...the Word of their testimony!

 Revelation 12:10-11

King James Version

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Read these verses carefully. Opinions vary as to when this event will take place, or has taken place. But, did you catch the significant phrase in verse 11?

Satan is cast down to earth finally and totally. It says that we (the brethren) overcame him by a) the blood of the lamb, b) the word of our testimony, and c) we loved not our lives unto death.

I've been born again since 1990. 

One of the major parts of our services that used to happen was euphemistically called, "testimony service." 

People would stand and give testimony to what God was doing, and had done in their lives. Excitement would grow in the service as people would praise God for all he was doing in their midst. People's faith would grow! 

As a result, some folks would receive more miracles. Others would receive strength to push on through just a little longer, knowing that somehow, God would make a way for them, too- or at least give them the strength to carry the load. 

This used to be a big part of an Apostolic church service. 

While no one would've looked down on anyone who went to a doctor, it was understood that all healing comes from God, regardless of how he chose to bring it about. Thus, there were many more healings and many more personal miracles than we see now in our midst.

What happened? 

Somewhere along the way, leadership decided that:

a) services were too long and therefore some things needed to be cut out. So, at first, rather than letting people stand and testify as they felt led by God, the preacher would pick out a few that he would ask to testify. The message was clear, if I don't ask you, don't stand up and speak. Then, they stopped asking a few and brought it down to one. Finally, the testimony service, in most places, simply went away. After all, we got to keep the service short! 

Incidentally, the most powerful service I was ever in lasted six hours! And so much was going on that it felt like 30 minutes! Not one person complained about the length of the service. Everyone left excited about God and where he was taking us. There were songs, many testimonies, and many healings. Several received the Holy Ghost and all repented of our sins. 

b) Another reason testimony service was stopped was that the leadership had more control of the service and kept long-winded sister so and so from droning on about the same thing she talked about several times before. Sometimes, well-meaning saints would speak of things that could have been worded better or had been said many times before. This was embarrassing to the leadership, so they began to cut the whole service out. 

Now, most of our services are streamlined and very professional. But, the personal impact of what God is doing in brother or sister so and so's life- the person that we know- is lost. Yes, the music and the singing may sound better. Yes, the teaching is more professional sounding (especially since most places use Sunday School books printed by the organization) and is being taught by someone trained in how to do so. 

But, we're losing something in all this sleek professionalism. 

God's word says we overcome the attack of Satan in our lives, in part, by the word of our testimony. 

These testimonies lift the faith of us all-including the new person who knows nothing about what God can do! As faith rises, God responds and does even more in our midst. 

Church, stop worrying about the time. Let God decide how long the service will be.

Stop worrying about how sleek and professional we look and sound. Some of the greatest moves of God have started with a stuttering saint who can't carry a note, but God shone through and a move of God was born! 

The early church was filled with the power and glory of God. And most were uneducated and decidedly non-professional. Yet, they turned their world upside down because they stepped back and allowed God to move.

Now, we have very little of the power of God but we're all educated and professional. 

The secret to Biblical revival is prayer, prayer, prayer, and more prayer! They prayed until God moved. Then, they told people how God had just moved. Then, they prayed some more! 

Let's follow the same formula and watch God turn our world upside down! 

In other words, as the old saying was, it's time to "let go and let God!"

Take a fruit break today (and every day).

Galatians 5:22-23

King James Version (KJV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

John 14

King James Version (KJV)

14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Philippians 4:6-9

King James Version (KJV)

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

We live in a truly messed up world. We live at a very fast pace. We're going to work, to the store, to the doctors, and to kids concerts and practices. We have to fix our cars, our hair, our families, and our lives. We're always going and going. 

Is it any wonder that our stress levels are up, our families are in turmoil, and and our hearts are under tremendous pressure? We worry about everything and have peace about almost nothing. As a result, we scream at our families, rather than talk to them. 

Our lives seem to be built around overcoming one obstacle after another. It's crazy. What's a Christian to do in this overwhelming world?

First, take a cue from Jesus. Every time he started his day (and many times during the day and at the end if his day), Jesus prayed. Yes, Jesus was (and is) God in human flesh. But his flesh was still human. In order to make it through the day, perform the ministry he had to do, and overcome the enormous obstacles that were set before him, he had to pray.

The scriptures say that "(we) can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth (us)." (Philippians 4:13) The flesh of Jesus knew he had monumental tasks ahead so he started each day in communion with the spirit of God. We should to. If we are to make it through the many challenges that beset us each day, we need to stay in close contact with the spirit of God.

In fact, we need to do as Paul wrote and "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thes. 5:17) Whatever may come our way, we need to pray before, during, and after. If we don't, we will inevitably fail.

Jesus also tells us to "let not (our) hearts be troubled." In other words, it's a choice. We can either worry ourselves to death trying to figure out how to fix the problems we face, or we can remember that Jesus is in control.

"In everything by prayer and supplications...let your requests be made known to God," is what we need to do. We need to ask him for direction and then follow through with the actions that are required for us to do to play our part. 

Finally, we need to keep our mind and hearts focused on "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

The more we keep our minds and hearts on God and good things, the less stress we will have in our lives. When we dive off into ungodly entertainment and activities, then we are much more easily discouraged and stressed. It then becomes a viscous and counterproductive circle.

The more we worry, the more stress we have. The more stress we have, the more we dive off into entertainment (be it books, movies, games, websites, alcohol, etc) to escape our troubles. The more we try and escape and don't face the problems, the worse the problems become. The worse the problems become, the more we worry- and the process begins all over again.

Let us stop the rat race, get off the wheel, and seek God and his righteousness. If we will, then "the God of peace shall be with (us)." Then, it won't be so hard to deal with life. And we will develop part of the fruit of the spirit that he so wants to develop in us- HIS peace.

May the Lord help us ALL follow this advice in our lives. In Jesus name!  

If we are the body? The truth about binding and loosing.

^{Matthew 16:19} 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.

You hear it said often:

"Speak to your mountain."

"I bind that spirit...."

"I loose the power of God into...."

People love this kind of stuff. Preachers love to say it. It gives us a feeling of power and control. And why not? Are we not the "children of God?" Didn't he say that what we bind or loose, he will too? 

Not exactly.

Lets dig a little bit deeper here. 

The word bind here comes from the Greek "deo" and means: 
1) to bind tie, fasten

a) to bind, fasten with chains, to throw into chains

b) metaph.

1) Satan is said to bind a woman bent together by means of a demon, as his messenger, taking possession of the woman and preventing her from standing upright

2) to bind, put under obligation, of the law, duty etc.

a) to be bound to one, a wife, a husband

3) to forbid, prohibit, declare to be illicit

See, you say. We CAN bind the devil. Not so fast. We have the power to CAST out demons and resist them. But where is the scripture that says we can bind them? Where is the scripture that says we can rebuke them? Even the archangel Michael didn't take that kind of authority. He told Satan "The LORD rebuke thee." (Jude 1:9)

So, what about loosing? The word loose here comes from the Greek, lyo, and it means:  
1) to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened

a) bandages of the feet, the shoes,

b) of a husband and wife joined together by the bond of matrimony

c) of a single man, whether he has already had a wife or has not yet married

2) to loose one bound, i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free

a) of one bound up (swathed in bandages)

b) bound with chains (a prisoner), discharge from prison, let go

3) to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together

a) an assembly, i.e. to dismiss, break up

b) laws, as having a binding force, are likened to bonds

c) to annul, subvert

d) to do away with, to deprive of authority, whether by precept or act

e) to declare unlawful

f) to loose what is compacted or built together, to break up, demolish, destroy

g) to dissolve something coherent into parts, to destroy

h) metaph., to overthrow, to do away with

So, can we indeed "loose the power of God" into anything? No.
Not on our own.

I believe that the proper understanding of what Jesus told Peter (and by extension, the church) is found in Jesus' mission. We are "Christians" The word means "Christ-like." 

As I've said before, Jesus died to prepare a spiritual place for us so that WE could have the kind of relationship with the spirit of God that the son of God (the flesh) enjoyed. 

His intention was not to build a religious organization. Rather, it was to develop a "body of believers" that would- through HIM- be empowered BY him to do the things that he did. We are to be his hands and feet. Healing the sick, raising the dead, setting the captives free (through him), etc. 

Just as Jesus started his days (and many times ended his days) in prayer, we are to do the same. Even though he was God in the flesh, the secret to his ministry was the relationship of flesh and spirit that was built through prayer and time in the word. 

ALL our ministry begins in prayer and study. THEN, we are to obey his leading. WHEN we obediently act or speak, THEN all the power of heaven is released to back up our obedience to God. In this way, what we bind and loose on earth, is bound and loosed in heaven. 

The more we pray, the closer we get to him. The closer we get to him, the more we begin to be able to discern whether it's HIS voice, our voice, or the voices of our enemies we are hearing. If it's ours, we repent. If it's the enemies, we respond with the word (resist). If it's HIS, we submit and obey. 

We have become a presumptuous generation. We have bought into the "name it, claim it" falsehoods. God is NOT our servant to do as we please. We are HIS servants to do as HE pleases. We can't order God to heal someone. All we can do is ask. If HE says to say, "be thou healed", then say it under his power and anointing. But, we can't just say it and expect him to obey us.  

We are his body to do what he says. WE are to complete HIS mission through HIS leading. So, what was his mission? 

Luke 4:18-19

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

¹⁹ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Notice, "heal the brokenhearted." 

Another definition of a "bind" is a bandage. A bandage stops further infection, keeps in the medicine, and allows healing to begin. When we "bind" the hurting, we are placing a holy bandage on their spiritual wound that allows inner healing in their lives. 

Binding is not, as some teach, an offensive weapon. It is a healing balm to the hurting.

Most sins begin through a response to pain. They are bound to that sin because of some past pains and hurts. If we will stay close to God and do as he says, we will be able- through him- to enable inner healing in the lives of many. This helps them to repent and takes away (eventually) the perceived need for the sin in their lives. 

Notice, "to set at liberty them that are bruised." When we set something free, we loose them. There are many in this world that have been bruised and battered by both their own choices and the choices of those around them. If we will walk close with the Lord, he will help us- again through him- to do and/or say something that will cut the ropes and break the chains from their hearts. This will allow them to begin to heal and be set free in Jesus.

So, the true order is this: 

HE says bind, we do or say as he told us to, he unleashes his resources to accomplish what he told us to do. 

When he says loose, we do or say as he told us to, he unleashes his resources to accomplish what he told us to do.

If we try to circumvent the first step in the binding and loosing cycles, then we mistakenly try to do the second, the third part doesn't happen.  

As Christians, we truly do have a lot of power at our fingertips. But, this power cannot be used arbitrarily and at OUR choosing. This power is to be used when HE wants and how HE wants. 

The popular song by Casting crowns, asks, "If we are the body, why aren't his arms reaching, why aren't his hand healing..." The reason is either a) we aren't his body (some that claim to be truly are not), or b) we are trying to improperly bind and loose.

God has limitless power and resources available for his body to use, but we can only access them through the patterns and ways HE has ordained. If we break from these, we are powerless against a dying world- and defenseless against an enemy that has sworn to destroy us. 

If we will truly submit to Jesus, then we can become his body indeed. 

We are his body, lets let him use us as he sees fit. If he speaks, then we should speak. If he says do something, then we should do it. Our ministries should grow out of our relationship with him and through him, not out of our own minds, attitudes, or popular methodologies. 

We plug into his power through the new birth, but we only use his power when HE turns on the switch, not when WE decide.