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1. I AM WITH YOU! Dear friend of revival, Jesus has called you to be His fellow worker and an active member of His living body. The purpose of your life is to present your power and capacity to serve God's purposes. The wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing into your life. He will lift you up into ever increasing heights in your ministry. Leave behind the times of confusion, unbelief and divide the Red Sea that is in front of you - in Jesus' name and by the faith of God! The promised land is waiting for you and the Lord will see that you will achieve all that He has shown you. You are a part of the universal church of Jesus. You have your own place and ministry in the coming of His Kingdom. God is a spirit and you have the spirit and the body. As a new creature you will be able to operate both in spiritual and physical realm. Therefore the Lord needs you. He calls you and teaches you into more powerful co-operation with Him. Continuous growth, transformation and expansion will be the character of your faith life. In this letter we will deal with the personal responsibility of the believer in the area of powerful works. It is most vital to understand the limits of God's responsibility and the men's responsibility. God has set the spiritual/natural laws and boundaries in his creation, according to which He will operate ALLWAYS. When you clearly understand the responsibilities and limits of your faith life, you are able to co-operate with God. If the things do not proceed in your life, the reason might be that you either wait upon God's action although you should act (passivity, ignorance), or you try to operate in the area of God's responsibility, where you can not succeed (disobedience). Ex 3:6-10: Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; AND I AM COME DOWN TO DELIVER THEM OUT OF THE HAND OF THE EGYPTIANS, AND TO BRING THEM UP OUT OF THAT LAND UNTO A GOOD LAND AND A LARGE, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, THAT THOU MAYEST BRING FORTH MY PEOPLE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPT. Please note two specific details here. In the beginning God says: "… AND I AM COME DOWN TO DELIVER THEM OUT OF THE HAND OF THE EGYPTIANS, AND TO BRING THEM UP OUT OF THAT LAND …" God says that He will do this job and bring them out. But later on God says to Moses: "… THAT THOU MAYEST BRING FORTH MY PEOPLE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPT…" This wording says clearly that God commanded Moses to do the job! Why God said first that He will do it, but later on he commands Moses to do it? The answer is the fact that God is able to perform His plans in this world only in co-operation with His servant, who is available for God and who believes in the same way as God believes, and also acts according to God's directions. Ex 3:11-12: And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Moses did not immediately understand how to co-operate with God. He looked upon himself and said: "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel from Egypt?" This same battle against unbelief will start also in your heart immediately when God calls you to do some special and great things. But the solution will be the same as for Moses. The Lord said to him: "I AM WITH YOU!" In the Old Covenant the Son of God did not manifest Himself as the Saviour but instead as the Lord or Jehovah (Adonai). He is the same person of the Godhead - the Son of God, through whom God has revealed Himself increasingly and in different ways. None has seen the Father God, but He has perfectly revealed Himself in His Son Jesus. It is important for us to understand that Jesus is the same person of the Godhead who revealed Himself to the prophets and patriarchs. The resurrection power raised Jesus into the same glory and form of God as He had in Heaven before his incarnation. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even unto the end of the world. Jesus gave similar kind of tasks to His disciples as He gave to Moses. The key to the success of Moses was that Jesus was with Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. The precondition of the success and fulfilment of your ministry is that Jesus is with you. He is not in future tense with you but HE IS NOW. He is not with you 'by following you with a gentle smile' or 'by thinking nice thoughts about you', but HE IS WITH YOU IN GREAT POWER. You need to think differently about yourself. The Lord needs you more than you realize. Do not undermine God's possibilities with you! Alone you can not do anything but with Jesus you can do everything that He calls you to do. Repent from pride and surrender yourself to serve the Lord in humility and boldness of faith. The prince of this world must bow down before Him and release God's people from the slavery of sin, sickness and death. Glory to God! 2. DO NOT HESITATE BEFORE GOD'S CALLLING Ex 4:1-5: And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee. And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail (and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand); that they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. Moses had an amazing discussion with the Lord. He made several arguments rising from his unbelief, but the Lord strengthened His faith at the point of every hesitation. Moses was truthful concerning the condition of his faith. As a former leader in the government of Egypt he had understanding about how difficult the task would be. When the Lord calls you, let Him come near to you. Discuss with Him and let Him remove all hesitation, doubt and uncertainty from your heart. Be truthful in your heart, because the Lord knows what is there. He will not let you go forward unless your faith is strong enough. He is prepared to strengthen you in order to destroy every root of unbelief. The faith comes by hearing and the hearing by the 'rhema' word of God! Glory to God! Ex 4:10-17: And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak. And he said, Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God. And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs. Moses had been in a high position in the court of Pharaoh and he was certainly not unable to speak! But it seems that Moses thought that the human leadership and persuasion skills would be decisive for the success of his task. He had not yet seen the immense power of God that would struck down the Pharaoh and force the whole nation to yield unto His plan in favour for the children of Israel. The Lord listened to the arguments of Moses but He did not withdraw His plan for him and the people of Israel. All the preparations had been made and now it was the time to carry out the plan. Jesus had already prepared Aaron for the partnership with Moses. Moses had opened his heart to hear the Lord in obedience. Aaron was ready to hear Moses and obey his instructions. The Lord needed both men to perform this task. However, it seems that if Moses would have been able to believe quickly on God's calling and His power, the Lord would have been able to operate with Moses alone. Jesus calls you in the same way as He called Moses. He will give you supernatural tasks that you can not perform with human resources. Therefore He is ready to pour so much power of the Holy Spirit upon you that you will be able finish everything. Do not look at yourself, but look at the Lord and His power in you. Be ready to change profoundly. First you will die to yourself and then you will grow into the fulfilment of your calling. You must have strong confidence in your calling as Moses had. Jesus will speak your calling into your heart in such a way that you will certainly know. At the same time you must be aware that you can not do anything in your own strength. Then you will be ready to seek after the Lord in all that you do - and succeed well with Him! 1 Thess 5:24: Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it. 3. TRUST ON AUTHORITY OF THE WORD OF GOD Ex 7:1-2: And Jehovah said unto Moses, See, I have made thee as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. Think about how high was the position that God gave to Moses! "… I HAVE MADE THEE AS GOD TO PHARAOH…" The anointing of the Holy Spirit authorised Moses to represent God in front of Pharaoh. Pharaoh was not able to know God, because he was spiritually dead. Therefore Moses had to represent and reveal God's will to Pharaoh. In the same way Jesus has set you to represent Himself in this world in front of the sinners of this world. You are not from this world because you are born again from heaven. You are the ambassador of Jesus and His Kingdom all the time here on the earth. The Anointed One in you is the hope of glory to the people around you, who are not yet saved! Because Moses resisted Jesus' order to speak to Pharaoh, He set Aaron as a mouthpiece of Moses to transmit His Word to Pharaoh. The success in this task was depending on four facts which had to operate simultaneously and exactly:
We see here an extraordinary manifestation how the power of God was moving through His word. It did not matter whether Moses or Aaron was speaking. It did not matter whether Pharaoh obeyed the words or not. His response would however determine HOW GOD'S POWER WOULD MANIFEST. But the power would come anyway as a result of the spoken words. Glory to God! Jesus did not doubt His calling as the Messiah. He did not need another man to be his mouthpiece. He taught, preached, and made powerful works by Himself wherever He went. The apostles acted the same way after their baptism in the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:1-4: And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being sore troubled because they taught the people, and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now eventide. But many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Acts 8:3-4: But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison. They therefore that were scattered abroad, went about preaching the word. Mark 16:20: And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen. You also are called to this kind of ministry. The Lord will give you the power and capacity to do everything that He calls you to do! The Word of God will be revealed in your heart by the Holy Spirit and He will work out all for what God has sent it. You need only to be faithful in your hearing, preaching and actions. As soon as you speak the Words of God, the Holy Spirit knows what to do with you! Praise the Lord! Romans 10:8: ". Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart "; it is it I believe word, thus we will preach. 4. OVERCOMING PANIC WITH THE LORD The Lord lead Moses into ever greater miracles. In these situations Moses had to grow as a leader. He had to expand in his spirit in order to understand God's always new and inconceivable Majesty. Ex 14:9-14: And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we spake unto thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Moses knew as a leader that the panic of the nation must be calmed down in order to lead them to the right direction. But the panic of the people had seized the heart of Moses and he had lost the ability to receive from the Lord THE DIRECTION OF HOW AND WHERE TO GO. This is apparent from the words of God to Moses: Ex 14:15-18: And Jehovah said unto Moses, WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. The Lord spoke to Moses: "WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME?" Moses had stretched out his rod/hand many times and miracles had happened. Even now the Lord was ready to operate in a supernatural way. But Moses was discouraged and confused. It seemed that he had lost his ability to co-operate with God and therefore he cried to the Lord that He would do something. But the Lord could not divide the Red Sea without Moses' act of faith. How many times you have been in the situation, where panic has overpowered you and you have shouted in your heart: "Lord, do something, the enemy is destroying me!" The economic pressures, threats of sickness, problems in your work etc. are chasing you and in front of you there is the see of unsolved problems and impossible circumstances. How many times you have cried to the Lord: "Why did you allow me this kind of trial or problem? Would it have been better to stay in Egypt and not to take any steps of faith?" The solution is to remember above all, that JESUS IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALL THE TIME WITH YOU! Cool down your heart and let the Lord speak you the solution! Then stand up on your feet and do what the Lord says to you! The help of the Lord can not come neither you can move forward unless you stand up and act in faith. If you just wait for the Lord's operation without your faith and co-operation, you will stay as the prisoner of the enemy. The Lord is prepared to do the greatest miracles in your life just in front of the worst threat of the enemy. Stretch out your rod and look at what the Lord does! Glory to God! The rod of Moses described His authorization and position before the Lord. Your rod is the WORD OF FAITH THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO PROCLAIM IN JESUS' NAME. Jesus has authorized you to tramp down serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall harm you. Speak words of faith against your problems and you will see how the road will be opened before you. Praise the Lord! 5. FROM SELF-PITY TO RESPONSIBILITY After the victorious seizure of Jericho the army of Israel faced a bitter defeat in the first attempt of seizing the city of Ai. The city was small and Joshua commanded only 3000 men to the battle. But the cause of defeat was spiritual - not because of weak soldiers or military skills. The sin had entered the Israeli army and therefore God could not be with them and bring the victory. The problem had been born already in the occupation of Jericho. Be careful at the point of victory! Josh 6:17-19: And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jehovah: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy unto Jehovah: they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah. The Lord commanded that all inhabitants of Jericho had to be killed except Rahab the harlot and the people living in her house. The silver, cold, vessels of brass and iron had to be given into the treasury of God. All other things had to be destroyed. No one was allowed to take anything for his own use. The Mosaic law gave exact instructions how people had to deal with the things devoted to God or to idols (Numbers 27:28-29). The people and things devoted to idols had to be destroyed and the things devoted to God were the property of God forever. Josh 7:1: But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing… Josh 7:20-21: And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Of a truth I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. The Lord had specifically forbidden to take or to steal any devoted things because it would cause that the Lord could not bring victory to the army of Israel. Joshua did not know this problem and he was discouraged and thought that the Lord was not faithful in His promise to be with him. Josh 7:6-9: And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of Jehovah until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over the Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? would that we had been content and dwelt beyond the Jordan! Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will compass us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do for thy great name? What a cry of self-pity! The view of faith had disappeared and Joshua even suggested that the cause of the problem was God's responsibility. We should never do this, because God is not the cause of any of our problems. On the contrary, He will bring the solutions to all our problems - even to the problems caused by ourselves! Please note another thing: the self-pity of Joshua did not impress God at all. God did not even want to speak to Joshua before he would reject self-pity and stand up. Josh 7:10-13: And Jehovah said unto Joshua, GET THEE UP; WHEREFORE ART THOU THUS FALLEN UPON THY FACE? Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also; and they have even put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the devoted thing from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow: for thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel; thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the devoted thing from among you. Self-pity is a powerful weapon of the devil against the victorious faith life of the believer. We must quickly discern its presence, because wallowing in self-pity does not lead into anything except into increasing unbelief and depression. As a new creature you can immediately reject the demon of self-pity and stand up to discuss with the Lord - and receive God's solution for your problem. Stand up before the Lord and listen to His advice for the victory. The source of defeat in your life is a practise of sin. It will open the way to the sting of death to touch you. The sting of death will destroy your unity with God and will lead you into fear and unbelief - which will produce defeat. The key of your victory is to stand up before the Lord and let the Holy Spirit reveal the areas of your life that have caused you to lose the close unity with God. Jesus has carried everything on the cross already and therefore you need only to recognise your specific sin, repent and reject it. Then you must receive the cleansing by faith, because the blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all sin and unrighteousness now and forever. When the sting of sin is healed the unity with God is restored and a new victorious faith life shall begin. God is good to you and the salvation of Jesus is perfect. Reject the lies of the devil, depression and self-pity, because the new life in Jesus has been commanded for you by the decision of the Father in Heaven! Take responsibility of your conduct of life and the Holy Spirit will renew you with His Glory. Thank You Jesus for Your perfect salvation! 6. TRANSFORMATION OF YOUR MIND 1 Cor 15:54-57: But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Dressing in immortality begins from the immersion in the Holy Spirit - already in this life. The full splendour will take place later on in resurrection. But God has given us an awesome opportunity to put on ourselves the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This is the presence of immortality where the victory over sin and death has taken place. We as believers must stand up in this position in order to get rid of the power of the demons. The power of darkness is in sin, behind which the death is lurking. The death is under the authority of the devil. The powers of darkness use the temptations of sin in order to produce death, sickness, unbelief and depression etc. to people's life. This filthy shadow of death will follow every thought or deed inspired by demons - even upon the believers' life. Therefore it is vital to take full victory over the sin - by faith in honest repentance. The way to the Father's presence of love and blessings is open for you through the blood of Jesus. The power of sin is utterly destroyed upon those who believe in Jesus. You are delivered by the blood of Jesus from the captivity of sin. The sin can not dominate you, although it can tempt you. In the moment of any temptation you have a free choice to yield either to sin or to God. The law of the Spirit of Life has delivered you from the law of sin and death - in the name of Jesus. Believe this and live accordingly! Let Jesus touch every area of sin and darkness in your life. He will cleanse, heal and make you whole. Understand how evil the power of sin is and how much the devil has been able to steal from your life! Recognise that behind every temptation of sin there is a sting of death waiting. Learn to hate sin so much that you will become numb to its deceiving seductions. Be ready to resist it - even unto blood. Love the light so much that the Glory of God can fall daily upon you! In Jesus' name take every ungodly thought into captivity and force your soul to obey God. Make this decision and the Lord will put on you His immortality by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Then you will live in the victory in Jesus. Glory to God! Luke 24:45-47: Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Start to think differently about yourself! Reject the lies of the enemy concerning your life and identity. See yourself through the blood of Jesus as your heavenly Father does. See yourself as a legal child and heir of God and as a partner of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, as God sees you. When you change your thinking, the Holy Spirit will come into your life and lift you up into new life as a victor of sin in Jesus. The walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit will become the daily conduct of your life. Glory to God! Jesus is with you ALL THE TIME IN THE FULL POWER OF HIS SALVATION. He is interceding as the High Priest in front of the Father overseeing that all details of His Salvation will be in effect in favour of you - all the time. Therefore reject all depression, unbelief, self-pity and passivity. Receive full forgiveness and reconciliation in Jesus' name. Stand up before the Lord and receive His solution. Let the Lord speak His 'rhema' words into your heart. Speak the words of faith against your circumstances and act according to God's advice. DIVIDE THE SEA AND WALK ACROSS IN JESUS' NAME! Glory and honour to God! Amen! With love and blessings  |