AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Saturday – August 15, 2020, Av 25, 5780
THE PLACE OF SAFETY – PART THIRTEEN
Greetings and welcome back, we must still be interested in the absolute safety that is available only in Christ Jesus. Please take a moment and share this teaching as widely as possible to greatly expand the reach of this Ministry. You are the only one who can do it. God brought you to this Ministry not to be a bump on a log but an active participant. It seems that there is a schism in the body of Christ on the issue of safety. Many talk about safety and then they talk about martyrdom. Christ Jesus came and died for us that we could live (now and forever). He did not bring salvation so that some people could be offered up as a sacrifice for Him. It is never, let me repeat, never, the will of God that any perish which includes the devil or someone in his bunch killing us (2 Pe 3:9). How would that jive with an abundant life? Who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)? We make ourselves vulnerable to death when we are outside the will of God. The Word of God says that we shall live (not die) by every Word from the mouth of God. Death and life are in the power of our tongue. Absolute safety (of every conceivable sort) is ours as we walk by faith, in love, led of the Holy Spirit. Okay, now, once again let’s turn our attention to the following wonderful mountain removing passage. A mountain is anything blocking access to the Promised Land. Can we say like Caleb (Numbers 13:30) that we are well able to overcome all of the obstacles designed to keep us out of the “Promised Land”?
Mark 11:22-26 (KJV)
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Jesus starts off by telling us we must have faith (unwavering) in God or the God kind of faith. Remember, real or effective faith is when we have revelation of the desired result (we can see it) and it is the only option. So, in this passage the only option for the mountain (giant, walled city, iron chariot, etc.) is to go into the sea just like Pharaoh when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. Our heart is our thoughts and feelings, it is our middle man. I like to think of the heart (kardia transliterated to English from the Greek) as the middle man or the deciding man. I look at it like the entrance to our home. Various people may come to the door but we decide whether to admit them or not. The people are the doubts or wrong thoughts the enemy brings and we are the heart or one deciding. The devil will present us with doubt. A major way he does this is by getting us to look at our feelings, symptoms or other circumstances and away from the Word of God. Remember Peter?
Matthew 14:28-31 (KJV)
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
God is not pleased in the least with our failures for they are always the result of little to no faith. I don’t know about you but I don’t want the Lord to have to take my hand and ask why I doubted. In the absence of faith is the presence of unbelief. Faith is intertwined with love (agape) and unbelief is intertwined with fear. Unbelief and fear are sin. Fear and unbelief are the belief that God will not keep His Word. How awful! In our mind the only possible outcome is the performance of the Word of God no matter what things look or feel like. The enemy will put on quite the show for us.
Notice as we look back at Mark 11:23 that we must command (exercise our authority releasing the Power of God) the mountain into the sea. Whatever we command in faith free of doubt will happen. The desires (Mark 11:24) of our heart (placed there by God) are acquired in exactly the same way. We see in this passage that commanding or saying is the same as praying. Finally, we see that in order to have standing to exercise (legally) our authority and activate the Power of God we must be free of unforgiveness. If we have unforgiveness we are unforgiven therefore one or more sins stand in the way of our productiveness for the Kingdom of God. In the presence of sin, we are unfruitful and not in a place of safety. Many times, our sin is unbelief pure and simple. Unbelief and/or fear are a part of every sin. Remember, unbelief is coupled with fear which has torment and the bottom line is that we really don’t think God is going to do it but we have got to put on a good show. Love (agape) and faith are either absent but too vulnerable to circumstances (like Peter).
2 Chronicles 20:20b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it, believe it, and speak over yourself and your family by faith in Jesus name! Quit asking God to bless you, you are already blessed, you have the Blessing, give Him something to do by the words of your mouth. Once you know the will of God, decree the thing (Job 22:28, Isaiah 45:11, Mark 11:23). (The Blessing is the Holy Spirit) We have left God way to long with nothing to do in our lives.
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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