"The DEVIL Only Has ONE TRICK: DECEPTION!"

Can you imagine going to a Magic Show and come to find out that the Magician only has ONE TRICK? How disappointed would your kids be? You would shake your head in disbelief and be totally disgusted thinking about the big build up and promotion you received to get you to buy the tickets to see the "greatest magician on earth!" Posters, radio and TV ads and word of mouth were are pumpin' this guy up big time.

The truth of the matter is there is no such thing as a magician. They only want to make us "think" that they are magicians. There are no rabbits in the hat, no disappearing elephants and no vanishing planes. They can't levitate or fly or disappear. They can't saw a woman in half and then put her back together; we couldn't stand the sight of all that blood!

This is where the enemy receives his power; from our lying eyes  and our overwhelming desire to be entertained. You get to the show and before you can get settled in your seat, SHAZAAM...the show is over! The Magician takes a bow, grabs his stuff and exits the stage. The lights fade to black and when the house lights come back up, the Magician is gone! Now you're mad and want your money back. You run to the back of the theatre looking for this dude, but he is in the wind. Then you check your the back of your ticket and it reads in bold print, "ALL SALES FINAL. NO REFUNDS!"

You can't believe it! How did this dude get me again? 

The simple answer is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. He has been using the same cheap magic trick since he met Jesus in the wilderness over 2,000 years ago!

Magicians, sorcerers, warlocks and witches rely on their subjects to trust their "eyes." Our eyes are the portals to our flesh. The key to Satan's success though is to get you to "trust your eyes." The use of misdirection and sleight of hand tricks the onlookers into thinking they see something that's not really there. The devil knows EXACTLY what you "like" and he is gonna make damn sure you get as much of it as you want! He knows that once you see it, you gotta have it. And once you have "it," he has "you!" 

In the "FEAR REALM" this is how manipulation and deception work in tandem to derail the Christian off of the path of righteousness. However, in the FAITH REALM, the Believer "sees" with his EARS. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) The Believer knows that he has to stay immersed in God's Word in order to resist the wiles (tricks) of the enemy. The Believer then goes before the Throne of Grace to hear God's instruction for his service in the marketplace. The marketplace is where the Believer receives His power to rule and reign and subdue Satan.

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?  (Jeremiah 5:31)

You have to be dead to miss that! Selah...

"What Manner of MAN Is This?"

In the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and Mark Jesus and his disciples piled into a boat and while they were crossing the sea, a great storm arose. The storm was so great that the boat was overcome with water and caused fear to come upon His disciples while Jesus was asleep. They woke Him up seeking His help, He rebuked them, He then got up and proceeded to calm the wind and the sea with His faith.

The Gospel of Matthew 8:27 states, that after witnessing this miracle His disciples were astonished,  "But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

"And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still." And the wind ceased and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39)

Jesus was having a pretty strong day (as was His custom) in the miracle department! He had just cleansed a leper with one touch and the Spirit of Jehovah Rapha (God our healer): He then proceeded to Capernaum and healed the Centurion soldiers' servant because of the man's great faith; after that, Jesus went over to Peter's house and healed his mother-in-law and later that evening they brought many people to Him that were demon possessed and He healed them all. In fact, there were so many sick and demon possessed folk who showed up that Jesus ordered His disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

It is here where we pick up the story with Jesus and His crew in the boat crossing to the other side of the Sea. Once they got to the other side, Jesus encounter two demon possessed men and the demons pleaded with Jesus not to kill them. The demons asked for Jesus to permit them to got into a herd of pigs feeding nearby. He granted them to go and the demonic spirits then went into the pigs and the pigs charged down a steep hill into the sea and perished. The account of this event was given to the entire city by the men attending the pigs. The Bible says the entire city came out to meet Jesus and when they saw Him they begged Him to leave their area. (Matthew 8:28-34)

What a minute! Are you telling me that after all the Lord God did for the people that day, His reward was to be summarily dismissed, rejected and kicked to the curb? The hard answer is, "Yes He was." Isn't that typical of mankind? This is always the outcome of a hard heart and unrepentant spirit...total rejection of the grace and mercy of the Lord God.

What can we learn from this experience? Jesus was not offended by this treatment. As a matter of fact, He got back in His boat and went home where He immediately healed a paralytic and kept it movin'! Jesus was not offended because He was not acting on His own authority; He was not offended because He was not doing anything for His own glory; He was not offended because He was always in "teacher mode." He was demonstrating to His disciples the cost associated with following Him as He followed God.

Can you imagine an entire city coming out to meet you to tell you to get the heck out of their town? Don't gloss over that point. That's why I call Him "The Belligerent Christ." He is fearless, focused and faithful to perform the Will of His Father.

What manner of Man is this, you ask? He is the manner of Man that has given all Believers the ability to do greater works than He. It is his expectation that we boldly advance the Kingdom of heaven in the earth and He is the manner of Man that has given us the keys to the kingdom. The manner of Man who died for our sins and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The manner of Man whose love and obsession with His people is too remarkable for words. The manner of Man whose faith is greater than fear!

The manner of Man we should all aspire to be in Christ Jesus....Selah.

"Private vs. Corporate WORSHIP: GOD is NOT Taking Attendance!"

Perhaps one of the most misquoted scriptures in the Word of God has been extracted from the Epistle to the Hebrews in Chapter 10. It is misquoted because most often this scripture is directed towards a person who does not attend church regularly or, in many cases, not at all. 

It is misquoted most often because many Christians have only "heard" someone say it and have rarely "read it for themselves;" if at all.

The diatribe goes something like this, "Sister, I have been praying that you find a church home where you can be fed the Word of God." The response from the other person is, "I'm okay. I really enjoy studying the word alone in the privacy of my own home." This next statement almost invariably ends up being, "Girl! Don't forsake the assembly of the saints!" (Translation: The ONLY place to receive the revelation from God is from a Pastor in a church). You will see in a moment that the scripture does not say this.

Chapter 10 in Hebrews gives us the revelation that animal sacrifices were not sufficient for sanctification, that Christ's death fulfilled the Will of God, that Christ's death perfects the sanctified, that we (as Believer's) are to hold fast to our confession of faith and the just live by faith. In short, this chapter teaches us the perfection of the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary afforded us the opportunity to gain access to the Holy Spirit  (behind the veil) and thereby be sanctified, justified and called sons of God. The context of this chapter is about FAITH and ACCESS to the Holy Spirit through the Blood of Christ not church attendance.

These are the verses that create the controversy, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some (many early Christians did not attend church for fear of persecution [murder] from the Roman government), but exhorting (encouraging, supporting one another with the truth) one another, and so much the more as you see the Day (when Christ returns for His sons) approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25) 

It boils down to personal preference. Neither side should be condemned for their choices. Many people thoroughly enjoy the Sunday church experience and get a lot out of it. Others enjoy staying at home or joining small group gatherings in lieu of church. That's cool too. 

The bottom line is that private versus corporate worship is an individual choice and please be advised, "God is NOT taking attendance!" Selah...

"NOT In The Name of JESUS: ACCESS DENIEDI"

The Word of Truth is being corrupted by an ever increasing army of selfish church leaders who are only interested in self preservation, financial gain and situational longevity. This perversity is being fueled by numerous congregations that fail to study, read and meditate on God's Word and are, in actuality, "functional biblical illiterates."

In the Name of Jesus (ITNOJ) what is going on? I went to visits my friend at his job and where he works there is high level security. In other words, I had to use his name to gain access to the building. But first, he had to send my name to the security desk and inform them that I was coming. If I didn't use his name, I wouldn't have been allowed access. Conversely, if I had given the security team a name other than my own, I would have also been denied access.

What am I saying? I am saying that there is power in your name. A "good name" name means something.  Jesus was not a surprise to us. The Holy Spirit informed us of His impending arrival long before He got here. God left His name at the gate and the angels escorted Him into the earth realm. Once here, God confirmed that this was the Messiah He had prophesied. Jesus then proceeded to walk out the name He had been given by His Father. He was to be the Savior of the world. "A good name is to be chosen rather than riches; Loving favor rather than silver and gold." (Proverbs 22:1)

The wisdom of Solomon (meaning "peace" in Hebrew) is evident in this scripture. He implores the reader to "choose" a good name (make the decision intentionally and then walk out that name with integrity and honor). When your father gives you a good name, it is his expectation that you manifest the intent of that name. When the Lord God gave Joseph and Mary the name for Jesus ("Savior") it was God's expectation that He become Savior. Anything less would be unacceptable!

What has been created in the modern day church (MDC) is a systematic dismantling of TNOJ. His name has been replaced by isms and skisms and titles and pomp and circumstance. His name has been tossed around haphazardly in support of all manners of evil, false doctrine, corrupt teaching and manipulation. Prayer has been marginalized ITNOJ. Faith has been compromised ITNOJ. Fortunes have been lost and stolen ITNOJ. Houses of perversion and degradation have been built ITNOJ. The people of God have been enslaved to mankind ITNOJ! The message to these hirelings is simply, "stop it!" Stop saying you're doing these things ITNOJ because you are NOT!

This has all been done and much, much more NOT ITNOJ! This trickery and wickedness has been done in the name of Satan. Christians have sold out the name of Jesus for filthy lucres' sake! His name is above every name (Phil 2:9) yet many Christians do not know how to apply His name to their situations. Christian prayer is focused on "receiving blessings" versus "receiving instruction for service in the marketplace."

The Believer must understand 1) the biblical concept of their name (as a son of the Most High God), 2) get wisdom and knowledge on the importance of God's Name through study, prayer and meditation and 3) realize the significance of acting on behalf of TNOJ.

The conclusion of the matter is this for all who submit to the Lord God in the earth realm; with His Name I LIVE (Access Granted); without His Name I DIE (Access Denied)!

"SECRETS...!"

"For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be made known and come to light."  (Luke 8:17)

Secrets are one of the primary weapons Satan uses to keep the Unsuspecting Christian in bondage to his deception, manipulation and trickery. 

We have all fallen prey to the thought that if we just "keep quiet" no one will ever know. In addition, many of us have tumbled from grace in a "spiritual avalanche" late at night (in the dark) doing every manner of evil, mayhem and perversion to satidfy our fleshly desires. We did these things at night because we wanted to limited our exposure to as many people as possible so that we could maintain the pretense of being holy and righteous. We also did it in the dark to hide our sin. We did it late in the midnight hour because we were scared of being uncovered. But we mainly did it because it felt good!

We welcomed the night; it gave us a sigh of relief. We could stop pretending (being the hyprocrites that we are) and be ourselves. You could visit the porn shop in disguise 25 miles away, go to the crack house with a friend to get the hook up, meet your "jump off" in the next town over at some seedy motel or stay up all night cheating on your expense reports that were due the next morning.

It's funny how hard we will work (we will go to ANY lengths to keep certain people close to us from finding out our secrets) to keep our "stuff" private from mankind and yet many of us have little or no concern that God sees our mess. Too many Christians make the mistake of misappropriating grace and mercy. 

The goal of the righteous Christian should be the consistency of integrity as we walk in the light. Our witness should be our deeds more than words. People will know the true meaning of Christ as it is manifested in our service. They will know and feel LOVE.

The mature Christian must come to realize that he cannot hide from God. He must know that he is obligated to bring his sin to God with a contrite heart and spirit. It is the heart of a man, not his mouth or his tongue, that manifests glory for God in the earth. It is his fruit (legacy) and his service to others. No matter what we say or do, at the end of the day it is what we present to God that makes us sons or daughters in the kingdom. 

What is the worst thing that you have done? What is the worst thing that you have said to someone else? You can conjure up the most vile, wicked and corrupt thought and act on it and it still wouldn't surprise God? What can you say or do that will trip God up? The answer is NOTHING! 

The conclusion of the matter is this; God has PERFECT KNOWLEDGE of MAN (Psalm 139) and it is His desire to cleanse us of all unrighteousness and be the LIGHT no matter how dark it is in your life right now. This is the time to call on the name you need! Selah...

"A RELIGIOUS ENEMA: Take Your Paddle With You!"

Back in the day when men went camping in the wilderness they had to "rough it" meaning they had to survive off of the earth; using only what God had provided. They would make their own shelter, hunt and prepare their own food and find a bush "outside the camp" to "take a dump." When the need occurred, one of his fellow campers would give him a paddle and he would head for the woods. 

The paddle would be used to dig a hole that he would subsequently cover with dirt after he was finished taking a dump. Once finished, he was allowed back in the camp and the expedition would continue. Are you constipated with religiosity? Do you need a religious enema?

I got to thinkin' about my religious detoxification process and it felt a lot like the dump a man takes in the woods. You know the feeling; when you have digested too much and you get very uncomfortable. You feel like you want to throw up and then suddenly...you get that sharp contraction that let's you know you have to move and move quickly! So you grab your spiritual paddle and you head for the woods. The crowd just wants you to get as far away from the camp as possible because they don't want to smell your stench; but more importantly, no one wants to step in your crap!

All you know is that you have to rid yourself of the religious toxins that are causing your body to sieze. What are some of these toxins? They are bitterness, envy, ignorance, fear, unforgiveness, jealousy and lies. Boy oh boy, what a feeling once the crap is out of your system. I was renewed, refreshed and rejuvenated. Then I had to ask myself the hard question.

What had me rooted and grounded in religiosity? ("religiosity" is defined as following the tenents (laws) of man versus the Word of God). My susceptibility to being induced with the religious serum was a byproduct of how I was raised. I was never taught to read, study and meditate on the Word of God for myself and I was therefore ignorant to what God's Word said. I never knew that my physical body would detox itself if I was being led by the Holy Spirit.

For any Believer who wants to have success with the detoxification process, you must:

• Break the Spirit of Repitition (Satan loves it when you are predictable)
• Stop assembling with non-Believers (this may include many of your church members and some of your family and friends)
• You have to have "alone time with God"
• You have to read, study and meditate on God's Word
• You have to stop fixating on church attendance and fixate on the Holy Spirit
• You have to utilize your gifts to serve God's people in the marketplace.

The transformed Believer can take a look at his dump and know what he had ingested and digested that contaminated his body. He will know that he has to change his diet (spiritually) and that if he ever has another bad spiritual meal, he must always remember to swallow his religious enema, run into the woods away from the crowd and...

...TAKE HIS PADDLE WITH HIM!