Prophetic Articles and Teachings
Do You Want to Be More Spiritual?
By Adam Becker
Spirituality is true wealth in this world and the next, the world says money, wealth and success is the goal, but it really isn’t. So many people want to be more spiritual, but a lot of people never get there. There was a time when I was a lot more spiritual and selfless than I am now. I was having many more spiritual experiences and it seemed like nothing in the natural shook me.
As I look back to that time, I see a theme and something I was doing that I stopped doing so much. What was it that led to such spirituality? I was a giver and did not care about material possessions. I would literally give everything I had away. Money, things I loved, my only car. You name it, I gave it away and did not hoard new material possessions. I had hardly anything and it didn’t bother me one bit. The lack of material things and me giving everything away made me feel free. It freed me from this world and helped me to be more connected to the spiritual world and the kingdom of God.
You see when you get a material possession it actually anchors you down to this world. Yes, it pulls you down to the natural world and away from the spiritual world. The more possessions and wealth you have the more anchored down to the natural world and less spiritual you will be. It’s just a fact. The Bible confirms it says; “where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” If your treasure is on this earth in the natural so will your heart. Your spirituality will lack, and you will be chained down by stuff. It’s that simple. Being spiritual is not that hard, just store your treasures in heaven and in the spiritual realm and not on this earth. I am not saying to be homeless and live with nothing but don’t let your heart be in the ownership of your home, new car, your prosperous career, or the size of your bank account. Don’t let the American dream have you. The Bible speaks many times against material wealth and says to the man who asked what he must do to enter the kingdom of heaven to “sell all you own and give it to the poor.” The disciples and Jesus were very poor. The money taken as tithes and offerings in the early church was to be distributed to them equally and who has need. It was taken up so there would be equality among them. Ministers and people in the church who are living high off the hog while others in the church live like paupers ought to repent and be ashamed of themselves. Christianity is not about prosperity and wealth. The true prosperity and wealth is knowing Christ, the truth and the kingdom of heaven being in you. The abundant life Christ talked about was not about wealth, divine health and the perfect life it was about having an abundance of life as in eternal life.
If you want to be more spiritual have your heart anchored down with less of the material and more of the things of God. It works, I guarantee more peace, happiness, and greater spirituality if you let go of your material things and prosperity and store your treasure in heaven. Be blessed!
A Letter I Recently Sent to a Former Pastor of Mine
By Adam Becker
Pastor Wayne, I have come to realize in recent years that I was wrong about prosperity. I thought that I would be rewarded and blessed for taking Darcy back all those years I did and raising the twins as my own among other things. I was wrong. The promise of blessings if you do this or that is old testament. The New Testament does not promise such material wealth, as a matter of fact, the New Testament speaks against material wealth over and over. The abundant life Christ mentioned had nothing to do with riches, perfect health and the perfect life. The abundant life meant that we would have an abundance of life as in eternal life not riches and perfection on earth. Jesus said to the man who asked what may he do to enter the kingdom of heaven and Christ said sell everything you own and give it to the poor and he also said it is almost impossible for a rich man to enter heaven. To another who was storing riches on earth and saying tomorrow I will do this or that He called a fool. We are to store our treasures in heaven not on earth. The disciples and Jesus were poor, dirt poor. They were not a success in the eyes of the world and they didn't own much. The whole prosperity standard that the Charismatic movement, as well as many Christians, have set forth is dangerous and in error. We are blessed in our afflictions and lack of wealth as we have Christ and the truth. We are blessed because the Kingdom is in us not because we are prosperous. I sought riches and believed I deserved them. I thought that Christians were supposed to prosper and God owes us prosperity and divine health when He doesnt on this earth. If I am sick and die I do so to the glory of God and rejoice in my sufferings as Christ suffered. Life is hard, too many Christians seek the American dream and to be rich and have it perfect. The whole purpose of wealth is to give to others and to bring people into the kingdom. The early church took up an offering and people gave to it so that wealth could be distributed among them equally so there would be equality among them not someone living high off the hog while others in church lived like a pauper. All these ministers living better than people in their congregations out to repent and be ashamed as should all the other Christians in the church. I was wrong to believe in wealth and seek after it and the perfect life. I thank God that I am poor and nothing as in it I am Christ-like. If my life of have a disability and being poor doesn't make people want to become a Christian and hurts my witness I am glad because if my life was perfect I would only be drawing people to Christ under deceit and for the wrong reasons. Christianity is not about wealth and carefree life and I am blessed to know that. I pray for others to see that also.
Adam Becker
Being Positioned for a Miracle
By Adam Becker
There are so many stories in the Bible of miracles. And not just in the Bible but there are so many people with testimonies of the miraculous. As I look back on my life there was a time when I saw many miracles and many blessings. In recent times those blessings and miracles seemed to slow down or stop. I have often reminisced about the good old days and envied others miraculous testimonies but was saddened that I wasn’t seeing that in my own life as I once was.
It Got me to praying and the Lord told me that I have seen very few miracles recently because I didn’t need them. God doesn’t always give you what you don’t need. Things have been ok for a long time financially for me and in other parts of my life, so I just didn’t need all the miracles I once needed. Blessings, messages from angels as well as profound spiritual experiences became a thing of the past. But recently I found myself in situations that required more faith and couldn’t rely so much on the security of what I thought I had. God spoke to my heart and said to me; “remember how you missed miracles, now you are in a better position to see them. Now you will see the miraculous again.”
It is out of need and lack that miraculous blessing comes. God did miracle after miracle to get the Israelites out of Egypt. When they had to take the land and wandered in the desert lacking God also did miracles and moved. But when they possessed the land and had security they saw less of the move of God.
Take a look at this story in the Bible;
Kings 4 New International 2 Version (NIV)
The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
This was a story of the miraculous, but the widow wouldn’t have been blessed unless she lacked and needed it. She lost her husband and her children were about to be taken as slaves. That’s not to say that God doesn’t bless us in the good times which he does but we are in a better position for blessing and for God to do miracles in the dark times. Would Moses have been able to part the Red Sea if he wasn’t being pursued by Pharaoh? Or would Jesus have raised Lazarus from the dead if Lazarus hadn’t died? No, they had to be in position for a miracle.
Your dire financial situation may have put you in just the right position for a blessing! Your loss may be just what you need for God to give you more. Your despair may position you for a mighty spiritual encounter of the God kind. Whatever lack you find yourself in is exactly ripe for God to move in a miraculous way. Don’t think of it as negative think of it as an opportunity to really see God move in ways you can tell your grandchildren about. This could be your greatest testimony yet! Don’t despise the hard times, rejoice in them for God is going to come through. Be blessed!
Personal Prophecy is Conditional
By Adam Becker
We often hear that personal prophecy has to always come to pass %100 percent. People even say a prophet whose prophecy does not come to pass should be put to death according to the Bible. But the truth is personal prophecy is conditional. We have free will and we can change our course in life. The Bible says that God knows all and “works all things for good,” but we can change things. When we change things as I just said God can work them out for good, but it does change things. Maybe you have had a personal prophecy and it didn’t come to pass? It could be that the person giving it was not accurate, but it could also mean your free will changed it. Don’t be so quick to throw stones at prophets for unfulfilled prophecies or call them out as false prophets. You may be jumping the gun.
We can see our free will in this verse from scripture
Isiah 53
6We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
It says; “each of us has turned to our own way.” It was God’s plan that we didn’t go our own way and go astray but He gave us free will and it does happen. If this happens prophecies can be changed.
In the Bible we have the story of Jonah, everyone knows of Jonah and whale. The truth is it really doesn’t say it was a whale but that’s not important. But the story does show how prophecy can change. As many know Jonah was told that God was going to destroy Nineveh and he was supposed to go there and tell them that. We can see this in the following verses
Jonah 3:1–10
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to lNineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now lNineveh was an exceedingly great city,1 three days’ journey in breadth.2 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 mAnd the people of Nineveh believed God. nThey called for a fast and oput on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
The People of Nineveh Repent
6 The word reached3 the king of Nineveh, and phe arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, qand sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, r“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor sbeast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and sbeast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. tLet everyone turn from his evil way and from uthe violence that is in his hands. 9 vWho knows? God may turn and relent wand turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, xhow they turned from their evil way, xGod relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
But look what happened the prophecy was that God was going to destroy Nineveh but because of their free will and decision to repent the prophecy changed and it didn’t come to pass.
We can also see this take place in the life of Solomon. The Bible says in a prophecy about Solomon;
2 Samuel 7:12 and 13
(12) When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
(13) He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [2]
It sure looked as if Solomon was set for life as for his kids. But the prophecy about Solomon changed because of his free will and his sin. This is what the Bible now said of Solomon after he used his free will;
1 Kings 11:11
So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
Yes, folks prophecy as we can see from scripture is conditional even in the New Testament I believe the personal prophecy Paul got about being bound and imprisoned said if you go or something like that this will happen. Of course, it happened because Paul went but it was conditional.
If you have a really good personal prophecy that you would like to see come to pass you can help it along buy staying close to God and asking yourself “What would Jesus do.” Not acting in love or out of the character of Christ will always short circuit a good prophecy. Also, in every big decision pray about it and get a go ahead from the Holy Spirit. If you do that you have a better chance of seeing your wonderful personal prophecy happen in your life. Don’t let your free will mess up a good thing. Also, know though if you do mess it up God may have something better for you to work for good. Just because a prophecy did not come to pass your life is not over. That prophecy was a prophecy about what will happen if you stay on the path your on but you may change for the better and you may be instore for an even greater prophecy.
It Can Be Hard Making Decent Friends
By Adam Becker
When I was a kid and a teen it seemed so easy making friends, even into my early 20s I had all kinds of friends. It wasn’t hard at all. I was active, friendly and went where people were. Then it changed when I became born again. I was a Christian my whole life but didn’t live like it till I had an awakening in my early 20s. When I became born again friends didn’t come so easy anymore. At first when I started going to church some single people my age gravitated toward me and I had made some relationships but that was short lived. It wasn’t long before they went their separate ways even in a matter of months. I learned that in so many Christian circles people are really busy or at least that is what they say. They seem to always be busy doing something and have no time for you. Families are big in the Christian community not just in size but popular and a goal. So a lot of people have families and they are busier and they spend less time with other people. They don’t need a lot of other people they have each other. I have had very few good Christian friends that have been there for the long haul since becoming born again. This has bothered me. I had so many friends before coming to Christ and now nothing! Was I doing something wrong?
The friends I did have for a brief amount of time in the church or people I encountered were always jealous of other people. I think they forgot that not coveting is one of the commandments. It was like Christianity was a competition of some sorts. And if you got a head at all they hated you all the more. I think some Christians are friendly but they lack perseverance and sticking with new relationships unless of course you can do something really wonderful for them or help their status. Sure, they shake your hand or hug you in church and say hello but then never want anything to do with you outside of church. Or they do hang out with you briefly for a little while and for no good reason drop off the face of the earth. This shouldn’t be but it is what it is. That is reality in so many cases. Sure, you can make a lot of Christian friends online but are they really your close friends? Do you really know them? Real friends are the people you see and spend time with not just someone you talk to once in a while online. Online friends are great but wouldn’t you rather have people you can spend real time with?
Yet, so many of the non-Christian people that I know have so many friends? What was I doing wrong? So, I looked into the friends the non-Christians have and I found that most of them enjoyed flipping people off in pictures, smoking weed, doing illegal drugs and drinking. These weren’t at all the type of people I was looking for to make friends with. I am not trying to judge but I wouldn’t call these decent friends. I had friends like this before coming to Christ. They were the kind of people that would sleep with your wife, get her knocked up and brag about it. Or the kind that would rob you or backstab you. No thanks, been there, done that, bought the tee shirt! Looking back on it those were all the types of friends I had before being born again. Those people will hang with you because they want someone to party with or smoke up with. The more the better they feel. Again, not trying to judge them but I have experienced it first hand. Once coming to Christ I just don’t have much in common with those types of people so why would I want to be close friends with them?
I have come to a place now where I know it is not so easy to make decent friends. If you lack friends, you may be doing something right rather than wrong. Doing something right in being picky about who you become good friends with. Now I am not saying we shouldn’t be around or try and befriend worldly people or unbelievers because we should in order to be a witness to them. But if you don’t drink, do drugs or aren’t like them they won’t want to be around you. I know this because before I became born again, I stopped doing all that stuff and my friends dropped like swatted flies. I also later tried to befriend a lot of my old friends once they knew I was a born again Christian and they wouldn’t give me the time of day. Some where very judgmental against me. So, I will say it again. If you are having trouble making friends, it may be that you are doing something right not wrong. Don’t beat yourself up. Maybe in time the right people will come into your life but for now don’t let it get you down. Decent Friends are harder to come by!
The Life Coaching Delusion
By Adam Becker
I am a certified life coach, I took courses and have studied life coaching for years now. I have even done life coaching for people. I also know the prosperity Gospel very well. I have sat in churches for years who taught it. At times I have even taught a little of it myself. Life coaching tells you that you can be anything, do anything and have anything you want. Just by making the right choices, having goals and taking necessary planned steps towards those goals as well as thinking positive thoughts. The prosperity Gospel teaches you some similar things about gaining wealth and that being poor is a sin.
There was a time in my life when I prospered financially and was attaining some goals. I believed in the life coaching and prosperity Gospel stuff whole heartedly. But then I found my self doing not so hot. I became very poor and wealth no longer came my way. My goals were also blocked. I was struck with a disability and no one believed in my anymore. I lost financial supporters as well as a means to make money. I was dirt poor. As I said my goals and endeavors were also blocked. For example, I set out to start an exciting prosperous career in something. I set the goal, took steps and planned for that goal, took the schooling, took the state test, got my professional license then prepared my resume to all the local offices in driving distance. I sent out my resume and followed it up with emails and phone calls. I thought for sure that I would land a job. All the info I read about it said once you do everything to get your license offices automatically hire you. You don’t need to even worry about interviewing for them and it is actually you who needs to interview them because you are guaranteed a position with any of them. I thought this was in the bag, but I did put everything into it. I tried really hard, but no one would hire me. I don’t have a criminal record or anything so it didn’t make sense that no one would hire me, but they wouldn’t. My dream was over, all that hard work down the drain. It sure seemed like something was working against me. Looking back, I can see it was the Lord. There would be some negative stuff that would have come about if I got hired at that time and God knew it. God was looking out for my best interest. It is the same with other things in my life. I was pastor but that didn’t work out in the long run either. I did the work, did what everyone else does to be pastor and it was no good. I did become a pastor and pastored a few churches but it never went very well or lasted. Circumstances I couldn’t really control got in the way and then pastoring was taken from me forever. Looking back there were many things in my life that didn’t go as planned. For some people it worked and they did what I did and they prospered but for me, not so much.
You see while having goals and choices do have a lot to say of the outcome of our lives its not everything. We cant leave out the God factor. God is in control. God has a plan and we cant be anything, do anything or have anything we want. I know for some people it does seem that way but for many people that is not reality.
Even the prosperity gospel falsely tells everyone that they can be rich and prosperous just by sowing your financial seed and by Christs atonement. It peddles that all Christians are to have millions of dollars and tons of material possessions. The only truth to that is that the ones telling you that stuff that are taking your money are prosperous. Of course, they are, not from being born again or from sowing seed but from you and peddling the prosperity Gospel message. Don’t get me wrong giving is good and we do reap what we sow but this stuff about being rich and famous is not entirely Biblical. Just look at Christs life, how rich materially and financially was He? What about the disciples? Where they rich? Or the prophets and priests? Where they all rich? The answer is no. The majority of them lived humbly and were in what most today would consider poverty. Now I am not saying that God wants us to be poor or that God is against having money because He isn’t. But we aren’t all going to be rich and we don’t really need to be. The Bible says God supplies our needs. Is it a need to be rich? No, it isn’t.
AM I against setting goals and trying to step out and be something you dreamed about or going into a career of your choice? No, It is healthy to have goals and pursue things without hearing a voice from heaven but if it doesn’t work out which it may not don’t get angry or wonder if you are in some sin or something. You don’t have to be in some sin or lack life skills to have a goal blocked or not prosper financially. Its not a sin to fail or be poor. As a matter of fact, it most likely is a sin to tell people it’s a sin to be poor or that they are just lazy. Choices are very important, I learned the hard way of making bad choices. There was a time as a young Christian that I thought I can make an unwise choice that seemed to be an act of love and God would just come in and make it alright and work. Boy was I wrong. While God can do that sometimes he doesn’t and leaves us at the mercy of our choices. Choices and goals are so very important and laziness can cause poverty but if you feel that you are to be anything, have anything or do anything you want you will be sorely disappointed. If you are an average person especially a child of God, this may not work that well for you. That thinking also leads to judgment of people who can’t attain those things. Unfair, unrighteous judgement! Don’t go there. Know that God is in control, you are only in control as He wills. God can block your plans to execute His own. Have goals, make wise choices, exercise positive thinking and sow seed but trust in Him not in yourself.
Evangelistic Assault
By Adam Becker
I was listening to a radio program the other day while driving in my car and the pastor teaching said two main things. He said salvation and regular church attendance go together and that Christians don’t evangelize enough or share their faith. He claimed the average Christian has never led anyone to Christ. First, I would like to say that you are not saved by attending a church. Yes, if you are saved you should try attending a church but if you don’t attend a church contrary to what the pastor says it does not mean you are not saved. Salvation is dependent on the atonement and the Holy spirit not a building and tithing. But what I really would like to talk briefly about is evangelism. I think he is wrong when he said that the average Christian doesn’t evangelize.
Years ago, I was hooked on evangelism. I was upfront with people and prayed the prayer of salvation with hundreds of people. I even used to knock on doors and stop cars. I thought for sure you had to speak scripture and confront everyone with the Gospel. I thought I was something special preaching to everyone I met and chased down. But I was not as special as I thought. When I would brag about how I evangelize to everyone and get in their face some Christians would tell me they don’t do it like that. They said they do presence evangelism. I would snicker and think your just afraid and lazy, the right way is to beat people over the head with scripture and confront them. I felt a need to confront everyone and today looking back at it some people just prayed the prayer of salvation to get me to leave them alone. They didn’t mean it. Sure, I planted some seeds but I also turned a lot of people off and left them with a sour taste in their mouth.
I now know that things like presence evangelism and forming relationships with people in order to evangelize is a good thing. It doesn’t mean you’re a wimp it means you’re not a religious jerk. We can’t assault people with scripture and confront everyone. To most people scripture means nothing. So why always speak it to people? When we look at how Christ evangelized, he only assaulted religious people with scripture. The rest of the time Christ was forming nonjudgmental relationships with people and speaking to them on their level. He didn’t spend His time confronting everyone. Jesus also used prophetic evangelism and helped people by feeding them, doing miracles for them and giving them hope. He helped people in need. While we can’t always go around healing everyone like Christ did and give out prophetic words, we can speak to people in such a way that it touches their heart like a prophetic word does and we can help people in need like a miracle can do. From being a shoulder to cry on, giving and sharing advice and principles in a non-religious way we can evangelize as Christ did.I know that some will say well brother Becker we can and are doing the healings and miracles that Christ is doing and giving out accurate prophetic words. My friend and I just raised two people from the dead, turned cavities into gold teeth and gave a prophetic word that told some guy his birthdate and credit card number. People may not like this, but I don’t believe those kind of stories. While it is possible for someone to do healings, miracles and tell people specific things prophetically it happens a lot less than you think. Yes, many people who claim to be doing that stuff are liars. There I said it, they are not telling the truth and are running a scam. Is it wrong to try and do that stuff? No, but you will find that very rarely will you be able to. Its just not reality. We need to find creative ways in helping people and speaking to their heart that are biased on reality and not assaulting them with scripture and religious stuff. I have met people that you couldn’t have a down to earth conversation with them without them quoting the Bible 200 times. We have to be able to meet people on their level and be down to earth. As I said before most people don’t care at all what the Bible says except believers. Back slidden people don’t care what the Bible says either, using it will only turn them off. So, remember be cautious about beating people up with scripture and you don’t need to confront everyone with the Gospel. There are plenty of non-confrontational ways to evangelize. I know some people brag about being a martyr but sometimes they bring on the persecution themselves when it’s not necessary. Don’t be a martyr be a human being and love people. Usually love won’t get you persecuted. I know that pastor is wrong I think a lot more people evangelize than he thinks they just do it in ways not to his liking. But we can’t please everyone, the only one we need to really please is Christ.
Finding a Soul Mate
By Adam Becker
Through my online ministry we offer prophetic ministry or otherwise known as personal prophecy. One of the most requested things we hear is people wanting to know when they will find their soul mate or a spouse. Many people don’t want to be single, even the psychics know this and capitalize on doing love readings. So many think that God has just one person for them and that all they have to do is sit at home or go about their daily routine and God will send that person to them. But is that right? Is God going to just send that person to their door step and is there only one person for you?
The truth of the matter is there isn’t just one person for everyone, there are many possibilities. That’s right there are thousands of people that could be your potential spouse. Could you actually believe you are so different from everyone else or that so few people in this world of billions of people are really good enough for you? Of course not, there are many people that would make a good spouse for you. God gave us free will. It is up to us to find them and pick them. Just look at how many times God allows us to choose the wrong one. If God allows us to choose many wrong ones, then he will certainly allow us to choose many right ones. There are many soul mates for you. But you can’t just sit at home or go about you daily routines and expect God to just send you them. You have to put yourself out there.
In the Bible we have the book of Ruth, Ruth found herself a widow and needed to find a spouse. So, what did she do, did she sit at home or go about her daily routine expecting God to send her a man? No, we see that Ruth and her mother in law came up with a plan to find a man. Ruth first put herself out there to find Boaz and then she came up with a plan to snag him. She did not just sit at home or wait on the Lord to do it all for her. She took steps to get her man. And we need to do the same. You may say how do I go about doing that, how do I put myself out there? Well you have to go out to where people of the opposite sex are or if you just can’t then try a dating site. Yes, I said a dating website. There is nothing evil about a date site. God allows us to use the internet. A dating site will put you out there. Many people are so scared of them people they think that there are so many fakes and bad people on them. But the truth is you will find fakes and bad people out meeting up with people off of a dating site in the physical world. You will even find fakes and bad people at church, maybe even leading a church. You can’t escape them. Dating sites are one of the best ways to find someone in this modern age. But don’t be too picky that you turn everyone away. You may find that there are people that don’t seem to meet your high standards that would be perfect for you. I have met many women in my past that at first I wasn’t attracted to but they grew on me and the attraction grew. It’s the same with everything else. Women mainly look for a man with money and guys go for looks. But maybe the women can be more independent and not be so greedy and the men need to not be so vain. You may find that killer looks and riches aren’t everything you need to be looking for in a spouse. As a matter of fact that money can be gone in a flash and looks fade.
Also know that you are not going to find someone who is perfect. Paul said if you choose marriage you will have trouble in this life. Anytime you put two people together you will have problems. There is no perfect spouse. You can choose someone who seems to more fitting than others but you will not find perfection in anyone. We are all human, unless your marrying Christ you will find imperfections. But even if you married Christ Himself you would still have disagreements from time to time. That is reality.
So, remember that you have many options for soul mates and many soul mates. There is not just one person out there for you. Also remember to put yourself out there. You can’t just wait for God to do all the work and send them right to your doorstep. And no one is perfect and dating sites are not evil. I pray you have much success and find that special someone.
Don’t Be Too Bound Up to Step Out!
By Adam Becker
The other day I saw something from Jeremy Lopez ( Jeremy is an awesome and anointed man of God by the way) on his ministry page “Identity Network” that prompted me to write this article. He said “ some people have a very real, continuous fear. “Is this the will of God?” “Is this the will of God or is this my will?” He goes on to say people are religiously bound up by this. I can concur with what he is saying and know it all too well. I have even been there myself. You want to be in Gods perfect will and plan, you naturally don’t want to do anything that goes against that or is out of that. God also desires us to be obedient and in His perfect plan, but we need to be careful we aren’t being too religious and bound up by that. We do know that Jesus didn’t do anything that He didn’t see the Father do or other words get orders about from the Father. But we are not Jesus. We don’t always hear from God as Christ did. I know some people seem to think they do but in reality, we don’t. A lot of people are so bound up by the “is this Gods perfect will” that they never step out and do anything. They live in religious fear of being out of Gods plan. I know people like this they either never attempt to do nothing at all. Or they do things that are extremely thought out and because they are extremely thought out and the person has the ingredients to make it happen it works. But it was their own will, not Gods plan. And because it worked, they then declare it was Gods perfect plan but in fact they made it happen. They get all puffed up from this and think they are always in Gods perfect will and hear from God. They also like to warn everyone who steps out not to do it because it probably isn’t Gods perfect will, so they come against anything everyone else is doing. I have met so many people like that. Churches are filled with them and some are pastors. They seem to think they are the only one who is ever in Gods plan and no one else is. Many times, this is motivated by pride and fear. Pride as they think that the things they made happen where Gods plan and they always hear from God and are in his perfect will. And fear for the ones who never step out and do anything. God does not want us to get into pride or fear. God wants us free. Religious mindsets are not only good for the person bound by them but as I mentioned they also seek to condemn others and bound them up as well. Sometimes they are really seeking to put people beneath them as the religious leaders of Christ day did that were all bound up by religion. They act as though they are the only ones who could ever be in Gods will and everyone else is beneath them and out of it.
I know a guy that preaches to do what I myself often do. You just step out and try everything you can think of. Not talking about sin but go for every opportunity that comes your way and step out with every new idea you get. If God doesn’t want you doing it he will shut it down. Like throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks. There are a lot of things I really thought was God that God shut down and other things I really didn’t know whether it was God and I tried anyway only to learn years later that was God and worked. Even things that didn’t work I found that was Gods perfect plan as God wanted me to learn something from the process and failure that could then prepare me for something else God wanted me to do in the future. The worst that can happen is it fails but real failure is never trying. That is faith, stepping out on things you cant really see. You need to be certain about it but as humans can we really can’t be certain about everything? Did peter know for certain that he would be able to step out of the boat and walk on water. No, he didn’t he even doubted and started to sink when the waves rose up. Of course, he saw that Jesus could do it and was with Him so he tried it but he wasn’t certain. Well Jesus is with us and He can do it. Everyone wants to hear from God and be certain but with hearing from God can come with error. My vocation is a prophetic minister. I do personal prophecy and prophetic ministry for people professionally and I have found that it is easy to hear from God and know things for other people but not so easy to hear God about your own life. Some people like to say that as you mature in Christ you hear from God for yourself all the more and clearer, but I say as you mature you admit all the more that you don’t hear from God as much as you think you do. The reason why hearing from God for ourselves can be so difficult is we have an iron in the fire. Yes, we have wants, desires and often our own thoughts. These wants and desires can come into play and drown out what God is saying. It is the same thing when trying to hear from God for people you personally know well. You have an iron in the fire and your own desires, jealousies, thoughts, beliefs about someone you know can get in the way of what God is saying. That’s why I like doing prophetic ministry for strangers the best. I know I am probably going to hear a lot of seasoned Christians and prophets disagree with me on this but its true. You are human and as long as you have your own wants and desires for your self you are not going to hear from God that well for things about you. I am not saying you never do but often you won’t. That’s why I will go to other prophets like Jeremy Lopez to get a word from God for my life. This is the truth and reality. I can’t count how many times I have seen Christian leaders say they heard God about their own life or something they had an iron in the fire about and they were wrong. Some appear to be right because they made it happen on their own and was not Gods perfect will and they did not hear accurately from God. My point is don’t worry so much what is Gods perfect plan. We really don’t know for sure many times what Gods perfect plan for us is. If it doesn’t go against scripture it may be possible. God is not against us having our own wants and desires and us wanting to accomplish something that we want to do either. I can choose to eat at Mc. Donald’s or Burger King, God is probably not planning on me eating at one and getting upset if I eat at the other. He gave us free will and we can make choices. Try some things, if it works great if it doesn’t learn and move on. The Bible says God works all things out for good. Don’t be in fear, bound up or attack others who step out. Free yourself of a religious mindset!
Elisha Serves Ministries
Don’t Add To a Prophetic Word
By Adam Becker
I while back I got a prophecy from a minister and it seemed dead on accurate and was just what I was praying for. He knew what was going on in my life and more. It touched me so much. He told me my situation then said now God is going to change it all. He went on about God making things work from now on and changing everything for the better and me being the head and not the tail and so on. It was very encouraging but as time went by my situation didn’t change. I even took a step of faith and did something to change it that was the only way it would change and it didn’t work. It was strange because a day after I got that prophecy the president of Streams Ministries was doing a live teaching on prophetic words where people just read you and the word don’t come to pass and I watched. The thought crossed my mind that he could have been reading me but I wanted it to be true so bad so I had faith that it was all from God. But now I know that he got words of knowledge or was just reading my situation then added the part of change and encouraging words out of his own thoughts about God going to change it all. I think many prophets are guilty of it. One of my main gifting’s is the ability to have words of knowledge about people and see into their lives. I have in the past seen things then said God is going to make it better or do this and that but God really didn’t show me he was going to make it better or do this and that. I thought he would because He Is a good God who wants to make it better and see us doing well. As even in the Bible there are verses about Gods plans for us and they are good. So it didn’t seem wrong for me to add that to the prophetic word as it seemed like Gods plan but it wasn’t. Sometimes God keeps us in a situation and things don’t change. Sometimes people even die and bad happens or God don’t heal people. Its heart wrenching to think that God wont help but for His own higher reasons He sometimes doesn’t. I have learned that when I get words of knowledge about a persons life and God isn’t really showing me deliverance or change I simply pray for them and I say I see this and that and pray for change or pray it gets better. That’s the right way to go about it. Don’t try and think you know what God is going to or wants to do and add it in as a prophecy. If God isn’t speaking don’t say it even if your heart is in the right place. So why would God give people words of knowledge of things He is not going to change? Well maybe he wants them to know he knows their situation and is right there with them and prayer is needed. The Bible isn’t clear that everything will be wonderful and perfect when you come to Christ. The Bible doesn’t say that God makes sense either. It says his ways are higher than our ways and who are we to question Him. I don’t always know why bad things happen to people but they do and then it doesn’t get any better. I had a pastor of a church that I loved that got ALS and died a horrible death. He believed in healing and taught it. He even was used to heal people before he died but he never was healed and God was not glorified and he was no more a sinner or lacked faith then you or me. I remember I went to another church and the pastor there said my pastor was not getting healed and was dying because of sin then a few years later that pastor Got a disease and died later from it. I wonder if he still thinks that people aren’t healed because of sin. We live in a fallen world and things happen. Its part of the experience of being here. But back to the main topic. We aren’t always going to get words for people that tell us of God sweeping in and saving them. God may keep them in that situation for many more years or forever but don’t be tempted to add to the word what you feel God should do just pray. And if you have had people give you words of knowledge about your situation and then say God is going to change everything for the better and it never happened don’t just assume that that person was a false prophet or give up on personal prophecy all together their heart may have been in the right place and trying to help.
An answer to Prayer
by Adam Becker
Years ago before the twins and Liberty were born. My wife and I were out of everything in the house and had no money. We were out of everything from toliet paper to formula and diapers for our first born son. We had prayed for days for the money to come and God just didnt seem to answer. Then one night I believe it was a Sunday night we went to church and there was a guest speaker there speaking that night and he would be there for a few nights speaking on doing street evangelism and holding revival meetings. I sat there with my wife the first night and listened as he gave his testimony and while I sat there I felt the Lord tell me to go out of the church and preach to people on the streets. I fought it for a while but it was strong and I thought but I really didn’t know how yet he hadnt taught on it yet. I also thought that it may be the devil telling me to do it to get me out of the church and so I would miss something so I didn’t want to go but after a while fighting with it I told my wife I had to run somewhere quick and that I would be back. I didn’t tell anyone what I was going to do. SO I left the church and hit the streets I went up to a group of kids and none of them wanted to hear about Jesus and asked me to quit bothering them. I tried to go up to people walking the streets but people saw me coming and walked on the oposite side of the street. I even went to the gas station and knocked on car windows and they would roll down their window and I would preach to them and they would laugh at me and drive off. It didn’t go so well so I thought I knew for sure I had heard from the devil. I walked back to the church with my head down thinking I had just heard from the devil and that the man preaching who I didn’t know is going to hear from God and point me out and tell everyone I had heard from the devil. So I made it back to the church and sat down next to my wife with a downcast heart and five minutes later the man preaching said you in the back and pointed at me, “come up hear.” I thought this is it he is hearing from God and is going to rebuke me in front of everyone. But I was going to take it like a man and I went up there with my head held high. I got up there and he put his arm around me and said this guy gets it. He is walking with the Lord and you should watch his life and a whole bunch of other things about me. He then prayed over me and told the deacons to pass the offering plate around and take up an offering for me. I couldn’t believe it not only did I not get rebuked but this guy was taking up an offering for my needs. We didn’t know this man and we never told anyone in the church we had a need or was praying and I never told anyone where I was going it was totally God. They took up the offering plate and there was over a thousand dollars in there. It was enough to meet our needs and then some I ended up giving a lot of it away and taking what we needed. But the Bible says seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added onto you. That’s what I did by being obedient and listening to the Lord by preaching on the streets and the Lord met our needs and then some. I have all kinds of testimonies like this of the Lord doing amazing things, God is goodYears ago before the twins and Liberty were born. My wife and I were out of everything in the house and had no money. We were out of everything from toliet paper to formula and diapers for our first born son. We had prayed for days for the money to come and God just didnt seem to answer. Then one night I believe it was a Sunday night we went to church and there was a guest speaker there speaking that night and he would be there for a few nights speaking on doing street evangelism and holding revival meetings. I sat there with my wife the first night and listened as he gave his testimony and while I sat there I felt the Lord tell me to go out of the church and preach to people on the streets. I fought it for a while but it was strong and I thought but I really didn’t know how yet he hadnt taught on it yet. I also thought that it may be the devil telling me to do it to get me out of the church and so I would miss something so I didn’t want to go but after a while fighting with it I told my wife I had to run somewhere quick and that I would be back. I didn’t tell anyone what I was going to do. SO I left the church and hit the streets I went up to a group of kids and none of them wanted to hear about Jesus and asked me to quit bothering them. I tried to go up to people walking the streets but people saw me coming and walked on the oposite side of the street. I even went to the gas station and knocked on car windows and they would roll down their window and I would preach to them and they would laugh at me and drive off. It didn’t go so well so I thought I knew for sure I had heard from the devil. I walked back to the church with my head down thinking I had just heard from the devil and that the man preaching who I didn’t know is going to hear from God and point me out and tell everyone I had heard from the devil. So I made it back to the church and sat down next to my wife with a downcast heart and five minutes later the man preaching said you in the back and pointed at me, “come up hear.” I thought this is it he is hearing from God and is going to rebuke me in front of everyone. But I was going to take it like a man and I went up there with my head held high. I got up there and he put his arm around me and said this guy gets it. He is walking with the Lord and you should watch his life and a whole bunch of other things about me. He then prayed over me and told the deacons to pass the offering plate around and take up an offering for me. I couldn’t believe it not only did I not get rebuked but this guy was taking up an offering for my needs. We didn’t know this man and we never told anyone in the church we had a need or was praying and I never told anyone where I was going it was totally God. They took up the offering plate and there was over a thousand dollars in there. It was enough to meet our needs and then some I ended up giving a lot of it away and taking what we needed. But the Bible says seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added onto you. That’s what I did by being obedient and listening to the Lord by preaching on the streets and the Lord met our needs and then some. I have all kinds of testimonies like this of the Lord doing amazing things, God is good
Prophetic Ministry Doesnt Always Tell You What You Want to Hear
by Adam Becker
I minister on Elishaserves.com it was one of the first prophetic ministry sites by email. And I just ministered to a woman the other day and told her accurately about her life and she said it was right but since it wasn't what she was praying for she said I must have been hearing from demon's or familiar spirits. She actually rebuked me and everythi...ng and tried to rebuke the spirits out of me. I have been doing prophetic ministry for years and if you don't tell people what they want to hear they aren't happy. But you can only see what God shows you. I remember I was on prophetic teams with John Paul Jackson's ministry and we sat down to minister to a man and the others on the team were getting bless me words about how much God loved him, wanted to bless him and was going to anoint him. Alli kept seeing was a woman in a white gown coming out of him and going away from him and I felt sadness and that this was very strong so I told him what I saw and felt and he broke down in tears and said his wife is leaving him. God wanted to minister to him about this but I got in trouble and wrote up because the rule was we don't give prophetic words about relationships. But that's what God was showing me and what he needed. Again we are not psychics we can only see what were shown and sometimes its not what people want but does that mean its garbage. Doing prophetic ministry for people is no cake walk its work and so many people that volunteer to become a minister on my site to do prophetic ministry dont last too long because of this. People take them for granted like they are some kind of fortune telling machine but they are Gods servants brining forth the word of the Lord.Prophetic Ministry Doesnt Always Tell You What You Want to Hear
What Gods Real Voice Sounds Like
by Adam Becker
One time in a dream God has let me hear his real voice. God’s real voice is like nothing else that I ever have felt or heard. There was so much power in His voice; his voice was neither male nor female sounding it was almost like a computer or robot voice having a neutral tone to it.
There was such power in his voice when He spoke, it shook everything and everything moved. It wasn’t like an earthquake; it was like everything including the ...air itself was being electrocuted. If you have ever had an electric shock the electricity moves and shocks every muscle in your body as it flows through you. It was like that, His voice was electric and it was shocking everything including the air itself and everything was moving and shaking because of the electric shock and His voice flowed like water through everything moving and having the ability to morph anything. It flowed through and electrocuted every atom and molecule having the ability to change them or destroy them, His voice just flowed to the ends of the universe in an electric wave. God’s voice contained the power with just one word to destroy even the greatest army. Just one word could destroy the air itself including every atom and molecule. God’s voice contains the power to create because there is an energizing life in His voice. It was like electricity. It was almost like His voice itself was alive.
It is no longer hard for me to imagine how God could create the heavens and the earth by just speaking it. I also saw the spirit of the Lord in the dream and it came over me and I could only see out of it and it looked like a white cloud around me in a silhouette form. That makes sense because the Bible says God is spirit. I woke up shaking from that dream it was so powerful. I was pretty shook up for a while after that. I still get goosebumps when I think of it.
Love Wins
By Adam Becker
I have had more than a few interactions with people who don’t believe in God and they say all that they don’t like about the Bible and they actually say that they are against Christians. They don’t like God or Christianity for a number of reasons. Some say that the church is all about money. Which I can see their point some churches have multimillion dollar buildings and the pastors live in mansions and have private jets. They also tell you to sow your seed all that you have and God will make you rich. While God does bless giving many times you don’t get rich instead the preacher who is getting the money does but that is a different story for another day. And these rich churches don’t help the poor as much as their taking in. That even upsets me. They hate the church because they say Christians are hypocrites or they were a Christian at one time and they didn’t see anything come from it like they never saw any proof of God and they are living a more moral life now without Christ. I have heard that one before and I don’t know how you can live a more moral life without Christ but there are atheists that claim too. Then some have been hurt like one I know that attacks Christians because his wife died of cancer so he is now on a mission to rid the world of Christianity. I feel for him I really do losing someone to cancer or the like is terrible and it makes you wonder why God didn’t save them but it’s not our place to figure out God. There are many reasons why atheists exist I don’t have time to go through them all but there are a multitude of them some you can kind of see their point and others you really can’t. Lately when I see someone attack Christians I reply to them and say you mean to tell me that you are against loving your neighbor, peace, forgiveness and helping the poor and a whole lot of other good things because that is what Christianity is supposed to be about. We seem to forget what Christianity is and what God is. They don’t seem to know it either. Christianity is not a social club, or a political party. Especially the political party thing the conservatives don’t believe in welfare and I have heard of ministers that call the disabled lazy and the poor free loaders. But that is not the heart of Christ, Christ was all for helping the poor when he fed the five thousand he didn’t say I won’t feed you because you didn’t work for it. Christianity is not about a building, or giving all your money to a TV evangelist or local church. It’s not about the pastor or the worship team even though I respect those things. It’s not about stopping abortion of putting an end to gay marriage. It’s not about beating people up with the Bible and judging them. No the church is not about all the things that people seem to make it into it’s about love. God is love. When I say to the people that attack Christianity that you mean to tell me you are against loving your neighbor, peace, forgiveness and helping the poor they then don’t have a reply. Love wins, God is love, the only way we are going to win with people who are hostile to the Gospel and Christianity is love. Love on someone today. When people reject the gospel they are rejecting love. Show them just what it is they are rejecting.
The Tickle Me Prophets
by Adam Becker
I don't know how many times I have heard people in a worship service or in a one on one setting give prophetic words but it has been more than I can count. I tell you that most of the time it wasn't prophetic at all but tickle your ears stuff that comes out of their mouth. Today in Charismatic circles everyone says they are a prophet and has prophetic gifts, we have whole church's just filled with these prophetic people, there seem to be more prophets in some churches than any other gift or office. But it always seems to be the same words that they give out. If it's about the church it goes something like this "The Lord is with you church and is about to bring you up to a new level, for the Lord is pleased and will do mighty things through you" if it's about he the pastor it always says that God thinks he is so wonderful and is about to promote him with more anointing. When its personal prophecies it has to do with God blessing the person and saying that He loves them so much and will give them a greater anointing or has called them to some great ministry somewhere.
You would be surprised just how many supposed future millionaires and Benny Hinns that are sitting in all the pews. Oh yeah and there is the healing gift prophecies too. One out of ten people get a prophecy that says something about how God is going to use them to heal everyone and how they will lay hands on people in wheel chairs and they will walk. It is really neat to watch these people's lives, most end up never being used to heal anyone. But everyone is pleased with their tickle my ears prophecies and lift up the so called prophetic people who gave them and everyone speaks well of them.
The Bible says in Luke 6:26(NIV), "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."
Tickle Me Words
There is nothing new under the sun, there have been so called prophets like that around forever. Listen, you will have a very famous and well-loved ministry if you tell people what they want to hear, everyone will speak well of you and want to be around you. They will even want to give you money and search you out because you make them feel good and approve of and confirm all their plans. But don't fall into this trap as being liked by everyone doesn't make you a prophet as a matter of fact it most likely means that you aren't one at all. It is so easy to give tickle me words, they are words that don't take a lot of faith to give because you know they will be received and you will be liked for them. But God doesn't want you to take the easy road of faith if you are going to walk in the prophetic, He wants you to take chances and stretch your faith.
A prophet speaks for the Lord not the people; don't tell people what they want to hear. Don't try and be liked by everyone all the time. I know there are schools of prophetic that are teaching people to always say good stuff especially in the church setting but that don't mean its right. It doesn't matter what famous prophetic leader is teaching you to do it don't fall into that trap. The Bible is full of so called prophets who told people what they wanted to hear and God did not approve. Yes, God does have good messages and yes sometimes God wants to bless people and promote but if that is all your messages are about you have to wonder. Are you really speaking for God or for man?
How Do You Know If You Have Forgiven
By Adam Becker
The world can be a cruel place sometimes and people can be at the heart of it. We all have been wronged and hurt by others. We all have had opportunity to need to forgive. The Bible is clear on forgiveness, we need to forgive. But how and what does forgiveness look like?
The Bible says; Matthew 18:23-35 (NIV) Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 The servant fell on his knees before him. "Be patient with me," he begged, "and I will pay back everything." 27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. "Pay back what you owe me!" he demanded.
29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back."
30 But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 Then the master called the servant in. "You wicked servant," he said, "I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.
Forgiving a Debt
In the story the man owed a very large debt a debt he could never repay. Even though he owed that debt the man was forgiven. The king had the power to punish him but instead wiped the debt clean. The man was forgiven for so much but then we see he could not forgive someone for so little. The king saw this man's un-forgiveness and chose to revoke his pardon.
This story gives us a lot to chew on. It is obvious that the king is the Lord and we are the first debtor. What is hard to imagine is how God can just revoke the forgiveness of our sins like that. I can't give you a solid answer on that and don't want to for theological reasons but if Christ said it then it must have some merit. God forgives freely, by just accepting His sons atonement and sacrifice on the cross you are forgiven. But once you are saved, if you are truly saved your life will start to change. The Bible says 1 John 3:9-10 (NIV) No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
This has to do with being born again; once you come to Christ the Holy Spirit will come to live within you that is the seed that verse nine is referring to. That seed begins to change you. The word continue in verse nine refers to habitual sins. So in other words once you come to Christ the Holy spirit comes to live within you and it changes you to where you won't do the same stuff you always did anymore. There will be a change in your life. Sure you will make mistakes but it won't be the same mistakes over and over. Maybe that is the reason the man's forgiveness was revoked. He proved by his actions that he was not a changed man and thus not a true child of God.
If you look at the story it kind of gives you a clue of what forgiveness looks like. The man wanted to be repaid; he felt something was owed to him. The debt demanded restitution. A clue that you have forgiven is that you wish no repayment or restitution. Yes, true forgiveness has to do with letting the debt go. Wanting repayment or restitution can come in many forms. Wanting them to get theirs is a form of repayment. Even wanting God to judge them and saying things like "vengeance is mine saith the Lord" or "that's between you and God" are all indications that you are looking for repayment. The repayment may collected by God but it is still collection of the debt a debt that was already paid for by Christ. Slandering the person to others in order to hurt them is also seeking restitution. And bitterness can likewise be a form of repayment.
Forgiving All
There are schools of thought that teach that we are to forgive only those who ask for it and are sorry. I can only say something doesn't feel right about that. The Bible doesn't tell us to forgive only if people are truly sorry; there are some verses about if they repent but I don't want to take that risk. We need to forgive whether they are sorry or not. When they crucified Christ they did not say they were sorry yet Jesus cried out;
Luke 23:34 (NIV) Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
It can be hard to forgive when the person is not sorry or feels they have done no wrong but we must do it anyway. I am sure there are sins that we don't even know we have committed yet our slate is wiped clean. Wipe clean the slate of the offender no matter what their attitude is. You don't have to like what they did and you don't have to trust them but let it go. Pardon their wrong doing and seek no restitution, harbor no bitterness especially if it's a spouse. Also know that God loves that person and He can change them, there is hope. I watched Him work in my life and my wife's life, It may take a while but don't forget God is a miracle worker. It may not be easy but few things in life are.
Forgiveness is work we can't hold on to and dwell on a debt or wrong that was done to us especially in a marriage. When you are offended or wronged don't dwell on it and don't give the devil a foot hold.
Dealing with offense and forgiveness is like dealing with temptation;
The Bible says in James 1:14-15 NKJV But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed, then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
An Ongoing Process
Forgiveness is an ongoing process, just like temptation that offense will keep coming back over and over. Just when you think it is gone it may pop its ugly head out again. With temptation you can't be tempted by something you don't have a desire for or appetite for. Then after you desire it and think on it you become dragged away and enticed by it. After you let it drag you away it conceives and gives birth to sin. Well that can be the same with forgiveness. An offense that you don't have feelings or hurts about will not drag you away. You have to still have some pretty significant wounds for it to do that. Then after the wound is there thoughts will come. If you entertain those thoughts they will drag you away and you will give birth to wanting repayment all over again. Forgiveness is not an instant thing. Whenever there is a wound or hurt it will want to keep coming up in your mind but you must cut it short so it can't drag you away. Don t get to that point, the minute it comes up let it go, rebuke the thought. I had to do that over and over in my marriage and in my life. It is so natural to want revenge and to be repaid, even to want justice. But the truth is if we all received do justice no one would be alive, we are all worthy of the death penalty for the wrongs we have done. I sure don't want to get mine or have what comes around go around so why should I wish it on others.
You must also remember to that the person who has wronged you is human and you are human. People are prone to error and making mistakes, they are prone to do things that are selfish with no regard for others. Human nature will always be a tempter to mankind and sometimes will win just as it has won in your life. Face the fact that you have made a lot of mistakes in your life and yet the Lord has forgiven you. Just as He has forgiven you you will need to forgive others. Know that people are going to let you down, you could hold un-forgiveness towards that person and even get revenge but guess what someone else is going to come along and let you down again. In your lifetime you will have many encounters with people in which they will hurt you in some way. If you don't choose forgiveness and see people for what they are which is human you will have a very unhappy life and a long list of enemies. Humans make mistakes don't hold it against them.
Chose to forgive and clothe yourself in love as the Bible says;
Col 3:12-14 (NIV) Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe your selves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Forgiveness doesn't always mean trusting them but it does mean not holding it against them in order to hurt them, chose to forgive! One of the key indicators that you have forgiven is not wishing that they receive repayment or punishment for what they did to you, according to that have you forgiven? If you are holding un-forgiveness repent, there is still time to change things. There is hope in any situation no wound is so great as to be un-forgiven, if everyone received punishment for all the wrong they did then everyone in the world would be dead, Christ died for even them that have wronged you and He took their punishment. And most importantly ask for Gods help in forgiving someone. Ask the Lord to take away the hurt and fill it with love. Forgiveness is a process and takes work, stay on top of your hurts and don't let them carry you away.
Is There a Lack of Blessing on Your Career, Business or Ministry?
By Adam Becker
Most people know the story of Cain and Abel and of that terrible event that caused the very first murder in scripture. A murder took place between brothers born of the same womb because of jealousy, greed and selfish gain. Cain was jealous of Gods favoritism and approval of Abel and Cain tried to change things by eliminating the competition, his brother Abel. But you can also see from this story that Cain’s lively hood was farming and when he slew Abel, Abel’s blood went into the ground, the ground was Cain’s lively hood, it actually caused a curse to be on Cain’s farming career and God said that it will no longer produce for you and you will be driven from it.
Gen 4:2-16
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
NIV
There are many things to learn from this story but the thing that I am impressed to point out is that Cain actually sowed sin into his career and the result of that was he was no longer blessed or prosperous in it, it stopped producing for him. Even though other men may not have seen what Cain had done the Lord did and the ground spoke of it; “The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.” Just like sowing a seed into the ground so Cain sowed his bothers blood.
Many of us have careers, businesses, ministries and such and it doesn’t really matter if we are Christians or not we may still get jealous of others or the competition and in our struggles to get ahead in this life we may have hurt a few people on the way or did things that were not right in the Lords sight. This only sows seeds of cursing into our careers, businesses, and even ministries but sooner or latter the Lord is going to take notice of that and deal with it. Maybe you are noticing already that your lively hood is not producing like it should or that God seems to be so distant this could be an indication that there may be seeds of blood sown. To sow seeds of blood and murder it doesn’t mean that you have to actually kill someone; Mat 5:21,22.
If things in your life don’t seem to be going as good as they used too take time today to pray before the Lord and search yourself to see if any blood shed was sown into your lively hood and if there was repent! Even though Cain did what he did God had mercy on him, we unlike Cain are under a new covenant and a dispensation of grace, the Bible says; 1 John 1:8-9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
NIV
Get before the Lord today and ask him to show you where blood may have been sowed in your life, even if you haven’t seen a lack of fruit or blessing it doesn’t mean that it’s not on its way.
Elisha Serves Ministries
Visitation of Presence
God is doing a new thing right now, God has been putting his kingdom on the hearts of his people but he just doesn’t want it on the heart only God wants to actually visit his people in a very powerful way. God wants to walk among his people, he wants to touch us, speak to us, comfort us, heal us, revive us and not from a distance or from within us but he actually wants to tangibly visit each worship service. God wants to visit your church in the same way he visited the Old Testament Holy of Holies, God wants to visit in the same way he walked among Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God is longing for a massive widespread visitation to his people and for it to not just be a one time thing but an ongoing continual visitation that will change lives and change communities.
Some will read only part of this and say well I know all this brother or if God was wanting to do this then he would tell me this or would have done this already at my church or through me but I plead with you to open up your heart and hear what the Lord is saying through this, please don’t miss what God is wanting to do.
God wants to visit through worship! Not just any old kind of worship but true worship.
Listen it says in John 3:5-8;
5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit . 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
NIV
I tell you the truth when Christ said in the verse above that spirit gives birth to spirit Christ was not talking about the spirit being found in a 12 step romans road process that meets all the modern theologians approval and he was not talking about saying a prayer or just accepting what he did on the cross and reading your Bible once a day as the way to be born of his spirit. Christ had more in mind or he would have laid it all out for us then and there in that verse for if it could be confined to mans reason and a 12 step process than he surely would have laid it all out then and there knowing that for all time people would be reading that verse not to mention the man Christ was speaking with named “Nicodemus” would have liked a process and for an answer with reason and for it to all to line up with the Old Testament scriptures. Instead Christ said of the spirit; “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." This cannot fit into mans understanding even the understanding that we have from the epistles and the rest of the New Testament, it can never fit into anyone’s theology or 12 step process.
Christ also said;
John 4:23-24
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit , and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
NIV
God is spirit and we are to worship him in spirit and in truth, the truth part speaks of a heart issue and a true heart but the spirit part is what many don’t understand. In order to be alive in Christ and born of spirit you must spend time with God in spirit.
You must worship the Lord in spirit with the right heart. You must submit your spirit to almighty God and touch his spirit and I am not talking about singing songs or praying prayers from your flesh I am talking about letting the power and presence of almighty God totally saturate you and you totally yielding to it on a regular basis and it communing with your spirit.
God wants to spend quality time with you, not just time where you read His Word, or where you pray or listen for his voice, God wants more than that, God wants all of you and he wants to be extremely intimate with you. What would one say or even the Bible say about a marriage between a man and a woman in which the woman doesn’t draw near to her husband and have physical intimacy with him. One would say that they have a bad relationship and an unhealthy unbalanced marriage. In the same way God wants to touch you with his presence in a very tangible way.
I have personally went through times in which I stopped getting into the corporate anointing or deep worship with God and I tell you I started to die inside. I looked OK, I talked OK, I even read my Bible, prayed and went to church but I was so dry inside. In the past I used to have very powerful times with God, He would even send me an angel once in a while to speak to me and other times he would speak but when I stopped going in to the Holy of Holies all that stopped and there were no more angels and I barley ever heard from God or felt him.
Worship and the cooperate anointing as some call it is the key to what God is wanting to do and how he is wanting to visit his people.
The corporate anointing is Gods presence and glory touching down in a place where believers are gathered together. This anointing can also be used to heal others and bring miracles. Often times a person will only need to be in that place in order to receive a healing. Usually no one will even need to lay hands on the person; God’s presence touches them just by being there and miracles take place.
Often times when believers come together to worship or pray, there is an anointing that comes into the place of worship. At times the anointing can be stronger than others. But usually when it comes it is like a peaceful, powerful energizing force in a place and it tends to stay in a place. It is the tangible, powerful presence of God, you can feel it. Some people can see it (it often looks like a fog or smoke) and it changes people. When you enter into a place with the corporate anointing, it makes everything else in life seem to disappear, even the time will seem to go by faster, and after you have stayed in it a while you are not only never the same, but you leave energized and feeling refreshed and even physically healed.
The corporate anointing is wonderful and although it is not the only type of Gods anointing it is very unique. As the corporate anointing actually inhabits a place, even after people leave, it stays for a while and occupies the area and has dominion over the area. The area is claimed for God and God’s manifest presence actually can occupy the area and walk among the people. We can worship or pray by ourselves on our own and the anointing can come, and we can be touched by God’s presence, but that presence doesn’t seem to occupy the area and stay there like the corporate anointing does.
The corporate anointing takes more than one person and it always takes all the people that are present to be in unity whether through prayer or worship. If the people who come together are not in unity then the corporate anointing does not usually come. This makes the job of the prayer leader or worship leader very important as they need to lead the prayer meeting or the worship in such a way that everyone present can come into unity. It doesn’t even really matter what type of worship music it is, whether it be hymns or contemporary or prophetic worship, God is not picky about the type of songs, God is more concerned about unity and matters of the heart.
It is almost as if God designed the corporate anointing in such a way that we actually need each other to have it come. Back in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, Adam said of Eve;
Gen 2:23-24
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
NIV
Adam could not be complete without Eve, they both needed to be in unity to be the complete whole Man that God originally designed. If Adam lost unity with Eve, then technically he would be a man missing one of his ribs. And how can man fulfill his original intended purpose if he was missing part of himself, Adam needed to be in unity with Eve. The sin that took place in the Garden of Eden was pride, and pride being the root of all sin is independence and selfishness which is the opposite of unity.
Now originally God intended to walk amongst Adam and Eve on the earth and he actually did walk amongst them;
Gen 3:8
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
NIV
God actually walked amongst them and his presence filled the Garden, but once sin, which is the opposite of unity, came- God could no longer walk amongst them and he no longer walked amongst the earth as He once did in all His glory.
Every one of us is related to Adam and Eve. All mankind originated from them and are linked together. And like them we are to be one so that God’s manifest presence can walk amongst us and occupy the area of this earth that we tend to and are entrusted with. Especially we as a church are to walk in unity {John 17:21}. In a way Adam, Eve and God were the first church, they all were in unity and God could walk among them. We, as a church today, need to be in unity with each other and God so that his manifest presence can walk amongst us.
I have seen God as Mosses did many times I have heard his real voice, the voice that spoke all creation into existence, a voice that is so powerful and incomprehensible that it leaves you shacking and trembling for some time and changes your life forever. I tell you the truth God wants to visit his church and for others to see this and hear is voice in all its glory and power but you have to want it, you have to want God to visit your service, you have to want to open up your heart and come into unity with others and lay all the things of this world down, you need to lay down your life, your titles, your pride and social status and totally surrender to God Almighty. You have to open your heart up so wide open that everything is bared.
God wants to visit your church right now, not next year, not next week but right now! God wants to walk among you and inhabit your worship service.
Today, even right now, prepare your heart and church for his visitation, don’t just pray about it get together and worship him in total surrender, its time to remove any and all barriers that would hinder his presence, its time to prepare the way of the Lord!
Do Christians Really Need to Attend Church?
By Adam Becker
Local churches have many good qualities and purpose, some people just love them while others have come to see some faults and reject them. I have met a lot of Christians who take great pride in going to church and even being a member. Many of them attack other believers for not attending a church service on a regular basis. They are very zealous for the church and discount the many blows some have received from local churches. I have also met a lot of lone rangers as church folk like to call them. These are people that have been burned by the local assembly of believers, brothers and sisters who don’t take much stock in organized religion anymore. I have even been a lone ranger myself at times as well as a pastor of denominational church so I can really see where everyone is coming from. One of the things you hear the most is the Bible says it’s sin to not go to a church and that you cant grow if you don’t go to church. But is that true? Is it a sin to not attend a local church and do you really stop growing as a Christian once you stop going? Once someone becomes a Christian or believer in Christ they naturally get pointed to a church. I can honestly say without the church I wouldn’t be the Christian I am today. I can see how the church played a role in my faith and growth. I have also come to see times when it actually almost ruined my faith. Times when Christians were meaner than people in the world had been to me. I have seen some really bad leaders, ones who no one should submit to or follow running a church. I can say that I don’t think it would be a sin for someone to leave their church if they had leaders like that. Some do leave but can’t seem to find a good church so they quit going altogether only to get condemned by church goers. Is it legitimate to say you can’t find a good church within driving distance? I would say yes. In Christ’s day there were no good churches but His. So yes, it is possible to not be able to find a good church in your area. But does that mean you will never find one or to give up forever? I think it really depends on where you’re at in your walk with God. God can let things happen in a church to draw you out and then when it is the right timing God can draw you back in again. The bible does mention in one place not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together. That is the only real verse people use to say you have to go to church. Take into account that at that time there wasn’t all the resources we have today to hear the word, fellowship online or serve from your home. Times have changed. Am I saying that we don’t need to go to church. No, I think the church has its place and purpose but there may be times when for whatever reason it is a season for you to not be part of the local assembly. And that brings up another thing. So many church goers say that a legitimate church is only in a designated church commercial building and incorporated as a 501 c3. They discount that you can fill the “not forsake the assembling of yourselves together” by just doing a simple Bible study in your home or prayer meeting with a few Christian friends. It doesn’t have to be in a churchy building with a legitimate seminary graduated pastor. Fellowship is fellowship whether a few people in a house or in a church building. Yes, there are passages that say you need the body of Christ which is others but that can actually look like many things now a days. So you really can’t say someone is in sin for not going to church. But can you really grow outside the church?
The Bible says,
1 Cor 3:5-7
6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow . 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow
NIV
It says God made it grow, not the church.
In another passage it says this,
Mark 4:8
8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”
NIV
Yes, good soil is needed for growth. And we know from scripture that good soil is a heart issue. God makes things grow and we can be sure that if God has begun a work in your life, He will complete it and cause you to grow whether in a church or not. The Bible says,
Phil 1:6
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
NIV
The Bible also says,
Eph 4:11-13
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
NIV
According to scripture we do need leaders to mature and be built up, but we can gain from these leaders today from our TVs or internet. We don’t have to go to a church to be built up or hear the word.
There were times when I went to church and was on fire for church then times when I left the church and took on some hurts from those in it. I can tell you I still grew outside the church. I grew a lot as a matter of fact. I never thought I would go back to a church or find a good church then years later God drew me back into one I had visited before but didn’t think was good. Suddenly it was great and I fell in love with it. Everything started to work out and I made a lot of friends. You go through times when God may let you be drawn out of something in one season but in the next you will be drawn back to it. What changed? My season did. In the new season God was going to use the church again while in the last the church was not doing me any good. God will use something, then not use it, only to use it again later. You may or may not be in a church right now. Maybe you’re on fire for the church and cant get enough or maybe you have been hurt and hate it. I would not say that either one of those things makes you anymore of Christian or any less of one or in sin. Like I said before that just may be the season you’re in which can change. God is in charge of you growing not the church. God will carry you along to the end, trust in Him and don’t be so quick to judge others.
Karma SO Not True
By Adam Becker
People like to say of their enemies that karma will bite them. I just watched a crime show which featured a true story of a wife killing her step daughter and poisoning her husband. It said what happened to them in life and she went to prison for 10 years then got out and lived to be 88. The husband was a good detective and lived to be 68. I don’t see karma in that. She killed his daughter, tried to kill him and lived 20 years longer? There are so many other cases of people that I know that were terrible people and lived into their 90s and had a good life while others like my old childhood friend and a pastor I once had died at an early age. Karma just doesn’t bite everyone. There is a law of reaping and sowing but that doesn’t always work either. Your enemies may very well do horrible things and live a longer happier life than you. But we shouldn’t care because we are to have forgiveness and true forgiveness cancels out the dept and the punishment for it. True forgiveness says I don’t want them to get theirs. Are we really ok with our enemies having a great life if not you may need to work on forgiveness because whether we like it or not they may very well live a better life than you.
If God Be For Us!
By Adam Becker
God loves us and is for us if we are His. Sure sometimes we make mistakes and can get out of Gods plan and God may need to correct us but for the most part if you are a child of God He is for you. Life can be hard and people can get us down. In my life I have had many ups and downs. Just when I thought I was taking some ground something happened that set me way back. Some things we bring on ourselves and other things are out of our control. Once I fall in time I get back up and keep on going. I may realize that what I did wasn’t working so I try something else. What I have found though is that any time you are doing something worth doing you find criticism.
Criticism is everywhere even in the church. I have been criticized immensely by brothers and sisters in Christ. I have also been criticized a lot by family and unbelievers but especially family. When you step out for the Lord or try and better your life you will face criticism. They say the root of criticism is jealousy. That is very true most of the time when people are critical of you they are jealous. When you try and better yourself people are afraid you are going to become better than them. When you step out for God people think that you are doing more good than they are doing and it makes them feel bad and jealous. When you are doing well people are jealous your doing better than them. So yes, the root of criticism is jealousy but not always. Some people just like to be negative and aren’t jealous at all. Even Christ and John the Baptist were criticized in the following scripture it says,
Luke 7:33-35
33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
NASU
They were criticized and the truth is there was no fault in either of them. The criticisms were false. It wouldn’t be far fetched that most likely criticisms about you are false as well. If they did it to John the Baptist and Christ they will do it to you as well. If you not being criticized then you probably aren’t doing anything worth while in life. Accept criticism as a badge of honor and a hint that you are doing something right. Now sometimes it is wise to listen to criticism and say could I take anything from this and use it as a measuring stick to improve? Is there any truth to this and do I need to change anything? While most of the time there is no truth to criticism sometimes there is, and we can use it to improve and it can be good. It can even be God speaking. I know in my own life some criticism I received was God and it helped me become better once I made changes to what I was doing. So, its not always bad but don’t let it stop you or get you down.
Once thing that happens often in life besides criticism when you are stepping out bettering your life or doing things for God is there are few if any people to encourage you or cheer you on. In my life when I try and do something I have a lot of people telling me how I will never accomplish it and how it’s a stupid idea. They discourage instead of encourage. Why we can’t always count on people or even ourselves to accomplish things in life we can count on the one who is for us. God is for you. If you have God on your side that is all the encouragement you need. People discourage for many reasons, some jealously just like with criticism but God is very encouraging. My whole life I was put down and told I am not good enough. I was told I was stupid and not capable of success. My own father still to this day calls me stupid and says I am not worth a lick. But when I came to God, God was the opposite. Sure there were things God wanted me to work on and change but God was the most loving encouraging cheerleader I ever met (and I don’t mean disrespect by calling God a cheerleader I mean he likes to cheer people on). He was pure love and empowerment. He let me know that He believes I am worth something (in Him of course) and that with Him all things were possible.
Let God be your encourager, here are a few verses that remind us that if God is with us we are unstoppable
1. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
2. Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
3. Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
4. Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
5. Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Prov 23:7
That’s right the Bible says with God all things are possible, so don’t let the discouragement of man get you down.
Also, you have to have to believe in you that with God you are a success. If you don’t believe it, you may not achieve it. What you put your faith in you make room for.
The Bible says,
7 For as he thinks in his heart , so is he.
NKJV
So you can’t believe what other people say about you, you have to instead believe what God says about you and the Bible says God has good things to say about you if you are His. Be blessed and don’t let discouragement or criticism get you down.
One Night
By Adam Becker
The song one night in Bangkok says one night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble. Then a couple verses later it says I can feel the devil walking next to me. I don’t know about you but when I was living it up in the world like a night in Bangkok it did make me humble. Nothing ever worked. All kinds of trouble always followed and I sure met some rotten people who tried to hurt me. The devil was surely walking next to me. The worldly life and all it’s pleasures didn’t work for me. I would like to tell you I was prophetic and spiritual before I came to Christ but I wasn’t really. Sure I had some spiritual experiences but it wasn’t until I was truly born again that I became alive. After Christ my life totally changed. Things began to work more and life got better. For some people the world works but for me and many others it doesn’t and one night in Bangkok will humble you. If you can relate praise God that you are no longer in Bangkok. Praise him for saving you and turning around your life. If you feel the devil walking next to you then your in the wrong place. Stop doing what doesn’t work. Go with something that does. Go with God!
Go For It
By Adam Becker
I love the song “I Hope You Dance” if you have never heard it you can look it up on you tube and listen to it. As I look back on my life I can honestly say I danced. I may have failed sometimes but even though I could have chosen to do nothing in life I tried. I had some success, and some let downs but I wasn’t willing to settle for the path of least resistance. I stepped out in faith many times even when I didn’t have to. Many people are wasting their lives never choosing to dance but when it’s all over can they honestly say they lived? I want to live not just exist. ” When you get the chance to sit it out or dance I hope you dance.”
Ephesians 5:15–17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
The Bible says be careful but yet while being careful it says make the most of every opportunity. Be wise but if you get an opportunity to dance make the most of it. Don’t sit it out, if God is for you who could be against you. It also says but understand what the Lords will is. The Lords will is for you to step out in faith. The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God. The Bible also says God works all things out for good. If you do choose to dance and you make a mistake or have a failure God will work it out for good. Don’t be afraid to step out in faith and take risks. Without risk there is no reward the old saying goes. I don’t know about you but I am one for reward. Step out today and choose to dance, don’t sit it out!
Can One Rely on Dreams, Visions, Prophecy and the Voice of God?
By Adam Becker
We are to desire the gifts of the spirit and especially prophecy. The Bible says in the last days I will poor our my spirit on all flesh, it says your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your old men shall dream dreams. So in the last days people will be hearing from God through prophecy, dreams and visions.
We can also hear the Lord through that inner voice or some people and audible voice sometimes but mostly an inner voice. But are these things reliable? Can we always go by prophecy, dreams, visions and that voice? The truth is no. I have heard from the Lord for others many times. I have given thousands of accurate prophetic words. I have had dreams that revealed things to me about others and the future that was true that I couldn’t possibly have known many times. I have heard that voice and it was right many times. I have even gotten prophetic words from others that were accurate as well as had dreams where angels gave me direction and it was right, and they were real angels. But I have also had dreams that were false, visions that were not accurate, heard a false voice and heard from false angels. Even given some prophetic words that weren’t accurate and heard prophetic words from others that were false from the very same people who before gave me accurate prophetic words. What I have learned is you can’t always go by dreams, visions, prophecy and that voice or angels. So what can you go by then? Well the Bible is always a go to thing, the Bible trumps everything but sometimes the Bible doesn’t tell you everything. But I learned that you can rely on the Holy Spirits guidance and that inner witness or unction more than other spiritual things. That drive in a certain direction the spirit may take you can be very reliable. If you are born again you have the Holy spirit living on the inside of you and you can trust it. The Bible says when the spirt comes He will guide in into all truth. The spirit is to be our guide. I learned that I am to rely on the Holy Spirit more than dreams, visions, prophecy and that inner voice. There were times when I looked for a dream or God to do something big to confirm something for me but he didn’t. All I got was the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. And it was enough and more reliable than the other stuff. So desire prophecy, dream dreams and see visons. Seek the voice of the Lord but make sure you test them by the inner witness or leading of the Holy Spirit. Or you can be led astray.
Don’t Turn Back!
by Adam Becker
Some Hollywood actors seem to fit better and be better at playing the bad guy. Nothing against them it just suits them better and they play that part better than a good guy. Its the same way with some Christians. Some Christians seem to have fit in better when they were being the bad guy or girl. Life treated them better, they had more friends and things seemed to go their way more. The bad role suited them and payed better for them. So what do they do once they come to Christ for a while and things aren’t so rosie? They revert back to their old ways and do the things that aren’t pleasing to the Lord again and fall back in with worldly friends. But this isn’t Hollywood or Pee Wees Big Adventure this is righteousness. This is living a changed life and having a relationship with the Lord. Now I am not saying this to shame people or say denounce sin or burn. What I am trying to say is don’t turn back. God has delivered you from Egypt and wants to take you into the promised land. Maybe it seemed to work better when you played the bad guy or girl but not everything is supposed to be so easy and wonderful. Being a Christian isn’t easy and you may not have as many friends or things to do for fun but you have the Lord and he don’t want you to turn back. Stay on the narrow path and dare to be different. This isn’t Hollywood!
Who Knew That Finding a Blessing Could Cause Drama
By Adam Becker
Some years ago on a week day I stopped by the church I was attending and in the parking lot I found a twenty dollar bill. I was excited so I left the church and went to my friend’s house I told him about finding it and said I am going to tithe it tonight to the guest minister who was speaking. My friend got really upset and said that is not a tithe that’s an offering a tithe goes to the church. I said ok and tried to change the subject but he kept getting madder and madder and kept it going and I told him it really doesn’t matter I am going to give it tonight in the offering plate. He didn’t like this at all and said it does matter it’s not a tithe. I agreed it wasn’t a tithe and I meant an offering but he just kept right on going and said no you didn’t you meant a tithe. He ended up staying mad and trying to argue with me the whole day. Finally he said that was my money I lost it in the church parking lot. He was known for lying so I knew he didn’t lose it but it was clear he wanted it. That’s what the whole fight was about he wanted the money for himself. Luke often would argue and try and fight over petty things. But you will find that when someone is putting you down, attacking you or tying to argue with you it may not be about what you did or what they say it is. They may have alternative motives for this. My friend just wanted the cash and they may want something else or are jealous of you. So don’t take their attack personally, know that they are human and may have some other issues. I ended up giving the money in the offering for the evangelist anyway. I didn’t believe his story that he lost it or he would have told me that in the first place. Who knew that finding a blessing could cause so much drama?
A Miracle Answer to Prayer
By Adam Becker
Years ago before the twins and Liberty were born. My wife and I were out of everything in the house and had no money. We were out of everything from toliet paper to formula and diapers for our first born son. We had prayed for days for the money to come and God just didnt seem to answer. Then one night I believe it was a Sunday night we went to church and there was a guest speaker there speaking that night and he would be there for a few nights speaking on doing street evangelism and holding revival meetings. I sat there with my wife the first night and listened as he gave his testimony and while I sat there I felt the Lord tell me to go out of the church and preach to people on the streets. I fought it for a while but it was strong and I thought but I really didn’t know how yet he hadnt taught on it yet. I also thought that it may be the devil telling me to do it to get me out of the church and so I would miss something so I didn’t want to go but after a while fighting with it I told my wife I had to run somewhere quick and that I would be back. I didn’t tell anyone what I was going to do. SO I left the church and hit the streets I went up to a group of kids and none of them wanted to hear about Jesus and asked me to quit bothering them. I tried to go up to people walking the streets but people saw me coming and walked on the oposite side of the street. I even went to the gas station and knocked on car windows and they would roll down their window and I would preach to them and they would laugh at me and drive off. It didn’t go so well so I thought I knew for sure I had heard from the devil. I walked back to the church with my head down thinking I had just heard from the devil and that the man preaching who I didn’t know is going to hear from God and point me out and tell everyone I had heard from the devil. So I made it back to the church and sat down next to my wife with a downcast heart and five minutes later the man preaching said you in the back and pointed at me, “come up hear.” I thought this is it he is hearing from God and is going to rebuke me in front of everyone. But I was going to take it like a man and I went up there with my head held high. I got up there and he put his arm around me and said this guy gets it. He is walking with the Lord and you should watch his life and a whole bunch of other things about me. He then prayed over me and told the deacons to pass the offering plate around and take up an offering for me. I couldn’t believe it not only did I not get rebuked but this guy was taking up an offering for my needs. We didn’t know this man and we never told anyone in the church we had a need or was praying and I never told anyone where I was going it was totally God. They took up the offering plate and there was over a thousand dollars in there. It was enough to meet our needs and then some I ended up giving a lot of it away and taking what we needed. But the Bible says seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added onto you. That’s what I did by being obedient and listening to the Lord by preaching on the streets and the Lord met our needs and then some. I have all kinds of testimonies like this of the Lord doing amazing things,God is good
God Speaking Through a Sermon Directly to Me
By Adam Becker
Years back I still was doing some things the world did and I remember going to a revival service at our church and I sat in one of the front rows. The sermon was about walking the walk and cleaning up your life. Well he started preaching and every point he would make he would walk right over to me, point at me and say “Adam I am talking to you.” He did that maybe 20 times or more and I didn’t know what his problem was. He didn’t know me personally and I couldn’t figure out wh…at his beef with me was so after the service I asked him why he did that and he said he didn’t even do it once. So I asked my friends if they saw him or heard him do that and they said they didn’t. At that point I knew it was God trying to get my attention and speaking to me. That night I quit doing a lot of stuff I was doing including smoking cigarettes. I threw them away and never touched them again. It was a night that I will always remember as a turning point for me. I knew that God was real and he wanted me to get serious about Him so I did and it was the best thing I ever chose to do. I am not perfect and still mess up but there is a change in me and that’s important.
Spiritual Health, Call the Doctor!
by Adam Becker
I believe that there is more to having a relationship with God and being born again than just going to church and reading your Bible. I believe that worship and relationship are vital keys to being born of the spirit of God and the whole Christian life that keeps you alive in Christ and close to him. Once we are saved and become a believer we become Christ's bride and just like an earthly marriage our heavenly marriage requires intimacy in order to stay healthy. We are also called sons and daughters of God and again we know from earthly families that a son or daughter needs to maintain a close relationship with their father in order to keep the family healthy. Part of that relationship and the Christian life is fellowship with other believers as the scriptures say:
Ephesians 2:19-21 NIV Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians above said that the "whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple of the Lord." Paul was not saying that one person becomes the holy temple but was speaking about many people coming together through Christ to become the temple.
The Bible also says about fellowship:
Hebrews 10:25 NIV Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
It is clear through scripture that we are not to stop coming together and we are all to work together as one unit for we are one body. We need to fellowship with other believers in order to live a healthy Christian life. We also need to read the word of God on a daily basis to renew our minds for scripture says or the word:
2 Tim 3:16-17 NKJV All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Worship and Intimacy with God
There are many other things as well that we need to do in order to stay healthy and grow in our walk with the Lord such as prayer and other essentials. Most people work hard at making those things a priority in their Christian walk but many still lack the worship and intimacy with God that is vital to their spiritual health. I have personally gone through times in which I stopped getting into the corporate anointing or deep worship with God and I tell you I started to die inside. I looked ok, I talked ok, I even read my Bible, prayed and went to church but I was so dry inside. In the past I used to have very powerful times with God, He would even send me an angel once in a while to speak to me and other times He would speak but when I stopped going in to the Holy of Holies of worship all that stopped and there were no more angels and I barley ever heard from God or felt Him. My spiritual health was not what it should be or used to be. So many people are walking around this very day and believing that they are alive in Christ and alive in spirit but many are instead sick in spirit and their spiritual health is lacking.
Listen it says in John 3:5-8 NIV; Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
I tell you the truth when Christ said in the verse above that spirit gives birth to spirit, Christ was not talking about the spirit being found in a 12-step romans road process that meets all the modern theologians approval and He was not talking about saying a prayer or just accepting what He did on the cross and reading your Bible once a day as the way to be born of His spirit. Christ had more in mind or He would have laid it all out for us then and there in that verse for if it could be confined to mans reason and a 12 step-process than He surely would have laid it all out then and there knowing that for all time people would be reading that verse not to mention the man Christ was speaking with named Nicodemus would have liked a process and for an answer with reason and for it to all to line up with the Old Testament scriptures. Instead Christ said of the spirit; "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." This cannot fit into mans understanding, even the understanding that we have from the epistles and the rest of the New Testament, it can never fit into anyone's theology or 12 step-process. Listen, there is more to having a relationship with Jesus Christ than just accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, more than just reading your daily devotionals, there is more than just going to church and loving people and living a changed life, there is more than just praying to Him five hours a day.
Worshipping in Spirit and Truth
Christ said in John 4:23-24 NIV: "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
God is spirit and we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The truth part speaks of a heart issue and a true heart but the spirit part is what many don't understand. In order to be alive in Christ and born of spirit you must spend time with God in spirit. Listen, I will say it again, in order to be fully alive in Christ and have and maintain a healthy relationship you must worship the Lord in spirit with the right heart and if you don't do that almost as much as you read your Bible then you may be spiritually sick. You must submit your spirit to almighty God and touch his spirit. I am not talking about singing songs or praying prayers from your flesh, I am talking about letting the power and presence of almighty God totally saturate you and you totally yielding to it on a regular basis and it
communing with your spirit.
Now a person could be saved and make it to Heaven by just accepting Christ as Lord and living a changed life but I tell you that unless they truly worship God in spirit and spend time in His tangible presence then there spirit and walk with God will not be as healthy as it should be. Their relationship with God will be lacking. God wants to spend quality time with you, not just time where you read His Word, or where you pray or listen for His voice, God wants more than that, God wants all of you and He wants to be extremely intimate with you. What would one say or even the Bible say about a marriage between a man and a woman in which the woman doesn't draw near to her husband and have physical intimacy with him? One would say that they have a bad relationship and an unhealthy unbalanced marriage. In the same way God wants to touch you with His presence in a very tangible way.
Many believers are just walking around thinking that they have it all together and some are doing wonderful things for Gods kingdom. Just like on the movie "Facing the Giants" they are bringing glory to God in everything they do even recreation, but they lack the spirit, and many don't even believe in the spirit and they have made their Bible their God. But God is not dead and Christ didn't turn into the pages of a book. God is still alive and well and as real as He was in days of old and He has not changed. I am not against the Bible as I believe the scriptures to be divine, inerrant, authoritive and a part of the Christian life, but there is more to God than reading your Bible. You must have relationship and intimacy with Him. I am by no means saying that scripture is not God breathed; I am just saying that God is still alive and well and can be found other places than just the Bible.
Could You Be Pursing Ministry as a Vocation or In It Without God?
By Adam Becker
I had a dream not too long ago that I was transported to a church and up in front of the church and a prophetess said to me that a pastor that I knew of is going to die soon and I am supposed to take over as pastor of his church. I then woke up in the natural and prayed to God and said God, "Is this true am I supposed to do that?"
Then I went back to sleep and I dreamed that I was at a church and I was sitting at a table with a prophet and he said the dream wasn't true and you are called to pastor but it's not time yet. I said wait a minute I have been the pastor of several churches yet you say it's not time yet. He said you were pastor of those churches by your own doing and man's doing, you went to Bible college and took on pastor jobs you did it through man not God. But you are to pastor by Gods doing in the future. He also affirmed that I am called as a prophet and that has been established. Then I woke up.
In the natural I have started a few churches and also got hired at a few churches as a pastor even a denominational church. But this dream affirmed that I wasn't called yet and I missed it. But as I look back God was with me when I pastored and used me. I helped people, discipled people, preached anointed sermons and was a witness to those who knew me before I yielded my life to Christ. God used me yet He didn't necessarily want me in those pastoral positions at that time. There were what I thought were signs and confirmation from man. I did get hired and people did come to those churches. In the churches that I started God sent people to help me and pastors to mentor me in church planting but still it wasn't God and I did feel called to be a pastor and had some dreams and visions about it.
Is it God Calling You?
But again, it wasn't God and there are so many people that think they are called to ministry or are already in ministry and they weren't called. So, they had dreams and visions and prophetic words of their callings, and they had man's confirmation and people behind them. So what of it, that doesn't always mean you're called? I went through man's channels to become a pastor, went to Bible College, did pastoral internships, got hired, had helped church planting and a church behind me. I even had dreams and visions. But you can get false dreams and visions on things and sure can get false prophetic words from people as well as feelings. So be careful you may very well be in ministry or pursuing ministry when you're not called. It took years for me to find out I wasn't called. At that time maybe I wasn't listening enough to the signs and cues from the Lord because there was some along the way but I was set and determined that I would be a pastor and I thought well I was called and nothing was going to stop me. I did not see the writing on the wall. Take time today if you are pursuing ministry or in ministry to make sure God had or is calling you. Dreams, visions and man's confirmation is not enough, feelings are not enough. You could be walking down the wrong path and not even know it. Not everyone should be in full time ministry or a fivefold office. I see people who are not called all the time and sure God still uses them but don't you want to be in Gods perfect plan for you and in his timing. Things go so much better when you are. Pursue God instead of ministry and you will be in Gods perfect plan and wont strayoffpath or his timing.
Is Mental Illness Demons?
By Adam Becker
Mental illness has been around a long time, in the Bible God made a king go crazy and we know from history there have been people who weren’t in their right mind for centuries. In my experience with the church and Christians many treat mental illness primarily as demonic possession or oppression. Statistics show that a large percentage of people will suffer from mental illness in their lifetime.There is a debate if a Christian can be possessed by a demon or not in many Christian circles, I am not going to get into that but will touch on mental illness a little. Many think its demons just like for many years people thought epilepsy was demons as you have the stories in the Bible of people having seizures and Christ casting a demon out of them. While some epilepsy could be demons as in the Bible today we know that other things cause epilepsy like brain tumors and its not demons at all. Many people have come to this ministry and asked to be delivered from a demon that controls them, speaks to them and tells them to do things. Even makes them bark like a dog. I usually ask them if they have ever been to a psychiatrist or tried taking medication and if so has it helped? While mental illness could be demons the mind is a complex thing. We have technology today to see different parts of the brain firing up or functioning with images and we can see when other parts aren’t functioning well. We also know that chemical imbalances and mental diseases like Bipolar and Schizophrenia do exist and can be treated. Mental illness can come from a variety of things from stress, diet, DNA, lack of vitamins, heavy metals, bad water and so much more. There Is even a mental disorder called Harm OCD, it actually is a disorder where people will have tormenting thoughts and urges to hurt others or themselves in very malicious ways. These thoughts and urges are not their own but come from deep down in the mind where the mind tries to hurt itself and do bad things. Studies have shown that the people who get harm ocd are usually least likely to think such things or act on them. They are some of the best people you will ever meet but something goes wrong with their mind usually from stress and a family history of mental illness. With medication and the right therapy Harm OCD can be managed or cured. It sure seems like demons but just like with schizophrenia where you see and hear things that aren’t there it can be fixed medically without a demon being cast out. It would be nice if all you had to do was cast a demon out of everyone but that just isn’t reality. We know that mental illness also runs in dna and is not just the result of a demon possessing you but passed down through genetics from your parents. It’s all pretty scary but as a rule of them before you try getting a demon cast out of you see a doctor and try some meds. I know of cases where some mentally ill people tried the deliverance thing and people screamed at them and commanded demons to come out and the mentally ill person actually believed that they were possessed so they acted out a demon manifesting when in fact it was just their mental illness and not a demon at all. I know a woman who had mental illness and she didn’t even know who she was anymore and told people she had demons and barked like a dog and growled at people but then went on meds and she is now the most sane and nicest caring woman you will ever meet. She wasn’t possessed at all, mental illness ran in her family but meds fixed it. So again, first try meds and therapy before going down the demon trail. Your mind can do some tricky and scary stuff. And people who are mentally ill can still be Christians as they can still accept Christ as their Lord and savior and live a changed life devoted to Christ. Mentally Ill people can be big assets to the Body of Christ and God loves them. As a matter of fact the mentally ill are in many churches even pastoring some. If you or someone you know is suffering from what seems like demons get medical attention and see a pastor. Faith and Jesus can help a mentally ill person live a very normal life but if its not demons you need meds or a healing. God can heal people of this but its just that it’s a healing not a deliverance much of the time. People don’t have to suffer or be accused of having demons when they may not. It actually can hurt someone very bad to accuse them of having demons because to many people that means they cant be a real Christian. Tread lightly with mental illness and get educated on it. It could effect you or a loved one. I do want to point out also that the king I mentioned that God made crazy was made sane again and it wasn't from having demons cast out of him. In the story the king sinned so God made him crazy till he repented. This is a Biblical example of mental illness where no demons possessed someone. Note that God doesn't go around making people insane, mental illness is a result of the fall and if someone is mentally ill it does not mean that God made them so or that it was a result of some terrible sin they are in. I know many mentally ill who sin no more than you or me and still have mental illness. I also want to say that Christ is the most important cure for anything. When seeking out medical help be sure to find a Christian doctor and a licensed Christian counselor. Christ needs to be part of the healing treatment for mental illness. Sometimes a secular doctor who is a non Christian can actually do more harm
than good as faith plays a key role to recovery.
When Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green
By Adam Becker
Most people have goals and plans. Even from an early age some boys want to be firefighter’s and some girls a nurse. Some goals take a lot of doing and others not so much but if we are productive people we have them. Christians especially have goals and plans after all they want to be world changers and touch people’s lives. Our two most important goals should be to love God and love people. Its important that we don’t get lost in all the striving after things in this world and forget that. Those two things the whole law of God rests on and are the two greatest commandments. So, we love but we do other things in our lives and make plans. What often happens though is we make plans and they don’t go the way they are supposed to. I have literally made a goal and then did everything that everyone else does with that goal that is supposed to get you to a certain result and it didn’t work. I was like what? I did everything right and did what it takes, and I failed. I symbolically mixed blue and yellow together and it didn’t make green. How could it not make green? My friends brother Joe did it the way I did and it worked for him. Why didn’t it work for me Lord? It leaves you feeling frustrated with many questions and no answers. Having plans and doing everything right and not getting the result is irritating and can get you upset. It also makes you never want to set a goal again and work towards something. After all it may not work like the last time, why waste all that time and effort.
There were people in the Bible that things didn’t go as planned for. Moses was supposed to lead Israel into the promised land, Abraham was supposed to posses the land, Joseph was supposed to marry Mary with no problems and live happily ever after. John the Baptist was supposed to ride off into the sunset after preparing the way for Christ and so on. Sometimes we are responsible for why our plans don’t work out. I think that the story of Samson is an example of someone who had a great calling but messed it all up with his womanizing and anger. Yet in the end of Samsons life God still carried out His plans. Other times we may not have done anything wrong like Joseph and Mary. God stepped into their life and changed things up. God does this sometimes, we can do everything right, but He has His own plans and things we do doesn’t work out like it should. It can be hard to know sometimes whether we ruined our plans or God did or even if Satan came in there and destroyed things. And looking back in the future we will see more clearly but for now we must be humble and trust God. Throughout the years of all the things going wrong for me and failing at so much stuff it is hard to trust God. You start to wonder if God really is a good God. You wonder if there is an anvil that is about to drop out of the sky on you around the next corner. You expect the bad and for plans to not work out. We can blame the devil but the devil can only do what God allows so you go back to thinking God does not have your best interests at heart. You don’t want to get to that point or think that way but you have. I want to stress though that what you put your faith in you can make room for so if you think that God is a mean God that’s what you may get. We need to think positive. We need to believe God at His word despite what we see. We may not have all the answers but the Bible says:
Proverbs 3:5-6 English Standard Version (ESV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Jeremiah 29:11 English Standard Version (ESV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Philippians 1:6 English Standard Version (ESV)
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Proverbs 19:21 English Standard Version (ESV)
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Romans 8:28 English Standard Version (ESV)
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.
The Bible says God has good plans for you and will work all things for good. It also says that man has many plans but Gods purpose will be the one that stands. So, we can know according to the Bible that God is not a mean God. He doesn’t always have bad in store for you. But we need to trust Him when things don’t go as planned that He may have his own plan and its better than ours. If we are the ones that ruined our plans we can also know that God can work it out for good. Maybe you weren’t meant to get the result in the first place. Sometimes it’s the journey and not the goal that is the point. The journey can teach us things and prepare us even if we fail to do something else that we will need to do. We just need to trust. God is good and your future is good. When blue and yellow don’t make green don’t get frustrated or upset. Just know that God is in control and He will work it out. Gods ways are not mans ways!
Elisha Serves Ministries
Can a Christian Divorce?
By Adam Becker
So many church’s and people differ on the subject of divorce. Some divorce for any old reason why others believe there is no way out of a marriage. The fact is many Christians are divorced which leaves questions about it like is it really permitted at all.
Years back I heard the story of one man who was faced with divorce in a church that did not look on it favorably. It was a charismatic Word of Faith type church but many in the church believed there was no way out of a marriage.
Basically what had happened was the man’s wife had had an affair with his best friend; she became pregnant from this affair. He found out about the affair and her pregnancy and wanted to file for divorce. She was not repentant for her sin and didn’t see much wrong with it. In any case when people in his church found out they spoke up. They condemned the man for wanting a divorce. They told him that God hates divorce and if he chose to divorce he had a hard heart and was going to hell. They said he had to raise his best friend’s child that his wife was pregnant with and that was what God wanted him to do. Some of these same people were divorced themselves who gave him this advice.
He listened to them and believed that God was going to send him to hell if he didn’t do it and believed that God was as hard and mad at him as they portrayed. So he took his wife back and raised the child as his own. The real father ran off and hid so he adopted the child. His wife continued to live life her way. She continued to cheat on him and do very ungodly things all the time. When he brought that up to the people at his church they only condemned him all the more saying it was his fault that she did what she did and that if he was more loving then she would change. They again said he could not leave her or he had a hard heart and was going to hell. This went on for several years. In the end she cheated for the last time and he finally left her. But even so some people still condemned him. This whole situation really hurt him and clouded his view of Christians and the church, it hurt his faith as well.
What does the Bible Say?
I can’t imagine how anyone can condemn a man who could go through that, raise that child and stay with a spouse like that but they did over and over. I can tell you they were wrong and they were also wrong about what they told him about there being no way out of a marriage. The Bible does give ways out.
What does the Bible say about divorce then and why did they tell him he couldn’t divorce if the Bible permits it?
The Bible says in Matthew 19:8-9 (NIV) Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
According to Christ, divorce is permitted in cases where the spouse has committed adultery. It is written plain as day and pretty self-explanatory or at least one would think. However some argue that verse eight says “because your hearts were hard.” They go on to say that a person who divorces because of adultery has a hard heart and people with a hard heart are sinners and are going to hell. Some people actually believed that but know that that is intentionally manipulating scripture and taking things out of context. In context the “hard hearts” was referring to people who divorced under “Mosses law” for any old reason. This did not pertain to adultery as why would Christ then continue on and say “except of marital unfaithfulness.” It is clear that if someone commits adultery you can chose to divorce. It may not be the best option or wise but it is permissible. Some may say wait a minute won’t you be in sin for un-forgiveness? The truth is you can divorce someone for adultery and still forgive them. The divorce doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to forgive them it just means that the marriage contract was breached! It means you can’t trust them anymore to stay faithful. Unfaithfulness can cause all kinds of problems such as children who are not biologically yours, disease and a whole lot of conflict. It also defeats the whole purpose of marriage which is to become one flesh.
God is a God of Reconciliation
Don’t get me wrong here I am not for divorce, there can be hope and change in situations involving adultery, God is a God of reconciliation, meaning He wants things to be worked out if possible. However the advice that people gave the man in my story was wrong and God is not pleased by people who twist around scripture and take things out of context to control people. Divorce is permitted for cases of adultery and that is that. One other way you can look at is if someone commits adultery it is their heart that is hard not the victims heart.
There is one other reason divorce is permitted according to scripture and that is if your spouse leaves you.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 7:15 (NIV) But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.
In this passage Paul was referring to an unbelieving spouse who is not willing to stay in the marriage. If that happens then a divorce is permitted. As you can’t force someone to stay married to you. That is the only other known reason for divorce in the Bible. But you know something the church is filled with divorced people many who have remarried. I know that there are some who divorced for other reasons than the ones that I mentioned. Some of them spend their lives always wondering if they are in sin having gone through with their divorce. I tell you divorce is not an unforgivable sin. If you have gone through a divorce and it was questionable God still loves you. He will forgive you. You are not a monster, you are human. We all make mistakes and things don’t always go as planned. Let your past go and move on, God still cares for you. In cases of abuse I also believe you can get a divorce, you can’t stay with someone who is trying to kill you.
If you can, always choose to try and reconcile with your spouse; people and situations can change. You never know what God will do if you give Him the chance. But divorce is permitted in the Bible. A Christian can divorce and even if you didn’t divorce for Biblical reasons God forgives. Divorced Christians are loved by the Lord just as much as ones are not divorced.
Energy Meditation, Meditating and Taking in Gods Presence for Meditative Practice
By Adam Becker
Meditation Is Not Evil!
I realize that in todays world the new age and other religions have really taken meditation and ran with it. They made meditation their own and alienated it from Christianity. But it doesn’t have to be alienated. Really meditation is focus and we know we can focus on things or not focus on things and it is not evil. Meditation is not evil in itself. There are many different types of meditation that you can do that is not at all evil and may be beneficial as long as what you are meditating on is not contrary to Christ.
The Bible even says to meditate, we are to meditate on the law of the Lord and Gods word. Yes, that is right Christians can meditate. Mediation can be helpful and is about clearing your mind from all the clutter of life and focusing on something positive and life giving. The kind of meditation I am going to be talking about is a very spiritual meditation and is very God or Christ focused. If you follow my directions and take part in the energy meditation I am about to talk about you will reduce stress, flow in more gifts of the spirit and greater anointing from the Lord, deepen your relationship with the Lord, know what it truly means to worship the Lord in spirit, have greater strength to handle giants and walk in more love towards others. This type of meditation I am about to teach you will change your life. But you have to have an open mind and know that God will lead and guide you.
How to Do Energy Meditation Gods Way
What I am about to teach you I did not learn in a book or from some guru. I did not learn it in church or from a minister. I learned it from the Holy Spirit and Christ. The new age and eastern religions have counterfeited at lot of things that are Holy and of the Lord. Meditation is one of those things.
When I would worship God, I would notice that I would feel energy or Gods presence come over me. I learned from the Holy Spirit that this energy from God is available to us anywhere anytime. When I found that this was easily assessable and beneficial I was hooked I began to spend hours a day taking in this energy from God and it changed my life. It is available to us all, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ it is available to you also.
Here is how you do it. You should mainly do this by yourself but it can be done at church, I used to do it in a church worship service also. I usually use music (Christian praise and worship songs of course but you can also use meditation music) and I don’t necessarily sing the words and dance to the songs, what I do is close my eyes and focus totally on God. I try to be still and calm as possible. It is best to sit Indian style with your legs crossed but you can do whatever is comfortable. I don’t focus on anything around me I just clear my mind and focus and think on God. It may help to even remember all the things he has done for you (your testimony). I just totally focus on him keeping my eyes closed and I will talk to him (I will whisper it, you don’t need to yell He can hear you) and I tell him how much He means to me. You will need to open yourself up to Gods presence and energy like opening your mind and heart to all that God is and letting God come inside you. Begin to open yourself up to the Lord, becoming totally vulnerable.
I try to remain still and very loose and let his peace come upon me. I then will feel Him. It feels like a warm tingling energy coming upon my head and shoulders and working its way through me. If you remain still and focused and yield to it- it will get more intense. Sometimes I will start to feel my arms moving like God is pulling on them and the energy force is trying to move them or my legs (if I am laying down) and it will feel amazing, but you need to yield to it and let God move your arms and if you do, you will go into it deeper and deeper and after a little while it will feel as if you are not in your body any more (that is the best way I can describe it). But if you resist and not let God move your arms and have control of them, then it will stop, you need to let God have total control of your body. It can be scary I don’t know of too many people that would be comfortable with someone else having total control of their body but if you don’t you cannot go deeper and receive what God has for you.
When I have had times like this, it sometimes can feel like I am in another place with God, and in that place He may speak to me or show me things, but most of the time and best of all He communes with me and it is like I am being touched by Him and flowing with Him. There is different levels to this as you get better at it and you feel like you left your body or you are not aware of the physical world anymore. I become so built up and energized that I feel ready to do anything. Each time you spend time with God in this way it changes you, it may not be that noticeable at first, but it does change you, and your character and outlook starts to become more like God’s and you can also flow in the anointing and prophetic better. There is a maturity process to this and many levels, maybe the first couple of times you may not feel anything, but the more you do it and learn to be sensitive to God, you will mature in it and hopefully experience the things that I have described. I have gotten to where I don’t need music to do it, but you will most likely always need silence and a secluded place.
I realize this may scare people as some may worry that an evil spirit may invade you or something when you open yourself up like this but the Bible says if you ask God for a fish does He give you a stone? No, God doesn’t, you have to have faith that God will come through for you and fill you with his anointing and energy and He will.
You will need to practice this on a regular basis to get good at it and to really benefit from it. But if you do you will see your life change for the better. Your mind will have less clutter, you will walk in more love, you will walk in greater spiritual giftings, God will speak to you and show you things about your self and others, you will have more God dreams at night, see more God visions, have more peace, know God on a more personal level and so much more. This is truly life changing. Grab hold of it and let it move you. You won’t be disappointed!
Does God Always Heal Everyone?
By Adam Becker
I am an optimist, but I am also a realist. I have a history with the Charismatic church and healing. I even teach healing in my book and course, I have laid hands on people to be healed and have seen some healings as well as my own. We must believe it is Gods will to heal and that healing is for today. However, we don’t always see healings. Many people get sick and die even though we prayed for them or laid hands on them. Many born again Christians with super faith are not healed and it leaves us either rejecting healing or condemning them. I remember some time ago I just had become born again and was in a church I really loved that was in revival. I felt called to go into ministry and was in Bible college and had just started a pastoral internship under my pastor. I really liked that pastor and church and they believed bigtime in healing. You could classify that church as Word of Faith. The church had really grown also and we just broke ground for our new building as we outgrew the old one. Then out of no where the pastor was diagnosed with ALS and only given three years to live. I had to do my internship under another church, the church split, fell apart and in a few years the pastor did die. He was only in his 40s. Some people rejected that healing is for today but most condemned the pastor and said he lacked faith or was in sin. There were some that just said oh well and moved on but the people that condemned him is what bothered me the most.
There is a big debate about healing, some say it died out and is no longer for today. Some say it only happens occasionally and others say it is guaranteed in the atonement and all are healed. There are verses in the Bible that say things like by his stripes you are healed referring to physical issues but scholars can argue that what you are healed from was sin. I am not going to debate about that and just say I don’t really know for sure but reality seems to point to the latter. Other verses say I am the God that heals thee of all thy diseases. Scholars argue that that may be just for Israel while some say it was for all. We do know that God did seem to heal Israel of disease, so it could be just for Israel as we don’t see everyone today that believes healed. People also say that Christ healed all that asked but the Bible does say that not everything Christ did was recorded and it said what is recorded was recorded so that you may believe. So, Christ may have not healed everyone, the accounts we have of Him healing are just there to make people believe. They wouldn’t want to record an account where he doesn’t heal someone would they? Many born again Christians get sick and die. Many ministers get sick and die. John Paul Jackson recently died a few years back of cancer and he was a prophet and I think healing was one of the last courses he taught on. So many other great men and women of faith have gotten sick and were not healed. We can’t always say that people are all healed because that is not reality. We also can’t go around saying those that aren’t healed lack faith or are in sin because that’s not true.
I had a friend who was a preacher for a little while that always preached that God heals everyone and that everyone is always healed. After knowing him for many years one day I noticed something was wrong with one of his eyes. So I asked him “what is wrong with your eye it looks funny.” He said he is blind in one eye and has been since birth. I was shocked. This is the guy who claims that God heals everyone and if you aren’t healed you are in sin or lack faith. But I guess what he was preaching was true for everyone else but him.
Another healing revivalist I know had a healing faith course. In the video course he had a pastor teaching who said healing is guaranteed in the atonement and all are healed and if they aren’t they lack faith or are in sin. He showed a picture of the walls of his church and he had the wall lined from top to bottom with wheel chairs, crutches, walkers and canes. He said those are from all the people he healed in his church over the years. Not long after his teaching video came out he was diagnosed with cancer and died. He was not healed. The healing evangelist who made the course didn’t take him off of there or changed anything. It was hard to believe and leaves you wondering thats for sure.
The greatest prophet in the Bible Elisha who was used to heal people and do many miracles actually died of an illness that he suffered from.
2 Kings 13:14
14 Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
NIV
He was a mighty prophet of God, used by God but got sick, suffered and died. Yet it says after he died his bones raised the dead.
2 Kings 13:20-21
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
NIV
I don’t know how that works but it certainly does. Which goes to show that God may use someone who is not healed to heal others which happens.
The Bible says that Paul had a thorn in his flesh which many believe was an infirmity that the Lord did not take away used to keep him humble
2 Cor 12:7-9
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
NIV
Some argue that it wasn’t a physical illness but problems from torture and persecution but none the less he was suffering physically and God did not take the suffering away. And Timothy had an illness he suffered with that he was not healed from as Paul told him to drink a little wine for it.
1 Tim 5:23
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
NIV
I don’t have all the answers but I know that it is not reality that God heals everyone, just count all the born again Christians who had an illness and weren’t healed. I also know that people who aren’t healed don’t lack faith or are not in some terrible sin. We all commit sins daily. What sin did the 8 year old with a brain tumor commit? And can you really say an 8 year old who believes in santa and the tooth fairy lacks faith? They believe what you tell them. And then there is mental illness, we get a lot of people coming to my ministry saying they have demons as the church told them their mental illness was demons when it wasn’t at all. Mental illness is a problem with brain function and chemicals in your brain. Today they can do a brain scan and actually see in your brain parts of it from mental illness not functioning properly. Most of it is hereditary not demons, some could be stress and situations. There is nothing wrong with medication for mental illness or physical illness. Paul told timothy to take a little wine for his illness so why shouldn’t we take a little medication? Especially if it works. I do believe that healing is for today, like I said I have seen healing and been healed. I have also not been healed of stuff. Yes, we have to believe its Gods will to heal but the truth is He may not and we shouldn’t rush to any judgements about people that aren’t healed. There are many people that believe that you can’t be a true born again and especially mature Christian if you are sick but that’s not true and is a form or unmerited judgement. Elisha, Paul and Timothy were all true mature Christians. We all will all die someday, some sooner than others don’t judge the way in which some go.
There you have it God may not heal everyone all the time, but there is something called Epigenetics and we don’t have to be controlled by bad genes. A lot of mental illness and other sickness is caused by genes. But there is hope, getting aligned in your body, soul and spirit with God as well as changing the environment or you mind can change bad genes for the better. You can have a cure. There is also something called the placebo effect. The placebo effect basically is the effect in which a placebo may cause the body to produce its own healing. The body thinks it is given medicine so it produces a reaction or chemicals that the medicine would produce, and it heals itself. This is very real and so many studies have found it to be true. Your body can produce the very chemicals that your meds produce without using any medicine. Your body can heal itself and has the power to do that. As a matter of fact, God created the body to heal itself. So again, there is hope. Don’t go off your meds though unless you have supervised help and remember before you can do something like go off your meds you need to change the environment of the mind and align yourself fully with God Almighty. But again God may choose not to heal you and you may have to live with being sick or with a disability. In that case be the best person with that illness you can. So many people prospered in captivity in the Bible, you can to. The illness may hold you captive, but it can get better without being freed from it. We are to shine no matter what circumstance we are in. Shine bright!