Was Judas evil from the beginning? Judas walked in the same authority as the other disciples. He seemed to walk by faith like all the other disciples. At the Last Supper, none of the disciples knew Judas was any different than them. So what was the difference? Even though Judas had been given authority over the enemy, he had unresolved issues in his heart, small things not dealt with, which eventually grew and led him to betrayal and destruction. If we are honest, we all have a little Judas in us that we need to get rid of.
We tend to seek to please men instead of seeking to please the Father. Jesus did not seek glory from men but from the Father, so that He could bring glory to the Father. Do you receive from God just for your own personal gain or to bring glory to the Father?
If you are a Christian without power, you have already lost the battle. We need the Holy Spirit to come alive in us as Believers. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. -Acts 1:8.
God wants to use your life to fulfill His dreams. It is His Word and His presence that keep everything working around us. When we worship, miracles and provision simply happen in God's presence. God has given us the capacity to be the best lovers in the world. It is out of our love for the Father that we share Jesus with the people around us.
Are you praying for the best marriage in the world? God just might give it to you. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. - Proverbs 27:17. There is something added when different personalities come together. God causes the differences in men and women to sharpen one another. Even though there may be rough patches, we are not meant to try marriage out. It is not a contract between two people. It is a covenant relationship between God and a man and a woman.
If we have to see to believe, we already have a huge problem. Strangely, seeing miracles does not cause you to believe God. It is the Word that brings us to believe. You cannot build on signs and wonders alone, but if you build on the Word, the signs and wonders will follow.
In this fallen world, we have the right to give up when we fall, but we are not citizens of this world. In God's kingdom, when we fall, we have the right to get back up, and we have God's help in getting back up. Pity parties are not allowed in the kingdom of God. We have the privilege of getting back up. No matter what we are facing or how bad it looks when we turn our face to God, He can turn everything around.
God's Word is what makes the world make sense. There are things hidden in the scriptures since the foundation of the world. The things that were hidden are now being revealed. It's not what man says but what God's Word says that will get us through these days. The more Word we get working in us, the better things will become.
The word believe means more than just believing that God exists. Believe means to release faith in Jesus. We learn to release faith in all that Jesus is and what He came to do on this earth. When we believe and come under His authority, we now walk in authority. There is no authority in our own name or our own power our authority comes from the power and the name of Jesus.
We are living in a spoiled generation. Kingdom living has a price to pay. When our comfort zone takes priority over the kingdom of God, we have a problem. When you grow up in comfort, you lack the strength it takes to resist temptation and the strength it takes to have a successful life. We need to ask ourselves, honestly, do we see God as the Master of our lives and ourselves as the servant, or are we trying to use God to get everything we want? When we only think of ourselves, we truly miss the goodness God wants to pour into our lives.
Resurrection from the dead is what makes Christianity the truth. Every other religion has a dead leader. Jesus Christ is the only one who was raised from the dead.
There is nothing better than hearing from God. God finishes everything He starts. He is entirely faithful. But it is important that when God is speaking, we are fully listening and fully obeying. 95% obedience won't cut it. Full obedience brings full results. We must get rid of any rebellion in our hearts that is keeping us from God.
God does always do the way we do. We would have our child born in the best hospital, God had His born in a manger. We would send our children to the best schools in the land, God trained His Son in a carpenter's shop and in the wilderness. What we would do and what God wants to do are often very different.
God called everything into being through His Words. When God created the earth, He said, "Let there be." By what we speak, we let things be and become in our lives. If we speak and believe negatively, we are letting the enemy be in our lives. But when we are speaking and coming into agreement with God's Word, we are letting His Word be in our lives. The blessings of God will overtake you if you obey if you let God's Word be in your life.
How do you prepare for revival? When we are faithful in the small things God has given us to steward, God brings the increase. In the gospels, God entrusted more to the servants who were faithful with the talents He gave them. He cast out the one who did nothing with what he was given. When we faithfully do the small things, we can be trusted with the big things. That is when God will bring revival.
Our heritage as Christians and our future are wrapped up in the nation of Israel. The Jewish Nation carries with it a blessing but much of the current hatred toward the Jews dates back to writings from the early 1900s. Those writings were used to brainwash concentration camp soldiers, and those ideas are still influencing culture today. It is the blessing of the Lord that causes Jewish people to rise to the top of every society. We have a lot to learn from our Jewish heritage. Truly, those who bless Israel are blessed, and those who curse Israel are cursed.
We cannot lose unless we give up. Our words cause us either to give up or to overcome in life. The children of Israel brought back bad words after spying out the Promise Land. It cost them 40 years. How much have our negative words cost us? We must remove evil reports from our vocabulary and put God's report on our tongue.
Are we going to choose the high road or the low road? People ask, "Why would I receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I received the Holy Spirit when I was saved." And you did. It is impossible to get saved without the Holy Spirit, but there are two experiences. Jesus breathed on His disciples in John 20:22, and they received the Holy Spirit. It wasn't until Acts 2 that they received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the boldness and power that came with it.
Many people are robbed of God's blessing because they lack an understanding of what God has for them. The law of sowing and reaping governs all other laws. The more we give in any area of life, the more we will increase. The more we hoard back, the more we fall into poverty. If you are only giving to receive, you'll be stuck, but if you give to give again, God will bless you.
Psalms 14:1 says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God,'" and Romans 1:18-19 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them." As believers, we need to be ready to speak the truth to awaken in mankind what they know to be true—that there is a living God.