Transcript
Speaker: So we did look at studying the Bible and different techniques for studying the Bible recently, as well as prayer. Why we pray, how we pray, what prayer does.
Speaker: Today we're going to put those two together. Prayer and the Bible. And I call this a word soap.
Speaker: Word as in the word of God, the Bible. For this, the onus is off you. You get to relax, rest, put your feet up, sit somewhere very comfortable.
Speaker: All I'm going to do is read Bible verses over you. I'm going start off with the character of God, because sometimes when we encounter big challenges in life, the main struggle is that we just forget who God is.
Speaker: Sometimes all we see is the giant that we're facing, or the sickness, or the challenge. And sometimes we just need a reminder that God is absolutely good.
Speaker: Then we're going to look at some Bible verses on your identity, just reinforcing who you are, in God's opinion, whether or not you feel that way.
Speaker: Then we're going to look at some Bible verses on healing and some on warfare. By warfare, it just means that we have a spiritual enemy, the devil and all his, well, not really friends, we'll say his army, his team.
Speaker: um the Bible is full of Bible verses that when we are under that kind of pressure or are facing sicknesses and challenges, The Bible is full of Bible verses and chapters that we can pray against the enemy that we're facing and his weapons. um So that's what a word soak is. So it might be new for some of you, for some of you. ah This might be normal or familiar.
Speaker: My advice is just sit somewhere where you're very, very comfortable, very, very relaxed, and have...
Speaker: Paper and a pen handy. Or else, if you don't have paper and a pen, even your phone where you could write little messages or little voice recordings.
Speaker: Because sometimes during word soaks like these, you'll start seeing pictures in your head. We call those pictures visions. or certain words might come to mind.
Speaker: or certain memories from the past, maybe very positive ones or maybe very, very negative, hurtful ones. My advice is to write down whatever you see, whatever you hear, whatever is on your heart.
Speaker: And again, if you don't have paper, use your phone, write a little message to yourself or a voice note. And then afterwards, if necessary,
Speaker: we'll pray into different things that God has shown you or revealed. And if God has spoken something to you and you don't know what it is, or you think it's for the group, I'll give time afterwards where you can share those things and and we can pray into them together.
Speaker: Okay, times like this, because so often in life, especially in December, it's all a busy, busy, busy. People try to finish things at work before the new year, are you know, you have so many meals to prepare and presents to buy as well as your normal monthly routine.
Speaker: But actually, God loves when his children are at a place of rest and a place of peace. And this piece is designed to mobilize you, strengthen you and empower you to finish this year well.
Speaker: Because how many of you know that how you exit is how you enter? We want to leave 2024 strong and we want to enter 2025 triumphantly as more than conquerors.
Speaker: Amen. Amen. Amen.
Speaker: And if you are resting so much in the liquid love of Jesus and you fall asleep, that is okay. Because God can speak to you in dreams as well. but And even if your your body is asleep, your spirit is still awake.
Speaker: i So if you do drift off to sleep, that's not a bad thing. Sometimes when I'm doing this with Jesus, I fall asleep. ah It's good, assure you. ah
Speaker: So the general plan is today will be a word soak. And then this day next week, the topic will be on righteous living and hating evil. As we get stronger with Jesus and mature with Jesus, how we think, how we speak, how we behave will change.
Speaker: And our tolerance for sin will will also change. We'll become very intolerant of sin. <unk> like, you know, when you're a baby, you eat baby food from a jar, and it's like, oh my goodness, this is amazing.
Speaker: If you're doing that when you're 50, it's a bit weird. Your taste buds will change, your appetite will change. and So we'll look at some some practical ways and that we can start to live on the outside in a way that reflects who we really are on the inside.
Speaker: On the 18th, we're gonna look at what's called the fruit of Holy Spirit. There are characteristics of God in us that can absolutely change the atmosphere of a room we walk that we're in or a workplace, or an environment. A total transformation.
Speaker: and all believers can have these fruits. There are certain things of God that not everybody gets. The fruit? Every Christian has. And the same way that I did a special on Samhain or Halloween, if you are interested on Thursday the 19th of December, um i will do a bonus teaching um where the Old Testament ends and where the New Testament begins.
Speaker: You have 400 years of history there. And not a lot of people know what happened in the middle. but They just know the Old Testament ended one way.
Speaker: and then next thing you read the book of Matthew and the Roman Empire has taken over Israel and there's a pregnant virgin running around donkey. People are like, what?
Speaker: So if you're interested, i will do a bonus teaching looking at the missing years, the in-between years. And that way you can see the world that Joseph and Mary actually lived in.
Speaker: And the world that Jesus grew up in. Because the old, the new, sorry, the old, what's it called? The new. The New Testament has a lot of religious groups.
Speaker: And you've got terrorists and everything in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. um So we will look at the world.
Speaker: So it'll make it more, more three-dimensional. you know Amen. Amen.
Speaker: It
Speaker: stinks. Amen. Okay, so let's start the word soak together on the character of God.
Speaker: He is Shaddai, God Almighty. God Almighty. God of the heavenly host, God of the angel armies of heaven.
Speaker: He is Zaphon et Panea, the God who lives and the God who speaks.
Speaker: There a lot of gods out there who are dead gods, demons, evil spirits make people sick. Our God is life. and he is always communicating with his children.
Speaker: He is Jehovah Jireh. He's your father, and he's your provider.
Speaker: You lack nothing. He knows exactly what you need before you do. And he is already in your tomorrow, making a way, preparing your breakthrough.
Speaker: And he's Jehovah Rapha. He's the God who heals. He heals your heart, your mind, your will.
Speaker: he heals your body.
Speaker: When hope has been deferred and your heart feels sick, when disappointment takes over,
Speaker: When you had all your eggs in one basket, and that basket amounts to nothing.
Speaker: He is the answer. He will heal you and he will restore you. And he will restore you so much, you will be in a stronger place than you were when you began.
Speaker: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Speaker: You can trust him. He won't let you down.
Speaker: Maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, missing the mark, missing the target,
Speaker: Yet he does not let the guilty go unpunished. He is a God of justice. And he will avenge you.
Speaker: God is not a human that he should lie. Not a human being that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act?
Speaker: Does he promise and not fulfill?
Speaker: what he says he'll do. And now, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to be in reverential awe of the Lord your God, to be a amazed by him, to let him take your breath away, to walk in obedience to him,
Speaker: to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, your will and your mind as well, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I'm giving you today for your own good.
Speaker: He is your father, he is your parents. The instructions he gives you or not so you live half a life, There so you live ah full, total, thriving, abundant life.
Speaker: To the Lord your belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you as it is today The world of heaven is God's.
Speaker: The cosmos, all the planets, stars, the suns and the moons, the Milky Ways, the black holes, they all belong to him. Earth belongs to him.
Speaker: But he has set his attention, his focus and his affection on you.
Speaker: Because nature is phenomenal.
Speaker: But the most important currency, in God's opinion, is a human soul.
Speaker: People tried to control it. Demons tried to kill it. Jesus died to save it. Angels are sworn to protect it.
Speaker: Out of all of reality, God has his eyes on you, his children. He's picked you, he's chosen you. He's preordained you, he's adopted you, and he's never changed his mind.
Speaker: The Lord your God is God of gods, the spirit being above all spirit beings, the Lord of Lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, no favor,
Speaker: He has no favourites. Or another way, you're all his favourites. And accepts no bribes. You can't twist his arm.
Speaker: He already loves you. You cannot make him will love you more. He loves you with the same love he has for Jesus.
Speaker: He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the foreigner residing among you. giving them food and clothing.
Speaker: The most vulnerable people are always on his mind.
Speaker: Fear the Lord your God and serve him. That fear doesn't mean to be afraid of him. It means to see him as awesome, where you go, huh and you can't even speak because he's just magnificent.
Speaker: Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise. He is your God who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.
Speaker: For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the rock of ages, the one who has been dependable since before reality began, except our God?
Speaker: It is God who arms me, just like if for war, with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer He causes me to stand on the heights.
Speaker: He's going to take you higher and higher. And with a deer, they can run through shallow rivers, across meadows, up hills and heights.
Speaker: It doesn't matter or what environment they're on. They're stable. And it's the same for you.
Speaker: Whether you stay in the country you're currently in or he moves you somewhere else. Whether you stay in the job you're in or he gives you another one.
Speaker: Whether your relationships are only ever what they are now, or he expands your world. It doesn't matter how harsh the environment, or how unfamiliar the terrain, you will have the sure-footedness of a deer. You will not fall.
Speaker: He will keep you standing.
Speaker: And in his hand is the life of every creature. But still, he has his eye on you, his affection on you.
Speaker: And in his hand is the breath of all mankind.
Speaker: And the sky... stars, the visible cosmos, the world of heaven, proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.
Speaker: For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favour and honour No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Speaker: Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Speaker: The Lord is gracious in righteousness. Our God is full of compassion.
Speaker: And one of the best ways we see that compassion is in the Christmas story, which we're celebrating this month.
Speaker: For it to us, a child is born. to us, a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders.
Speaker: And he will be called Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God.
Speaker: Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Speaker: Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.
Speaker: In the future, he will reign on the throne of David in Israel and over his earthly kingdom to establish and sustain it.
Speaker: with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore.
Speaker: Happily ever after is a promise from God in heaven to humanity. And the zeal, the fervor, the desire, the passion of the Lord, of the heavenly host, heaven's army, will accomplish this.
Speaker: World peace, beating evil once and for all, because that is his desire.
Speaker: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speaker: Speak tenderly to them and proclaim to them that their hard service has been completed. that their sin has been paid for once and for all time, that they have received from the Lord's hand double for all the times that they'd missed the mark that they'd sinned.
Speaker: For every time you thought the wrong thing, wishing evil or harm on people, or said things that were untrue or nasty, or did things that hurt people.
Speaker: His forgiveness is so grace, he can't even remember those times. Because he looks at you and all he sees is grace times two. That you're a new creation, a whole new person,
Speaker: with our destiny that you will fulfill. And oh, he only has good, perfect, pleasing plans for you, to prosper you, to give you hope in the future. That you'll reach an expected, anticipated, fruitful end.
Speaker: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight in the desert it's a highway for our God.
Speaker: Every valley shall be raised up. So everything that's down he'll let he'll raise. Everything that's humble, he'll exalt.
Speaker: Every mountain and hill made low. Every mountain that stands in your way will crumble. O mighty mountain, you are but dust, and compared to the Wednesday discipleship group.
Speaker: You're but rubble. Collapse in Jesus' name. Be cast into the sea and drown.
Speaker: Every stumbling block will become a stepping stone to your destiny.
Speaker: The rough ground shall become level. so you can cross over it to your purpose and destiny with Eve.
Speaker: The rugged places will become a plain and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all the people will see it together. How can we believe this?
Speaker: Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Speaker: You who bring good news, lift up your voice with a shout. Lift it up and don't be afraid. See, the sovereign Lord comes with power.
Speaker: And he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him. He tends his flock like a shepherd.
Speaker: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. He gently leads those that have young.
Speaker: Jesus is the good shepherd. And when he carries you over his shoulders, just remember that's where he carried the cross.
Speaker: That's where he carried you on your worst day. And he chooses to see you as though on your best day. And he carries the lamb close to his heart.
Speaker: Because there's a missing place in God's heart for every single person. He's the God of the heavenly lights. Every soul and spirit came from him. He sent them to the earth in a physical body to rule and reign.
Speaker: but there's a place in his heart for every person to belong. He's already chosen you, just choose him every day.
Speaker: He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers, teensy tiny. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
Speaker: and spreads them like a tent to live in
Speaker: He brings princes, wicked rulers, to naught, and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
Speaker: The same people in power who want to destroy you, they're on borrowed time.
Speaker: No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like a chaff.
Speaker: The very enemies who have come against you, to sabotage you, to destroy you, to make your life miserable, to steal, kill and destroy.
Speaker: He's a God of justice and he will repay. He will look after his children and he will not abandon you to the evil one and his minions and servants.
Speaker: To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal, says the Holy One?
Speaker: Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? the air, the atmosphere, outer space, the constellations, the world of heaven.
Speaker: He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Speaker: I've heard that there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on the earth. And God has a name and identity for all of them.
Speaker: How much more so does he know you?
Speaker: He put the stars in place to govern the times and the seasons. He put humans on earth to be his family. And he cares more about you than them.
Speaker: Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Speaker: Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God. The Alpha, the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Speaker: He has no first day. he has no last day. he is forever.
Speaker: The creator of the ends of the earth.
Speaker: He will not grow tired or weary. And his understanding, no one can fathom. But thankfully, he gives us little glimpses here and there.
Speaker: He gives strength to the weary. and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
Speaker: But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.
Speaker: They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.
Speaker: Eagles are such majestic creatures, but when they fly into isolation on a mountaintop, their beaks fall off, their talons fall off, their feathers come out, they look wretched.
Speaker: And maybe you feel that way now. Maybe this has been a season for you of loss. where everything you had known or were banking on or counting on or depended on has withered away, or it's shown itself to be temporary or untrustworthy.
Speaker: But just know that you will renew your strength like the eagle by God's grace, and your beak will grow back stronger. You'll have a better confession You'll carry the good news of Jesus with more authority, more vigor, more energy, more zeal, more heart.
Speaker: Your talons will be sharper and stronger. You will not be the prey of evil. will be the predator pushing evil back.
Speaker: And in the morning of your life, you will devour evil. And in the evening of your life, you will reap the spoils and the rewards for having fought to the good fight.
Speaker: And your feathers will grow back.
Speaker: And you'll fly higher than you ever imagined and faster.
Speaker: Before me, no God was formed. There will be no one after me. i even i am the Lord, and apart from me, there is no saviour.
Speaker: Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?
Speaker: You do not stay angry forever. but instead you delight in showing us mercy.
Speaker: You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Speaker: When God looks at you, he does not see you on your worst day or your worst moment.
Speaker: It's like Jesus is standing in front of you and all he can see is Jesus is looking back at him.
Speaker: As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed your wickedness, your cruelty, your sin, your missing the mark, your mistakes from you.
Speaker: you know, north to south, you can measure. East to west goes round and round and round and round and round and never stops.
Speaker: Your old self, your sinful self, your wicked self is gone. Don't try to catch up with it. Let it go.
Speaker: Because for God so loved, longed for, took pleasure in and esteemed the inhabitants of the world,
Speaker: that he gave his one and only son, Jesus Christ on the cross,
Speaker: that whoever believes in him shall not perish, shall not die on the inside and be lost, or be destroyed totally, but have everlasting life.
Speaker: Amen.
Speaker: And doesn't just end there with salvation. Because God knows you have needs every single day of your life.
Speaker: And Philippians 4.19 My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
Speaker: Jesus is the king of heaven. he is not poor. In fact, no one in heaven knows what poverty is. ah but It's a very rich place, richer than you can imagine.
Speaker: He has no lack. All he has are resources, answers, tools, keys, and strategies.
Speaker: And God is the source of radiance and light, spiritual illumination, truth and divine presence, purity, holiness and revelation.
Speaker: In him there is no darkness, chaos, evil or obscurity at all.
Speaker: And he's not holding those things himself, oh no.
Speaker: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
Speaker: And he gives those very generously and liberally to his kids.
Speaker: The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Speaker: And one of the best ways that he teaches us How to avoid perishing and destruction, and instead to choose abundant life and life forevermore, is through his words, the Bible.
Speaker: So take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day. They are not just idle, futile, empty, foolish, worthless words for you.
Speaker: They are your life. And by then, will live long in the land you're crossing the Jordan to possess.
Speaker: Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Speaker: Then you'll be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid.
Speaker: Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Speaker: As for God, his way is perfect, complete, whole, entire sound, helpful, wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, has integrity, entirely in accord with truth and fact.
Speaker: The word's law, and word is flawless. Refined like gold, tested and proved true, he shields all who take refuge in him.
Speaker: The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.
Speaker: And no word from God will ever fail.
Speaker: For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword. Cutting between will, mind and heart and spirit.
Speaker: God's word knows where one begins and the other ends. Between joint and marrow, he knows all your inmost parts.
Speaker: And it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Speaker: And it's easier to apply the word of God when we know his character and who we are to him, how he sees us.
Speaker: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, he looks at us just as if we'd never sinned. We have prosperity in the soul.
Speaker: Wholeness, harmony, security and welfare with God. in which all our parts are tied together through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker: Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
Speaker: And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance.
Speaker: Stamina, the ability to continue going, to push forward, to carry on. This perseverance positively affects our character.
Speaker: And the better our character, the stronger our hope.
Speaker: And it's not being blissfully optimistic, no. This hope, this expectant faith, joyful expectation, does not put us to shame.
Speaker: because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through Holy Spirit who has been given to each and every one of us.
Speaker: From the moment we first believed in the finished work of the cross for our salvation, to cross us over from death to life,
Speaker: And we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received reconciliation, restoration to favour, right relationship with Father God as his beloved children,
Speaker: the result of Christ exchanging his righteousness, his blood for our guilt so that we could be free.
Speaker: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
Speaker: because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Speaker: But now that you've been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to sanctification.
Speaker: the process of advancing in holiness, the believer being progressively transformed by the Lord into his likeness and nature, and the end result is a eternal a life.
Speaker: For the wages of sin, the payment of sin, the debt of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal forever. in Christ Jesus to our Lord.
Speaker: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Speaker: He loves you. You have his favor, his affection, his adoration. he is on your side. side.
Speaker: He's addicted to you. You're always on his mind.
Speaker: He's not judging you. He's not against you. He is for you.
Speaker: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Speaker: The spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again. oh no. Rather, the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship or to daughtership.
Speaker: And by him we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Speaker: Holy Spirit in you, cries our Father. Holy Spirit in you, says you're a child of God. Now if we are children, then we're heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
Speaker: If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. In the same way that on the earth, parents leave property and possessions and money their natural children. That's what God is doing for you.
Speaker: In heaven, you have a property. You have land. And no one is poor in heaven. He'll give you more blessings than you ever imagined possible.
Speaker: And he sees you.
Speaker: as being as legitimate a child of his as Jesus. so
Speaker: And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Speaker: For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Speaker: See, God already knew who would choose him, so therefore he determined a date on which to adopt them, and he aligned God situations throughout their lives to bring them to him.
Speaker: And those he predestined, those he chose, he also called.
Speaker: Those he called, he also justified and made just as if we'd never sinned.
Speaker: And those he justified, he also glorified. Exalted to a glorious rank or condition, brought to a heavenly dignity, made illustrious, shining.
Speaker: God sees real value or substance in us and has ascribed that weight to us.
Speaker: It's a glory not of ourselves. that has come from God himself.
Speaker: But sometimes it doesn't feel that way. Sometimes when we were counting on something and it didn't happen, we actually feel very stupid or silly.
Speaker: if we're attacked or afflicted by the enemy, human or spiritual or both, We can criticize ourselves. We feel like we're a victim.
Speaker: But no, that's not true. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Speaker: And neither death nor life.
Speaker: Neither God's angels or Satan's angels.
Speaker: Nothing that's happening today and nothing that's gonna happen in the future.
Speaker: No politician, king or ruler, and no demonic ruler.
Speaker: Nothing so high and nothing so deep, nor anything in all of creation.
Speaker: can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Speaker: Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, which we've all received,
Speaker: to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, This is your true and proper worship.
Speaker: This doesn't mean that we kill ourselves, but it does mean there are certain passions that have to be put to one side. It does mean that there are certain things that perhaps are costly, are inconvenient, and the Lord is saying Choose my way anyway.
Speaker: Love me anyway.
Speaker: Love your neighbor anyway. Forgive that family member who offended you anyway.
Speaker: Reconcile and make peace with that neighbor who bad-mouthed you to all the other neighbors anyway.
Speaker: Show up and show Christ anyway. Do the right thing anyway.
Speaker: Don't live like the rest of the world. Instead, show them the love of Jesus. Carry Christ. Mary carried Christ in her tummy, in her womb.
Speaker: We carry Christ in our spirit, in our thoughts, in our actions, in our words, in our hearts.
Speaker: and to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, set apart by God and for his pleasure, sacred in God's opinion,
Speaker: in the likeness of nature with the Lord, different from everybody else, separated from evil but instead dedicated to God.
Speaker: One who has ethical and moral dimensions, not living things in the carnal, fleshy way, based on what we want or think or what's selfish.
Speaker: But instead to live wholly is to live differently. A distinguished life, a distinct life with a special purpose. why Because we are co-workers in God's service.
Speaker: It's like he's the head of the construction site and we're following his orders.
Speaker: We are God's field. We're God's building.
Speaker: And we're also his temple that Holy Spirit lives within. and that temple is sacred.
Speaker: You are that temple individually, and we are that temple corporately.
Speaker: And even when we don't feel like it, even in days when we got it wrong more than we got it right, still God has set his seal of ownership on us and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Speaker: ah life in heaven.
Speaker: and even better still, a life in the recreated earth at the end of time.
Speaker: And wherever you go you are God's way of speaking so other people. You are a love letter from Christ in heaven to people on the earth.
Speaker: The result of our ministry, written with ink, Bic pens and paper, but with the spirit of the living God.
Speaker: Not on tablets of stone, like the Ten Commandments, but on human hearts.
Speaker: And he has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, a new agreement, a better one than the Old Testament. Amazing though it was, not of the letter, not of rules and regulations, but of the spirit.
Speaker: For the letter kills
Speaker: No human ever kept all Ten Commandments apart from Jesus.
Speaker: But the Spirit of God gives life. And you instantly cross over from death to life the second you first believe. And it only gets better and better.
Speaker: Sometimes busier, sometimes harder. Sometimes we're attacked on multiple angles.
Speaker: But in every situation, in every season, we have an opportunity to learn a new layer or dimension of the Father's heart and to become more and more like him.
Speaker: And where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom
Speaker: And we all who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his image more and more every day, every week, every month, every year, every Bible study with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the spirit.
Speaker: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here.
Speaker: All this is from God. You can't bribe him, you can't twist his arm, you can't manufacture it you can't trick or deceive him. It's a gift from God because he wanted to give it to you.
Speaker: who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Speaker: That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them.
Speaker: And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Speaker: Heaven is a world, and only ever gets bigger, and there is enough space in it for every human who has ever lived. God does not want you to keep it to yourself, but to pass it on.
Speaker: You're a citizen citizen of heaven,
Speaker: there's no unemployment in the body of Christ. You're Christ's ambassador. The same way an ambassador from one country goes to another and represents that country, we represent heaven culture.
Speaker: We represent the king of heaven and the Lord of our lives, Jesus Christ. As though God were making his appeal through us. We implore everyone in our world on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God.
Speaker: We don't want to live eternity without them, and neither does Jesus. He created every person to be a member of his family.
Speaker: And all they need to do is choose to believe that when he hung on the cross and said, it is finished, that it was finished.
Speaker: No more Ten Commandments, no more working, no more striving, no more manipulating. We just receive Jesus. You became sin for us and you died.
Speaker: God punished you for what we did. He does not want to punish anyone else ever again. it was a one-time thing, a one-time transaction.
Speaker: And the punishment that you received has given us peace, life and freedom. And we say yes and amen.
Speaker: Because my wicked self has been crucified with Christ. And my old, wicked, selfish, people-hurting self no longer lives.
Speaker: but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. i don't live it in religion. I don't live it in self-righteousness.
Speaker: I don't live it in the name of Brendan Thomas Merritt. No, I live it by faith in the Son of God. Which Son of God? Because we're all his kids.
Speaker: the one who loved me and gave himself for me, Jesus Christ.
Speaker: And by his stripes, the wish lashes, I'm healed. I'm made whole.
Speaker: So in Christ Jesus, I'm no longer a slave to sin or an enemy to God. Instead, we are his children. through faith, where we've crossed over from death to life.
Speaker: So praise be to the gods and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Speaker: for he chose us in him, even before the world was created, to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Speaker: Maybe someone in the natural, a parent, an uncle, an aunt, or someone has told you, oh, you were a mistake. You weren't supposed to exist. You were an accident.
Speaker: You never should have been born. weren't wanted. That's not what God says.
Speaker: He's the father of the heavenly lights and the little lights are souls and spirits in him that he made. and he sent them to the earth for such a time as this, intentionally on purpose.
Speaker: To know him, to rule and reign, to be his kids and to bring heaven culture to the earth.
Speaker: So that the dead could be made alive, the bound could be set free, hell could be depopulated and heaven could be filled.
Speaker: In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. In accordance with his pleasure and will, it made him so happy to choose you.
Speaker: To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. All he needs is your faith.
Speaker: The outworking of your faith, sanctification, changing your mind, your attitude, your thoughts, loss your behavior, that can cost you. Getting right with God in the first place is if is free, it's a gift.
Speaker: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in according with the riches of God's grace, his unmerited favor for people.
Speaker: And because of that, we give joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Speaker: For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Speaker: That happens immediately when you first believe. All the other good things, that's just extra.
Speaker: So in view of that forgiveness that we received through the cross, let's put on the new self. which is being renewed and knowledge in knowledge and the image of its creator.
Speaker: Every day puts on Christ, just like you would socks, boxers, shirt, jeans, and a coat. Wrap yourself in Jesus so that everyone will see him through you.
Speaker: And sometimes we feel a bit nervous. What if people don't like it? Everyone around me just says Jesus as a cuss word. But don't worry. The spirit of God that's been given to us does not make us timid or fearful or embarrassed or ashamed. God is not setting you up to fail.
Speaker: His spirit gives us power. Love. Self-discipline and a sound mind, where your mind comes into perfect alignment with the mind of God.
Speaker: But magnificent though it is, part of the kingdom of light. The kingdom, or I call it the empire of darkness, is very real. And there can be casualties.
Speaker: And there can be times when we get beaten down temporarily. Or wounded or scarred.
Speaker: This can happen no matter what age we are. Even when we're still in the womb.
Speaker: even when we're children and we're so vulnerable and we don't know how to fight back against the darkness. And these wounds can linger forever, potentially, so that we live half a life or not a full life.
Speaker: But God's will, his desire is for you to be healed and restored completely.
Speaker: And he says, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I'll forgive their sin and I will heal their land.
Speaker: I will heal their soil, their ground, their dirt.
Speaker: I'll make things grow. I will heal their livestock, their animals, their ability to make food, to produce milk.
Speaker: I'll heal the inhabitants of their land.
Speaker: And for those suffering from sickness right now or ailments, Know that the Lord will strengthen the one is on his bed of illness.
Speaker: You will restore him on his sick bed. This is not the end.
Speaker: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. because the same one who forgives our iniquities, who's forgiven us for the bad things we've taught,
Speaker: when we've had the wrong perception of God, when we've taught things that were injurious and damaging to ourselves rather than seeing us the way he does, when we've seen people in a way contrary to how he does,
Speaker: That same God is the one who heals all your diseases.
Speaker: Of the people you've been praying for recently, who are on your mind, your thoughts and your prayers, cancer dies now.
Speaker: Backache goes now.
Speaker: Tumours shrivel into non-existence now.
Speaker: Ears are open now.
Speaker: Scales fall off eyes in Jesus' name. The weights you've been carrying for so long that have been burdening you and causing you to walk like a hunchback, your spine comes into alignment. Those burdens are gone.
Speaker: Dumped at the foot of the cross, the Calvary.
Speaker: By night, Lord God, I lift up all of your children who are struggling and who are suffering right now, oh God. Even tummy issues, I put them, oh God, rejecting them before the throne of grace in heaven to find help in their times of need.
Speaker: because you are a life, you are the lifelight, you are healing, you are restoration, Jesus, you are resurrection and life. Pour out your resurrection power on your children those that have been praying for Jesus. resurrection, dunamis, dynamite, soul healing, course correcting, body restoring power in Jesus name, bringing them into perfect fullness of welfare and health, that they would walk and not be weary, they'd run and not be faint, they would soar on wings like eagles in Jesus name, healed of every affliction,
Speaker: and instead, Lord God, for the evil spirits in the spirit world, the demons who are responsible for afflicting your children. Lord God, I pray that whatever affliction they gave your kids, they get afflicted with times ten, and they crawl on their hands and knees and flee from your kids.
Speaker: even that your precious blood sprinkles on them, Jesus, and burns and skulls like molten lava. In Jesus' name.
Speaker: but that your children get surrounded by your light, the love light of God that heals and restores their minds, their hearts, their will, their cells, their muscles, their brain tissue, their sinews, the fibers, bones. In Jesus' name, oh God.
Speaker: And for those, God, who are grieving,
Speaker: grieving loss or missed opportunities, I thank you that you are the one who heals the brokenhearted, who binds up their sorrows and their wounds.
Speaker: Do so even now, Jesus, even now, Jesus.
Speaker: Lord God, for all the hope and enthusiasm and expectation that Anne Catherine put into that competition for that grant, God, and we joined with her in faith, Jesus. Heal any area of brokenness in our hearts, God.
Speaker: Bind every sorrow and every soul wound. You are still on the throne. You are still Jehovah Jireh. You are her provider. and you just have another way of blessing her and opening those doors, heal her of that legitimate disappointment, God. And may faith arise within her, Lord, knowing that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and you have not taken her this far to abandon her as she sets out to do your work for the blessing of many people. Jesus' name.
Speaker: God, you're so good. Even giving power to the weak and to those who have no might, you continue to increase their strength, oh God.
Speaker: And though you had done nothing wrong and you were perfectly innocent, still you were wounded for our transgressions.
Speaker: our spiritual trespasses.
Speaker: And were bruised, black, purple, and blue for our iniquities, the wicked things that we did in the insides of our hearts and minds, thinking no one else would ever know.
Speaker: And the punishment that has brought us peace, was put on you, the one who never deserved punishment to Dane's life.
Speaker: But your stripes, your whip lashed back, has healed us.
Speaker: And your blood speaks a better word and it has not lost its power. When Abel, the first human murdered, died, he cried out, avenge me, God.
Speaker: But your blood doesn't say avenge me. Your blood says I forgive you. Your blood says you and I are good. We're friends.
Speaker: We're brothers and sisters. We're family. You're mine. You're my chosen. You're my beloved. You're my favored.
Speaker: Behold, says the sovereign Lord, i will bring it health and healing. I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
Speaker: And for you who revere my name, who understand its power, its importance, its sovereignty, its divinity,
Speaker: Jesus, the son of righteousness, will rise over you with healing in his wings, arising over Sharon right now, God, not settling for half a healing or a much improved position, but total healing and total restoration, God.
Speaker: even over Kajal, Lord God, from everything that she's been suffering with and struggling with, Jesus, to fear a lack of peace, that peace arises within her now, God, bringing everything into course correction.
Speaker: even over Laura, oh God, that the tumour dies totally and completely and her ears are opened as she hears with perfect healing and restoration, God. No more embarrassment, no more what? Sorry, could you repeat that please? No more, God, but back to 100% in Jesus' name.
Speaker: are sent in jesus name
Speaker: And we will see your daughters going free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture in a field on a sunny day in spring.
Speaker: They'll be healed on the inside and out.
Speaker: And I pray, God, that all of your children under the sound of my voice prosper in all things. That they prosper in their health, just as their soul prospers.
Speaker: That you heal them on the inside, and they prosper. And then you heal them on the outside, and they prosper. And you bring everything in their lives into alignment, and they prosper.
Speaker: Inside and out, oh God, in that order.
Speaker: And now we come after the evil one who has afflicted your people.
Speaker: He shall say here, Israel, here, Ireland, Finland, the Holland, India, Pakistan, the nations,
Speaker: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be faint-hearted or afraid. Do not panic or be afraid by them.
Speaker: For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you victory. And how many of you know our God has never lost a battle, amen? Amen.
Speaker: The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction, but flee from you in seven.
Speaker: And the prophet said, open the east window and shoot. And he shot.
Speaker: And he said the arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from your enemies. Lord God, for every person, Lord God, in this chat right now who is being afflicted by the forces of evil and whose friends are being afflicted by evil cancer, COPD,
Speaker: miscarriage after miscarriage after miscarriage or infertility
Speaker: paralyzing fear lord god we say shoot and we release the arrow of deliverance god the arrow that pierces our enemy right through the mouth so they cannot speak right through the eyes so they cannot see right through the ears so that those demons cannot hear right through their hands, so they cannot raise a hand against your kids.
Speaker: But instead, Lord God, the arrow of deliverance frees your people, and they have victory, and they walk in victory, and they march victoriously and triumphantly into your best.
Speaker: Everything you have for them, oh God.
Speaker: Because my people despise their wicked spiritual enemies who have leveled so many and mock you. Demons that have just taken people for a joyride.
Speaker: Snuffed out their light, stolen from them, killed them, destroyed them, stolen timelines and destinies.
Speaker: My children toss their head as you wicked demons flee, as you run away in seven directions. Who is it that you have ridiculed, mocked, insulted, and blasphemed?
Speaker: Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One. against the Lord, God Almighty, God of the angel armies of heaven.
Speaker: By your demonic messengers, you have ridiculed the Lord. And do you have said, With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains and cut down many strong people. i have reached earth's remotest parts and finest forests.
Speaker: I have captured many people and drunk up their resources. With the soles of my feet I have dried up. Many prophetic streams, timelines, and destinies.
Speaker: I have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. Make no mistake, friends. Demons despise you.
Speaker: They have no destiny, so they get off on trying to steal yours. But though they may save those things, that will not be your portion in Jesus' name.
Speaker: But I, the most high God, know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because they only hate you, friends, because they hate God.
Speaker: Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, will put my hook in your nose like on a bull or a cow.
Speaker: and my bit in your mouth like they're a horse, and I will make you return by the way you came. He will drag them with chains away from you.
Speaker: Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning your demonic foe. He will not enter the city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come up before it with shield or build a seed ramp against it.
Speaker: By the way that he came, he will return. will not enter the city, declares the Lord. I will defend the city and save it. For my sake and for the sake of my servants, God is your defender.
Speaker: This night, one of my angelic host warriors will go out and slay 185,000 demons in the enemy's camp.
Speaker: You can't kill a demon, but my goodness, you can make it hurt. When my people get up the next morning, there will be all the strewn, slain bodies of the dead gods who are not really gods.
Speaker: But demons, when you're praying against them, you can be as bloody and vicious as you like. Declare their heads get chopped off and their hands and their body parts. What's more, there will be enmity between your enemies.
Speaker: Betrayal in the demonic ranks. And they will stab each other with swords. They're not friends. They have no love. They do not like each other.
Speaker: so you can declare that your spiritual enemies turn against one another and destroy one another at a competition.
Speaker: Praise the Lord. Praise God, our Savior. For each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves.
Speaker: The sovereign Lord rescues us from death.
Speaker: And whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Speaker: Yanita, Sharon, Phil and Catherine, Hannah, Kajal, Caroline, Jamie, Laura, Jeanette, they all say in Jesus' name
Speaker: of the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. That is true for every one of them.
Speaker: Surely he will save all of them from the fowler snare and from the deadly pestilence.
Speaker: He will cover his sons and his daughters with his feathers. And under his wings, his children will find refuge, safety, protection.
Speaker: His faithfulness, his word, his promise will be your shield and rampart.
Speaker: Don't you go being afraid of the terror of night.
Speaker: Because he is light.
Speaker: Don't be afraid of the arrow that flies by the day, because you have the arrow of deliverance in your quiver.
Speaker: Don't you be afraid of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, because even darkness is as light to him. There is no obscurity, he reveals everything.
Speaker: Don't be afraid of the plague that destroys at midday, because he is resurrection and life, and he will resuscitate you, your family, your community, and the nations.
Speaker: And even if you see a thousand people falling, dropping dead as a dodo at your side, ten thousand even,
Speaker: know that it will not come to you. it will not take you out. it will not prevail against you.
Speaker: You will see these things with your eyes.
Speaker: But you will see the wicked get punished for the weapons that they have raised against you.
Speaker: Because you're righteous, he will not let you be eradicated.
Speaker: If you say the Lord is my refuge and you make the most higher dwelling, that's the condition. No harm will overtake you.
Speaker: No disaster will come near your house, your apartment, your home.
Speaker: Heaven has billions if not trillions of angels. They all have jobs, but he's got some to spare. And he will command them concerning you to guide you in all your ways.
Speaker: You already have some guardian angels. Everyone has at least two. But he can send more warring angels to protect you if need be. Don't you worry about that.
Speaker: And those angels delight you. in protecting humans, as they know that they are God's servants and staff, but you're his children, you're his family. And therefore, they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
Speaker: and not only will they fight the battle for you, but you will be involved in it as well. And you will tread on the spiritual lions and the demonic cobras.
Speaker: You will trample the great lion and the serpent. Doesn't matter how big they are. and they're on the ground and they come for you, you will have authority over them.
Speaker: In Jesus' name. Because Holy Spirit lives in you. And Holy Spirit is God. And greater is he that's in you than any demon that's in the world, even Satan himself.
Speaker: And because my children love me, says the Lord, I will rescue my kids. I will protect them. course I will.
Speaker: For they acknowledge my name.
Speaker: When my kids call on me, I'll answer with them.
Speaker: If they're in trouble, I'll still be there with them. I'll deliver them and I will honor them. I will esteem them. I will lift them up.
Speaker: And not just once and not just for a little while, but with long life, I will satisfy my kids. And I will show them the power of my salvation.
Speaker: And not only will cobras and lions fail to take them out, but no weapon fashioned against my kids shall prosper. No nightmares, no viruses,
Speaker: no economic collapse. No swords, spears, arrows, guns, no weapons will prosper against them.
Speaker: And every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. The words that try to suppress you, to shut you up, to silence you, say you're not good enough, go kill yourself, no one loves you.
Speaker: You will silence those words.
Speaker: Because this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.
Speaker: That you would rule and reign and conquer the wickedness that comes against you.
Speaker: And even if they try to judge you limit you, vilify you, make you the enemy or the villain in their story, intimidate you,
Speaker: Say, oh, I remember what you used to be like. You call yourself a Christian. Doesn't matter. Your righteousness comes from God, says the Lord of hosts.
Speaker: So no. No matter who or what it is, in all these things, we are more than conquerors. through him who first loved us.
Speaker: And in a closing benediction,
Speaker: the Lord, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, the wonderful counselor, the everlasting father, the prince of peace.
Speaker: He is our shepherd and we lack nothing.
Speaker: Everything we need, we have in him.
Speaker: He makes us lie down in green pastures.
Speaker: He makes us get comfy and cozy for a word soak. He puts us in a peaceful state of relaxation and restoration, getting built up again.
Speaker: He leads me beside the still waters to a place of calmness for our souls.
Speaker: There he restores our souls. Builds us up again, putting everything back in their proper place.
Speaker: He leads us in the paths of righteousness, not for our own glory, but for his namesake. That Jesus' name would be famous on the earth through us in our time.
Speaker: Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death every day of my life, when the potential to be snuffed out and eradicated and defeated is always there, I'll fear no evil.
Speaker: I won't be afraid. won't be paralyzed or terrified. Why would i God's with me. His Holy Spirit's in me.
Speaker: Jesus too.
Speaker: And your rods and your staff, they comfort me. If any bear, lion wolf comes against us, the Lord has a weapon there to protect us.
Speaker: And we can also look at the rods and the staff as the cross of Jesus, where we already have our victory over the forces of darkness.
Speaker: And even in the difficult seasons, when there's more evil than good that we can seek, and we see more reasons to cry than to celebrate, still he prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.
Speaker: a table to recline, to sit down, to rest, to eat with him, drink with him, talk to him, get to know him, to know the jokes Jesus laughs at, to know what Jesus finds funny,
Speaker: to know what's happened in our past and how we can deal with it, to know what's really happening on the earth today and how to respond, to know what get prepared for in the future.
Speaker: Even when it looks like we're surrounded by evil, we're surrounded by God. And in those moments in particular, he will draw us closer to himself.
Speaker: And we'll have a deeper revelation, understanding of him than ever before.
Speaker: And he anoints my head with oil.
Speaker: Special gifts, which we'll look at in a few weeks.
Speaker: And my cup runs over. He doesn't just bless me enough from my life. No. We're ambassadors for Christ. We've got a job to do He gives us extra.
Speaker: And we bless others from the overflow.
Speaker: And surely, no matter what's going on in our lives right now, even whether it's a big adventure that Hannah has coming this day next week,
Speaker: I know Nidda is working away on a project right now that she has to finish before this night is over. Doesn't matter what it is. Goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of life regardless.
Speaker: In the busy seasons and the quieter seasons. When it's easy and when it's difficult. when you're jumping for joy, and when you're lying prostrate on the ground, flat on your face, and you can barely even manage the energy to get up again, still his goodness and mercy is directed towards us, and will follow us, and will bless us.
Speaker: And we will dwell in the house of the Lord our God forever and ever.
Speaker: Amen. Amen. And amen.
