Evangelist Ross Kibodeaux

“Living in the HOPE and REALITY of Resurrection Life”(1 Corinthians 15)

There will always be a FIGHT to enter into and experience ALL that God intends for us to experience… this is called “The fight of faith”. The reason we are contested to such a degree is because of the POSSIBILITY that faith brings into the equation. True Faith unlocks the possibility for God to be God in the earth - for God to do all that He desires to do in your life and mine And if God is allowed (believed) to be God then the Kingdom of God will he furthered and great despite and destruction will be wrought to the kingdoms of hell. Let us be a people, who in spite of opposition, believe God! Don’t draw back! Believe that God is who He says that He is and that He is able to do through you what He says that He can!

It seems as though we live in a generation that is on a fast-track toward judgment – but just as God has before – I believe that He intends to be MERCIFUL one more time to our generation. He intends to give us a moment of mercy. THE EVIDENCE that God is intending to show men MERCY in this generation IS YOU! YOU are the EVIDENCE that God desires to save men from a coming judgment! Message taken from (Ezekiel 22)

Psalms 2 speaks of a spirit in the world that vehemently opposes the people, purposes and plans of God. This spirit did not just pervade or perplex a singular generation. Since the beginning of time this spirit has been at work in fallen man to oppose God (His plans, purposes and people) - to hinder the advancement of His rule and reign in the earth. But, God LAUGHS at this (actually mocks it) because no matter how hard Satan and his cohorts have tried - they have been INCAPABLE of stopping the forward progress of His plans and intentions. God not only sits in the heavens and MOCKS the intentions and plans of the enemy - but He does it in the earth through His people! He foils the plans of the enemy! He desires to use US (the people of God) to confound the enemy and His plans. The early church, though opposed and oppressed from every side, did not fold under the pressure or retract from their testimony for Christ! Instead of seeking to escape the moment they sought God for Great Grace to rest upon them that they might be the testimony He ordained them to be! God honored their prayers by using them to shake the world for Christ. I believe that God has every intention of doing mighty and miraculous things through His church in this moment. Not just preachers and fivefold ministers… the BODY of CHRIST! If He is going to do these mighty and miraculous things - it will be through YOU!

What does the life of a servant look like? For Paul, it looked like a life that was COMPELLED by a PASSIONATE CRAVING to INVEST something of Spiritual life, value, and worth into the people God had placed in his life. It consisted of living for the Glory of God and the good of others. The call to be a SERVANT may not be ATTRACTIVE – but it is the ONLY WAY to be AFFECTIVE in the Kingdom of God! We must become NOTHING if we are to be ANYTHING for the sake of God and His Glory. Though contradictory to human-thought and estimation – the call to SERVE Jesus is the GREATEST call in the kingdom of God!

There are moments in history that I have defined as “Moments of Mercy” where God uniquely and strategically positions His people to HEAR His voice and gives them the opportunity to RESPOND to Him in faith and obedience. As you look throughout Biblical and Post-Biblical history you will see that “moments of mercy” often PRECEDED earth-shaking and history-changing movements… Moves that, in one way or another, FURTHERED the PLAN OF GOD and SHAPED the WORLD as we presently know it. In the midst of captivity, calamity and catastrophe Ezekiel heard from and spoke for God! His ministry prepared a people for things to come and still influences us today! May we HEAR what the Spirit is saying to us in this day and hour!(Ezekiel 1; Joel 2; Acts 2)

Are you up against seemingly insurmountable odds? Does it feel as though you are surrounded by enemies that are out for your defeat and destruction? Have they attempted to convince you that God is not with you, for you, or aware of your sufferings? Have you been led to believe that He no longer cares for you or favors you because of your past failures or present fears? Then, I believe that this word is for you. You are not alone. The dichotomy in your heart between grave concern and Godly confidence is not some unique or outlandish experience. Men, all throughout history, who have walked closely, intimately, and meaningfully with God have experienced these moments and seasons in their lives.

(Judges 1-3) The people of God in the times of the Judges were over-comers, conquerors and victors! They were those who had been called God’s name, redeemed by His power, and given incredible provisions and promises to be what they could never hope to be in themselves. YET, they were not living as such. They were CONTENT to live as though they had been given a PARTIAL victory. Unfortunately, this parallels so many a Christian experience today. Believer, you do not have to settle for less in your Christian experience than what Jesus died to give you!

The Christian life is never one that is uneventful or unmarked by seasons of great trial and testing. Seasons of opposition and even oppression are NOT foreign or unfamiliar places to the believer. There are spiritual forces that are arrayed against the believer in Christ, that seek to ROB the believer of what He has been given in Christ, and to HINDER that believer from being the testimony of Jesus that he/she is called to be. But, with every promise of trial, testing, and temptation, also comes the promise of God’s SUPERNATURAL and DIVINE INTERVENTION!With that supernatural divine intervention comes the ABILITY that you and I need to be VICTORIOUS! To be OVER-COMERS; to be testimonies for JESUS in spite of what HELL throws our way!

Jesus has come to save man from his sin and to relieve him of the negative effects that sin has brought about on the entirety of the human race. Jesus can save you (and others) from the lasting effects and torments that sin has brought about in your life! He is MOVED with compassion for humanity. Scripture ref. (Matt. 4:23-24; 9:35-37; 12:20)

Paul, in (Romans 5:1-5) addresses 3 things we must be reminded of as we travel through trials:1. Our SECURE POSITION in Christ 2. The ABIDING PRESENCE of Christ3. The UNFAILING REDEMPTIVE PURPOSES of Christ

Paul URGES the church to ALLOW their LIVES to bear EVIDENCE that they have TRULY EMBRACED and ENCOUNTERED the Gospel in Christ.

The “righteous” have a solid foundation on which they can stand! One that is unmovable, unshakable, and unbreakable - Jesus Christ!

If you’re facing a time of great difficulty, even your own “inner prison”, I believe a simple reminder of the omniscience and divine providence of God will encourage you to call on God and praise Him in the midst of your circumstance.