Worship vs Idolatry

• Whatever you value more than God is idolatry.  When more worth  is placed on the means than on the End, then that means becomes an idol. Any other worship than God is idolatry.
• God detests idolatry.

Psalm 78:58-59

They angered him with their high places; they aroused their jealousy with their idols.

Isaiah 44:9

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.

• Worship is determined by worth. You can never worship what is not of worth to you.
• The source is more important than the resource.
• You cannot worship beyond your knowledge. You cannot worship beyond what you know.
• God takes me through experiences to introduce Himself to me, to give me more material, to give Him more worth. The bigger the situation God brings me through, the bigger the value I put on Him. 
• Worship has to be an encounter. You cannot call God Deliverer if you never needed deliverance.
• The problem with worshipers is that they forget the benefits of the Lord.

Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the Lord, o my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name.

Praise the Lord, o my soul; and forget not all His benefits - 

Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Deuteronomy 8:10-18

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and water-less land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

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You Made a Way

Kingdom Motive

John 6:24-27
When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, where did you come from?" Jesus answered, "You seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate fish and bread and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed His seal of approval."

• Their motive was that they wanted the good things. 
• The only thing that is sealed in life is Christ.
• The Kingdom is so strong, nothing can move it.

The Work of God

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the work God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is to believe in the One He has sent."

• Belief - pistis - it is the same word as faith. The work of God is to have faith in the One He sent; not in the things He does.
• He is shifting our motivation from things to Him; because things change.

Trust Him

John 6:31-33 (NIV)

Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'

Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given the bread of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

John 6:31-33 (KJV)
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said to them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven."

• Things material are temporary. So we put our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but that which is not seen is eternal. 
• We put our faith on God, not on the things of God.
• Is it Jesus that you are following?

Believing Beyond the Test-5,6

• He is still God, even if He does not come through for me. He is still God even if He does not deliver me.
•  I have what it takes to overcome. He won't allow it if I can't overcome it. My test is a sign of God's confidence in me.
• HE will make a way of escape. I don't know the way out of the situation. It may be so unorthodox that all I got is faith.
• Is my faith still in God or is it in healing? If he doesn't heal, He is still God.
• Don't put my faith in the way. Put my faith in God. Don't tell Him how to do it.
• There is a God-factor! It is the area where no one can control. It is where He can turn the fire in a furnace into cool air. Don't forget the God factor. When you hit the solid wall and there is nowhere to go, just remember the God factor...
• Kingdom faith submits its limitations to the unlimited God.
• Do I only believe God when He does something? 

Psalm 131:-1-2

Lord, my heart is not proud,

my eyes are not haughty;

neither do I exercise myself in great matters,

or in things too high for me.

• The human loves to find reason for everything. It's not everything we can explain. There are some things that are too high for me to understand. We leave them alone and keep trusting God.

What is Faith?

• Faith: aman
• To believe;
• To be firm, endure;
• Be faithful, true;
• Stand fast, trust, have belief, believe.
• Belief: pistos
•  Firm persuastion;
• Deep conviction;
• Resolve
• Faith is sure hope. My hope is in God.
• I am a stronger than the crisis I'm going through. He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion. He's gonna make His Name Great!

Faith Defined

• Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. By it the elders obtained a good testimony.
• I will never be known by the things I avoided;
• Am I gonna win my test?
• My story will be told by the tests I overcome.
• Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that HE is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
• The test comes to purify me. Let's be known as the people who stood after the storm. People will trust me by what I came through.
• You don't demand respect. You earn it.

Believing Beyond the Test - 4

• God is faithful. He will not let me be tested beyond what I can bear. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but He delivers them from them all. There is no test that should destroy me. I gonna be OK.
• You can tell what God thinks of you by the test He allows you to face.
• We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses looking at our race.
• There is a point where if you get 
• Quit doubting and keep believing. 
• Life behind the test is wonderful but you've got to make it through.
• The route to the good times is a little test. Make it through.
• God will make a way. When we try to dictate the way, we end up disappointed.
• How does my faith act in the furnace/den?

Believing Beyond the Test-3

Designed for the Tests

1 Cor.10:12-13

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.

And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

• Don't try to explain things you can't comprehend. Just trust God in it. God is gonna take me through this. Keep your faith. Keep believing. Lose everything but don't lose faith in God. Don't let my faith fail. Believe myself right out of the lion's den.
• Nobody is special. The test is common. Elijah, I got 7,000 more who've not bowed their knee to Baal. It's a privilege for you to serve Me. I don't have to use you. 
• The test is not important. What is important is how I handle it.

Believing Beyond the Test-2

Strong Faith

• My faith is only as strong as the test it survives.
• In car manufacturing, they don't test all the cars. They test one engine, and then produce many others in its image. They make thousands in the image of one that was tested.
• The tested engine becomes the model, the prototype, so that they can use that one engine as the mentor for the others.

Luke 22:31-32

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Hebrews 5:7-

During the days of Jesus' life on earth,

He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears

to the One who could save Him from death,

and He was heard because of His reverent submission.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what He suffered

and once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation

for all who obey Him...

• When I'm going through a tough time, it is a good sign that God wants to use me as a model. Go through the test and pass because God wants to make many others after your image.
• You don't just get called to ministry. You get qualified for ministry.
• Sometimes we think test is strange. It is not strange. It is normal when God wants to use you.

Believing Beyond the Test-1

Unshakable Kingdom. Unshakable Faith.

• We were all created to fulfill a purpose. Nothing was created without a purpose.
• My purpose is my vision assignment.
• Every vision will be tested for authenticity. No one is exempt from testing.
• The safest way to stay out of major tests is to decide not to fulfill one's vision.
• The moment you discover and decide to pursue your vision, you get qualified for test.
• The enemy doesn't stop anyone going nowhere.
• If you aim at nothing, you never miss.
• Tests are normal. 
• Tests remind me that I'm living. Only the dead are not tested. As long as I'm breathing, I will be tested.
• The test is not to destroy me, but to prove me.
• You will never know who you really are until you are tested.
• God allows tests so that I can discover what I'm really made of. 
• I must allow God to be God. Don't try to be God. 
• There are things only God can do.
• There are things only God knows.
• There are things only God understands. So, render your lack of understanding to God's omnipotence.
• There are things only God can explain. 
• Know your limit.

The Value of Faith

• The most important power is your faith. When you don't know anything, all you got is faith left. When you don't understand, just believe.
• Faith is your belief and conviction that creates your confidence. Faith produces confidence, no matter how the conditions look. You walk with the confidence - I'm still gonna win.
• Faith is manifested by the test it encounters. This experience didn't come to destroy me. It came to test whether there is faith.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRmLB5X8VTc

Psychiatrist and the Corpse

"When we think of ourselves as fixed, unchanging entities, we then seek to act in alignment with that self-concept and are troubled when we don't."
Michael Neill

A man goes to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist asks him what's wrong.

The man says, "Isn't it obvious? I'm dead -- I'm a corpse."

The psychiatrist says, "But you walked in here -- can corpses walk?"

The man says, "Haven't you ever seen a zombie movie? Of course corpses can walk."

So the psychiatrist says, "But we're talking -- do corpses talk?"

The man says, "What kind of a question is that? Of course corpses can talk!"

Finally, the psychiatrist gets an idea. With a crafty look in his eye, he asks the man, "Do corpses bleed?"

The man thinks for a moment, and then says "No, no, corpses don't bleed. After all, we're dead, so we can't bleed."

Before the man can react, the psychiatrist reaches over and pricks him on the hand with a needle and a small drop of blood emerges from under his skin. The man stares at the blood in amazement.

"Well I'll be damned," the man says. "Corpses do bleed!"

When we see that our  character... is made up of the true constants of Mind, Consciousness and Thought, we are free to think anything, feel anything, and do anything in any situation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-neill/the-fourth-principle_b_8219216.html

Stay and Wait

Certainty

In the midst of crisis, difficulty and uncertainty we must live in a place of strength, certainty and enhanced prophetic sight.
~ Scott Webster

Waiting

Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

The Battle is Not Yours

Thousands and thousands of years ago,
God's people prepared a test;
As the Ammonites and the Moabites
Decended; destruction their quest.

But Jehoshophat saw the problem,
And we read from God's precious Word
That Jehoshophat prepared a fast,
And prepared to seek the Lord.

And all the people, young and old
Gathered together that day
And humbled themselves before the Lord,
As Jehoshophat started to pray.

He lifted his voice in remembrance,
Recalling the days of 'ore;
And promised that God would keep His Word
As always He'd done before.

And finally, in utter abandonment.
He spoke these words so true:
"We have no might against them, Lord,
Nor know we what to do!"

Then, from the very lips of God,
There came these words sublime:
"Be not afraid, beloved,
The battle's not yours; it's Mine!"

"No need to fight, beloved,
Here is all you need to do:
Just take your place; stand still, and see
Your God will fight for you."

So they bowed their heads and worshipped,
And appointed men to sing;
Not to fight God's battles,
But let His praises ring.

"Here comes the enemy"; they cried;
"Let ever voice be raised!"
God's people started to shout and sing,
And lifted their hearts in praise.

And when their lips in praises sang
Lo, then, the job was done.
For God, at the sound of their voices, fought
And at once, the battle was won.

Now what about you, dear Christian,
In your heart have you seen the light?
Have you yet come to understand,
The battle's not yours to fight?

That all your precious Jesus
Is longing for you to do,
Is to set yourself, stand still, and see
That he can live through you.

The battle's not ours--- Oh, shout it!
The battle's not ours to win.
The battle belongs to Jesus,
And Jesus will reign from within.

Acknowledge you cannot do it,
And begin to sing and to praise,
And God will begin to fight for you
As you but acknowledge His ways.

No, the battle's not ours, beloved
The battle belongs to the Son
The battle's not ours; but the victory's ours;
And the victory's already won!!!!

By Russell Kelfer

Booklet 904-b
The Battle Is Not Yours; But God's

He Never Sleeps

Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps

Lead Me to the Cross

Savior I come

Quiet my soul remember

Redemption's hill

Where Your blood was spilled

For my ransom

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as loss

[Chorus:]

Lead me to the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I

Tempted and trialed

Human

The word became flesh

Bore my sin and death

Now you're risen

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as loss

[Chorus]

To your heart

To your heart

Lead me to your heart

Lead me to your heart

[Chorus]

The Power of Kingdom Faith

Keys to Building a Stable Faith

The Mysteries of Life

1. There are questions in life that we can never answer.
2. There are things in life we can never explain.
3. There are things in life we can never change. Weeping, worrying etc does not change.
4. There are things in life we cannot control.
5. There are things in life we cannot stop - so you make arrangements for it to pass you.
6. There are things in life we are not responsible for.
7. There are things in life we cannot exceed. One powerful statement in life is: I DON'T KNOW.

Facing Life
The key to life is:

• Know your limitations. My limitations keep me peaceful.
• What is my responsibility? Success in life is when you know what you are responsible for. I cannot blame anyone for something that I decided.
• What is not my responsibility? God will never, for example, violate our will.
• What I cannot do. Sometimes you gonna go to jail, to get your anointing. 
• LET GOD BE GOD. (We have a great temptation to be God.)
• There are things only God can do.
• There are things only God knows.
• There are things only God understands. Don't sweat it. Go to sleep this week.
• There are things only God can explain. Don't argue with God. 
• Don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure trying to explain things only God can.

WHAT GOD IS AFTER, IS  STRONG FAITH.

• My faith is only as strong as the test it survives.
• You can never brag on your strength unless you test it.
• What is my motive for following God? My motivation will be destiny. (John 6:24-27)
• 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
  25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi,when did you get here?”
  26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life,which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
• I allowed this storm to see your reaction. 
• Whatever I am going through is allowed by God.
• If my faith is in God, it does not matter what happens around me.
• Some people can't even survive success!