Sat, 26 May 2012 06:34:41 -0800WeeblyFri, 25 May 2012 15:04:08 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/christ-our-intercessor.htmlChrist Our Intercessor

Hebrews 7:24-26
            But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

            What does it mean that Christ ever lives to make intercession for you and I? To intercede means to intervene to mediate to arbitrate or to make negotiation for. The picture I get of this is Christ sitting at the right hand of the throne of heavenly father pleading our case as to how we've now been born again, and are no longer deserving of judgment, simply because of the blood that he shed on Calvary's cross.. In the book of Revelation we have a picture of Satan, the adversary of your soul as being called the accuser of the brethren. There is an adversary who wants to heap condemnation, guilt, shame, hopelessness, and blame upon our every mistake, sin or shortcoming.

            Our text in Romans chapter 8 verse 34 starts out by asking, "Who is he who condemns?" But didn't goes on to say that Christ died and furthermore he's risen from the dead, and he is at the right hand of God, making intercession for you and I he is our great mediator and high priest. He is our advocate Scripture says there is no condemnation to those who believe in him and live for him. Sometimes we fall into the trap of condemning or looking down on people for their sins or their failures or their shortcomings. How easy it can be to forget about our own disobedience or failures. Yet as we allow the character and the nature of Christ to be developed into our own characters, we hopefully grow into a place where we understand that we should not even be condemning ourselves only striving to improve. Yet the only way that we can improve is to deepen and strengthen our relationship with Christ, for it is the Holy Spirit that gives life to our mortal bodies.

Romans 8:34
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

            So there's an enemy of our soul Satan, or there are the words of others or possibly at times even our own thoughts can bring condemnation or accusation or even words of self defeat. But the Scriptures challenge us to speak life to our self and others and warns that blessing and cursing should not proceed from the same mouth. I pray that my mouth never becomes a tool for the adversary to tear down myself or another human being. Let us all take on the nature of Christ, the eternal intercessor who prays on behalf of all humanity, that we not fall into the condemnation of hell, or the wrath of God or the words of self defeat but that we can know his life and know it more abundantly.

             Christ is interceding for those that don't know him and the power of his salvation and he's asking us to intercede in prayer for the souls of men and women that have not yet been born again pleading that judgment would be spared and delayed not pronounced upon them. To pray that they would know the joy of God's forgiveness that can only be found through the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. God help us all to speak words of love, life and hope. God help us all to lift one another in prayer that those who are living in darkness could experience the joy and the blessing of your marvelous light. Thank you Jesus for interceding on my behalf Amen!

]]>Thu, 24 May 2012 13:15:17 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/boldly-to-the-throne-of-grace.htmlBoldly to the Throne of Grace
Hebrews 4:14-16
            Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, (“be touched by the feeling of our infirmity”- KJV) but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

            Remember the book of Hebrews was written to Jewish believers. The office of high priest was a very special calling in position for any Jew to hold. It was also an office that comes with high responsibility. The writer of this book places Jesus as being the great high priest setting him above any high priest that ever existed. The role of the high priest of the temple was to take the blood of the sacrifice before the mercy seat and make atonement for all of God's people on atonement day once a year. The Mercy seat was behind the veil of the temple in the most holy place, also known as the holy of holies. The high priest was the only one that could enter in and if he himself was not properly atoned for and cleansed though ritual and sacrifice would die in the presence of God.

            The good news of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ our great high priest was in all points tempted just as we are, even though he was God in the flesh. The human side of Christ allowed himself to live through poverty, shame, ridicule, beating, scorching, mockery, servitude and humility, yet He knew no sin. He used his relationship with his heavenly Father to show us that through relationship with our heavenly Father, in Christ's name, we could be empowered to heal the sick and bring deliverance to those that are captive to their sin or in bondage to mental or physical disorders. Yet Christ never tapped into his own actual deity for the purpose of overcoming temptation.

            The idea here that will benefit anyone who gets a hold of and understands it, is that God became a man and allowed himself to feel what we as humans feel on this earth. And now Christ sits on the right hand of the throne of his father and the Scripture says he lives to make intercession for you and I! (Hebrews 7:25) This means that when we pray Christ hears our prayers and submits them to the heavenly father. He is at the mercy seat on our behalf. And the Scripture says that he sympathizes with our infirmity as well as releases mercy and grace on our behalf to forgive us and empower us to overcome the circumstances that we may face in this life.

            In yesterday's post, I discussed to some degree the meaning of grace God's divine power to help us and empower us equipping us to do his will. Many times when we think of the throne of God, it’s not uncommon to picture God's judgment his wrath even the outpouring of his indignation upon us frail humanity. After all, this is the throne that the creator of heaven, earth, and the entire universe sits upon ruling and reigning in righteousness and majesty. Yet the writer of the book of Hebrews doesn't describe God's throne in such a way at all. In fact, he says, let us come boldly before God's throne of grace. Again, that word means undeserved and earned or unmerited favor God's power to equip us to do his will! How awesome is that? Yes, God is able and at some point the Scripture says God will judge should rule and reign with majesty dominion and authority pouring out his justice upon all injustice that is ever occurred on the face of the earth. But first he gives us access to divine grace and mercy to find forgiveness and deliverance and salvation in order to spare us from that day of wrath and indignation.

            But I believe his throne of grace and mercy signifies even more than that. Because I believe it's mercy and grace to forgive us and empower us to live a guilt and shame free and victorious life even while working on earth to bring healing to our hearts so that we can bring healing to the lives of others to bring hope to our homes, our families, even into our marriages so that his hope can be seen to a world that desperately needs the salvation of God. And the awesome part of this is that the Scripture says we can come boldly to this throne and we can obtain this grace and this mercy. Any time we need him, our God is there. That means he's here right now for me and for you. What is it that we can touch his throne with today? Is it forgiveness that we need to find? Is it his ever present help that we need to access? Yes, even if all you need is for God to wrap his giant arms of love around and hold you, the Scripture says you can come boldly before his throne and you can find grace and mercy in your time of need. In Jesus name!

]]>Wed, 23 May 2012 10:06:58 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/grace-and-truth.htmlGrace and Truth

John 1:14-18
            And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
      
            Book of John chapter 1 is just packed full of nuggets of wisdom and enlightening scripture. In fact, there are so many keywords in this text that it would be easy to just glaze over some of these nuggets of truth, without actually stopping and considering; "What might this mean?" We see a couple of these nuggets of wisdom in verses 14 through 18 posted above. The other day I wrote about the word being God and the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us and how this shows us that Christ was and is God who came in the flesh and became like us. But what is meant in the second half of verse 14 where the Scripture tells us full of grace and truth?

            Well, truth is truth. That means there is no lie in it. It applies and is relevant whether you believe it or not. To make this simple, a person can believe the 2+2 equals five, and hold that belief to the grave, yet the truth is, it equals four, regardless of what a person may believe, yeah that oversimplifies things I  agree, but the point is still the same. Truth is truth whether we believe it or not. Jesus taught the truth. He says in John chapter 8, if my words abide in you, you follow me, become my disciple, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Truth is not relevant. In other words you can't take a simple mathematical equation and say well it's true for me, whether it's true for you or not. The way I see it, 2+2 is five. Who are you to tell me that it's 4?

            As we look in verse 17, we can deduce that this portion of Scripture is talking about the law of Moses, when referring to truth. And the Scripture says that Jesus did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law. (Mt. 5:17-18) The fulfilling of the law comes through this other little word we find called grace. So what is grace? Sometimes I think it's like that word "love" where everybody has a different definition or a different perspective on what grace really is. The New Testament word for grace comes from the Greek term “Charis” and when we go into Greek. We see oftentimes that words do have several meanings in other languages. What the word really means is power to conquer sin or to equip us for ministry. Grace also means unearned undeserved or unmerited favor.

            Verse 17, says the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Verse 14, says he was full of grace and truth. As I was reading this the other day it dawned on me, this is a powerful way for the apostle John to start this book out. Powerful because he is illustrating to us that one of the reasons Christ came was to give us the strength, power and the favor we need to fulfill the sanctified life in which we could not do on our own without being born of the spirit. This is such great news! This perspective gives us something wonderful because it tells us that there is more to being a Christian than just being religious, that there is power available for changing our lives! Say goodbye to hopelessness and helplessness. Say goodbye to blaming our birth by saying that we were created this way or that way and blaming our parents or genetics for who or what we are. Jesus said we could be born again, born of the spirit and with this experience of rebirth we become empowered to conquer the strongholds of whatever life we lived before and to strive through the process of sanctification where God molds us and shapes us into the person that he created us to be. True identity is found in becoming the person that God made you to be.

            The only road to satisfaction is the road that leads us to becoming the person who God has created us to be. God has created us for relationship with Him and changeable like a lump of clay in the potter's hand. He's always working on us but he never asks us to become something that he won't empower us to be! And that my friend is a work of grace.

]]>Mon, 21 May 2012 19:57:37 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/the-right-to-become-children-of-god.htmlThe Right to Become Children of God?

John 1:10-13
            He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.   

            This text from John chapter 1 could seem to some little confusing, or perhaps even a little bit harsh. The reason I say that is because, as we pay attention to modern media the general spirit of our age is that everybody has the right to be acknowledged as a child of God. Just because we were born and entered the human race. The popular trend or at least so it seems, is that we all belong to God, regardless of our actions, our behaviors or our attitude towards fellow man.

            Every day of my life. I witness those around me who come from every background, lifestyle, race, and sexual orientation. They all have huge differences in how they view life, society; perhaps even in some ways in how they view God. But they do have one thing in common. They've been born again, unified by the Spirit of God, and changed by truth and grace. The wonderful thing about becoming a child of God is that our Creator empowers us to change into the person HE wants us to be!

            I've always been a little puzzled with the rising belief that has done away with any concept of right and wrong or good and bad. You know the teaching that says we’re just all on this continuum between darkness and light but nobody's really broken, so nothing really needs to be fixed. It sounds great! Sounds wonderful that nobody's broken we’re all good, we’re all great. There's no basically sinful aspect to our nature, we just need to develop a greater level of consciousness of the light that comes from within.

            I think the reason I have a hard time reconciling this type of thinking is because with no standard of right and wrong or good and bad, how do we explain some of the atrocities that happen in our world today? For example, how do you tell a young woman that the man who has raped or molested her, beat her and abused her while she was growing up, is not broken and there's nothing wrong with him, he's loved and accepted by God just as much a she is? Was Hitler a good man who just had less consciousness of God, then the next person? I suppose I could make up scenarios and questions of evil and darkness all day long but I think you get the idea. Scripture says that this is the condemnation, that men loved darkness rather than light. That light came into the world and the world rejected him.

            The Scripture that we read today states that there is a God who created the world and the world did not know him, he presented himself to his own chosen people and they refused to receive him. But to those who did believe in him and receive him, He gave the right to become children of God. God does put a contingency there. It has to do with our belief system, but it goes further than that. Because the Scripture says we must become born of God to be his children. So how does one become born of God? In verse 13. Scripture says they were not just born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but they were born of God. The key word is those that “received” Him. And the “Him” in which the scripture is referring to can be found in verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

            Am I saying that God does not love everybody? No way am I saying that, in fact, I'm saying just the opposite. As we read through the gospel of John we’ll find several verses, including the all so popular John 3: 16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life." Again, we see a contingency that "who ever would believe in him" would not perish. And we see in Romans chapter 5 the verse that says; “In this God commended his love towards us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” He did not say clean up your act and then I'll die in your place and pay the price for your sin. Actually, he died in our place for our sin so that we could clean up our act, regardless of what our life was before knowing him, he gives us the grace to overcome and allow him to develop his character through us.

            The good news is that nobody has to be left out! It's all contingent upon the choices that we make. Yes, it's easy to look at hypocrisy, fallacy, phoniness, fakeness or whatever other excuse that we want to come up with and say I want nothing to do with “churchianity” I did it for years, but isn’t God's love is so much bigger than all of that? 

           

]]>Sat, 19 May 2012 11:39:10 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/the-foolishness-of-god-wiser-than-men.htmlThe Foolishness of God is Wiser than Men? Really?

1 Corinthians 1:21-26
            21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

            I believe that even though the Bible was written centuries ago, it contains truth that is relevant for you and me today. In fact, Scripture says in the book of Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. As well, John 1: 14 that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” Jesus being the word of God. In our Scripture for the day, the writer Paul is discussing some barriers as to why certain Jews in certain Greeks were unable to receive the message of Christ's salvation. He says the Jews seek a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom.

            In consideration of the four Gospels, we see several accounts were the Jews approached Jesus and they were looking for some kind of miraculous sign to prove that he was indeed the Messiah. At the same time they ignored the many miracles that Jesus did or even accused him of being a devil. In one incident, Jesus even replied and said if I cast out Satan by Satan, then I divided the house of Satan, but if I cast out demons by the power of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you! The Greeks on the other hand, were philosophers. Today we read of many great philosophers who lived during that era of time. They were known for sitting around their temples and discussing or philosophizing about spiritual things, natural laws and basic rules of life.

            While there is nothing wrong with seeking after a sign of the supernatural, or in expanding our wisdom and knowledge, this portion of Scripture reminds us to remember that the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ requires faith and does not always make sense to the rational mind. It also reminds me that, while I do believe God at times confirms his Word with signs and wonders, our rejoicing is found better served when it is based upon the fact that those who believe have their names written in heaven.

            My prayer for all of us, whether believers already or those who are seeking to find God is that we all continually come to a greater revelation of the power of the cross of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Scripture says without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. Romans chapter 8 states that if the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us then he will give life to our mortal bodies. These statements defy the wisdom and the knowledge of modern man. Yet the simplicity of this message is its beauty; for not many noble, not many wise not many mighty are called but to those of us who are called, Christ is both the power and the wisdom of God. To some the preaching of Christ crucified is a stumbling block and to others it may seem like foolishness, but the apostle Paul states that it is the power of God to salvation.

]]>Fri, 18 May 2012 21:28:09 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/the-foolishness-of-preaching.htmlThe Foolishness of Preaching

1Corinthians 1:17-2
            17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

            Isn't it incredible the technological advances that mankind is made in just the last century? The rate at which technology and medical knowledge has advanced in just the last decade is phenomenal. When the pages of the Bible were written they still weren't even aware of how big our world is. It took weeks just to travel what we can do in an hour now. In the days the Bible was written when somebody was ill or facing death. They had to believe God for a miracle or they would die. Now you can go across the street and get psychological, emotional, mental and physical attention when something goes wrong.

            In light of this knowledge, I think the validity of this Scripture has even greater relevance. I say this because it's easier to forget about the power of God today than it would've been during a time when you could die without it. However, I declare to you that the power of God is very much as real, alive and active pulsating through the church and through some of his believers today as it was during the time that the Scripture was written!

            Paul acknowledges that it was Christ who sent him to the Corinthian church and he follows that acknowledgment with stating that he wasn't sent to preach works, such as baptism or words of wisdom that would entice people with philosophical impressions. He declares. However, that he came to preach the cross of Jesus Christ over as he stated Christ and Christ crucified! Which in a logical mind could too many seem like foolishness. Remember the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53. I won't quote that chapter now for time sake. However, I encourage you to look it up and read it on your own. Christ in Luke chapter 4 quotes from Isaiah as well. Declaring the reason why he came was to set the oppressed free, heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives!

            The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. To many it may seem crazy or far-fetched even a fool's faith to lay hands on the sick can see them recover to pray with faith that God could heal or deliver, or even break the bondages of addiction through the power of prayer and the cleansing of His word. I have witnessed firsthand the power of God to set an addict free from harrowing cocaine, alcohol, even nicotine on various occasions throughout my ministry. Sometimes this miraculous phenomenon takes place with simple prayer, other times it starts with a simple prayer and requires some work, diligence and dedication on the part of the person who is addicted. However, there is still power in the cross to deliver from such an apparently hopeless situation as addiction. (As well as many other physical, mental, spiritual and socio-economic issues)

            I am an advocate of education and I believe that higher learning can only strengthen and empower the human being to do greater things. However, I submit to my readers today that we begin to contend for the power of Christ's resurrection to flow through our lives and not to let higher learning, wisdom, and excessive knowledge hinder us from entering union to the dynamic power found at the cross. In verse 20 Paul asks where is the wise? Where is the scribe where is the disputer of this age has God not made foolish the wisdom of this world? Then he goes on to say that it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe! I close with this thought throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New; how many occasions throughout the Bible, do we see where God chose and called a person to do something beyond all reason, logic and human knowledge, only to blow the minds of all those who witnessed the occurrence when God honors their faith? A portion of the answer to that question is found in Hebrews chapter 11. I encourage you to read them on your own.

            God bless you until next time.

]]>Thu, 17 May 2012 11:36:11 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/05/the-root-of-righteousness.htmlThe Root of Righteousness "Cannot be Moved"

Proverbs 12:1-3
            Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
2 A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of wicked intentions He will condemn. 3 A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous cannot be moved.

            There is a parable in the book of Matthew, where Jesus tells the story about a wise man who hears the word of God and does it. This man was likened to a wise builder who built his house on a sure foundation that was solid and secure. The parable also shares about the foolish man who hears the word of God and rejects it. Jesus compares this man to the fool who built his house on the sand with no foundation. As the story goes, it tells of how the storms of life came, the winds blew and the rains fell and the house that was built with no foundation fell and crumbled, it was washed away, yet the house that was built with a sure and true foundation withstood the storms that pounded against it and stayed intact.

            One of the keys to Christian success is to find relationship with somebody who's further down the road than you and allow them to minister to your life. As part of the great commission is to go and make disciples of all men, there is an inference of disciple maker and the one being "discipled". The wisdom that comes in verse one is that it's important to place people around your life who can speak into your life and that can help you grow in your gifts and calling.

            A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of wicked intentions, the Lord will condemn. This is one of those statements that only the Lord can judge for only the Lord knows the heart of a man, it's easy to conceal and hide the motivation of your heart from other people, yet the Lord sees and knows our true motivation. As well it's easy to assume the intention of another person without really knowing what motivates their heart. Sometimes a person may not even be aware of the things that motivate them as many times we find ourselves repeating patterns, habits, or relationship issues, not knowing why we find ourselves in the same position again and again. This is why having mentorship from outside perspective helps us break through these patterns. Perhaps this is why the psalmist wrote. Search me O God, and know my heart and if there be any wickedness in me expose it and remove it. Far from me! For God is the only one that truly knows the heart of man and the Holy Spirit, by the word of God, is the only way a heart can truly be transformed.

            A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous cannot be moved. Sometimes we want to take a shortcut and life sometimes we want to skip the path altogether. It can be tempting to follow the path of easy money, even though it's gained with impure motives or to sway from loyalty to a relationship or friendship for a moment of pleasure. But remember, there are no shortcuts. Sooner or later the house that is built with unrighteous methods will come crashing down. But on the positive note, the man or woman who establishes their life, upon the precepts and principles of the word of God by the leading of the Holy Spirit will find himself unshakable and unmovable in their faith and rewarded with eternal blessings as well as temporal. However, it's important to remember that those blessings are not always gauged by material gain, for there is nothing more valuable than a good relationship with fellow man, and with our Creator!

]]>Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:15:53 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/04/preaching-the-gospel-and-healing-everywhere.htmlPreaching the Gospel and Healing Everywhere?

            In the following chapter and verse, Jesus called together the 12 disciples. Then he empowered them and sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and cure all manner of diseases. As you read the following text from the Bible, ask yourself what was Jesus trying to accomplish or to teach the disciples to do? I don't believe that anything Jesus did was random or by mistake. Rather, I believe that this act of empowerment and vision was meant to teach the disciples something powerful about the destiny that God was calling them to. As well as to impart something to us, the readers of this account thousands of years later so that we could understand what we are called to do. Let's read the following six verses before we continue with our discussion.

Luke 9:1-2
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. 4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

            When I read this text I ask myself, how does this apply to today? Could it be possible that Jesus Christ also intends for us, the modern disciples and followers of his kingdom to heal the sick and preach the gospel everywhere we go? Hebrews 13:8 states that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever more. This indicates to me that it is the will of Christ for his followers to be ministers of his gospel and bring healing to our generation. As we read through the midsection of the gospel of John see several scriptures that point to Christ wanting us to be empowered with the Holy Spirit, to be led by the Holy Spirit, instructed by the Holy Spirit and to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

            We see throughout the book of Acts, the disciples carried through with this message, pretty much on a daily basis. Everywhere they went, they preached the gospel and it was confirmed with signs and wonders following. I do contend though that signs should follow the believer and the preaching of the gospel, but we should not be following after signs. However, if we are going to accomplish the destiny of God to evangelize our world with the gospel message of Jesus Christ, we desperately need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit! I challenge whoever reads this to ask God in your daily prayer life; "God what would you have for me to do?" Can your power live within me will you impart your faith to me, God, so that I can walk with the fullness of your power into the destiny that you plan for my life?

            If the word of God truly will never fade or pass away then the promises that God makes in his word are relevant for today. I find it disheartening to see so many people bound and distressed by so many different ailments and diseases and disorders all around us while pharmaceutical companies are raking in billions of dollars every year. Meanwhile the church sits idly by thinking that the power of God that enables us to bring answers, solutions, deliverance and healing to this generation were promises made for some other time, in some other world so many years ago! I'll close with this question. Can we as God's church be empowered to confront the spiritual forces around us? Can we have discernment to know what is spiritual and what is physical? Ephesians chapter 6 and second Corinthians chapter 10 allude to the fact that what we see in the flesh and blood are actually spiritual warfare taking place around us. If this is true then many of the elements we see people suffer from today, addiction and depression, mental health disorders and physical diseases could still be healed by the laying on of hands and the prayer of faith!

]]>Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:06:34 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/03/lead-us-not-into-temptation.htmlThe Lord's prayer series cont'd "Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from the evil one"
This is the last video in this serieis "Lessons From the Lord's Prayer" Today we look at what Jesus taught us from the line "leadus not into temptation" and "deliver us from evil" We also sum up the process with "Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever" Enjoy the video and leave your comments or Questions for discussion.

]]>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:53:09 -0800http://www.truthsetsfree.com/1/post/2012/03/the-lords-prayer-forgive-us-our-debts.htmlThe Lord's Prayer Series Forgive us our Debts as We Forgive those who have sinned against us.    

    Today we look at the power of forgiving and being forgiven, as it relates to a more powerful prayer life. There is a breakthrough that will occur eventually as we learn to incorporate Forgiveness into our prayer life. These principles from The Lord's Prayer " Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who have sinned against us." God bless you and I pray that you will find true freedom in your prayer life from this series.

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