Vigilance for the Endtimes: Spirit-Empowered Discipleship For the Last Days

At the very beginning of the biblical record, within the first few verses, we see God making division between that which is light, and that which is dark—Scripture says that God is light, and in Him is no darkness. It is God’s very nature to make a clear division between everything that is not of Him, and that which is. So, as a New Creation in Christ Jesus, you need to understand This: True division is spiritual, when it is in the realm of space and time where fallen humanity and rebellious principalities exist. For the righteous, division serves to purify us and refine us. Division clarifies our spiritual priorities, and brings them into sharper focus. Therefore, division is not something for us to fear, or resent, or be apologetic for—it is for us to embrace, and allow it to do its work of refining, purifying, and clarifying. Just as God divided the darkness from the light in the beginning, so even now the reality is that there is no gray area; everything truly is, in the spirit realm, black and white—there is no neutral ground. The New Testament reality of living as a New Creation from our reborn spirit is the most vital subject any Christian believer will ever undertake to comprehend and walk out. Absolutely Every single aspect of what we could call “the Christian life” stems from this one reality. There is nothing---absolutely Nothing!---that you could ascribe to the Christian life that does not Begin with understanding how to live from your reborn Spirit as a New Creation in Christ Jesus. If you can continually keep that One thing in mind, you will progress more quickly and with greater enablement from the Spirit of God, than probably anybody around you who relies strictly on religious thinking and religious activities.  https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

The one foundational thing about prophecy/prophesying is that it is central to the nature of God himself, because it is the nature of God to reveal Himself, and the primary way that God reveals Himself throughout the biblical record is the avenue of prophecy/prophesying.  Prophesying was the primary gift that Paul the apostle exhorted the church to covet and exercise—and it is the only gift to come with such apostolic exhortation, because it had the widest possible benefit to the body of Christ at large. The very fact that the gift of prophesying in the New Testament originates from the Holy Spirit of God Himself, should be more than enough to command total respect and sobermindedness from anyone and everyone who approaches the subject. Another foundational thought to this entire subject is that we must first and foremost settle it in our minds that the upbuilding of the Body is by the direct and express will of God. Not man, not denominations, but God Himself. That means that Every provision that God has made for the upbuilding of His body, is by HIS decree and under His authority. This is how believers grow in grace and grow in faith, because they assume mutual responsibility for one another’s spiritual well-being in the Spirit—we are all equipped to be our brothers and sisters keeper! THIS is the very language of the New Testament, and it is born out in every letter Paul wrote to the churches. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

The supply of the Holy Spirit is as vast and endless as the Holy Spirit himself…And in God’s mind, there is no need that does not have a corresponding supply of the Holy Spirit, whether it’s parting the Red Sea, feeding the 5,000 with a few fish and loaves, an angel rescuing Peter from prison, to the New Testament churches ministering to each other through words of prophecy & gifts of healings…..And on it goes…..If you look through the New Testament for every passage that reveals yet another example of demonstrating the supply of the Holy Spirit, you will be up all night underlining, Because from the gospel of Matthew all the way through, there is example after example of demonstrating the Power, the Supply, and the Gifting of the Holy Spirit—there simply is no end.  So Now is the time to become more immersed in the Holy Spirit, more full of the Holy Spirit, more functional in the spirit, than ever before in our lives!!!! https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

It’s no secret to anyone that we are living in completely and totally unprecedented times—Times which Jesus described as causing men’s hearts to fail them for fear. This means that our resources are going to have to be of a spiritual nature, more now than ever before. The New Testament is furnished with many themes of vital importance that speak to this very thing—And I believe one scripture sums it up probably better than any other passage. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force”. With all of my heart, I believe in this hour that we are going to need a violent kind of faith—a faith that ruthlessly shuts out the voices of the world and the flesh, the voices of choosing comfort over sacrifice, choosing perhaps an easier path other than the one you know God has called you to. In short, we are going to need a faith that is so rooted and grounded in the reality of the spirit, that the ground we walk on will seem like a mirage. God’s Limitless Supply is His Spirit dwelling in your inner man—your spirit. So, the Supply of the Spirit is Already within you. Deliverance, Healing, Life, is not “out there somewhere” just beyond your reach---All of those things are IN HIS SPIRIT, Who Dwells in You. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

The primary ministry husbands have to their wives is to love them as Christ loved the church, by serving them through prayer and ministry of the Word and Spirit. The spiritual potential that can be realized as husbands and wives grow in the Spirit together and minister to each other and to their children is limitless. Husbands can prophesy over their wives and spiritually edify their wives through words of knowledge, words of wisdom—wives can do the same to their husbands and over their children, building their children’s spiritual self-esteem, prophesying over them, speaking blessings over them that are inspired by the Holy Spirit—-there is simply no limit to how much God can edify a family, and minister to a family through its individual members. When this type of family gathers with a home fellowship group, or a church fellowship group that is doing the same things in their homes, just imagine the spiritual fruit that could be realized! So, as husbands and wives are starting out in this, just meditate on and deeply ponder the amazing spiritual possibilities that can be realized through the Holy Spirit, through his gifts, through his anointing moving through each of you. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

For every individual who is intent on having a biblically, spiritually prepared heart for the Endtimes, it is vitally important to remember One Thing concerning the last days events—Jesus’ primary focus and the Holy Spirit’s primary focus is on His Church, His people.  Revelation 2:7 “Let him who has an ear, hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches”. In that one short, concise sentence, our Lord Jesus Christ—Head of the Church in all generations—Gives each and every believer in the Endtimes one clear objective—and in the end, it will be the One clear objective that matters the most; Hearing what the Spirit is speaking to the churches—And, as Jesus is speaking this directive in the singular, by saying “let him who has an ear”, the greatest priority becomes each and every one of us having developed a clear, “open channel” relationship with the Holy Spirit.  Because this is an inward relationship, the Holy Spirit through the baptism of the Holy Spirit is living within you as a real person, but because He is in your spirit and not standing outside of you, you must learn to hear Him inwardly with your spirit. In much the same way that you are sensitive to the moods and unspoken feelings of your spouse, you learn to develop the same inward sensitivity toward the Holy Spirit. There’s no mystery here—there’s just a concentrated focus on developing your inward sensitivity to the Holy Spirit living inside you. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

By way of introduction, I would like to offer this perspective: The scope of spiritual warfare reflects the scope of the glory of our future inheritance. As Paul said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.” It has been my observation over the past 43 years that North American believers, for the most part, simply do not understand the ramifications of the invisible spiritual realities governing and impacting our visible world—The spiritual causes and effects behind everything that we see. We have not only been Born Again---we have been Born Into a spiritual battle, the scope of which we need to understand, Now more than ever before.... https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

In Revelation 2 & 3, we see that at the close of this age, going into the tribulation, before Jesus is to return, He says to each of the seven churches—very directly and emphatically—“Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches”. “Saying” is in the present and ongoing tense—Which is in complete harmony with what Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit in John 14, that the Holy Spirit would show us things to come, and would lead us into all truth. In other words, it is the ongoing, continual speaking of the Holy Spirit to the church in every generation that we must contend for, and apprehend spiritually. And this area is the Lords predominant calling upon my life: to aid and equip the Church in every conceivable possible way to do this very thing—To walk in the Spirit, hear from the Spirit on a regular, consistent basis, specifically with regards to what He is saying to the church in this time. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

A Special Dedication to my precious Wife Roopa, on the 1st Anniversary of her Heavenly Homegoing (November 20, 2021). She was the very best thing that ever happened to me, Ever.....She was absolutely Miraculous..... Without her Inspiration, this podcast might not even exist.

The realm of the Spirit is a place we are going to have to become increasingly accustomed to and comfortable with as a part of our daily reality, no matter how many baby steps we have to take to get to that destination. The Holy Spirit wants to communicate with us on a deeper level than most of us will ever be comfortable with—And yet if we do not allow Him to have access to the deepest parts of our being, we will forever be at arm’s length from intimacy with all that God is. This is the place where our deepest hurts and sorrows and griefs can actually be the doorway for the Holy Spirit to go deeper in us than ever before, and bring true healing and oneness of fellowship with Him at the same time.  Your griefs, sorrows, and heartaches, are doorways to let the Holy Spirit into your heart in a deeper way, and allow Him to bring healing through those very hurts, by allowing Him to go into those wounded places—and as you go before Him in worship---because worship is what releases His presence into those deep places---and allow Him to touch you in the most loving, healing way, then you will never, ever be the same…. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

How much time do we spend dwelling on the reality of things Eternal, as opposed to giving our attention, our time, our energy, to the things that are impermanent and passing away??? We must become believers who see the spiritual realities of the coming Kingdom of God and everything that it entails, and we must have a living, breathing, shining, brilliant, blinding vision of this on the inside of us that no darkness can quench, that no demons can overpower, and that the enemy cannot ever take from us….And if we by faith believe that He is and is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, then we must also believe in that everything that He has given to us as spiritual provision---beginning with the power and baptism and then filling of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, His promises that we shall dream dreams and see visions, and the provision of the ministry of angels who have been sent to minister to us and for us,  to be ministers of his protection and deliverance and preservation, because we are His blood bought people, and as such, We should Rightly expect His supernatural, Ongoing provision, deliverance, protection, etc. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

In our last episode, a large part of my focus was on receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit, what that means, and how to receive His fullness in the simplest manner, laid out in Scripture. Now, in building upon the foundation of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, I want to walk you through the counsel of the Word of God as it pertains to the specific ways in which the Holy Spirit manifests His fullness IN us and Through us, and most importantly of all, how this subject is so vitally important to our spiritual strengthening in this hour.  The New Testament church was one that was baptized in and functioned in the power of the kingdom of God, the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit--the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead; the power that dwelt within them in Reality, not in denominational theory, we have to take a good hard look at how believers Accessed this power that was given to them freely. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

So many are simply unsure of what it means to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and I am sad to say that there has been so much misinformation and religious prejudice against the Holy Spirit, that there is more wrong information than true, sound, scriptural foundation.  So, this episode is dedicated entirely 100% to dispelling every single myth and religious stronghold that the enemy has tried to erect in the minds of believers against the Holy Spirit—and once I have torn those down, I will show you from the Word of God, out of the mouth of Jesus himself, how easy it is to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father that was sent 2000 years ago for each and every one of us. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

The Word of God says that “He that does the will of God abides forever”—So, as long as you and I are living to do the will of God, we are walking, living, breathing paradoxes to all of the impermanent, temporal things that surround us. This means that there is only one thing in the universe that will stand forever, and that is the Will of God. Everything that does Not serve the will of God must be shaken, until nothing remains but the will of God. And that means that there is going to be a lot of shaking going on around us, and that is going to be great cause for alarm, disillusionment, and disorientation. We are going to have to do everything possible to remain transfixed on the Word of God to maintain our emotional, mental, and spiritual equilibrium. BUT, We abide in Him on HIS terms, not ours. In addressing spiritual warfare, Remember, Paul said that we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of the knowledge of Jesus Christ—The gifts of the Holy Spirit work to achieve that very end. In the context of which Paul was speaking he said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds and every thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That, in a nutshell, is spiritual warfare. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifestations of the Holy Spirit of God Himself, working to edify and build up the body, and to dislodge, disarm, and displace all the works of the enemy. Key Verses: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) “But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.” (Jude 20, 21) “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (1st Corinthians 2:13) “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.” (1st John 2:27) https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

In communicating with many fellow believers over the last couple of years, I am convinced that this is a topic of utmost importance, as so many believers are truly hungry, even desperate, for a more intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father —and yet, for many different reasons, they feel blocked or hindered, and simply don’t know what to do about it. I truly believe that the first thing the Lord needs to make real to each one of us individually, is that His first desire for every one of us is to have very personal, one on one fellowship with us.  The true starting point for each of us to have real, honest, true fellowship with the Father, is through the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:18 declares, “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”  “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by which we are enabled to cry out ‘Abba Father’. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God”. (Romans 8:15) Read simply and plainly, this means the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption, which enables your spirit to now know and comprehend and intimately relate to God as your Father. So, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit indwelling us, gives us a brand new capacity to fellowship and commune with the Father. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

The very first thing that I hope and pray with all of my being, is that every one of my listeners not only understands, but relates to intimately and personally is one fact: that our relationship to God is supernatural. And that must be the foundation---the singular foundation for each and every one of us; a supernatural, inward revelation of the Son of God that was sacrificed for you and me---a revelation that is so powerful, so alive, so earth shaking that we know we can never be bought or owned by anyone but God himself, and no one but God himself has any rights to us. That, and that alone, must be your foundation and mine. The entire tone and tenor of everything that is written and said in the New Testament, is a reflection of that fact. Spirit-filled apostles writing to Spirit-filled believers, building upon the foundation of the revelation of Jesus Christ in their hearts; a Revelation fuelled and empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of the living God. (At the outset of my message, the Lord laid it on my heart to make an Appeal to Spiritual Fathers and Mothers, so please listen) https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

There are only TWO sources of guidance & direction for the Church; the ongoing influence, direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, or that of human self-will, which gives way to the religious spirit.  There are two classes of believers according to God’s Word: those who have the Spirit, and those who are without the Spirit.  The apostle Paul made this distinction when he said, “The person without the Spirit, sees the things of the Spirit only as foolishness” (1st Cor. 2:14) Now, notice that Paul did NOT say, “the person without Christ”. He said very clearly, “The person without the Spirit”.  Most believers who have not been baptized in the Spirit are very conditioned to think in religious terms, because that is how their mind works—the things of God have to be compartmentalized somehow, and without the Spirit, they have to resort to religious thinking, which is not the same at all as Spiritual thinking.  In fact, religious thinking is a horrible substitute for spiritual thinking—it likes to masquerade as spiritual thinking, and it likes to Believe that it’s spiritual thinking, which just makes things worse, by rendering the mind hardened against the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

I believe it is crucial to focus on the New Testament operation of the gift of prophecy, and what it means to us right here and now at this point in time for our lives, and for our ministries in the Lord. 1st Timothy 1:18 puts the New Testament gift of prophecy and prophesying in it’s God-given, Holy Spirit inspired context; Paul’s apostolic encouragement to his protégé, from 1st Timothy; “I commit this charge to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophetic words spoken over you, and that by those prophetic words, you would be encouraged and emboldened to fight a good warfare”.  From this, we see that, according to this very context, a Prophetic Word is “His spoken desire and will specific to you”. Three Dynamics of a Prophetic word from the Lord, which are intended to produce in you results that will carry over into Eternity: First of all, a word from the Lord given to you, tests your obedience. Second, a word from the Lord given to you tests your faithfulness. Thirdly, a word from the Lord tests your ability to bear fruit. A true prophetic word from the Lord will crucify your flesh, and is designed to bring maturity and Christlike obedience to your soul, and as you give yourself to that prophetic word by saying Yes to it and submitting yourself to it, you place yourself on the pathway of growing in obedience, faithfulness, and fruitfulness. A True Prophetic Word is intended to bring you into obedient alignment with His personal will for you. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

The issue of the hour that Western believers must absolutely, unequivocally get settled in their own hearts as quickly as possible, is that we have two conflicting mindsets here in the religious West—We have our Western religious mindset, set over and apart from the Kingdom mindset of the Gospels and of the New Testament---And those two views are completely at odds with each other, and are in total opposition to one another, and can never coexist. You cannot have a true New Testament/ Holy Spirit/ Kingdom mentality at the same time as the Western religious mentality—the two are completely polar opposite. https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit

When you look at the ministry of Jesus in all of the gospels, He was very straightforward and matter-of-fact on the subject of spiritual warfare, especially the main source of spiritual warfare that affects us on a human level. Jesus even went so far as to declare, before He rose to the Father, that those who believe in Him will do the same works, and the same ministry, by the same Holy Spirit. This is an area that the Western professing "church" has neglected---and even Opposed---for decades. It is the supreme conviction of myself and many others that Now is the time for this to change! https://store.bookbaby.com/book/being-discipled-by-the-holy-spirit