WORSHIP IS WARFARE (from Andrew Womack)
Mark 5:6, “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.”
MATTHEW 8:28-34; MARK 5:1-17; LUKE 8:27-39
The word “worshipped” is taken from the Greek word “proskuneo” which means “to prostrate oneself in homage to; do reverence to; adore.” The fact that this tormented man ran to Jesus, and not away from Him, indicates that even “demon-possessed” people have a free will and Satan cannot control an individual without his consent.
Many battles have been fought over whether or not a Christian can be demon possessed. The Greek word for “possessed” literally means “to be demonized.” The Bible makes no clear distinction between degrees of demon activity (such as oppressed, depressed, possessed, etc.), but simply refers to people as being “demonized.” All Christians are fighting against spiritual powers. If we don’t put on the whole armor of God, Satan can certainly affect us or even control us.
The best way to administer deliverance is through God’s Word. As a person receives the Word, it will set him free and also help guard against this situation when the demon tries to come back in with seven other spirits. In severe cases of being demonized, the individual clearly needs the help of a believer, and that’s the reason why Jesus equipped all believers with authority over evil spirits.
Anointed praise and worship will also drive off evil spirits. One thing reserved for God alone is worship, and the devil has always sought that. If he can’t be the one to receive worship, then he seeks to turn others away from giving true worship to the most High God. Praise and worship to the Lord is such a powerful tool against Satan. He can’t stand to see God worshipped. Worship God today in spirit and in truth. The Father seeks those who will worship Him this way. He’s waiting for you.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…” 2 Tim. 4:3
There is a difference of opinion and there is sound doctrine. God doesn’t operate by our opinion, He operates by His “sound doctrine”. The type of church service one has in form and structure can vary from church to church. One may be very formal, and one may be very casual and relaxed. I cannot see that God prefers one above the other as long as everything is do decently and in order. The real issue is that everything conforms to the truth of the doctrine presented in the Word of God.
Every issue is not clear cut and unmistakable. Doctrines can be subjective. Otherwise we could “all” agree on every issue. Many doctrines arise based on opinion. Therefore, the more we develop doctrine, the more chance we have of having disagreements. Many differences of opinion could be solved if we consider the background of the doctrines involved. Personality and personal agendas can influence ones interpretation of doctrine. Great conflicts can arise from using isolated Scripture as the foundation for our doctrine. Doctrine cannot be established on the basis of one unclear passage. It must be held up by a current of Scripture in keeping with the basic text of the entire Bible. Only then can we rest our belief on “Biblical truth”. Our doctrinal positions must conform to the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This position is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit in our lives. The doctrine of our teaching must conform to the “Spirit of God” as presented in the fullness of Scripture.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2:15(NKJV)
I do not want to be misunderstood in what I am about to say. It is the responsibility of the Church to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” But we must really examine our methods. We have developed the idea that we must compete with the world for the attention of the people. To do this we sometimes wrap Jesus in the trappings of the world. To get the attention of the world we make Jesus look like the world. We appeal to the natural man by natural means. We entertain them until we have a chance to “slip” Jesus into the conversation. Play with them for two hours and slip ten minutes of “Jesus” in somewhere. It is not Jesus that is being lifted up but worldly behavior. Food, games, sports, and other activities attract people to events, but does it change their lives? It is my opinion that too much nonspiritual activity does not create spiritual change.
The attitude I am talking about is reflected even in our approach to public education. People once went to school to learn in order to prepare for life. That doesn’t seem to be true today. Learning is not the issue. It is keeping the students entertained and slip some education somewhere in that counts. Heaven forbid we suggest that students should just study to learn something. We must use video games or other means to get their attention. I am not saying that we should not make learning fun. But, the issue is not promoting “having fun” and slip in some education when you can.
It is not the mission of the church to attract people to world like activity in order to hit them with the Gospel. The church did not begin by competing on the world’s level. It was birthed in an atmosphere of supernatural faith. God confirmed the word by signs following. Supernatural happenings were what caught the people’s attention. Miracles, healing, casting out demons, and “signs and wonders” promoted the growth of the Church. Jesus said He would draw all men to Himself if “He” were lifted up. He did not say lift up human attractions and “I will slip myself in somewhere.” “I certainly would not want to be too obvious. I might scare them away.” We need to lift up Jesus without dressing Him up in worldly clothes. That is what we are called to do and it will work.
DON’T BE ANXIOUS
Philippians 4:6 (Amp) “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.”
Recently this is the scripture that comes to my mind over and over. God is still trying to teach me to not fret or be anxious about anything. Notice this verse says, “not anything.”
The devil likes to make you think that God doesn’t care about all these small things in your life. Just hand Him the big decisions. This is not what this verse says.
I must remember that God wants to guide everything in my life. I don’t have to stay up all night worrying about anything. I don’t have to get sick because of worry and stress.
Most of the stress in life comes from worry about situations we have no control over. I can’t make other people do what is right. I can only make sure I make right choices and with prayer, and thanksgiving, hand everything and everyone else over to God.
The next verse Philippians 4:7 says that when I refuse to be anxious and give everything to God then, “God’s peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Keep handing everything over to God and you will walk in peace.
Yesterday morning a small group of men and women gathered here at New life and heard eight people share on “Strengthening Family Ties.” What we heard was awesome. I know 10,000 people that needed to hear what we heard. It ranged from expecting more from our children to showing honor to our elderly. You could not have been there and not received something new and thought provoking. I heard things that I had not heard before. I was challenged to increase my own vision of expectation.
Unfortunately, if you missed these talks, you have no way of hearing them. There was no recording available. Only in the hearts and minds of the people that were there do these messages remain. All the modern technology cannot replace the Biblical admonition that was the heart of the spread of the Gospel. It was the way most of our fore-fathers learned about the things of God. It increased the amount of Biblical knowledge and was used for all ages. Through it the church grew to what it is today. Due to time constraints we have substituted other forms of learning like TV, radio, cd, and dvd. We have lost something the early church had. What is it? It is “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, …but exhorting one another, and SO MUCH THE MORE as you see the DAY approaching.” (Heb. 10:25)
Brothers and Sisters the day is approaching NOW!
Let us take seriously the call to assemble together.
MY REDEEMER LIVES!!!
Job 19:25 “For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives…”AMP
I enjoy the song so much that says “I know my Redeemer lives. I know my Redeemer lives. Let all creation testify; this life within me cries,’I know my Redeemer lives!'”
The word, know, is such a postive statement. Job’s words ring out from such a terrible postion of losing everything and suffering such physical and mental pain. Regardless of what his “friends” accused him, despite the suffering, Job looked beyond it all and focused on the fact that he knew–no doubt,not maybe–he knew his Redeemer lived.
What does your life cry out? Regardless of your circumstances and questions, does your life cry out to those around you, “I know my Redeemer lives!” Galations 3:13 reminds us that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law. Jesus took the punishment of my sins once and forever and redeemed or bought me back into the righteousness of God. Now I walk in the blessings of Abraham-peace, prosperity, favor, healing–because my Redeemer lives.
If you can not positively say, “I know my Redeemer lives,” you can know it today by accepting the promise of John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son and whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Mark 16:1-7 (NKJV)
He Is Risen
16 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
This is Easter and many people who show little interest most of the year are taking part in the “religion” activities of the day. Programs, plays, sunrise services, and various other special activities are widely being presented today. Is the activity in honor of the resurrection of Jesus or because of man’s natural desire to show himself “religious”?
There is one thing more important than any other Easter activity. It is pronounced by the Angel at the tomb that morning. “He is risen! He is not here.” Nothing else in Christianity is as important as that statement. As a matter of fact, nothing else in Christianity really matters if He is not risen. None of the pomp and circumstance makes any difference if we miss the main point. A well known German liberal Bible scholar once said, “It doesn’t matter whether or not Jesus rose from the dead, as long as you believe He did.” Does that really make sense? Many leaders in Christianity today are doubting the cardinal beliefs of the Church including the resurrection. This is a death sentence for the Church. Paul put it like this. “..if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” I Cor 15:14 “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” I Cor 15:16-17
Whatever is done or not done on Easter, the important thing is that Jesus rose from the dead and is ALIVE! That is the real meaning of Easter. That is what is to be remembered. That is what is to be celebrated!
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