you receive.You act on the Word.You continually feed yourspirit.You remain constantandaddpatiencetoyourfaith.TheBiblesays thatif you let patience have her perfect work, you will want for nothing.

When Carolyn and I first made the decision to live by God’s Word, it was obvious that we needed everything. My businesswasdeepindebt.Ourfinanceswereawreck.Wehad moved to Forth Worth, Texas, to work with brother Kenneth Copeland, and we didn’t even knowwhere we were going to live. We finally moved into a little dump and barely had the moneytopayforutilities,groceriesandafewotherthingsthat weneededtogetby.

CarolynandIwerebelievingGodforalltheneeds wehad. ThefirstthingweneededtobelieveGodforwas abettercar.I knewsomeonewhoowneda1969PontiacBonnevillewhotold me, “Jerry, I amgoing to sell that car to you. I believe God wants youtohaveit.You’vebeenintheautomotivebusiness, soyouknowwhatthecarisworth.ButGodtoldmetosellitto youfor$1,200.”Iknewthecarwasdefinitelyworthawholelot morethanthat.SoCarolynandIprayed,andtheSpiritofGod

revealedtousthatthiscarbelongedtous.

Itold the man we definitely wanted the car,and he asked how I was going to handle the financial arrangement. I said, “WillMark11:24do?” Ididn’t have a penny to my name. He said, “Sure, I agree with that. In the name of Jesus, I believe this car is yours. When the money comes in, let me know.” Sometimewentby,anditdidn’tlooklikeanymoneywouldbe cominginforthatcaranytimesoon.

Every fewweeks he’d callme and ask,“Jerry,did you get the money yet?” And every time I told him, “According to Mark11:24,IbelieveIwillreceiveit.”Finally,hecalledmeone day and said,“Jerry,itreally hurts meto haveto tellyou this. I’mgoingtohavetosellthecar,andIjustcan’twaitanymore.” Talkaboutthedeviljumpingonme.Iheardhimwhisperinmy ear,“Itoldyouyou’dnevergetthatcar.”

There was a long silence on the phone. I prayed, God, if this faith thing doesn’t work on the car that I need, there is no way I can ever believe it will work on anything else.Ifinally told the man,“You do whateveryou need to do,” and Ihung up the phone. This situation shookme up pretty bad. It was jeopardizingmyfaith.IrealizedIneededsomewisdom,andthe SpiritofGodtoldmetoturntothebookofJames.

Istarted reading,“Count it alljoy when ye fallinto divers temptations . . . ” (1:2, KJV), and thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me! I’m supposed to lift my hands, praise God and hoop and hollerbecauseIdidn’tgetmy car?”TheHoly Spirit keptpromptingmetoreaditoverandoveruntilIgotwhatHe was trying to teach me.Finally,Igot to thepart whereit read,

“thatthetrying ofyourfaith workethpatience...letpatience have her perfect work.” Patience? I didn’t need patience. I neededacar.However,Godtaughtmeagreatlessonthatday. I thought patience meant you just put up with whatever you have to put up with and hope to God that one day it will get better. I was wrong. God told me that was not patience. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,neithershadowofturning”(Jas.1:17, KJV).God toldmethatthisispatience.Itmeansconsistency.No“shadow ofturning.”Hetold meto keep meditating on that passageof Scripture.“Ifany ofyou lackwisdom,let himaskofGod,that giveth to allmen liberally,and upbraideth not; and it shallbe given him. But let himask in faith, nothing wavering. For he thatwaverethislikeawaveoftheseadrivenwiththewindand tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing ofthe Lord.Adouble minded man is unstable in allhis ways”(Jas.1:5-8,KJV).

TheLordkeptrepeating,“Adoublemindedmanisunstable in all his ways.” I thought of the man who told me that he neededtosellthatcar,andIaskedGod,“Areyoutryingtotell me the car is stillmine? Because if You remember, he said he was going to sell it!” Once again I kept thinking of the sentence, “A doubleminded man is unstable in allhis ways.” God spoke to me,“Iwouldn’t have told you in the beginning thatitwasyourcarifitwasn’t.Itwouldbedifferentifyouwere goingouttherejusttryingtomakesomethinghappenonyour own.But I’ve been ordering yoursteps,and I’mthe one who toldyouthatthisisyourcar.”

Ihad my revelation.Ijumped up and ran to find my wife. “Carolyn,theman called and hesaid hewas going to sellour car.But I’mnot moved by what Ihear.God said it’s ours,and I’mnot going to let it go. Whoever buys it willjust have to giveittous.It’s ourcar.”Youwouldhavethoughtthataftera super-revelation like that, the car would have shown up that verymoment.Nope.ButtwoweekslaterIgotaphonecallfrom that same man. “Jerry,” he said. “You know how I told you I was goingtosellthatcar?It’s afunnything.Afterwefinished our conversation, I told one of my employees to go sell it. ‘Well’hesaid,‘Idon’t want to do that.That’s Jerry’s car,and youknowit.’”Thelawofprogressionwasatwork.

A few weeks went by and I was invited to preach in a meetinginArkansas.AsIgotreadytoleave,themancalledme and said he didn’t want me traveling on the road with the old clunkerIhad,and he wanted me to drive the 1969Pontiac.“I know the money will come,” he told me. When we got back fromArkansas, guess what happened? Someone went to the man and gave hima checkfor$1,200and paid my carofffor me!

Idon’tknowhowithappened.Idon’tknowwhoitwas.All Iknowisthatitworked.Thelawofprogressionworked!While Iwas standingontheauthorityofGod’s Word...whileIwas taking one step at a time . . . while I was being patient and singleminded...whileIwasdoingexactlywhatGodtoldmeto do . . . I was getting closer and closer to the manifestation. Onceyoustartmovingoutintoyourfaithendeavor,youoweit toyourselftoletthelawofprogressionworkforyouuntilyou moverightintocompletion.

TheEnemyofProgression

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked:for whatsoever a man soweth,thatshallhealsoreap.Forhethatsowethtohis flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the SpiritshalloftheSpiritreap lifeeverlasting.And letus notbe wearyinwelldoing:forindueseasonweshallreap,ifwefaint not” (Gal. 6:7-9, KJV). God presents us with a condition in these verses. If we don’t faint, we reap. If we faint, we don’t reap.

Oneofthemajorenemiesofprogressisweariness.Fainting stops progress.SomepeoplegettiredofconfessingtheWord. SomepeoplegettiredofactingontheWord.Somepeopleget tired ofgiving.Somepeoplegettired ofpraying.Somepeople get tired of believing. Why? Because it looks like their confessionisnotbringingpossession.Andtheygotothenext logical thing to do in the natural. They get discouraged and weary.Doyouknowwhatthatdoes?Thatstops thewheels of progression.

Peoplewhoaccomplishgreatthings areahighlymotivated anduntiringpeople.Itseems liketheyhavemorestaminathan everyoneelse.Iwantyoutoknowthatifyoukeepfeedingon the Word ofGod,you can become a person like this.You will bemotivatedthrougheverytrial,everyvalley,everyhardplace and every crisis. If you stand uncompromisingly, you will appeartoothersasuntiringandfullofspunk.

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of

patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receivethepromise.Foryet alittlewhile,and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soulshallhavenopleasureinhim(Heb.10:35-38,KJV).

But without faith it is impossible to please him:forhe thatcomethtoGodmustbelievethatheis,andthathe isarewarderofthemthatdiligentlyseekhim(Heb.11:6, KJV).

Goddoesn’trewardthosewhobecomeweary.Goddoesn’t reward thosewho areslothful.God doesn’t reward thosewho have a spirit of lethargy. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seekHim.The blessings come to the doers,not the tryersandthequitters.

“Nowthejustshalllivebyfaith:butifanymandrawsback, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” We know that God loves youwhetheryoudrawbackornot.It’s notaquestionof His love.What theBiblesays is that Hehas no “pleasure”in those who draw back. It grieves God when He sees us constantlybeingrunoverbythedevil,especiallyafterwhatHe has invested into our lives. Especially after He imparted the measureoffaithintoourhearts.EspeciallyafterHecreatedus toovercomeandpulldownstrongholds.Godgets excitedand takespleasureinuswinning!

Why would any man orwoman drawbackwhen heorshe is progressing?It doesn’t makesense.It can only bebecause theygotdiscouraged,becamewearyorhavefainted.

Remember,ifwe faint not,we shallreap.We need to keep our faith up against the mountain until it has been removed. That’sprogression.

You may be in an impossible-looking situation. Perhaps you are in a transition period. You need a job. You need healing. You need unity in your family. You need a financial breakthrough. You have been standing on the authority of God’s Word, believing God to orderyoursteps, and it seems likeeverystepyou’vetakenhasresultedinacloseddoor.

IwanttoremindyouofsomethingthathappenedinJesus’ ministry.InMark,wereadhowJesuswaspreachinginahouse in Capernaum. The place was packed, and no more people couldgetin.Acoupleofmencamecarryingoneoftheirfriends on a mat. This man had palsy and wanted to be healed by Jesus,but there was no roomforhimto get through.Ilike to say the door was closed! One translation tells us these men sought“means”to getto Jesus.Thatimplies thatwhen every doorwas shut,theykeptonmovingforward.Theydidn’tgive up.Theykeptmovingforward.

In the natural,it seemed there was no way to get the man withpalsyintothephysicalpresenceofJesus.Buttheseguys keptseeking outa“means”to do so.Finally,they toreoffthe roof and lowered him down into the room. When there appeared to be no way, there was a way. After reading this passageoneday,God told meIhad to bewilling to “raisethe roof.”Neversettlefor“no.”Ihad to keep seeking ameans to getthrough.

Don’tmisunderstandme,I’mnottellingyoutogoandtear

somebody’s roof off. I’mjust saying don’t get weary. Don’t giveup.Don’tgetdiscouraged.Don’tcompromise.Don’tomit. Letthelawofprogression workin yoursituation and you will seetheWordofGodcometocompletion.

APATHRUNSTHROUGHIT

WhatHappensBehindtheScenes

Manyyearsago,Iwatchedthemovie A River Runs Through It.

It’s about two brothers who growup with a very strict father. Theonly realenjoyment they had as kids was learning theart of trout fishing with their dad. A few weeks after I saw this movie,Iwas meditatingonPsalm77,anditremindedmeofthe film.ItalsoremindedmeofapowerfulprincipleIwanttoshare withyou.

You are the God of miracles and wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. You have redeemed yourpeople by yourstrength,the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph by your might. When the Red Sea sawyou,OGod,its waters looked and trembled!The sea quaked to its very depths.The clouds poured down theirrain; the thunderrolled and crackled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed. Yourthunderroaredfromthewhirlwind;thelightninglit uptheworld!Theearthtrembledandshook. Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters a pathway no one knew was there! You led yourpeople along that road like a flockofsheep,with

Moses and Aaron as their shepherds (Ps. 77:14-20, NLT,emphasisadded).

NoticethatGodcreatedapathinthemiddleofagreatsea. This Scripture is a reference to the Exodus story,ofhowGod delivered the nation of Israel from the Egyptians. It is specifically talking about the parting of the Red Sea the pathwaywas thereallalong,but no oneknewofit.Thereis a path that is running through every adversity you are encountering at this very moment in yourlife.No matterwhat kind of obstacle you may be facing, no matter what kind of barriers you may be confronted with, no matter what kind of walls may be standing between you and victory, knowthat a pathrunsthroughit.

What this psalm tells me is that God is always working behindthescenes.Heis workingonourbehalfevenwhenwe can’t see anything happening; even when we can’t feel anything;andevenwhenitlooks thedarkest.TheideaofGod working behind the scenes has been a revelation to me for many,manyyears.IfIdidnotbelievethateverytimeIfacean impossible-looking situation that God was working behind the scenes,Iwouldnotbeabletoendurethem.Iwouldnotbeable to persevere. I would have no drive. I would have no motivation. Knowing that God is working on my behalf, whetherornot Ican see orfeelit,is what has kept me going duringthetimeswhenitlookedlikeIcouldn’tgoanyfurther.

As Pharaoh and his army approached, the people of

Israelcould see themin the distance,marching toward them.Thepeoplebegantopanic,andtheycriedoutto theLORDforhelp.ThentheyturnedagainstMosesand complained,“Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves forus in Egypt?Whydidyoumakeus leave?Didn’twetellyou to leave us alone while we were still in Egypt? Our Egyptian slavery was farbetterthan dying out here in thewilderness!”(Exod.14:10-12,NLT).

This is the same group of people that had been begging God fordeliverancewhen they werein bondagein theland of Egypt. They cried out to God and He sent them a leader, Moses. They didn’t like Moses, however, because he didn’t handle their deliverance as they would have liked. Though they walked out of Egypt free people, carrying the gold and silveroftheirenemy,theysooncamefacetofacewiththeRed Sea.In theirminds at that point,it looked as though it was all over. It looked as though Moses had led them straight into defeat.

Nomatterwhatkindof obstacleyoumaybefacingor barriersyouareconfronted withorwallsthatmaybe standingbetweenyouand

victory,apathrunsthrough it.

I’msureyouhavereachedaplaceatsomepointinyourlife whereit looked as though it was allover.Ifwe’rehonest with ourselves, most of us have. Many years ago, I had the devil say to me, “It’s been a nice ride, Jerry, but this is as far as you’re going.” Though I replied, “Says who?” I admit I entertainedthatthoughtforafewmoments.Itreminds meofa story I heard about brother Kenneth Hagin. A woman once cameuptohimandaskedhimtoprayforhersothatshewould neverhave anothernegative thought.BrotherHagin told her, “Miss,ifIcouldpraythatforyou,I’dprayitformyself.”Allof usarevulnerabletonegativethoughts,buttheimportantthing is that we don’t dwellon negativity.We need to learn howto castdownnegativethoughts.

The Israelites were in an impossible-looking situation. As thepopularsayinggoes,theywerebetweenarockandahard place. They couldn’t turn back because Pharaoh was either going to kill them or take them back into captivity. They couldn’t go forward because there was a Red Sea in front of them.In the naturalit looked to themthat allMoses did was stirthemupandbuilduptheirhopesonlytoletthemdown.In theirminds,theythoughtitwasallover.

You haveto rememberthatthey didn’tknowthatGod had the power to split seas. They’d never seen Himdo it. They didn’thavethebookofExodus toread.Theywere living their

exodus.Notoneofthemsaid,“Oh,waitaminute.IthinkIseea path running through the Red Sea.” Why? Because the Bible saiditwasapathwaythatnooneknewwasthere.

Ithadbeenthereforquitesometime.Inthesameway,the paththatGodsetsforyourlifeisalreadythereaswell.Doyou know that God knows everything about your life? Do you knowthatHeknows everythingthatyouwillgothroughfrom now until you get to heaven? God is never surprised by anything that happens to you. The Bible even says that He givesyoutheguaranteethatHewillnotallowSatantoputyou through anything in your life that you are not able to bear. Whatever you are going through right now, God has already determinedyou’vegotwhatittakestomakeitthrough.Youare able to endure it, persevere through it and come out on the othersidevictorious.

Afewyears afterIwatched the movie The Right Stuff, in theearlyeighties,IwenttotheIndy500andhadtheprivilege ofsitting next to ColonelChuckYeageron theflight there.He was to be the driverforthe Pace carat the Indy that year. If youknowanythingaboutthis man,youknowhewas thefirst person to break the sound barrier. His story is told in that movie. It was a pleasure to sit next to someone who had the “rightstuff.”BecauseofGod,youandIhavetherightstuff.

“But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand whereyouareandwatchtheLORDrescueyou.TheEgyptians thatyouseetodaywillneverbeseenagain.TheLORD himself willfightforyou’”(Exod.14:13-14, NLT).Moses’advicetothe peoplewas easiersaid than done,but it’s an important lesson

tolearn.Whatdomostpeopledowhentheyaregoingthrough something that looks impossible? They do the opposite of holding their peace. They panic. They start griping and moaning and whining and complaining and sobbing and bawling.Haveyouevertriedtotalktosomeonewhoisinpanic stage?It’salmostimpossibletocalmhimdown.

ThisiswhatthepeopleofIsraelwerelikewhentheystared at that Red Sea in front of them. But God was saying, “You watch. I’m up to something. I’ve been working behind the scenes.I’vehadsomethingpreparedsinceyouwerecryingout to Me for deliverance a long time ago. I already had a path createdforyouthroughthisRedSea.”

I think it’s interesting that the Israelites’ very problem became their answer. Could it be that the very thing you are going through right nowcould turn out to be yoursolution? You might be going through a tremendous financial attack. Well, that could mean you are about to experience your greatest financial breakthrough! Great victories come out of greatbattles.ButthepeopleofGodcouldn’tseethis.Allthey couldseewas aRedSea(justlikeallyoucanseerightnowin yourlifeisamountainofdebtorthestrifeinyourfamilyorthe jobthatyoulost).

JustKeepMoving

Moses had sense enough to believe what God had told him eventhoughhedidn’tknowthattherewasapathinthemiddle oftheRedSea.GodaskedMoses,“Whyareyoucryingoutto me? Tell the people to get moving!” (Exod. 14:15, NLT).

Another translation tells us that God told Moses to tell the people to “go forward.” God’s direction for your life is to alwaysgoforward.Itmightseemlikeallyouaredoingistaking ababystep,butthatis stillforwardmotion.Goddidn’ttellthe peopleofIsraeltoretreat.Hecommandedthemtomoveonand thensaidtoMoses:

Use yourshepherd’s staff hold it out overthe water, and a path will open up before you through the sea. Then allthe people of Israelwillwalkthrough on dry ground. Yet I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they willfollowthe Israelites into the sea. Then I willreceive great glory at the expense of Pharaoh and his armies, chariots, and charioteers. When I am finishedwithPharaohandhis army,allEgyptwillknow thatIamtheLORD!(Exod.14:16-18,NLT).

Weallknowwhathappenedafterthat.TheRedSeaparted and the Israelites walked right on through while the Egyptian army behind themwas swallowed by the sea. “Your road led throughthesea,yourpathwaythroughthemightywaters”(Ps. 77:19,NLT).

Inorderforthosepeopletofindthepaththatnoonecould see,theyhadtobe willing to obey.Theyhadtotakeastepof faith.Howwouldyouliketohavebeenthepersononthefront line? The people ofIsraelwere about three million in number, and the ones in the backpossibly hadn’t even seen the Red Seayet.Theydidn’tknowitwasinfrontofthem.Sotheywere

back there shaking their tambourines and praising God that theyhadbeendeliveredfromEgypt,whiletheonesinthefront were staring at the rushing waters saying, “We’re gonna die. We’regonnadie.”ButMoses tookaleap offaith and obeyed God.And thepeopletookaleap offaith,trusted in what God hadtosaythroughMosesandwentforwardinobedience.

InorderfortheIsraelitesto

findthepaththatnoone couldsee,theyhadtobe willingtoobey.Theytooka leapoffaith,trustedinwhat Godhadtosaythrough Mosesandwentforwardin obedience.

You may belooking atyourRed Searightnow,wondering what you are going to do. I’ll tell you! Move forward. Sometimes the only move “forward” is to get in your prayer closet,castthosenegativethoughtsoutofyourmindandstart praisingGod.Ifyoustopgoingtochurchwhenyourlifeis full of adversity, you are not going forward. If you hang around negative people who say they tried it and it didn’t work for them, you are not going forward. You’ve got to hang around somewinners.Get around those who havethe right stuff.Get

around some people who know there is a path that runs throughyoursituation.

Thedevilis good atgetting us to say things thatbind us, limit us, restrict us and trap us. “Thou art snared with the words ofthymouth”(Prov.6:2, KJV).Satan has convinced us tosay,“Ican’tseeanywayoutofthis.”Therehasneverbeen a more devil-inspired statement come out of the mouth of a believerthanthatone.

Iheardsomebodysay,“Ican’tbelievesomethingifIcan’t seeit.”WhenGodsays thereis apaththatruns throughit,of courseyoucan’tseeit.Butsincewhendowegovernourlives bywhatwecansee?Wewalkbyfaith,notbysight.Wedon’t have to see a path to believe it’s there. Do you believe you have a brain? Of course. Can you see your brain? Of course not.So,we can believethingsthatwecannotsee.

Itravelquitealot,andoftenwithoutmywife,becauseshe doesn’t likethekind ofhectictraveling Ido.Peopleoften ask me ifI’mmarried, because they don’t see Carolyn that much.

Someofthemevenwonderifsheexists!Butshedoes,andI’m married,andjustbecausetheycan’tseeherdoesn’tmeanthat shedoesn’texist.

You’vegottobelievedeepdowninyourspiritthatthereis apath.You’vegottobeconvincedofthis nomatterwhatyou aregoing through,and especially no matterhowmany people trytodiscourageyoujustbecausetheyneverfoundtheirpath.

Contrarytowhathappenedtothem,andcontrarytoyourpast experiences,you’vegottobelievethatsomehow,someway,no matterwhatyou’regoingthroughrightnow,apathis running

throughit.Apathis runningthroughyouradversity.Apathis running through every test and every trial.Apath is running througheveryimpossible-lookingsituation.

Icantellyouthatoverthelast40years,Godhas neverlet medown.Thereweretimes IthoughtHemighthavebeenlate, butinrealityHewasalwaysontime.He’salwayscreatedpaths right through the middle of every challenge I have ever experienced.God is no respecterofpersons,so IknowHe is doingthesameforyourightnow.

TheHolySpirit,OurHelper

Ifyou are evergoing to discoverthis path,you are going to have to learn to be sensitive to the leading ofthe Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18, KJV) or “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless,desolate,bereaved,forlorn,helpless];Iwillcome [back]toyou”(AMP).Hewas talking about sending theHoly Spiritwhowouldactasourhelper.InJohn16:33,Jesusreferred totheHolySpiritasourguide.Whatisthemajorcharacteristic of a guide? A guide knows the way; he knows things you don’tknow.Youdon’thireapersontobeaguideifhedoesn’t know where he is going. I am not going through the Grand Canyon with somebody who’s neverbeen through the Grand Canyonbefore.

ItookmydaughterstoAfricawithmesomeyearsback.We traveled to Botswana for the graduation celebrations in our Bible schools, and we preached in a couple of our churches there.Oneofourpartners blessedus bygivingus asafaritrip.

Wewereassigned two guides Richard and Job.(Igotalittle concernedwhenIfoundouttheoneguy’s namewas Job,but heturnedouttobearemarkablemanandanamazingguide.)

WeweregivenaRangeRovertoridearoundin,andwhile Richard drove,Job sat on achairoutside,abovethehood,so he could see everything and tellus about it. We went out at different times during the day, sometimes in the mornings, sometimesduringtheevenings.Jobkneweverythingtherewas to know.Heshowed us allsorts ofwild animals and explained theiractivities.

Apathisrunningthrough youradversity.Apathis runningthrougheverytest andeverytrial.Ifyouare evergoingtodiscoverthis path,youhavetolearntobe sensitivetotheleadingofthe HolySpirit.

It was like he was a part of the environment. He smelled thingswecouldn’tsmell.Heheardthings wecouldn’thear.He sawthings wecouldn’tsee.Onetime,weweredrivingaround justbeforeitgotdark,andallofasudden,as wewerewaiting

for Job to tell us what was coming up next, he calmly said, “Snake.” He didn’t yellit out; he said it very matter-of-factly. Wouldn’tyouknowit,rightaboveourheads,inatree,wesaw asnakeslitheringaround.

What’s my point? Job knewthe way. He knewmore than we knew. He had the characteristics of a great guide. If anybody knows where the path is in the middle of our dire circumstances,it’s theHolySpirit.That’s thereasonGodfilled us with the Holy Spirit. Not so that we could be called Pentecostal or tongue-talkers, but so that we would have a Guide.He wants to lead us to the path to victory,the path to the good life. The path to increase. The path to the barriers coming down. The path to doors being opened. The path to the goodness of God. The path to God’s best. The path to everythingGodwantsustohave.

“No one can know what anyone else is really thinking exceptthatpersonalone,andnoonecanknowGod’sthoughts except God’s own Spirit. And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Cor. 2:11-12, NLT). THE MESSAGE tells us that the Spirit “brings out what God planned allalong” (v.10).Isn’t that encouraging? One ofthe jobs ofthe Holy Spirit is to bring out orrevealwhat God had planned for you all along. He knows where that path is. He knows howtogetyouonthatpath.It’s His jobtobringitout, butyouhavegottogiveHimsometime.You’vegottolearnto besensitivetoHim.

Exodus 14:30 tells us, “The LORD saved Israel that day”

(KJV

).That’s what He wants to do foryou and me.He wants us to have the testimony that He saved us, delivered us and broughtusthroughtovictory.Learntolineupyourwordsand your thoughts with what God says. Don’t focus on the circumstances; focus on fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit andendeavoringtobesensitivetoHis leadership.AskHimto revealtoyouGod’s plan.AskHimtorevealtoyouthepathto your victory. If you don’t hear anything while praying and seekingGod,don’tgiveup.KeeponlisteningforHimdayafter dayafterday.

Lineupyourwordsandyour thoughtswithwhatGodsays.

Don’tfocuson circumstances;focuson fellowshippingwiththeHoly Spiritandendeavoringtobe sensitivetoHisleadership.

AskHimtorevealtoyou God’splan.

Let me make another suggestion. Don’t ever act out of confusion.God is nottheauthorofconfusion.Ifyou areever confused about going this way orgoing that way,taking this

job or that job, moving here or moving there, then don’t act justyet.Godis theauthorofpeace.Ifyoudowhateveryou’re going to do out of uncertainty, you are about to make a big mistake.You willmake an even biggermess ofyoursituation. Wait patiently on the Holy Spirit. Wait for peace and then followit.

GettingOutoftheValley

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set theirhearts on pilgrimage.As they pass through theValley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also coveritwithpools.Theygofromstrengthtostrength,tilleach appears before God in Zion” (Ps. 84:5-7, NIV). The literal Hebrewmeaningofthewords“ValleyofBaca”is“thevalleyof tears” or “the valley of sorrow.” When we experience challenges in our life, it can drive us to tears. It can create sorrow. It can make us feel sad and oppressed. Most of us have visited this place severaltimes.The writerofthis psalm, however, encourages us by talking of “passing through” the Valley of Baca. The Amplified Bible translates this as going “fromstrengthtostrength[increasinginvictoriouspower].”

Goddoesn’twantyoulivingintheValleyofBaca.It’snota placetobestayedinforverylong.Thepeoplewhoknowhow toproperlyvisitBacapass rightonthroughit;andwhenthey comeout ofit; they arestronger.They comeout on theother side increased in victorious power. That’s exactly how God wants youtocomethrough.Hewants youcomingoutofthat placewithstrength,powerandvictory.

IhavediscoveredthatwhenIamintheValleyofBaca,and Ican’t see God’s path,then that’s when Ineed to pray in the Spirit more.You need to do thesamething.When you get up inthemorning,prayintheSpirit.Whileyou’regettingdressed, pray in the Spirit. Pray in the Spirit during your lunch break. Pray in the Spirit when you are driving to work. Pray in the Spirit when you are taking a shower. Pray in the Spirit when yougotobed.Whathappenswhenyoudothis?You’regiving theHolySpiritanopportunitytorevealtoyouwherethatpath is.

There’s a path running through whatever you are going through today. God has already provided it, but you have to enlist the help of your Guide. You’ll have to get some assistance fromyour Helper. Spend time with the Holy Spirit andyouwillfindthepaththatrunsthroughyourproblem,and itwillleadyoustraighttoyourvictory.

GODWILLBEEVERYTHING YOUNEED

GodIs

When you struggle with yourfaith,the best thing to do is to get back to the basics. You can’t get any more basic than studyingHebrews11,thegreatlifeoffaithchapterintheBible. You haveto keep yourfaith fed allthetime.You can’t liveon lastyear’s faith,justlikeyou can’tliveon yesterday’s manna. Ithastobefreshmannaeveryday.

“Butwithoutfaithitis impossibletopleasehim:forhethat comethtoGodmustbelievethatheis,andthatheisarewarder ofthemthatdiligently seekhim”(Heb.11:6, KJV).Ifrequently speak on this verse in the context of perseverance and not givingup(“heis arewarderofthemthatdiligentlyseekhim”). One day,as Iwas meditating on this verse,Istarted to focus onthepartthatsays,“ForhethatcomethtoGodmustbelieve that he is.” What does this really mean? It means believing more than the simple fact that God exists. It means believing thatGodiseverythingweneedHimtobeinourlives.

What is yourneed today? What are you battling against? What kind of hurts are you dealing with? What’s got you under pressure? What kinds of attacks have come into your

life?Whatevertheyare,knowthatGodisabletomeetthemall. Heis whateveryouneedHimtobe.Oneofthemanynames of God is IAM.Not “Iwas.” Not “Ihave been.” Not “Iused to be.”Godis!

This is what He was trying to get across to Moses when HecalledhimtoleadthepeopleofIsraeloutofEgypt.Moses came up with a bunch of excuses why he thought he wasn’t themanforthejob.“Ican’tdothis.Ican’tgobeforePharaoh and tellhimto let Your people go. I can’t speakwell. I don’t have the confidence.” But God ignored Moses’whining and saidtohim,“YoujustgoaheadandtellPharaohthatIAMhas sentyou.”

The foundational truth for strong faith is believing that “Godis.”Itis onlythis kindoffaiththatcanmovemountains, pull down strongholds, overcome the world and bring about victory. If you want this kind of faith, then you have to be convincedthatGodiswhateveryouneedHimtobe.

God is the great I AM. This is why we find numerous references throughouttheBibleofthenames thatpeoplegave God once they discovered that He could be everything they needed Himto be. King David was famous for this. Among many others names, he referred to God as his Refuge, High Tower, Deliverer, Comforter and Fortress. That is who David found God to be during his times of trouble and distress. If David needed God to bearefuge,God said:“IAM.”IfDavid needed God to be a protector, God said: “I AM.” If David needed God to be a comforter,God said:“IAM.” And God is saying the same thing to you and me today. Whatever you

needinyourlife,Godissaying:“IAM.”

Oneofthemanynamesfor GodisIAM.Not“Iwas.”

Not“Ihavebeen.”Not“I usedtobe.”Whateveryou needinyourlife,Godis

saying:“IAM.”

When David referred to God as his refuge orhis fortress, he was writing from personal experience. The names he attributedtoGodwerenotjustasimpledescription,something deeply meaningfuland personal.God wasn’t just arefuge; He was David’s refuge. God wasn’t just a deliverer. God became David’s deliverer.Thesamecanbetrueinyourownlife.Once you have been healed by God,then He becomes yourhealer. Onceyouhavebeenprovidedfor,Godbecomesyourprovider. Onceyou havebeen comforted,God becomes yourcomforter. There is a difference between God being “a” something and Godbeing“your”something.WhenGodis “yoursomething,” thenyouhavepersonalexperience.

“TheLORD is my rock,and my fortress,and my deliverer; myGod,mystrength,inwhomIwilltrust;mybuckler,andthe horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Ps. 18:2, KJV).

DavidwrotethispsalmwhilehewasfleeingfromKingSauland

sought refuge in a cave.Saulwas an angry,jealous man who was outtokillDavid;butGoddeliveredDavidfromSaul’s evil hands.Inwritingthispassage,Davidlearnedsevennewthings about God, and He gave God seven new names from this experience:God was his Rock, his Fortress, his Deliverer, his Strength, his Buckler, the Horn of his Salvation and his High Tower.These names described what David needed God to be, andGodbecameallofthosethings.

TheLORDismyshepherd;IhaveeverythingIneed.He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peacefulstreams.Herenewsmystrength.Heguidesme along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even whenIwalkthroughthedarkvalleyofdeath,Iwillnot be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and yourstaffprotect and comfort me.You prepare a feast formeinthepresenceofmyenemies.Youwelcomeme as a guest, anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailinglovewillpursuemeallthedaysofmylife,and IwillliveinthehouseoftheLORDforever(Ps.23,NLT).

Many theologians agree that this most famous psalmwas written by an elderly David.It’s not thesong ofanovice,but of a man who had walked with God for many years. David calledGodhisshepherd.IntheNewTestament,Jesuscalledus His sheep.This is not a putdown; it’s a fact.Let’s be honest. Sheep do dumb things. That’s why they need a shepherd.

Sheep wouldn’t knowwhere to go ifit wasn’t fora shepherd leadingthem.Sheepwouldbeeatenbywolvesifitwasn’tfora shepherdtakingcareofthem.

WhatDavidwas sayinghereis this:“I’manoldmannow; andinmyopinion,ifyouweretoaskmewhatGodhasbeento meallmylife,IwouldsayHe’smyShepherd.Hehasledme.He has guided me.He has protected me.Sometimes Imessed up, sometimes I was stubborn, sometimes I rebelled, and sometimes I went the wrong way, but God was always there andreadytoleadmeintoHispathofrighteousness.”

WhoIsGod?

TheBible,fromGenesistoRevelation,revealstousthatGodis everythingweneedHimtobe.Letmegiveyousomeexamples ofwhatthatmeans.

InGenesis15:1,Heisourshield.

InGenesis17:1,HeisalmightyGodorElShaddai.

InExodus15:26,HeistheLordthatheals.

InDeuteronomy5:6,HeistheLordwhobroughtyououtof bondage.

In Isaiah 43:3, He is the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,thySavior.

InIsaiah48:12,Heisthefirstandthelast.

InIsaiah48:17,HeistheGodwhoteachesyoutoprofit.

InIsaiah51:12,HeistheGodthatcomfortsyou.

InJeremiah3:12,Heismerciful.

In Jeremiah 9:24, He is the Lord of loving-kindness (or mercy).

InJohn6:35,Heisthebreadoflife.

InJohn8:12,Heisthelightoftheworld.

InJohn10:9,Heisthedoor.

InJohn10:11,Heisthegoodshepherd.

InJohn14:6,Heistheway,thetruthandthelife.

InRevelation1:8,Heisthealphaandtheomega.

IfyoutrustandhopeinGod,Hewillbewhateveryouneed Himtobe.Godhas theuniqueabilitytofitintoeverymanand every woman’s life.God is so much.Heis so much that every human being has the ability to relate to Him. No matter who you are, no matter where you were born and no matter what youroccupation may be,He is whateveryou need Himto be.

Manyyearsago,Iheardsomeonesaythefollowingaboutwho Godis.IthelpedmeunderstandhowGodfillseveryneed.

Tothearchitect Heisthechiefcornerstone.

Tothebaker Heisthelivingbread.

Tothebanker Heistheunsearchableriches.

Tothebiologist Heislife.

Tothebuilder Heisthesurefoundation.

Tothedoctor Heisthegreatphysician.

Totheeducator Heisthesuperbteacher.

Tothefarmer HeistheLordoftheharvest.

Totheflorist HeistheroseofSharon.

Tothegeologist Heistherockofages.

Tothejeweler Heisthepreciousstone.

Tothelawyer Heisthecounselorandtheadvocate.

Tothemedia Heisgoodnewsandgladtidings.

Tothephilosopher Heiswisdom.

Tothepotter Heisthevesselofhonor.

Tothesailor Heisthemasterofthesea.

Tothesoldier Heisthecaptainofoursalvation.

Tothestatesman Heisthedesireofallnations.

GodiseverythingyouwilleverneedHimtobe.Thereisno needgreaterthanourGod.Thereisnocircumstancethatistoo big for God. There is no problem that God can’t solve. Whateveryourneedis,Godis.

If,inyourmind,yourneedgets biggerthanGod,thenyou are spending too much time listening to the devil. You are allowinghimtotalktoyoutoomuch.Youarenotcastingdown his imaginations.Satan wants you to thinkthat whateveryou are going through at this present moment is greater than the

God you serve,but it is not!You can’t be Almighty and then have something that is mightierthan you.You can’t be Most High and have something that is higherthan you.OurGod is AlmightyandourGodisMostHigh!

TheStrongOne

The Hebrew prefix “el” means “strong one.” In the Old Testament,particularly in thebooks ofJob and Psalms,“el”is used about 250times. The use ofthe word indicated specific circumstances that called for God to manifest His great strength orgreat power.When God’s people came up against something they did not have the ability, the might or the strength to dealwith themselves,the Strong One showed up. This should encourage allof us today. We are blessed to be childrenoftheStrongOne.

When I was a little boy, I thought my dad was the strongest daddy on the planet. As we said in the South, I believed that he could “whoop” anybody that needed to be “whooped.” Most little boys go around talking like that. Though my dad was not extremely tall, he was extremely strong. He looked like he was carved out of stone. My dad always rolled up thesleeves ofhis auto body uniform,but he had to slit themfirst because his biceps bulged out of them, theyweresobig.Therewas onemanwhoworkedwithhimby the name of Herman. I’ll never forget this precious man. Hermanwouldsaytomydad,“Mr.Jerry,youlooklikethatman on the Arm & Hammer soda box.” My dad actually had me convincedatonetimethatheposedforthatpicture.

I feel the same way about my heavenly Father. My heavenly Father is the Strong One. Why should I fear when Satan comes against me? Why should I worry when attacks comeintomylife?WhyshouldIgiveupwhentheStrongOne ismyFather?

MorethanEnough

Godis alsocalledtheAll-SufficientOne.Thatmeans thatHe’s gotplentyofwhateverwemayneedinourlives.Youarenever goingtofindGodrunningoutofanything.Therewillnotbea timewhen you askHimto meet afinancialneed and He’llsay that someone else prayed about 30 minutes before you and depleted heaven.God willneversay He had to lay Jesus off, thattheangelsareonstrikeorthatadepressionhashitheaven andeveryoneis outofwork.Godis theAll-SufficientOne.He can meet all our needs according to His riches in glory (see Phil.4:19).Itdoesn’tmakeanydifferencewhattheeconomyis

WhenGod’speoplecameup againstsomethingtheydid nothavetheability,themight orthestrengthtodealwith themselves,theStrongOne showedup.

doing down here; heaven’s economy works under another system.

Manytimes,Godhasgoneoverandbeyondwhenfulfilling myneeds.TherehavebeenmanytimesthatHetookcareofme and Ihad plenty leftover.Ephesians 3:20tells us thatGod “is abletodoexceedingabundantlyaboveallthatweaskorthink” (KJV).ThereisnolimittoHissupply.HowmanyChristiansdo you suppose there are on planet Earth right now? Do you knowthat ifGod met each oftheirneeds and they had plenty left over,it wouldn’t even dent His capitalreserve?That’s the Godweserve.

Abraham’sExperienceoftheProvider

ThroughouttheBible,menandwomenwhotrulybelievedthat Godwas theAll-SufficientOnewatchedHimcomethroughfor themtimeandtimeagain.TheydaredtobelievethatHewould provide forthem,and He neverlet themdown.In Genesis we read thestory ofAbrahamwho was called by God to sacrifice hissonIsaac.

ThenextmorningAbrahamgotupearly.Hesaddledhis donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac. Then he chopped wood to build a fireforaburntoffering and setoutfortheplacewhere Godhadtoldhimtogo.Onthethirddayofthejourney, Abrahamsawtheplaceinthedistance.“Stayherewith the donkey,” Abrahamtold the young men. “The boy

and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, andthenwewillcomerightback”(Gen.22:3-5,NLT).

Abrahamwas a man of faith. Though he knew God was askinghimtosacrificehis son,hetoldtheservants,“Youmen stayhereforawhile.Butdon’tworry,we’llbeback.”Abraham was so thoroughly convinced that God was his Providerthat hesaidinfaiththatheandIsaacwouldreturn.Hedidn’tknow howGod was going to do it,but he was sure that God would doit.

Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’sshoulders,whilehehimselfcarriedtheknifeand the fire. As the two of them went on together, Isaac said, “Father?” “Yes, my son,” Abrahamreplied. “We havethewoodandthefire,”saidtheboy,“butwhereis the lamb forthe sacrifice?” “God will provide a lamb, my son,” Abrahamanswered. And they both went on together(Gen.22:6-8,NLT,emphasisadded).

NowondertheBibletellsusthatwearetowalkinthesame steps of faith as our father Abraham. This man believed that God is.He believed that God would be everything he needed Himtobe.Andatthattime,heneededGodtobehis provider. You see, a while back, God had made a promise to Abraham thatamightynationwouldcomefromhis sonIsaac.Well,you can’t get a nation out ofa dead boy.So Abrahamstood firm

and “staggered not at the promise of God” (Rom. 4:20, KJV). He didn’t hesitate to trust in God. He didn’t question God’s commandtohim.Hehadnoreservationsabouttakingthatboy uponthatmountain.Abrahamwas fullypreparedifnecessary to kill his son, burn his body to ashes and watch God raise those ashes up and resurrect Isaac, because of the promise Godhadgivenhim.

When they arrived at the place where God had told Abrahamto go, he built an altarand placed the wood on it. Then he tied Isaac up and laid himon the altar overthewood.AndAbrahamtooktheknifeandliftedit up to kill his son as a sacrifice to the LORD. At that moment the angel of the LORD shouted to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” he replied. “I’m listening.” “Lay down the knife,” the angel said. “Do not hurt the boy in any way,fornowIknowthat you truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son fromme.” Then Abrahamlooked up and sawaramcaughtbyitshornsinabush.Sohetookthe ramand sacrificed it as a burnt offering on the altarin placeofhis son.Abrahamnamedtheplace“TheLORD Will Provide.” This name has now become a proverb: “OnthemountainoftheLORDitwillbeprovided”(Gen. 22:9-14,NLT).

ThepointofthisstoryisthatGod,theProvider,showedup rightinthenickoftime.YoumayfeelinyourownlifethatGod

is latein meeting yourneed,but pleaseunderstand that Heis neverlate.GodhonoredthepromiseHegaveAbraham,andHe honored Abraham’s faith. Abrahamsaid, “God will provide,” and God provided a ramto be used as a sacrifice instead of Isaac.AbrahamsawGod demonstrateHimselfas theProvider, andinhonorofthat,AbrahamnamedthatplaceJehovahJireh (Godwillprovide).EverytimeAbrahampassedbythatplace,it wouldremindhimthathisGodwasaprovidingGod.

IntheOldTestamentitwas notuncommonthatwhenGod manifestedHimselfingreatbattles andgaveHis childrengreat victories,theywouldpileupstones inthatspotas amemorial unto God. If I were to lay a stone in my front yard for every time God has come through for me in the last 40 years, you wouldn’t even be able to see my house. But I do have memorials in my mind. I can remember every miracle, every breakthrough, every provision and every single time where Godhascomethroughforme.

Any time the devilsays, “Jerry, you are not going to get yourneedmetthis time,”Iflipthroughachartinmymindand thinkabout the last time Ihad a need that looked impossible, andIrememberhowmyProvidershowedup.IfHeprovidedfor me backthen, then He’lldo it again. Whateveryou might be going through today, it’s not too late for God to show up in yourbehalf.Don’tevergiveuponHim.

Anothertermin theHebrewforJehovah Jireh is “theLord willseeto it.”Ilovethat.Itsounds likeaguarantee,orasure thing,to me.God is a sure thing.He is the surest thing in my life.Imay not knowabout otherpeople.Imay not knowwhat

they are going to do,but Ido knowwhat my God is going to do.Heis going to seeto itthatwhateverHesaid willcometo pass.

God proved to Abraham that if he dared to believe and daredtotrustinHim,GodwouldnotallowHis promises tofail inAbraham’slife.IbelievethatGodissayingthesamethingto you and me. In the midst of every need we have, we should boldlydeclare,“MyGodwillseetoit.Hewillseetoeverything Hehas promised.Hewillseetoitthatitwillcometopass just thewayHesaidit.”

TheSupremeBeing

Ibelieve that is what John was referring to in Revelation 19:6 when he said,“Forthe Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (KJV). John described God as omnipotent,which means “possessing unlimitedpowerandunlimitedcreativeability.”WhatwasJohn saying?ThattheGodweservepossesses unlimitedpower.He possesses unlimited creative ability. Not only that, but He reigns. What does reign mean? It means that God has sovereign authority, supreme power and total dominion over everythinginourlives.

PaulwroteaboutthisomnipotentGodwhoreigns:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existedbeforeGodmadeanythingatallandis supreme overallcreation.Christ is the one through whomGod created everything in heaven and earth. He made the

things wecan seeand thethings wecan’t see kings, kingdoms,rulers,and authorities.Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.Christ is the head ofthe church,which is his body.Heisthefirstofallwhowillrisefromthedead,so heisfirstineverything(Col.1:15-18,NLT).

Paul described a God to whomeverything that has been createdissubordinatetoHim.

Youmightask,“YoumeanHecreatedevil?”“YoumeanHe created sickness and disease?” “You mean He created poverty?” No. God didn’t create those things, but He did createLucifer.AndwhenLuciferfellandGodkickedhimoutof heaven, he came into Earth and began to bring about destruction and chaos. Lucifer created evil. Lucifer is the authorofsickness and disease.He created poverty.But since God created Lucifer, then He says that HE will take full responsibilityforhim,andthereforenoweaponformedagainst youshallprosper(seeIsa.54:17).

THE MESSAGE saysthatGodissupreme.Hewassupreme inthebeginning.Heissupremeintheend.Fromthebeginning to the end,He is there towering farabove allofcreation.Our God towers overevery problemin ourlives.Howbig is your financialneed?Howbig is yourmarriageproblem?Howbig is your health problem? Know that God towers over it and everythingmustbowtoHis awesomeauthority.Godis greater than anything you are struggling with. God is greater than

anythingthatlooksimpossible.

Whatis yourneedtoday?Areyouweary?Godis therock in a weary land. Are you in the valley? God is the lily ofthe valley,theroseofSharon,and thehoneyintherock.Areyou spiritually thirsty? God is the cup that runneth over.Are you comfortless?Godis therodandthestaffthatwillcomfortyou. Areyoulonely?Godisafathertotheorphanandahusbandto the widow.Are you lost? God is the bright and morning star. He is the Almighty God.He is the everlasting God.He is the ever-present God.He is the all-powerfulGod.He is the mosthigh God. And thank God, He is the faithfulGod. He willbe everythingyouneedHimtobe,ifyou’lldarebelieveit.

PURSUE,OVERTAKEAND RECOVERALL

Are you tired ofyoursituation? Are you tired ofneverbeing abletodothethingsthatyouwanttodoforyourchurch,your family, your friends or your community? Are you tired of getting those past-due notices in the mail? Are you tired of neverhavinganythinginyoursavings account?Areyouflatouttiredofstruggling?

Ireached that placemorethan 40years ago.Iwas tired of always struggling. I was tired of all of my money going to somebodyelse.Ididn’twanttolivelikethatanymore.Doyou knowwhatIdid?Igotfedup(Italkedaboutthisingreatdetail in chapter4).Igot angry about the bondage Iwas in.Once I got fed up, I took action, which eventually led to my turnaround. I’d like to share some principles with you about what action to take to pursue and overtake your Enemy and finallyrecoverallthathehasstolenfromyou.

StartCheeringYourselfOn

King David in the Old Testament experienced a devastating plightwhenhecamehomefrombattleonetime:

Threedays later,whenDavidandhis menarrivedhome at theirtown ofZiklag,they found that the Amalekites had madearaid into theNegev and had burned Ziklag to the ground. They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until theycouldweepnomore(1Sam.30:1-4,NLT).

David and his men had returned home frombattle only to find theirentirevillageburned to theground.Theirwives and children were taken captive. When they saw what had happened,theycriedlikebabies.Davidwas greatlydistressed (see v. 6). Have you ever been greatly distressed? I have. I knowwhatit’sliketositdownandweepuntiltherearenomore tearstoshed.

AllofDavid’smenbegantoblamehimforthishorror.They wanted to stone himand kill him. This was a pretty serious problemfor David. At that moment, he had every reason or right to give up and quit. He could have said, “God, I’m a failure.Ifailed my men,and Ihave failed you.” But that’s not whathappened.TheBiblesays,“Davidencouragedhimselfin the LORD” (1 Sam. 30:6, KJV). David became his own cheerleader. There wasn’t anybody else to do it for him. Everyoneelsewaseithergoneortheywantedhimdead.David hadtoencouragehimself.Theremaybetimesinyourlifewhen you willhave to do the same thing. You’re going to have to becomeyourownbestcheerleader.

Davidhadtoencourage himself.Theremaybetimes inyourlifewhenyouwill havetodothesamething. You’regoingtohaveto becomeyourownbest cheerleader.

HowdidDavidencouragehimself?Heremindedhimselfof his covenant with theAlmighty.And afterspending timewith God, David changed his attitude about his circumstance, and the strength of God entered into him. Instead of accepting defeat,theBiblesays that heasked God,“ShallIpursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them?” God answered David, “Pursue:forthou shalt surely overtake them,and without fail recoverall”(1Sam.30:8, KJV).Thatis whatGodwants youto dorightnowregardingyoursituation.Hewantsyoutogetfed up,encourage yourselfin Himand then pursue,overtake and recoverall.

Howmuch longer are you going to put up with the devil stealing everything you’ve got? How much longer are you going to let him steal your finances, your peace and your freedom? How much longer are you going to tolerate him destroying yourlife? When are you going to take a stand for whatrightfullybelongstoyou?

JustSayNototheDevil

Ibelievethat it is timeforyou to becomeaggressive.It’s time foryoutotakeastandforwhatrightfullybelongs toyou.You haveacovenant right to alloftheblessings ofAbraham.The curse doesn’t belong to you. Jesus tookcare of the curse at Calvary.Nowit’s timeforyoutoenforceinyourownlifewhat Jesushasalreadyprovidedforyou.

“Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy.He prowls around like a roaring lion,looking for some victimto devour. Take a firmstand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers andsisters allovertheworldaregoingthroughthesamekind ofsuffering you are” (1Pet.5:8-9, NLT). These verses tellus we don’t have to accept whatever the devilis telling us. We don’t have to buy into his lies. Peter told us to “take a firm standagainsthim,andbestrongin[our]faith.”Beaggressive. Startsayingnotothedevil.Stopentertainingthethoughts he throwsyourway.StartspeakingtheWordrightinhisface.

Let the devilknowthat you are fed up with bondage.Let himknowthat you are intolerant with lack.Let himknowthat you are through letting himstealfromyou. Let himknow up front:“Ifit’safightyouwant,it’safightyou’regonnaget.But when the dust settles, God and I will be the ones still standing!”

You can’t be passive. You can’t sit back and hope that somedayyoursituationwillturnaround.Youcan’tbelievethat ifit’s thewillofGodforyoutoliveindivineprosperity,thenit willjust happen without yourbelieving forit.You’llbe broke

the rest of your life if you keep thinking like that. You could loseeverything.

Take a bold and energetic stand. It’s time to be militant about what belongs to you.Being militant implies a vigorous, unrelenting pursuit. Get militant toward the enemy. Get confidentand haveapersistentdetermination to express what you believe.What do you believe?You believetheWord and youbelievethat“greateris Hethatis inyou,thanhethatis in theworld”(1John4:4,KJV).

You’vegottokeepwhatyoubelievefrontandcenterinthe devil’s faceeveryday.Wakeupeverymorningtellinghimthat heis notgoingtodevouryou.Then,likeamachinegun,start rapidfiringtheWordoutofyourmouth.Don’tevengivehima chance to start on you first. You’ve got to become more persistentthanheis.

You might be thinking, Yeah, but, brother Jerry, the devil just won’t leave me alone. Your thoughts are silenced when you speak words out of your mouth. You can’t combat your thoughts with thoughts. You have to use the Word of God. When you are constantly speaking the Word over your life, then those bad thoughts have to eventually become quiet. Andultimately,yourthoughtswilllineupwiththeWord.

Peteralsopointedoutthatyouarenottheonlyonegoing throughtheseattacks.“RememberthatyourChristianbrothers andsisters allovertheworldaregoingthroughthesamekind of suffering you are” (1 Pet. 5:9). You are not the only one facing financial difficulties. You are not the only one facing health problems. You are not the only one going through

whatever it is that you’re going through. Others have gone through it and some folks are going through it right now. So don’t throwa pity party foryourself.Don’t walkaround with theattitude,“Nobodyknows thetroubleI’veseen...nobody knowsmysorrow.”That’salie.Insteadofwastingyourenergy on feeling sorry for yourself, get fed up and begin to do somethingaboutit.

KeepStanding

“Afinalword:BestrongwiththeLord’s mightypower.Puton allofGod’s armorsothatyouwillbeabletostandfirmagainst all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wickedspiritsintheheavenlyrealms.UseeverypieceofGod’s armorto resist the enemy in the time ofevil,so that afterthe battleyouwillstillbestandingfirm”(Eph.6:10-13,NLT).

After you’ve done everything, then you must stand firm. Standing firmleaves no roomfor compromise. Anything less thanstandingfirmis toyieldtotheenemy.Anythingless than standingfirmistodoubtGod’sabilitytodeliveryou.

Standingfirmleavesnoroom forcompromise.Anything lessthanstandingfirmisto

yieldtotheenemyanddoubt

God’sabilitytodeliveryou.

Rejoice!

I remember one time when I was in a situation where I had stood fora long time,and Ididn’t feellike Icould stand any longer.Ifeltlikemyspiritualarmorwasfallingapart.Myhelmet was falling off. My breastplate was barely hanging on. It seemed as though I had so many fiery darts in my shield of faiththattherewasn’tanyroomforonemore.

Iasked God,“What do Ido next?”His answerto mewas, “Rejoice,because you have the devilexactly where you want him.” I asked Himif I could get a second opinion about the matter. After all, I could barely keep standing as it was. God kept repeating, “Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice.” Finally He said, “Son, you may not feelas strong as you did when you first started this endeavor,but there’s one thing you can say right now. Even though you may be shaky, even though you may feellikeyourarmoris falling off,takeagood lookat yourself. You’restillstanding!”

Ifyou are underthe greatest pressure that you have ever been under,that’s agood indication that you’ve got the devil rightwhereyou want him.Iwant to suggest to you what God suggestedtome:rejoice!

Geton the Offense

Instead of being in a defensive mode, it’s time to get on the offensive.It’s time to get yoursword out and start swinging! It’s timetogetinthedevil’s faceandsay,“Nowlistentome.I amprepared forbattle.Iamready.God is on my side.And if God is on my side, who can be against me? Furthermore, no weapon formed against me shallprosper! I’mcalled to battle, andIamdestinedtowin!”

LettheHandofGodWorkforYou

Overand overthroughout the Bible,we see the phrases “the handoftheLord”or“thehandofGod.”Whenyoureadthese words it always represents two things:

(1) God’s power expressed in judgment, and (2) God’s power expressed in blessing.WhenthehandoftheLordis involved,thenthereis always judgment for the adversary and blessing for God’s people.Herearesomeillustrations.

SoIwillreachoutand strikeattheheartofEgyptwith allkindsofmiracles.Thenatlasthewillletyougo.And Iwillsee to it that the Egyptians treat you well. They will load you down with gifts so you will not leave empty-handed(Exod.3:20-21,NLT).

In the context of this Scripture, the nation of Israel had been in captivity underEgyptian ruleforabout400years,and God was creating a plan fortheirdeliverance.Notice that this passagespeaksaboutjudgment(GodwillstriketheEgyptians),

and also aboutblessing (God willcausetheEgyptians to look favorably upon the Israelites).What happened? God’s people leftthelandofslaverywithallthetreasureofEgypt.Theyleft withmorethantheyhadcomeintocaptivitywith.

Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecutionthataroseaboutStephentravelledasfaras Phenice,and Cyprus,and Antioch,preaching theword tononebutuntotheJewsonly.Andsomeofthemwere men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them:andagreatnumberbelieved,andturneduntothe Lord(Acts11:19-21,KJV).

Paulwas writing in Acts about howthe early church was beingpersecuted.TheeleventhchapterofActsspeaksofhow Godmadethedevilpayforthispersecutionbyaddingsoulsto thechurchinmultitudes.Theblessingforthechurchwas that agreatnumberofbelieverscameintothekingdomofGod.The devillost souls and God gained souls.When the hand ofthe Lord is manifested, Satan willbe penalized and God’s people willbecompensated.

“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. Send your healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be

done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Afterthis prayer,thebuildingwheretheyweremeeting shook,andtheywereallfilledwiththeHolySpirit.And they preached God’s message with boldness. All the believers wereofoneheartandmind,andtheyfeltthat what they owned was not their own; they shared everythingtheyhad.Andtheapostles gaveapowerful witnesstotheresurrectionoftheLordJesus,andGod’s greatfavorwasuponthemall(Acts4:29-33,NLT).

This portion of Scripture shows us that the early church prayed that God would stretch forth His hand, and the Lord responded.HegavethemHis power,andmoresouls cameinto theKingdom.

Takeyourburdensoutofyour handsandputtheminGod’s hands.Ifyougetarevelation ofthemightyhandofGod andhumbleyourselfbefore Him,youwillseeHimmove onyourbehalf.

God wants us to let Him work on our behalf. In the

Scripture,Heeven asks us togiveHimamandatetocarry out for us. Isaiah 45:11 says, “Concerning the work of my hands command ye me” (KJV). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance states thattheword “command,”as itis used in this passage, means “toappoint.”Theword“appoint”means “toassign”or “to commission.” What God is saying here is, “Give Me an assignment.CommissionMetodosomethingonyourbehalf.” Ifyou let Himworkon yourbehalf,Hewillbring judgment on theadversary and makehimpay damages forwhathehas put youthrough;andHewillblessyou.

Petergave us the reminderto humble ourselves underthe handofGod(see1Pet.5:6).Why?SothatGodcanexaltus in due time. Peter went on to say that we should do this especially when we are going through an impossible-looking situation thathas burdened us with its care.Heoffered,“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you”(1Pet.5:7, NLT).This literally means to take yourburdens outofyourhands andputtheminGod’s hands. His hands are more capable than your hands anyway. If you getarevelationofthemightyhandofGodandhumbleyourself beforeHim,youwillseeHimmoveonyourbehalf.

MakeSatanPay

It’s timeforyou to pursueyouradversary.It’s timeforyou to overtake him. It’s time for you to stormthe gates of helland demand that he pay backeverything that he has stolen from you.

Just think about all those times when unexpected things

happened things you weren’t planning on happening. Rememberthe trip to the emergency roomforyourchild who got sickin the middle ofthe night? What was that? That was an attackfromthe enemy sent to stealfromyou.What about whenyouwentoutonemorninganddiscoveredthatyourcar wouldn’tstart?Ithad been running finetheday before.What wasthat?Thatwasanattackfromtheenemysenttostealfrom you.Justthinkaboutallthethings thedevilhas attacked you with. Think about how much money he has robbed you of. Thinkabout allthe joy he has stolen fromyou. Doesn’t that makeyoumad?Itshould.

Would you let a thief come into your house and steal everything you owned without a fight?Iwouldn’t (and Isure hopeyouwouldn’t).Wewouldn’ttelltheburglar,“Ohyes,you can have whatever you want. Take everything. It doesn’t mattertome.Ireallydon’tneedit.”No.Thatthiefwouldhave afightonhis hands.Yetthatis whatthedevilhas beendoing totheBodyofChristforyears.Hecomesin,stealsfromusand we let himhave our stuff. We don’t even put up a fight for whatisrightfullyours.It’stimethatchanged.

Someyearsago,Godwokemeupinthemiddleofthenight andbegantospeaktome.Hesaid,“Mypeoplearelettingtheir adversary get away with too much, and they are not making himpayforwhathehasputthemthrough.Theyarelettinghim offtoolightly!Don’tjustprayfordeliverancefromtheattacks, butcommissionMetobringjudgmentontheonewhoattacks you.”

“Men do not despiseathief,ifhestealto satisfy his soul

when he is hungry; but if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; heshallgiveallthesubstanceofhis house”(Prov. 6:30-31, KJV, emphasis added). Notice that God says if you catchathief,don’tjustrevelinthefactthatyoucaughthim makehimpayfordamagessevenfold!

Satan is a thief. He has been let off too easy. By your commissioning God to bring judgment upon him, Satan is forced to not only stop his attack, but to also pay forallthe damagehehas caused in yourlife.Whateverhis attacks have cost you, God wants him to pay it back, and not less than sevenfold.

So stop praying just fordeliverance. Begin to askGod to make the devilpay forwhat he has done to you.It’s time for you to callon the hand of God. Don’t you want the devilto sufferforwhathehasdonetoyou?Allthosesleeplessnights, the mental anguish, the loss of finances, the headaches, the bundles of stress. Get on the offensive, declare war on bondageandlack,andcallonthehandofGod.

God’s will is for you to be the victor in every battle you fight.But you must becomeaggressive.Don’t bepassiveany longer.Get on the offensive,start calling on the hand ofGod and watch your situation turn around for the good. If you’ll refuse to quit, if you’llrefuse to give up and willstand firm, thereisnothingthedevilcandotodefeatyou.TheHolySpirit willsupplyyouwiththepowertopursue,overtakeandrecover allthatthedevilhasstolenfromyou.

SHOUTITOUT

TheJourneyofFaithandShipwrecks

Nobody wants to start out in aboat and end up shipwrecked. When you set out in a boat, you expect to reach your destinationsafely,andyouexpecttogetbackfromwhereyou startedsafely.Nobodyinhis orherrightmindgets outonthe boat hoping to become shipwrecked and not make it back home.

The same concept applies to the walk of faith. I want to teachyouinthis chapterhowtoavoidwhatIcallashipwreck in yourjourney offaith.You shouldn’t expect to be defeated. You shouldn’t expect to win a few, lose a few. You should expecttowinthemall.Wearepartakers ofGod’s divinenature and,as best as Ican tell,God is a winner.So God made us to win.

LivinghereonEarthcanbegoodifyouknowhowtodoit God’sway.I’mnotinanybighurrytogettoheaven.I’mgoing to get there eventually, but I’mnot in any rush. I’mlearning how to take God’s Word and apply it to my circumstances downhereandliveavictoriouslife.JesusprayedtotheFather, “May yourwillbedonehereon earth,just as it is in heaven”

(Matt.6:10, NLT).You can actually havesomeofheaven right downhere!

We all have opportunities for sickness. Opportunities for failure. Opportunities for lack. Opportunities for grief and sorrow.Opportunitiestogiveup.Butyoudon’thavetoaccept theseopportunities.Allyouhavetodois say,“Nothankyou, devil,I’mfreefromallofthatinJesus’Name!”

In the bookof 1Timothy, Paulwrote to a young minister named Timothy. He told this young man, “Timothy, my son, herearemyinstructionsforyou,basedonthepropheticwords spokenaboutyouearlier.Maytheygiveyoutheconfidenceto fight well in the Lord’s battles. Cling tightly to your faith in Christ, and always keep your conscience clear. For some peoplehavedeliberatelyviolatedtheirconsciences;asaresult, theirfaithhasbeenshipwrecked”(1Tim.1:18-19,NLT).

Noticethatthosewho did nothold on to theirfaith ended upshipwrecked.Gettingshipwreckeddoesn’tsoundmuchlike success,doesit?Ifyouendupshipwrecked,itsoundslikeyou weredefeated.Godneverintends forthattohappen.Hewants youtocomeoutontheothersideawinner,andHewants you to come out betterequipped forthe next faith endeavor. Paul saidthatlivingbyfaithis akintorunningarace.It’s nota100yard dash though; it’s more like a cross-country endurance race. When I was in high school, I used to run the mile, and boy,I’llneverforgethowtheytrainedus.Youdidn’tjustgive it everything you had for a short distance. No, you paced yourself. You knew that you had a long way to go and you wantedtofinishstrong.It’sthesameinthelifeoffaith.

TheProblemwithBeingDiscouraged

“And they journeyed frommount Horby the way ofthe Red sea,to compass the land ofEdom:and the soulofthe people was much discouraged because ofthe way” (Num.21:4, KJV, emphasis added).ThepeopleofIsraelwereinvolvedinafaith journey.TheyhadbeendeliveredoutofbondageinEgyptand were now headed for the Promised Land. The Bible tells us theywere“muchdiscouragedbecauseoftheway.”

Let me tell you something about discouragement. How many times haveyou read in theBiblethewords “Beofgood courage”?Discouragementis theoppositeofthat.Infact,God toldJoshuatonotbediscouragedfourtimes afterhetookthe placeofMosesinleadingIsrael.Tobeofgoodcouragemeans “the attitude,response orability to face and dealbravely and fearlessly with anything recognized as being difficult, painful andevendangerouswithoutwithdrawingfromit.”

Ineverysituationputbefore you,Godwantsyoutostand fearlesslyandwithout withdrawingfromit.That’s thereasonHetoldusto resistthedevil.

Manytimes youhearofcouragedescribedbywhatpeople do in dangerous situations.That’s howGod wants His people

to be. In every situation put before you that could prove difficult or even be dangerous, God wants you to stand fearlessly and without withdrawing fromit. That’s the reason He told us to resist the devil. He didn’t say that when we experiencegreatdifficultywearetorunlikethewind.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul talks about the spiritual armor that God wants us to put on. Notice that it’s allworn on the frontofthebody.Thereisnoweaponforthebacksidebecause we’re not in the business of retreating. It’s about moving forward. Paulnevermentions backing off. He nevermentions takingontheattitudeofacoward.

Beingdiscouragedalsomeanshavingalackofconfidence. Have you ever gone along realwellin your journey of faith, confessing the Word and being full of joy, and then a bad report comes your way? There’s a tendency to pay close attention to it. Ifyou start dwelling on that bad report,it will drop down into yourspirit, and then yourconfidence in God willbelost.

The people ofIsraelbecame so discouraged because they tooktheireyes offofwhat God had said.They focused their attention on their circumstances, and all it produced was discouragement. The first thing that happens when you get discouraged is that you start doubting God.When you doubt God, then you doubt His Word. You say things that are contrary to what God says. When you’re discouraged, you stop saying,“Thejoy oftheLord is my strength and Ican do allthings through Christwho strengthens me.”When you are discouraged, you talk what the devil says; and when this

happens,thenyouareheadedforashipwreck.

Discouragementis adestroyeroffaith.Psalm31tells what happenswhenyoustartdoubtingGod.“ForIsaidinmyhaste, Iamcut offfrombefore thine eyes” (Ps.31:22, KJV). In their discouragement, a lot of people say things like this:“I don’t know why God never answers my prayers.” Don’t allow yourselftotalklikethat.Castthosethoughts downandspeak whatGodsays.HesaysthatHewillneverforsakeyou.

Let’s readwhatthewriterofthis psalmlatersays:“O,love theLORDallyehissaints:fortheLORD preserveththefaithful, and plentifully rewardeth theproud doer.Beofgood courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD”(Ps.31:23-24, KJV). We need to hope in the Lord and refuseto becomediscouraged.God rewards thosewho remain confident.

I know the feeling of discouragement very well. I got so madatbrotherKennethCopelandonetimeintheearlydaysof my Christianity. It wasn’t his fault, of course. I was the one who wasn’t doing things right.Forhours,every day,Iwould listen to his tapes over and over and over and over again. Night and day,day and night,Ilistened to themand nothing seemedtobechangingmysituation.BrotherCopelandcameto my town onenight and Iasked himwhat my problemwas.He said,“It’syourbigmouth.”

Thatmademesomad.IfheonlyknewthetimeIhadspent listening to himon tapes. Well, Iwent home, grabbed one of his tapes and threwit down thestreet.In my angerand in my haste,Ithrewouttheveryanswertomyproblem.AsIwatched

it rolldown theroad,Iquickly thought, Dear God, there goes my answer.SowhatdidIdo?Irandownthestreet,pickeditup and tookit backhome and played it again.Eventually,things startedchangingaroundmyhouse.

StartMakingGoodConfessions

Job had this same problem once. Did you know that God revealed to himthat his problemwas his mouth? “Did I say, Bringuntome?or,Givearewardformeofyoursubstance?Or, Deliver me fromthe enemy’s hand’? or, Redeemme fromthe handofthemighty?Teachme,andIwillhold mytongue:and cause me to understand wherein I have erred” (Job 6:22-24, KJV). In other words, Job told God, “I’ve been wrong, Lord, butifyouteachme,Iwillshutmymouth.”ThenJobmadethis powerfulstatement:“Howforcible are right words!” (Job 6:25, KJV).

Job got a revelation of the power of words. He got a revelation of howpowerfulhis words really were. He realized thathewas inerrorthroughthewords ofhis mouth.Itouched on this matterin chapter8, but I want to explore it in greater detail. Did you know that when you have fear, you talkfear; and when you have faith, you talk faith? Fear and faith are releasedbybothwordsandactions.

Whenyouhavefear,youtalk fear;andwhenyouhavefaith,

youtalkfaith.Fearandfaith arereleasedbybothwords andactions.

WhenJobsaidearlier,“ForthethingwhichIgreatlyfeared is comeupon me”(Job3:25, KJV),hewas talkinghis fear,and God finally pointed out that his problemwas his mouth. You wouldthinkthatonceJoblearnedthishewouldtakecontrolof histongue,right?Ifyoufoundouttodaythatallofthetragedy in your life came about through the words of your mouth, would you do something about your words? Would you be smartenoughtocorrectit?

The Bible teaches, “For whatever is in your heart determineswhatyousay”(Matt.12:34, NLT).Badthings come out of your mouth as a result of what is in your heart in the same way that good things come out as a result ofwhat is in yourheart.Jobfoundouthismouthwasgettinghimintrouble. Unfortunately, he didn’t do a very good job with this revelation.Readwhathesaidjustalittlewhilelater.

Is this notthestruggleofallhumanity?Aperson’s life is longandhard,likethatofahiredhand,likeaworker who longs fortheday to end,likeaservant waiting to be paid. I, too, have been assigned months of futility, long and weary nights ofmisery. When Igo to bed, I think,“When willit be morning?” But the night drags

on, and I toss till dawn. My skin is filled with worms andscabs.Myfleshbreaks open,fullofpus.Mydays are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle flying back and forth.Theyendwithouthope.OGod,rememberthatmy life is but a breath, and I will never again experience pleasure.You see me now,but not forlong.Youreyes will be on me, but I will be dead. Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back.Theyaregoneforeverfromtheirhome neverto be seen again. “I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish.Imust complain in my bitterness” (Job7:1-11,NLT).

Themanhadjustfoundoutthathismouthwasgettinghim introuble,buthegotdiscouragedagainandsaid,“Idon’tcare. Iamnot going to hold my tongue.” Iwould say that Job got “muchdiscouraged,”wouldn’tyou?

Perhapsyouhavereceivedarevelationofthepowerofthe words ofyourmouth.Yourealizehowcreativeanddestructive thetongueisandhowforciblerightwordsare.Youmakeevery effort to say theright things.But theminuteadversity comes, you have an opportunity to do what Job did. You have an opportunity to speakin yourhaste.You have an opportunity to speak against the Word. And if you do, then you put yourselfonthepathtogettingshipwrecked.

We have played around long enough with whether this confessionteachingisrightorwrong.TheBibledeclaresitand it’s timethatweacceptit.Thetruthis,accordingtonumerous

Scriptures intheBible,yourwords willmakeyouorbreakyou. Therefore,youneedtotakecontrolofthemortheywilldestroy you.

It’sTimetoStartShouting

Job got discouraged. He said, “I know words are forceful. I knowhowIhavebeenwrongwithmymouth.ButIdon’tcare. I’mhurting.I’vegotproblems,andIamnotshuttingup.”This was a mistake; and had he not latercorrected it,then it could havemademattersworse.

The Lord shared something with me one day that really blessed me. It’s not too often that He talks to me when I’m watching TV , but I saw this commercial about a laundry detergentcalled“Shout,”whichisdesignedtoremoveallkinds ofspots and stains.I’msure you’ve heard ofit orhave even seen the commercial. In this television advertisement, a little boy is playing and splashing around in themud when avoice in the background speaks to the mother watching this boy: “Whatareyougoingtodoaboutthis mudstain?”Themother replies, “I’mgoing to Shout it out!” Then a little girl who is jumping rope gets a lot of grime allover her clothes and the same voice asks, “What are you going to do about your daughter’s dress?” The mother comes back with the same answer:“IamgoingtoShoutitout!”

As I was watching that commercial, the Lord asked me, “Jerry,whatareyou going to do when you getdiscouraged?” (Bingo!) I said, “I amgoing to shout it out!” And I’ve been shoutingitouteversince.

TheNewTestamentrecords thewords “Beofgoodcheer” manytimes.Jesusevensaidit.“Beofgoodcheer;itisI;benot afraid” (Matt. 14:27, KJV). Think about the words “good cheer.” Have you ever heard of a bad cheer? Have you ever gone to a football game and heard the cheerleaders yell, “Gimmiemea‘D,’gimimean‘E,’gimmean‘F,’gimmiemean‘E,’ gimmiean‘A,’gimmiea‘T.’What’s thatspell?Defeat!Defeat! Defeat!” Of course not. Let me tell you what “be of good cheer”means.Cheeris encouragement,beingfullofjoy,being excitedandingoodspirits.It’salsodefinedasashout.

Whendiscouragementtries tosetinonyou,justshoutit out!Youcan’tshoutthe praisesofGodandstay discouragedatthesametime.

So howdo you avoid a shipwreckduring yourjourney of faith?Whendiscouragementtriestosetinonyou,just shout it out! Therearetimes whenI’mdrivingonthefreewayinmycar andthedevilstarts whisperinginmyears,“Youarenotgoing to build this and you are not going to build that. This isn’t going to workand that isn’t going to work.” What do Ido? I shout it out. I shout out my V-I-C-T-O-R-Y . It’s time to start shouting it out. You can’t shout the praises ofGod and stay

discouragedatthesametime.

God knew about this “shout it out” stuff way before the laundrydetergentmakersdid.WhydoyouthinktheScriptures telluswhenGod’speoplewereoutnumberedinbattlethatGod commanded the praise and worship singers to stand on the frontline?Hewantedthemtoshoutoutattheenemy!

EarlythenextmorningthearmyofJudahwentoutinto the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you willsucceed.” After consulting the leaders of the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!” At the moment they began to sing andgivepraise,theLORDcausedthearmiesofAmmon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. The armies of Moab and Ammon turned againsttheiralliesfromMountSeirandkilledeveryone of them. After they had finished off the army of Seir, they turned on each other.So when the army ofJudah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, there were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see.Not a single one ofthe enemy had escaped (2Chron.20:20-24,NLT).

These people shouted out praises unto the Lord and it blewtheenemy’sgameplan.Theenemyturnedononeanother and killed themselves. Do you want to know what happened next? The people of Israelwent out in victory carrying allof their enemies’spoils. The Bible says it was even “more than theycouldcarry.Therewas somuchplunderthatittookthem threedaysjusttocollectitall”(2Chron.20:25,NLT).

Youneedtobecomeyourowncheerleader.Youcandothis in your home. When one of your family members gets depressed, jump up and say, “Let’s get in the Word. C’mon! Let’s get in the Word!OurGod willsupply allourneeds!It’s notoveryet!C’mon!Hallelujah!Shoutitout!PraisetheLord!”

Thereis muchpowerinthenameofJesus.Heis farabove principalities, power, might, dominion and every name that is named. The name ofJesus is so powerfulthat the Bible calls Himthe Word of God. When you speakHis name, you have justthrown atthedevil,allatonetime,Genesis to Revelation. Weneed to shout out thenameofJesus and spoilthedevil’s day.We need to let himknowthat we are not pushovers.We need to remind himthat he is up against a winning team.We needtolethimknowheisgoingtolose.

“Clap yourhands,allye people; shout unto God with the voiceoftriumph”(Ps.47:1, KJV).Startshouting toGodwith a triumphant voice. Ifyou’ve got financialproblems, shout out yourprosperity.Ifyou’vegothealthproblems,shoutoutyour healing. Ifyou’ve got workissues, shout out yourvictory. If you’re discouraged, shout out your joy! Remember, God createdyoutobeachampion.Hemadeyoutobeawinner.You

havebeencalledtobattle,butyou are destined to win!

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