We can be strong in the Lord and stand against the wiles of the devil. Isaiah 54:17 tells us that there will be weapons against us but that they will not prosper. Satan seeks whom he can devour. We can get “captured” by ourselves by not listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit. Learn to dodge the next weapon. Every tongue that rises against you, you shall condemn. (Isaiah 54:17) Oppose, not tolerate, negative talk against you. You may have to condemn the words that even loved ones speak or have spoken against you. You have a heritage to break everything built up against you. You can say “NO!” and not let self-judgment cause you to back off. In Luke 13:11-17 a woman had a “spirit of infirmity” assigned against her. A “spirit” is a personality, entity, being. It is alive. She didn’t glorify God when she was crippled over but when she was healed. She was loosed (like a donkey is untied) from the spirit of infirmity which came from Satan. You can know the devil’s there, and still not get paranoid. Don’t look for reasons why something bad is happening to you, but if there’s sin in your life, repent and look to the blood. Then, when God looks at you, He sees the blood. If you stand against the enemy, you need the breastplate of righteousness on you. Romans 8:1 says that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You empower Satan when you say, “What’s wrong with me?” What’s the devil’s “revival”? War. God is for you! You must condemn condemnation. The weapons formed against you are words. There is power in the Word of God. Sin no more. Get the living Jesus in your heart.
What To Do When Everything Goes Wrong Part 2
What To Do When Everything Goes Wrong Part 1
Proverbs 24:10 says that if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. When we are weak, we can rely more on God’s strength. If you get weary in a time and in a land of peace, how will you handle the really bad times? (Jeremiah 12:5) We need to get strong in the Lord. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN CONTACT WITH THE LIVING JESUS! Rather than wondering what others think, want God’s approval. Get right with God by repenting. Drop those sins, even those that seem small. Put on the whole armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18) Ask yourself if you are missing a part of the armor, because if you are, you can’t stand against the devil. Where the devil attacks you shows you where you are weak. The devil hates you and wants to kill you. There is a real devil, who has strategies against you in a real war. Be careful to notice the subtle way the devil steals your time away from God. STAND and don’t waver. We stand against the wiles of the devil. We don’t wrestle against people. Some seasons in your life are darker than others. You don’t need to be afraid of the evil day, if you have your armor on. Run to the Word and stand on God’s promises. Your faith should put out the enemy’s darts. Paul’s expansion on the armor of God is really from Isaiah’s teaching in Isaiah 59:14-17. Intercession was tied in with all the pieces of armor. Satan tries to take you out of the role of intercessor. He is afraid you will get into the Spirit. When things go wrong, PRAY MORE. LEAN ON AND FOLLOW THE SPIRIT. TAKE THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, PRAYING.
Healing By Honoring Jesus and Forgiving
We should hold the Word more valuable than anything else. Those who came to Jesus for healing honored, obeyed, and believed Him. We can be hardened by unbelief. Believing is simple. The Isaiah 53:1-9 account of Jesus’ stripes healing us was written hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth. Matthew 8:16-17 and 1 Peter 2:24 were written when and after Jesus was here. By His stripes we were healed. Jesus suffered in hell to pay the price for us. (Acts 2:25-31) He tasted spiritual death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9) He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. (1 Peter 3:18) He not only had the sin of everyone on Him, He had people against Him. When He was being “tried”, He did not open His mouth to answer their accusations. To be forgiven, we must forgive. It is not a “tack on” to His instruction to make prayer work, but it is actually the condition for it to work. (Matthew 6:9-15) Unforgiveness places you under the curse of the law, even though Jesus took the curse for us, and we are redeemed through His blood. (Galatians 3:13) We must forgive in order to be healed. Forgiveness is a choice to release the other person. Go to the person privately; bind the evil spirit; loose the plan of God. (Matthew 18:15-20) Be quick to repent when you sin. (Matthew 5:23-24). Faith does not work if you’re in unforgiveness. (Mark 11:20-26) If you are blaming God, you must forgive Him, even though He did nothing wrong. Jesus took all injustices upon Himself. What did Jesus say on the cross? “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” For Him to stay in faith, He had to forgive those who were killing Him. (Luke 23:32-46) He died in faith and forgiveness. He paid the price for our sin and sicknesses.
What Is Our Foundation About?
Psalm 11:2-3 asks what the righteous are to do if the foundations are destroyed when the enemy attacks. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 we are told that our foundation is in Jesus Christ. One of the foundations in Jesus Christ is found in John 15:9, 12-13. Here He tells us to love one another as He loved us. How did He love us? He laid down His life for us. If you are not willing to die for someone, you do not care. We are from heaven’s culture. Do we know how much God loves us? Do we really care what God has in His heart? We need God’s heart. No curse will enter through His foundation. Our foundation is Jesus and when we give our lives for people, our foundation will stand.
Receiving Your Healing
We are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. (2 Corinthians 3:18) The unseen realm is eternal and more real than the physical world. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) Where there is no vision or revelation, the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18) We need to see things as God sees them. Light and revelation are the differences between the sick and the healed. To receive from God, you can’t be just waiting for God. He is waiting for us. Also, you can’t be thinking that it’s going to take a long time to be healed. God heals those who “have their motors running and are percolating and are like fizzy sodas”. In order to receive your healing, you must believe, conceive, and then receive. To conceive your healing, you must see yourself healed. Then you can receive the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:5; Mark 11:20-24) Jesus had faith in the power of God to back up His Word. The power of God manifests the Word of God. Healing is from the same Jesus, power, and anointing that you received for salvation, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and being delivered. You can have instant results if you have faith for instant results. Raise your level of expectation, because greater is the power of God.
Don’t Settle for Less Than God’s Best
Romans 8:29 says that God foreknew and predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. Ron tells of his life, which started out by his mother being raped followed by his being greatly harmed by a botched delivery. God’s plan for Ron was for him to live miraculously. Don’t settle for a healing when you can get a new body part from God. In order to receive, you must have God’s image of yourself. Religion tells you to stop sinning. Instead of trying not to do something you shouldn’t be doing, do what you should be doing, and you won’t do the “don’t”. When God tells you to do something, His grace is there. Step into the ability to do what you are to do. Instead of trying to put off something, put on health and freedom from pain. Do the “do”, and you can resist the “don’t”. If you have bad habits, take on new good habits. Get God’s image of you. Joshua 1:8 tells you to put the Word in your mouth, and when you speak it aloud, your inner and outer ear hear it. Speak the Word until you get the revelation of it, and it becomes a reality. Your focus and image must be God. Take a step of obedience, even when you don’t have all the details. When you speak in tongues, you speak the will of God, and you can get God’s plans and the words to speak out. Tongues can prophesy your future in God into existence. Establish a perfect image in God’s eyes of what it means to be in divine health. God is higher than you, and He will not come down to your level but will help you to come up higher. He sends the Holy Spirit to get the Word to you, so that you can get His thoughts and ways. Sow seeds into yourself by speaking out the Word. When you practice reading the Bible, speaking the Word, and praying in tongues, then you can react in God’s way.
Divine Health From the Word in Your Heart
Text: Jeremiah 1:4-5. The spiritual womb and belly are part of your heart, the part of your heart which is the part of your soul that believes God. Your born-again spirit man always agrees with God, but your soul (heart) needs work. You can doubt in your heart, but not your spirit. So how do you get doubt out and faith into your heart? You sow the seed (the Word) into your heart. The Word you sow into yourself creates healing and divine health. We know that as soon as the seed is sown, Satan comes to steal it. (Mark 4:13-15) There is a healing flow, and if we are off even a little bit from where that flow is, we need to make a little adjustment to get into that flow. What comes out of your mouth is important. (Proverbs 18:19-20) The condition of your heart makes a difference, too. If the Word (the seed) is planted in your heart, the Holy Spirit can bring it back to your remembrance. Words create an image. In your heart you must see yourself walking in divine health (prosperity) and get rid of the wrong image. Watch what comes out of your mouth and guard whom you fellowship with and what is spoken into you. Anti-faith is faith that works against your faith in God’s Word. (Matthew 10) You may need to “fast” certain people who steal the Word from you. (2 Timothy 2:15-20) Know the truth and make it yours. Being renewed takes place in the mind of your being. Allow God to enlighten any darkness in your life. (Psalm 18:28) Truth can see into your heart. You get the seed in your inward parts by speaking it and edifying yourself. It takes effort to get God’s Word into you, but that’s how to live in divine health. (Other Scriptures: Psalm 22:9-10; Job 3:11; Genesis 6:5; Matthew 15 and 16; Proverbs 20:27; Psalm 51:6; Proverbs 4:20-24)
Re-Present Jesus: What Did Jesus Say About Himself?
Jesus Say About Himself?” Jesus purchased our healing. There are five (5) common denominators between people like Kenneth Hagin, who received their healings. 1) They stood on the Word in their hearts. 2) The leading of the Holy Spirit led them out of sickness in steps. 3) They were obedient. 4) They acted on their faith. 5) They were persistent. Jesus is our example. What did He say about Himself? He said that through Him the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Eighty-three percent of what He did was miracles. He told of his demonstrating Jesus to a witch doctor, who was healed and became born-again, a blind woman who was healed, and a woman who couldn’t feel her legs who was able to walk and feel again. Jesus did not get great results when the people were offended at Him, so He taught the people to increase their faith. (Mark 6:2-5) Go and tell what you see and hear. Brian shared his testimony of being told he would die of cancer and his fight of faith. In order to prosper on the outside, we need to prosper on the inside. (3 John 2) As we get older, we need to contend for the faith. One of the greatest tributes to Jesus is to not settle for less. What does “By His stripes you are healed” mean to you? You can walk in divine health, but not if you conform to this world’s thinking. (Romans 12:2) God’s Word is life, light, and medicine.
Jesus Is Great!
The angel told Mary that she would conceive and have a Son named Jesus, and He would be great. (Luke 1:26-32) Keep Jesus at the focus and center of your life. Colossians 1:12-23 tells us that God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus is the head of the body, the church. Make sure Jesus always has pre-eminence and keep Him first in your life. He reconciled all to Himself having made peace through the blood of His cross, and we are now reconciled to Father God. We were alienated, and we were enemies in our mind by wicked (twisted) works. Our thoughts can be alienated from God. The blood and His body died on the cross to present us (me) holy, unblamable, and unreprovable in His sight. How does God see you? He sees you holy. He sees you without blame or fault. He sees that nothing is needed to be added or fixed about you. The alienation and enmity are in our minds, not in God. What He sees is more important than what you think about yourself. He sees you always victorious, having more than enough, finding opportunities, and full of love, joy, and peace. God sees the answer. God can’t answer a prayer when it is for something He has already given us. Luke 1:13-15 is the account of the angel telling Zacharias that Elizabeth was going to have a son named John and that he would great in the sight of the Lord. Even though John the Baptist would be great, in fact greater than Adam, Abraham, and Daniel, Jesus said that whoever is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. That is who we are. Most of us do not see the greatness God sees. If we would see ourselves as God sees us, we would be translated from darkness to light in a moment. Knowing that you are holy, unblamable, and unreprovable in His sight will destroy past memories and make every day new. God sees what He has fashioned for Himself.
Value the Word of God
Psalm 19:7-10 tells us that God’s Word is the law, a testimony, statutes, the commandment of the Lord, the fear of the Lord, and the judgments of the Lord. The Word should be more valued than your paycheck. In keeping God’s Word is great reward. The Word is not qualified by the sower, and the sower does not determine the Word. It is the Word that is important. We are experience-oriented, but purifying your soul is not an experience, but a process by obeying the truth through the Spirit. (1 Peter 1:22-23) God wants our hearts red-hot for Him. Love others and reach out to them, even those who are different. God’s Word is eternal. When we work the Word, we will be blessed. (James 1:25) The Word of God can convert your soul. It is a process of renewing your mind by it. Your desires rule you, and you can choose your desires. (Psalm 19:10) What you focus on long enough, you will desire. Get your desires on the Word. Read the Word for yourself and value it.
Who Is the Blessed Man
Who is the blessed person? Is it the person living in a multi-million dollar home along Malibu Beach, or is it the young woman in Iran who is imprisoned and beaten and shamed for her faith in Jesus Christ? Is it riches or what is it? A blessing is a spiritual thing. In Genesis 18:18God said that through Abraham every nation would be blessed. That didn’t mean that the Jews would give money to all the nations. It meant that blessing would come through spiritual experience. What we receive from Christ is salvation and eternal life. We get blessed when someone gets saved through us. Revelation 5:12 mentions blessings separately from riches. We are of the blessing of Jacob. Even though his father-in-law and brother were against him, and everything seemed to be taken from him, God blessed him, and from him we have blessed generations. Multiplication is part of blessing. Pastor Arthur told a story of a woman who had two other children and was going to have an abortion because her husband died. Pastor Arthur ministered to her, and his church supported her and her children. Today that youngest child is one of the lead dancers in the Russian ballet. Blessing is creative. Determine and choose what a true blessing is. You will have battles and persecution, but desire to be a blessed person. The church is to bring the truth of spiritual blessing. Be blessed and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Everything Will Turn To Good
Arthur Simonyan, a pastor from Armenia, preached on Romans 8:28. The number one thing for believers is to love God, and secondly, to love our neighbors. Loving one another and God means to take care of one another and to protect one another. Pastor Arthur shared several examples of people who were serving God and bad things happened to them, but in the end, it turned out for the good. For instance, their church started out as a Bible School in a park, but they were banned. Later they applied for a loan to build or buy a building, but the bank told them they don’t finance religious organizations. The good that came from that is that they own, debt-free, a beautiful 3500 seat church building. Peter caught no fish after a night’s fishing, but because his boat was empty, he connected with Jesus, who brought a boatload of fish to him. We have many Goliaths who want to break down our faith, but your “Goliath” can become a blessing. God is with us and victory belongs to us.
Be Seed-Minded
Text: Mark 4:26-29. The kingdom of God is as if a man should plant seed. Be seed-minded. Planting seed takes time, but keep planting seeds. It does not always mean giving money. Rule your life by divine appointments. Apostle Dale sowed seed by helping a man get out his car out of a ditch. Forget your own deliberate plans and honor God’s divine appointments. When you realize what you’ve done, you will have to say, “I don’t know how that happened. It was the Lord!” Peter did everything he needed to do as a fisherman, but Jesus, a carpenter, told him what to do to prosper. His obedience brought a boatload of blessing. Let go and leave it up to the Lord. Be immediate in your obedience to do what God tells you to do (thrusting in the sickle). Apostle Dale tells of blessing missionaries to Russia and how that impacted them and him. Whenever inspiration comes, act on it.
Meditating on the Word and Your Testimony
Sydney Ropp had the offering message. Dale’s message, Text: Psalm 1:1-4. You can be blessed by what you don’t do: NOT walking in the counsel of the ungodly, NOT standing in the path of sinners, and NOT sitting in the seat of the scornful. Watch your desires. The Word and God’s promises do not change, so keep your eyes on them. Meditating takes time, just like planting by the rivers of water and then prospering (the harvest of meditating). Meditation is greater than crisis. In Psalm 119:1-2 the Word is called “His testimonies”. A testimony is a landmark in your life. It is something you can obey and keep, because it should change your life forever. For instance, Pastor Syd and Jen can keep the testimony of their daughter’s miraculous birth. There is a law of gratitude for all that God has done in your life. Meditation is seeing God in the Word making a change. Make the New Testament biographical by reading it and putting yourself as the character in the account. Do not let your testimony slip. In Genesis 15:5-6 God gave Abram an image to help him see and believe what He was saying to him about being the father of many descendants. What is the image you have of yourself? Get the right image and then you will have it. Meditation is your way out of wherever you are. Joshua 1:8 tells us to keep the Word coming out of our mouths and we will see things differently. Action comes out of meditation and prosperity comes out of the action. The problem of your problem is that it demands your attention. Meditate on the Word, not your problem. Light comes out of darkness (Psalm 112:4).
The Blood Covenant
Pastor Sydney shared his testimony of his salvation and peace in a serious accident. Because of what Jesus did for us in the New Covenant, we can come boldly into the throne room. Covenant means to cut where blood flows. It is a binding, unending agreement with one another. Jesus’ covenant is unending. In a covenant each person loses his own identity and individuality. Some covenants were made by cutting wrists and intermingling the blood and then catching the blood in a cup of wine and then each one drank it. Sometimes an animal is cut in half with parts opposite each other. The participants would walk through the blood to the other person and so on. It’s because of the blood that we can see glory. Hebrews 8:6-10 tells us that Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant. Abram and God made the first blood covenant (Genesis 15). Each animal God told him to bring to Him symbolized something: the cow (wealth), the goat (strength), the ram (political power and favor), the turtledove (love forever), and the young pigeon (dependency). David and Jonathan had cut a covenant (1 Samuel 18; 2 Samuel 9). God’s covenant never weakens. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:11-10:23). Jesus’ sacrifice was done once. Jesus took away the first covenant (Hebrews 10:9). We should not lack because of our covenant (Psalm 23:1). He restores our soul. He leads us on the right path. We don’t need to fear evil even when we are in the valley of the shadow of death. He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. This is our covenant meal. We participated in the Lord’s communion.
Feeding the Sheep
Text: John 21:15-17. Jesus affirmed Peter by asking him three times if he loved Him and then He told him to feed His sheep and lambs. Jesus must be more important to you than anything else. The phileo (responsive love) that Jesus and Peter talked about required the action of Peter’s feeding His lambs and sheep. Here “feed” means to pastor. He was saying, “If you love Me, take your place.” People get out of their place, and then they get into trouble. David was supposed to be going to war, but instead he saw a woman and gave into temptation. One of the roles of a pastor is to feed his sheep. The second role is to protect the sheep. Peter wasn’t a pastor, but he was an apostle. In other words, he was an apostle, pastoring. Don’t put church roles into a box. Pastor/Apostle Dale shares about being an apostle and a pastor. An apostle needs to keep his feet in the local church and his hands in the world. He shared that Sydney Ropp will be the CWI pastor, so that Apostle Dale can fulfill the apostolic role in CWI. What happens to Ukraine is happening to us, because of our connections. Pastor Demeke’s church will be joining CWI. Gene English is reaching to Washington, D. C. Our sister church is in Colorado.
The Role of the Apostle and Pastor
Texts: John 21:15-17; Philippians 1:27; 2:12, 19, 25-30; 3:17; 4:10. A pastor’s role is to feed (with the Word) and protect the local church. The Lord told Apostle Dale to keep his feet in the local church and his hands in the world. Jesus had world dominion in mind. If we are after the world, we need a world structure. Apostle Dale makes a comparison of his role with that of Paul’s. Paul was an apostle. He wrote his epistle to the Philippians from prison, so even though he wasn’t physically with the people, he knew what was going on with them. He communicated with them. He expected their obedience to him. He determined the movement of ministries and teams. He expected their service to the apostolic ministry. He expected them to follow him. During his lack of presence, he expected them to care for one another. He expected them to take care of his needs. Apostle Dale told about the Lord’s calling Pastor Sydney to come to Lancaster. In the first phase, he saw him pastoring and covering the pulpit in his absence. In the second phase, he saw him traveling and learning with Apostle Dale, and in the third phase, he would release and send him. We are in phase one, where Pastor Sydney will be installed as the CWI pastor. Apostle Dale will step out in apostolic ministry. Under Apostle Dale will be Pastor Sydney Ropp (CWI, Lancaster), Pastor Gene English (Slavic church in D. C.) and Pastor Jay Stoltzfus in Colorado, and Pastor Demeke Getahun (Ethiopian Church). Pastor Demeke’s church will be joining CWI and will take the CWI name. Artack and Anna (Slavic) will be coming to New York, Philadelphia, and Lancaster. Pastor Sydney shared how the Lord brought him and Jen to Lancaster. God’s will cannot be stopped, although it can be delayed. We live in perilous times. Pray and be bold to confess your faith. We can have greater unity, because we have a common Lord. Lord, help us find our place in Your kingdom.
Having A Sound Mind in Crisis: God Is King of All the Earth
(Alex Mirsaidov translated to Russian) Jesus said we will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but, “See that your heart is not troubled.” Watch your heart. Fear is a spirit from the devil. Rebuke that spirit. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. That’s what we need in times like these. We can have a supernatural understanding of our days if we ask God, the wisdom of God is ours. Satan is afraid of prayer and of you praying. Satan is afraid of a prayer meeting. The prayers of God’s people change nations. Don’t be afraid of bombs and guns. It is by the Spirit. The key verse in Daniel 4:13-17 is 17- “in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men.” Just like in Nebuchadnezzar’s case, a kingdom can change overnight. Things can happen quickly when people follow truth and throw off corruption. We can depend on the Word and the Spirit of God. Jesus is Lord. God is King. The pastors in Ukraine are rising up and working in a new unity. The politicians are looking to the pastors for answers. It’s an amazing day. God rules. Don’t get into strife with one another. It’s a great opportunity to destroy the devil’s propaganda. There needs to be repentance in Ukraine. It wasn’t by accident that Daniel and Joseph were in their positions. We are all in our place for a reason. You have a place. For every Pharaoh, there’s a Joseph. For every Nebuchadnezzar, there’s a Daniel. We have a place of power, love, and a sound mind. Ask God to share His secrets with you. Start praying for nations, presidents, and other leaders.
Be A Doer of the Word: God Is Light
Text: James 1:22. Are you practicing in faith what you have heard about healing, tithing, etc.? Talking and making plans are not the same as doing what you have heard. Be a faith-walker and do what you say. God is light, and when we walk with Him we are in the light, but when we walk away from Him, we enter areas of darkness. In darkness, you lose your direction and get confused. The Word you see is the Word you need to walk in. Don’t move away from God and from His light. Darkness is sin and is a violation of the light you have. Look for the light.
Grace: Pleasing God
(There was communion and children departments’ participation.) Text: Acts 4:33. Pastor Sydney reviewed about grace. When we are in God’s presence and experiencing His grace, we enter into peace, joy, and victory (Psalm16:11; Psalm 5:11-12; Psalm 30:5, 7). How can we receive more of God’s grace? Psalm 89:17 tells us that pleasing God releases His grace. Even your enemies are at peace with you (Proverbs 16:7) and they don’t triumph over you (Psalm 41:10-11) when you please God. It was the grace of God that protected Jesus, and He had that grace because He always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29). We should walk as He did, always pleasing the Father. You can choose to delight to do His will by agreeing with Him quickly.