Posts tagged ‘Power’

Upon This Rock

Upon-this-Rock

By Pastor Jeff,

Matthew 16:13-19, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When you hear the word Rock, what do you think of?

Verse 18 from the amplified says this, “And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros–a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra–a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].”

What in your mind is the most firm, unmovable, undisputable doctrine in the word of God? 1Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

The Revelation of who Jesus is, “God in Flesh!” This doctrine is what separates the nominal church from the church built upon the rock!

So how is this associated with the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven?

Once we understand who Jesus is, we can bind evil Acts 16:18, “And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” What Name?
Is it enough to use the name of Jesus? Acts 19:13-16, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

It was clear form the beginning of Jesus ministry that he offended the religious of the day and was accused of using the power of the devil to cast out devils…
Matthew 12:28-30, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

After we bind evil, we have power to let loose the power of God which leads to deliverance from sin, Roman 6:22-23, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The keys we have been given are powerful, but without the knowledge of who Jesus is, they don’t have the eternal effect for it is not built upon the Rock!
John 14:8-14, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

We often say when we meet others of different religious beliefs that there is no denying who Jesus Christ is, right! Then why do they fall on men’s traditions in baptizing in the titles “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?” The earliest reliable source of using the Father, Son, and Holy ghost is in the second century; so did they suddenly become smarter that the original Apostles?
Did they get a better understanding of scripture?

No they jumped off the “Rock”!

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Seven Words to Change Your Life

   By Pastor Mike

Romans 1: 16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

A lot of people don’t like change. People will fight change, but change is good sometimes. You can’t become OR you can’t be a Christian without change. From the moment we become a Christian, we begin to change – we should change because we become new creatures in CHRIST. The good news is that it’s JESUS that gives us the ability and strength to change. We are HIS workmanship, HIS creation, created for HIS purpose. We need to change. The old man is washed away and ALL things are made new.

We are here to spread the gospel and not be ashamed of it. When the opportunity comes up, we need to jump in and tell people about JESUS.

I remember when Dee and I were in Menards and I started talking to this young worker gal. I asked how she was doing and she said she would be better if I was a chiropractor because she had shoulder pain and discomfort when she moved it a certain way. I told her I’m not a doctor but I am a believer and I will pray for a healing. She smiled and I prayed a healing touch in her in JESUS name. She had tears in her eyes and thanked me. I said give GOD the Glory. She told me she just got back with the LORD a few weeks ago because her boyfriend is a believer. I invited her to church and gave her some testimonies from JAM. She was excited and still had tears in her eyes. It’s all about JESUS and don’t be ashamed of the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST.

“ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ”:

This passage was written when Rome was in power. Rome was an Empire filled with pride. They were in power for over 200 years. Pride came from what a person owned or their social status. The Pride was everywhere. Pride is a destructive thing. Too many people hold onto their pride and live their lives like they’re better than others.

We need to let people know that there is a much stronger Hope in JESUS than anything the world has to offer.

Consider what Paul went through. He was imprisoned in Philippi, chased out of Thessalonica, smuggled out of Berea, laughed at in Athens and in Corinth his message was considered foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling-block to the Jews. But Paul stands firm in his commitment, tall in his faith and says “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.”    

At school, work, or play can people look at you and they know you made a commitment to JESUS, or is it something you try to hide?

Do people know the stand you have taken for JESUS? Your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or are you keeping that a secret?

The Gospel is the force behind salvation. “For it is the power of GOD for salvation”

“Power” —- is Force!!!

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Still the Season

   By Pastor Mike

Today is still the season to celebrate JESUS and all HE has done for everyone. HE still loves us the same. HE ‘s still pouring out HIS SPIRIT to anyone who wants to receive it. We should always be celebrating JESUS and all that HE’S done for us. HE will never stop on HIS promises because HE is the same yesterday, today and forever. JESUS never changes.

Never confess or focus on “I can’t,” because the Word says: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Never confess or focus on fear, because the Word says: “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

Never confess or focus on weakness, because the Word says: “The Lord is the strength of My life” (Psalm 27:1) and “The people that know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.” (Daniel 11:32)

Never confess or focus on sickness, because the Word says: “With His stripes I am healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) and Jesus “Himself took my infirmities and bore my sickness.” (Matthew 8:17)

Mat 28:18 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth

Luke 9:1 Then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases.

If you have the Holy Ghost you have the ability to Generate Power. While you’re sitting around waiting for GOD to send the power HE’s waiting for you to KICK up the power that’s already inside you.
When you pray you generate power. When you fast you generate power. When you praise and worship God you generate power. When you speak in tongues you generate power. When you sow seeds you generate power. When you dance for JESUS you generate power. When you show the love of JESUS you generate power.

With this JESUS power we need people who are serious about seeing our children saved and serving GOD. People that are serious about seeing the drug addict, the alcoholic, any addiction get that desire removed out of their lives, delivered and set free. See the cripples walk and the blind eyes opened and the deaf to hear and marriages healed and broken families restored.

Let’s start praising GOD for our children, praise HIM for deliverance for those addicted, praise HIM for restoration and healing of marriages. Lift up your voice and start pulling down strongholds, you’ve got the power, greater is HE that is in you than he that is in the world.

You’ve got the greatest power company inside of you, let it out let those rivers of healing and deliverance flow, let those rivers of miracles flow. You’ve got the power.

JESUS is still the reason for this season and every second of our lives. Let’s celebrate JESUS.

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Forgiveness

power-of-forgiveness_t

By Pastor Jeff,

Forgiveness! It’s one of the most significant expressions of love that I can think of, Jesus over and over tells us the importance of it. In the Lords prayer He tells us in Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Then to further emphasis it he follows up in verses 14-15, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” As we see here, it can be positive if you are willing to forgive, and negative if you chose not to forgive.

Joseph (Genesis 37-45) is a great example of someone who chose to forgive his brothers who should distain to him and even came to the point of almost killing him but sold him to slavery. Eventually Joseph had the opportunity to exact revenge on his brothers but instead showed grace. The story if Ahitophel  is the opposite, a one time friend and council to David, he became an enemy as result of David’s sin with Bathsheba whom was his granddaughter. We find him at the end of the story hung from tree after his betrayal was not heeded by Absalom (2Samuel 17:23).

Recently I had the opportunity to see the story of one Eva Moses Kor who had a twin sister named Miriam. These two sisters as well as the rest of their family were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 where the entire family except for the twins were killed immediately. A doctor Josef Mengele “the angel of death” began experiments on Eva, Miriam and many other twins which had lasting affects on they bodies and may of contributed to Miriam’s’ death in 1993. Eva later was put into contact with another “Nazi” doctor who was at the camp, a Dr. Munch. She was soon confronted with the idea to write a letter of forgiveness to this doctor but was challenged to also to forgive Dr. Mengele. Eva decided that she would and then realized that she and she alone had any power to forgive, not the others who were at the camp, not any church, or any other organization. It was hers alone as we also have the same power to or not to forgive, it’s our power!

Ephesians 4:30-32, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Forgiveness is not always easy, but it is necessary, even if the person who is the recipient does not or cannot accept it we still need to forgive not once, not twice, but as Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:22, “seventy times seven”, really what Jesus was saying is there is no limit on our ability to forgive others except the limit we put on it.

Our greatest example is found in Jesus Christ, even after the beatings, mocking, and bing nailed to a wooden cross he declared in Luke 23:35, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…” If we want to be Christ-like we need to be able to do the same!

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Pentecost Sunday 2017

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By Pastor Jeff,

Acts 2:1-4, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

The feast of Pentecost is the middle of three feast in which all the adult males were required to go to Jerusalem and occurs exactly 50 days after the Passover. This feast was to celebrate the first wheat harvest and the feast of Tabernacles which occurs 50 days after is the celebration of the harvest that the Lord had blessed them with. Up to this day the nation of Israel was still living under the law instituted by God through Moses. This was the true birth of the church in which the new covenant was given unto all mankind. This day was also predicted by Joel in which the Apostle Peter repeats on this day in Acts 2:16-21, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

We notice that we had a partial fulfillment on that day for we have yet to see the signs in the heavens. Some people believe this event of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues was just for that day, but why haven’t we seen the rest of it fulfilled? Peter answers that in Acts 2:39, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This promise was not just for that day but for all! Many millions of people are receiving this outpouring even today and I hope you are one of them. Jesus is coming soon, He has spoken to us through prophecy many times and even tells us that He is coming “Very Soon”. With the nation of Israel returning to it’s homeland in 1948 the sand in the hourglass is emptying quickly.

Many of us believe Jesus will return in our lifetimes but even if He doesn’t there are so many benefits with receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, why would anyone not desire it.  Luke 24:49, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” These are just a few of the benefits.

We are what I think is the most blessed generation in history, not because of the advances in technology, but because we are the ones that are going to see “all things fulfilled” There is only one thing holding our Lord form returning and that is found in James 5:7-8, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

If you have not received, let this be the day!

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Do You go to Church or are You the Church?

werthechruch

By Pastor Jeff,

When I say the word “church”,  do you think of the building or the people?

I’m not claiming the building as being something that should be ignored, we know the early church did meet in buildings, Acts 2:46-47, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The Apostle Paul also met in synagogues to preach Jesus, Acts 13:5, “And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.” and 13:14-15,”But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.” The first building that we know of that was built or used for the express purpose for holding Christian services is found in Syria called Dura-europis, the first one in Israel was from the late 3rd century called the Meggido. Interestingly the early churches only carried the name of the city or town that it resided in, not fancy names as some of the church buildings of today.

But as we look at some of Paul’s writings, I think we can notice one important fact, 1Corinthians 16:19, “The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” Romans 16:5, “Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.” Did you notice? the church was in the house! the church was not the house! The church is far more than the building we gather together in, we are the church that gather together in the building.

There is a danger of looking at the building as the church, one is that it can easily become just a check list, you make your weekly visit to the church building and that’s it, the rest of your week is yours to do as you please! It also diminishes the power that the church really has, for we do our praying, worshipping, bible reading, and so on at the building. Matthew 16:18-19, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  If you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, the power is in you not the building.

The message of Jesus Christ should never be restricted to a building, we are to carry the message of the cross wherever we are. So are You going to Church or Are YOU the Church?

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Has the Church lost it’s Power?

matt16-18

By Pastor Jeff,

Matthew 16:19-19, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

I used to have the opinion that the church of today has become considerably less powerful than the first century church, but recently after pondering upon it and searching the word of God I must admit my thoughts have changed. One of the problems I think that affects our opinion of the “church” is that we look at the denominations, the buildings, those that call themselves the church that really are not and use that as our measuring stick. When many think of the church the picture that comes to mind is the building which is far from the truth. The Greek word “Church” in the bible is the word “ekklesia” which means “called out”, we have been called out of darkness into the glorious light of Jesus Christ. The church is made up of born again believers and it really doesn’t matter if you gather in a building, a home, a restaurant, or in no building at all. When you come together you are having church!

When we established Janesville Apostolic Ministries we found that is not really too difficult to begin to start a church. The government is not concerned what you believe or even who you believe, but as long as you claim you believe you can become a church. So I see the problem not that so many churches are compromising, adopting worldly positions on creation, sexuality, marriage, eternal judgement, and so on. The problem is that they haven’t been truly Born-Again the bible way so really have no right calling themselves the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the presence of God is not in your services, you are not having church, you just gathering together with no real purpose.

I also feel, at least I have, that we glamorize the first century way too much, we can easily look in the Book of the Acts of Apostles and see the church definitely had great power, they had great numbers becoming converted, we see healings, people raise from the dead, demons cast out, miracles upon miracles and assume it was a perfect church. We look at church of today and see compromise, people suffering financially, spiritually, and physically and say to ourselves, why, the early church didn’t experience that, right? Wrong!

A majority of the epistles were written as result of problems that the writers had to address. We have letters addressing, homosexuality, bigotry, incest, fornication, lawsuits, false teaching, jealousy, and the list goes on. I once heard if you could ever find the perfect church, do not join it, for it would no longer be perfect! No problem, because you can never find the perfect church because it is made up of imperfect people. Does that mean that the church is not powerful, absolutely not! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, when He said the church is so powerful that not even the gates of hell stand a chance against it, it was not just for the first century church, but for us today!

Mark 16:16-18, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Sometimes I’m very happy to be wrong and am so looking forward to what God has ordained for the church of today! We are powerful and will never stop believing and proclaiming it to every creature!

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My Thoughts about Revival

Revival, Biblical Lessons, Apostolic

Janesville Apostolic Ministries