What It Means to Be Full of the Spirit

How it is that the moment you are filled with the Holy Ghost persecution starts? It was so with the Lord Jesus Himself. We do not read of any persecutions before the Holy Spirit came down like a dove upon Him. Shortly after this, we find that, after preaching in His hometown, they wanted to throw Him over the brow of the hill. It was the same with the twelve disciples. They had no persecution before the day of Pentecost; but after they were filled with the Spirit, they were

soon in prison.

 The devil and the priests of religion will always get stirred when a man is filled with the Spirit and does things in the power of the Spirit. And persecution is the greatest blessing to a church. When we have persecution we will have purity. If you desire to be filled with the Spirit you can count on one thing, and that is persecution. The Lord came to bring division, and even in your own household, you may find three against two.

The Lord Jesus came to bring peace; and soon after you get peace within, you get persecution without. If you remain stationary, the devil and his agents will not disturb you much. But when you press on and go the whole length with God the enemy has you as a target. But God will vindicate you in the midst of the whole thing.

Excerpt from "Ever Increasing Faith"  p. 105
by Smith Wigglesworth


Visit us and join our worship celebration at the River of God, Galleria. 

For more info, click logo:

Making Your Words Work for You

          God didn't create any of us to be average. He didn’t make us to barely get by. We were created to excel. The Scripture teaches that before the foundation of the world, God didn't only choose us, but He equipped us with everything we need to live His abundant life. You have seeds of greatness inside of you, but it is up to you to believe and act on them.

        You need to have an image of a champion on the inside. You may not be there yet you may have some areas to overcome, but you need to know deep down inside that you are a victor and not a victim.

       One of the best ways that we can improve our self-image is with your words. Words are like seeds. They have creative power. It says in Isaiah that “We will eat the fruit of our words.” That’s amazing when you stop to consider that truth: Our words tend to produce what we’re saying.

           Every day, we should make positive declarations over our lives. We should say things such as, “ I am blessed. I am prosperous. I am healthy. I am creative. I am wise.”  When we do that we are building up our self-image. As those words permeate your heart and mind, and especially your subconscious mind, eventually they will begin to change the way you see yourself.

       The Scripture says, “With our tongue, we can either bless our life or we can curse our life.”  Some individuals curse their own future by saying things such as, “I don’t have what it takes. I’m so clumsy I can’t get anything right. I’m so undisciplined. I’ll probably never lose this weight.” We must be extremely careful what we allow out of our mouth. Our words set the direction for our lives.

    Which direction are you going? Are you declaring good things? Are you blessing your life, speaking words of faith over your future and your children’s future? Or ar are you prone to saying negative things? Nothing good ever happens to me. I’ll probably never get out of debt. I’ll never break this addiction.”

      When you talk like that, you are setting the limits for your life.

    Start saying every day, “ I am excelling in my career.  I have the favor of God. I make good decisions. I’m a hard worker and I’m going to rise to new heights. If you hear that long enough, it will create a new image within, an image of victory, an image of success. Pretty soon, that will be a reality in your life. Start building your life today by prophesying into your future. Get into an agreement with God and learn to speak words of faith and victory over your own life and family.


Visit us and join our worship celebration at the River of God, Galleria. 

For more info, click logo:

Knowing Our Limits

"He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty." Proverbs 28:19

Webster's defines entrepreneur: "one who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk in a business venture." [Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Ed. (Springfield, Massachusetts, 1993), "entrepreneur."]

Entrepreneurs can smell an opportunity a mile away. However, what is often their greatest asset can become their greatest downfall. The road is littered with entrepreneurs who have been successful in one venture only to fail in countless others. Is this the natural way for an entrepreneur, or is there a better way?

King David was an entrepreneur. He grew up as a shepherd boy and later became Israel's greatest warrior. He responded to opportunities, like the time when no one would fight Goliath. He saw this as an opportunity. He ultimately became king of Israel and faced many opportunities placed before him.

David learned an important lesson somewhere along the way that each of us as workplace believers should learn. As an entrepreneur, the greatest danger is engaging ourselves in activities in which God never intended us to be involved. This is poor stewardship of what God has entrusted to us. When the Philistines attacked David, he always inquired of God as to if and when he was to counterattack. When he was attacked a second time on one occasion, David inquired of God as to whether he was to attack yet. This time God said yes, but with a condition, "Wait until you hear the sound of marching in the balsam trees" (see 2 Sam. 5:24).

This story tells us that David had learned an important lesson about staying vertical in his relationship with God at all times. David had learned the important principle of staying focused on what God wanted for him, not what seemed logical. He was an opportunist, but only through the filter of the Holy Spirit in his life.

How do you approach opportunities? Do you consider the merits of the opportunity only? Or do you inquire of God as to whether He desires you to pursue? It may be a wonderful opportunity, but it may not be God's will for you to be involved. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you as you seek to use the skills He has given you.

-Os Hillman

  You can visit us and join our worship celebration at the River of God, Galleria. 

Click logo:

Checking out on my next blog? Relax and hear my theme song "Whenever I see." God bless!

Faith is spelled R.I.S.K.

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" (Matt 14:29-30).

Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat. There is always a risk when we attempt something never done before. Naysayers seem to come out of the wood work. Why? Because it's not their vision, it's yours. Sometimes we fail the first time out. It's a fact that most entrepreneurs fail before they are really successful.

"Success," said Winston Churchill, "is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Everybody fails. It's part of the process that leads us to maturity and success. Most successful entrepreneurs don't think of their failures as defeats. They think of them as lessons.

If you hope to succeed, learn everything you can from your failures. In The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar, Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams observed, "Our experiences may not all be triumphs and successes, but so what? Failure is usually a far better teacher than success - if we are willing to learn the lessons. As Houston Astros pitcher Larry Dierker observed, 'Experience is the best teacher, but a hard grader. She gives the test first, the lesson later.'"*

God never gets mired in our past failures. He is constantly viewing our lives with future success in mind. "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland" (Isa. 43:19). Someone once said, "When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave." God wants to give us new dreams that are bigger than anything that has ever happened to us in the past.

Don't let past failures keep you from future successes. 

Os Hillman

_____________________________________________________________________

JESUS IS COMING VERY SOON!

 

John G Lake – Woman's Tumor Disappeared

Excerpt from:
John G Lake, The Complete Collection Of His Life Teachings
Spoken November 26, 1916
Pg 324 – 325

It is almost a sadness to my soul that men should be astonished and surprised at an ordinary tangible evidence of the power of God. A woman came into the healing rooms on Thursday afternoon with a tumor larger than a full-grown, unborn child, and her physicians and nurse had been fooled, believing it to be such, until nature’s period had passed. Then they decided it must be something else.

She came to the healing rooms and I interviewed her. She said, “Mr. Lake, I have the opinion of several physicians. They are all different, but each have said, ‘It is possible it may be a child,’ but now the time has passed, and they do not know what to say.”

I put my hand upon her for a moment, and I said, “Madam, it is not a child, it is a tumor.” She sat down and wept. Her nurse was with her. Her soul was troubled and she did not receive healing.

She came back on Thursday afternoon for prayer and went away like the rest. But she returned on Friday with her corsets on. She said, “I came to show you that I am perfectly normal. When I retired last night at ten o’clock there was no evidence that anything had taken place. Beyond that I felt comfortable and the choking was gone. But when I awoke this morning I was my normal size.”

I said, “Did it disappear in the form of a fluid?”

She said, “There was not an outward sign of any character.”

Beloved, what happened to it? It dematerialized, did it not? There was nothing else. The tumor dissolved. It was evaporated, taken out of the system, and was gone in a single night.

I called a friend on the telephone to tell him about it. Another friend was present in the room and while he still held the receiver in his hand he turned to his friend and told him about it, and the friend said, “My good God, man, that would be a miracle!”

What is a miracle? It is the tangible evidence of the supreme control of the Spirit of God over every character and form of materiality. The tumor disappeared. It was gone. Why? Because the living Spirit of God entered it and by the power and working of God the woman returned to her normal condition. Blessed be His name….

…I talked with the husband of the lady, one of the most profane men I have most ever known until Friday morning. He said to me, “Mr. Lake, when I got up on Friday morning and saw my wife I said, ‘I will never again take that name upon my lips in vain.'” And he has walked softly, and a new light is shining in his soul and a new presence has made itself evident to that man.

_________________________________________________________

                                       

THE WAY OUT IS UP!

Here is the divine way out of trouble. Just now you may be in the midst of it. Everything is going against you, and you cannot see any way out. But listen to what the psalmist says: The way out is up—to God. “Sacrifice thank offering.” That sounds senseless, but try it anyway! In the midst of all your problems, stop worrying and start thanking God. Lift your voice to God—not complaining, but in praise. Offer Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

   A sacrifice always costs you something. To start thanking God in such a situation goes against the grain. But it is a sacrifice that pleases God. In return God promises: “When you offer Me your sacrifice of thankfulness in the midst of all the trouble, then I will intervene on your behalf. I will deliver you and you will honor Me.”

““Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
 and call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  - Psalm 50:14-15


Excerp from "Chords from the Harp of David"
 by Derek Prince p. 98

___________________________________________________

 

THE WAY OUT IS UP

Here is the divine way out of trouble. Just now you may be in the midst of it. Everything is going against you, and you cannot see any way out. But listen to what the psalmist says: The way out is up—to God. “Sacrifice thank offering.” The sounds senseless, but try it anyway! In the midst of all your problems, stop worrying and start thanking God. Lift your voice to God—not complaining, but in praise. Offer Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

   A sacrifice always costs you something. To start thanking God in such a situation goes against the grain. But it is a sacrifice that pleases God. In return God promises: “When you offer Me your sacrifice of thankfulness in the midst of all the trouble, then I will intervene on your behalf. I will deliver you land you will honor Me.”

““Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
 and call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  - Psalm 50:14-15

___________________________________________________

 

CLICK JOIN NOW!