Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:31

John wrote in his first epistle that perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (1 John 4:18).  John explained that it is when we abide in love that we abide in God.

Nearly all of the gospel, and hence life, revolves around fear in some way in another.  From the first time in the garden, when Adam and Eve knew they were naked, covered themselves, and hid from the presence of Almighty God.  To the first murder, when Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice, God warned him, and  slew Abel out of jealousy.

Read more…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

This is part of the good news Jesus came to bring.  If we ask for it, He will bring it.  If we look for it, we will find it.  If we keep knocking at the door, eventually, it will open for us.  This is Kingdom 101 quite often, and, whether it is accepted as such or dismissed from there, it can often get little investigation later.  However, as with many of Jesus’ sayings, they apply to multiple levels.

For instance, take the phrase “Seek and you will find.”  This, of course, applies to the Kingdom of Heaven, to God the Father, and to Jesus.  This of course applies to answers and deliverances and other such burdens we offer towards heaven.  But, let’s look at this another way for a moment.

Jesus ministered on the Earth in the power of the Spirit.  The gifts were evident yet not on display.  The Spirit was present, and the gifts were promised, but the primary focus of the teaching was directed towards the Father’s will.

Read more…

 In his last days old Dr. Bressee [the founder of the Nazarene church] would preach from church to church one message: “Keep the glory down.” Why? He knew that if they ever lost it they were finished.

–R T Kendall, The Anointing

Probably every genuine move of God was birthed in something special.  In every move, there was something Beyond the text of the written Word, Beyond the meetings, Beyond the men, that made a difference.

If we understood that the Gospel is more than words on a page, that it is more than a natural man can understand (John 3:3-5), that it is the unseen, spiritual realm that makes a difference (Colossians 1:16), we would be much closer to the glorious overcoming church of Ephesians 4:13.

Read more…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

Some of the most profound revelations come in the most simplest of ways.  Yet, the most basic things of life are often so simple, those looking for something more profound will often bypass them.  Ecclesiasties says, “God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29, portion).

Read more…

For the clergy to organize themselves with one rank over another until they are finally headed up by a president is a manifestation of the antichrist spirit, regardless of how wonderful and necessary it may seem. It is nothing but human reasoning taking the place of the Word.

William M. Branham, “A Resume of the Ages”, An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages

Did you know that you can have all the form of “Church”, and not have God?

Let’s take a little walk down history lane.  1 Kings 18 shows a good “church service”.  Two of them, in fact.  Two churches, on the same hill-top, eaching having services.  One service was the first church of the Baal prophets, complete with altar, worship service, sacrifice, and even wood.  I hear they sat somewhere near 850 faithful, plus the general congregation.  The second, was the much smaller one.  It wasn’t nearly as fancy.  In fact, I hear it was all wet.  But, they too, had their altar, their wood, their sacrifice.  And, they only had one minister, instead of the hundreds.  But, they seemed happy, so why not let them be?

Read more…

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

The Way is not power, it is faithfulness.  The path is not promotion, it is servant-hood.  The gift is not yours, it is theirs (2 Corinthians 1:6).  The road is not wide, it is narrow.

Jesus said plainly, unless you hate father, mother, sister, brother, children, spouse, even your own life, you cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:26).  He said quite distinctly that if you love someone else more than Him, you are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37).

Read more…

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11:3

The whole of the Christian walk is in the unseen, which manifests into the seen.

Read more…

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Matthew 8:20

What does it take to dissuade someone from pursuit?  A little hardship, a little persecution?  Lack of a comfortable home?

Jesus said,

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

Matthew 19:29

What you lose is only temporary, what you gain is worth it.  It is Good News.

Read more…

If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:26

The way of discipleship is the way to follow the cross.  The requirement of discipleship is to never look back.

Jesus said that the Kingdom was like a precious pearl, that, when found, a man sold all he had and bought it.  There is something about finding something that is worth it.  If you can see it, if you can recognize what you see, and correctly appraise it, it is not a hard choice to lose everything else to obtain the best. Read more…

Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33

The Kingdom is invisible, in the heavens (John 3:3).  It is the unseen dominion, greater and more sufficient than the natural, which, from its excess, overflows into what we can see.

What we can see, feel, and experience is not the Spirit.  What we can see is not the Kingdom.  What we touch with the soul and body is but our response to God.

Read more…