- Blue Rose Tuesdays 05/11/2012
- What Love is This? 04/13/2012
- Rapture, Purpose, and the work of Jesus 05/12/2012
- The New Church System & Spiritual Sex-Trafficking 05/09/2012
Some Thoughts on Revival and the Book of Acts (iamrevival.tumblr.com)
This is an article written by a friend of mine over at I Am Revival.
Original article can be found here:
http://iamrevival.tumblr.com/post/552269250/thoughts-on-revival.
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“My biggest question is “what happened?” How did so many people get saved in such a short time? Here are some thoughts…
- It’s not just power, it’s also grace. (my bolding)
“And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” Acts. 4:33. Notice that great is used to describe both power and grace.“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.” Acts 6:8. We need to be FULL of both, not just one or the other.
E-Sword defines grace in Acts 4:33 as “graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).”
- The Word is key:
“But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.” Acts 4:4.“Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” Acts 4:29b.
“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied” Acts 6:7a.
- Unity is key:
The verse that precedes 4:33 – a verse on power (see 4:33 above) – says “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul” Acts 4:32a. - Peter preached a (relatively) simple message (Acts 2), yet it says “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Acts 2:37 (my bolding). We can preach the SAME message today and don’t see the same result, why?Some sub-points:
- The crowd went from mocking the apostles to calling them “brothers.”
- The disciples are now called apostles. Kris Vallotton says “apostle” is a term that originated from the Romans, and it basically meant “one who was sent to (conquered territory to) transform a culture (into a Roman culture).” The 12 were called apostlesbefore they even changed culture. The name/title is important.
- But still…the disciples/apostles were completely changed within a few days. There did not seem to be a long or drawn-out process. Think about it, they did not have to “practice” hearing God’s voice – by chapter 5 Peter knew Ananias and Sapphhira lied about the money/land. Obviously, God told him they were lying. And all the sick were healed and there were many signs and wonders (Acts 5:16). Before, demons were not always casted out by the disciples (Mark 9:28-29, when Jesus said these only come by fasting and prayer). I guess they learned from being with Jesus (Acts 4:13).
- But at the same time, if you think about Stephen, he was never mentioned in the four Gospels, and he was not part of the original 12 that was with Jesus, yet he “was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8b). What caused that?
- “Therefore brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty” Acts 6:3. The church just got started, how did they know who to pick?
- Another question I have is how come only Peter’s shadow was mentioned? What about the other 10 or 11 apostles (if you count Matthias)?
- It is interesting to note that the crippled man at the Temple gate (Acts 3) initiated the conversation. “Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms” Acts 3:3. Did Peter and John not see this crippled man? (This is not an excuse to not pray for a sick person).
- I understand the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, 2:39). But we have that today too, yet we don’t really see the same results…3,000 saved in a day (Acts 2:41) and 5,000 on another. Holy Spirit is definitely one of the keys, if not the key.
- And I will never say that this stuff was only for the early church. That’s an excuse to not obey and a lame justification for why we are not seeing the same things today. I will keep believing in Jesus’ promise that we will do the things He did and even greater (John 14:12). (My guess is Jesus will not come back until that promise is fulfilled. Has it? I don’t know.)”
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Maintaining this site and everything it is connected to takes up a lot of time and we greatly appreciate any and all help that you can extend our way!
John G. Lake’s Secrets of Divine Healing
1. Destroy religious traditions concerning sickness and the power of God.
2. Recognize sickness and disease as an enemy to be overcome.
3. Get Fed Up.
4. Treat all sickness the same.
5. Treat all sickness like a person.
6. Command, not beg.
7. Speak to the problem – not to others about the problem.
8. See people as oppressed prisoners of war.
9. Get clean – stay clean.
10. Stay out of pride – anyone could do what you are doing.
11. Be aggressive – develop your aggressiveness.
12. Be led by God’s character and nature.
13. Accept responsibility for your fellow man.
14. Decide to obey the Bible, not some arbitrary feeling.
15. Know that God is with you, in you, and for you.
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Maintaining this site and everything it is connected to takes up a lot of time and we greatly appreciate any and all help that you can extend our way!
The “Anointing”?
This is a great article written by my friend Cornel from Charisma Ministries.
The original article link is here.
Enjoy!
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Anointing is one of those buzz words doing the rounds in today’s church circles. This person is an “anointed” psalmist, that one is an “anointed” speaker, that one carries a prophetic “anointing” and that one a healing “anointing”. Every time somebody starts doing something better than somebody else, suddenly that person has to be anointed, specially called and gifted to do that certain thing. That is such nonsense and also an old covenant mindset. The Hebrew and Greek words for anoint, anointing or anointed all refer to two basic things. To physically smear or rub with oil and the appointment of a person to a specific office or service. In other words to anoint or to receive and anointing is to be bestowed with the legitimate authority to fulfill the duties of a certain position, be it king or priest or prophet. Kings, prophets and priests were the people who mainly got anointed into an office of service.
1 Sam 10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the Lord has anointed you commander over His inheritance? (NKJV)
Here we read about Samuel anointing Saul to be king. He physically poured oil out over Saul’s head and said, “Is it not BECAUSE the Lord HAS anointed you commander…” Samuel is saying God anointed / appointed Saul to be king already, and the physical oil being poured out is just to symbolize in the natural what has already taken place in the spiritual. The spiritual anointing is the one that really matters. The anointing that God gives is more important and significant than oil on your forehead. God’s anointing carries heaven’s power. But when did God anoint Saul?
1 Sam 9:15-16 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” (NKJV)
God made the choice to appoint / anoint Saul as king and rescue God’s people. He told Samuel to go anoint him in the natural, but the spiritual has already been established. Now remember that Saul got anointed to be king, but look what the anointing enabled him to do:
1 Sam 10:6-7 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you. (NKJV)
Here Samuel says the Spirit of God will come upon you (after being anointed already) and then he will prophesy. Wait a minute!? Saul wasn’t anointed as a prophet, how come he can prophesy? Because we place the limitations on the anointing, not God. The anointing brings the Spirit of God and He has all the power needed to enable us to do what the occasion demands. Look at verse 7, “Do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.” If the occasion demands a prophetic word, the anointing ensures that God is with you and you will be able to bring that word. If the occasion demands healing, the anointing will enable you to heal because God is with you.
How long was Saul king for? Until he died, right. The anointing never left him. He remained a king until the day he died, even after his life went downhill and he got into major sin. The anointing was not given based on Saul’s good or bad behavior. It was given to provide the power to bring salvation to people. The gifts (spiritual endowments or miraculous faculty / office) and callings of God are irrevocable. (Rom 11:29) THE ANOINTING DOES NOT LIFT. Now let’s jump ahead to Jesus and pick it up where He just came back from the wilderness.
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (NKJV)
Look at Jesus’ words: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, BECAUSE He HAS ANOINTED Me to preach…heal…proclaim liberty…recover sight…set at liberty… proclaim God’s acceptable year. The Spirit came upon Jesus because He was anointed. The anointing didn’t come because of the Spirit. The anointing or appointment always comes first. The appointment to an office of service always precedes the outworking of the office. In other words I can’t just walk into any school and go sit behind the principle’s desk and run the school if I was not appointed to serve in that office. If I get appointed by the school board, then I can go sit there and run the school.
Anointing always precedes the power to fulfill the duties of the office. Jesus didn’t do any miracles until the power came through the Spirit. What was Jesus’ anointing? He was called Christ which as you hopefully know was not His surname. Christ means the Anointed. Its Hebrew equivalent is Messiah. He was anointed to save. Interestingly, so was Saul and all the other Judges. They were anointed to save or set free. Power was always given to save. That is the nature of God’s Power.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation (NKJV)
The Gospel is the POWER unto SALVATION (Greek = soteria = save, heal, deliver, protect, make whole) The nature of the God’s Power is to save. Back to Jesus. He is called a high priest in the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10 & 6:20) who was a king, making Jesus a king, a priest and a prophet. This means Jesus was given the power and authority (king) to be the final mediator (priest) between God and man (prophet).
Jesus’ anointing was the highest possible office of service before God and therefore He also had the most power to fulfill the duties of that office. The higher up you are in a company, the more authority and executive power you are entrusted with. As a New Covenant believer, reborn by the Spirit of God, the ‘anointing’ you received at the new birth is the same one Jesus had since we are now called sons of God. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6) and we have been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3). Since the anointing is a spiritual blessing, Ephesians 1:3 confirms that there is not some other anointing we didn’t receive. We are co-heirs with Christ (Rom:17) meaning everything Jesus inherited we also inherited.
1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (NKJV)
As He (Jesus) IS, so ARE we in THIS WORLD. That means the same righteousness, the same holiness, the same favour, the same anointing and the same authority. We are one spirit with the Lord! (1 Cor 6:17) We have received everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). We have been anointed (1 John 2:20) and this anointing abides (1 John 2:27), it doesn’t lift or leave, come and go. You have everything you need to be what God destined you to be. Our only problem is we either don’t know it or we think if we deny what we have that it will remove the responsibility to step out do something for God. To make your faith effective, acknowledge every good thing that is IN YOU in Christ Jesus.
Philem 1:6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)
Effective faith starts with the acknowledgement of what you have been given. So instead of saying I need more anointing, I need more power, I need more authority, acknowledge that you have received every spiritual blessing and that you have the anointing and the indwelling Spirit of God Himself and as His son you can do all things through Christ (the anointing) who strengthens you.
The devil wants you to believe you don’t have everything you need because then you will be looking for more and more instead of just being who God created you to be!
Be, know, do!
-Cornel Marais
Charisma Ministries
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating.
Maintaining this site and everything it is connected to takes up a lot of time and we greatly appreciate any and all help that you can extend our way!
- Healing In Eternity 05/16/2012
- Are You In Need Of Rest? 05/14/2012
- How Deep is Your Relationship with God? 04/12/2012
- Organic Church Introduction 01/30/2012
- The 7 Most Popular Verses in the Bible 05/16/2012
- The Way 05/04/2012
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