Prisoners in the Promise Land

Overview



The Old Testament was given as a type and warning to us to learn from.

1 Corinthians 10:11 says, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come."

The Promise Land in the Old Testament was the land of Canaan. It was not a place that was perfect, but a place where Israel's enemies dwelt; a place of war and struggle. Our Promise Land is not Heaven, it is the here and now, inheriting God's promises in our lives as Christians. Our enemies are still here and can still take us prisoners, even in our promise land! Just because we are Christians we are not immune from Satan's prisons.

In the Old Testament the Israelites were prisoners in their Promise Land. Christians can be, and are, prisoners to Satan and they do not know it.

Satan could no longer hold God's people in famine, so he tried to hold them in Egyptian slavery. He tried, again, to wipe them out in the desert on their way to the Promise Land, but he could not stop them at the Jordon River, nor at Jericho. But when they got into the Promise Land, he got them at a little town called Ai. Why? Because of their own sin. It was an internal enemy, not a visible military power (Joshua 7).

The Israelites were still prisoners after they had reached their promise land!

"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds * which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD" (Judges 6:1-6).

For hundreds of years, the Israelites called out to God and He delivered them in their pain. Then they got into idolatry again and became prisoners to something else. Why?

"And I said to you, I am the LORD your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed My voice (Word)" (Judges 6:10).



* Stronghold- A mindset that accepts as inevitable or unchangeable something that is contrary to the revealed will of God.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).



In Judges 6 God came to Gideon in his situation. The Hebrews were in their Promise Land, but every time they planted seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites would raid the area and stomp out the crops. They would steal the seed just as Satan steals the seed of the Word of God. So these children of God were actually prisoners to their enemy, even though they were in the Promise Land.

The Old Testament shows God's people living as prisoners in the promise land.







This is how the enemy works to trap you.

He looks for those works of your flesh (your old nature) that you will not forsake. He convinces you that you do not need to live on the Word of God, but that you can make it for yourself. He convinces you that you do not need to use God's Kingdom and His system of bearing fruit. Unforgiveness is a major invitation for the devil to operate in your life.

After a while he latches on to those works and you become deceived by this demon. You are not demon possessed, but you are demon influenced. These become strongholds and you feel hopeless. You are a Christian in God's promise land, but you are a prisoner like the people in the Old Testament. You are no longer a candidate for waters to flow out of you to help others. Satan has stopped up the River, but you have given him permission.



What are some Prisons that Satan can keep us in?

"Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever practices sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34).

Sickness, disease.

Lack of finances.

Being unloved. If we have not received unconditional love from our parents, we are in a prison.

Selfishness, or self-love is the opposite of real love. This is thinking that you are the center of the world and all things revolve around you.

Low self-esteem - a sense of unworthiness and defeat. We are not to receive our sense of who we are from anywhere or anyone except God and His Word. Human nature and the world attempts to paste a false sense of who we are onto us. Either we feel we are superior and prideful, or we feel unworthy with shame and inferiority. A good way to battle this is to know that God lives inside of you, and everywhere you go is blessed because you are carrying God with you. You bless everyone you meet because you are a clay vessel filled with the glory of God. What others think of you does not make you who you are. Your job or vocation does not identify you. When you go to your job, you are giving it dignity. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, it was like cleaning toilets, but because God was doing it, washing feet has become an honorable thing.

Widows and Orphans. James 1:27. God puts special emphasis on the plight of widows (this definition includes divorced women) and orphans (this definition includes children of divorce). It has to do with having no authority, no covering, and no fathering figure. It involves being left without defense, without an advocate in the ultimate sense. The Old Testament is full of warnings to Israel to take care of the fatherless and to care for the widows. It should be no less for the Church today.

We all need security, and being either a widow or an orphan is the ultimate in the lack of security. I know people who have had a difficult time recovering from becoming a widow or an orphan. As believers, we are to represent the heart of God towards widows and orphans. His heart is to look out for them, to give them special comfort and to provide for them. He is their covering, He is their security. If you have been this type of a "prisoner," you need to know that God says in James 1:27 that true worship, true "religion" and the fear of God involves showing His heart of love and care towards widows and orphans. This is a very serious statement by God, and you need to know how much He is interested in and cares for you!

" In His holy dwelling God is the father of the fatherless, and the judge of the widows" (Psalms 68:5).

Mammon - trusting in the world for your material and other needs and not God.

Abuse - So many people have been abused, sexually and in other ways.

Self-righteousness is a very big one.

Other enemies are unforgiveness, guilt, moral sins, sexual sin, bitterness, gossip, anger, compromising integrity, and truth.

Addictions - There are too many to name, but they are a substitute for God's love through the Holy Spirit.

Many are trapped in generational curses such as the inability to express love and kindness, the slavery mindset, being a people pleaser, being a perfectionist or performance oriented for self-esteem. Many of these areas manifest themselves in broken or compromised relationships, the inability to live in peace, the inability to be content.

Witchcraft or the control of others. You may be the victim or the perpetrator.



However, I believe that one of the most widespread issues is rejection.

I believe that rejection is the root of hundreds of other problems. We need the unconditional acceptance from our parents when we are young. We need acceptance from our peers, our spouses, etc. In today's society, broken people inflict damage on others through rejection and it spreads from generation to generation. We are not able to pass love on without having first received it. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us." God's remedy for rejection is two fold:

1) He took our rejection and bore it for us. Isaiah 53:3, says, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

2) He accepts us unconditionally with His great love! Ephesians 1:6, says, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Jesus is not condemning us for these areas. Jesus wants to set us free. This is His mission. But we need to be honest with ourselves, drop our pride, and be prepared to cooperate with the healing process of getting free.

Notice what was the bottom line and root cause of the bondage of these people.

"And I said to you, I am the LORD your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed My voice (Word)" (Judges 6:10).



Gideon is our example of a prisoner that became free and even freed his people! Gideon bore fruit for God.



Follow Gideon's path- Judges chapter 6.

He was a victim of his forefather's idol worship. His people were in bondage to poverty due to the past 200 years of idol worship.

He was working hard at making life work with his own power, but he ended up with failure, low self-esteem and hopelessness. He was hiding in his wine vat underground in order to avoid the Midianites who would come in hordes and wipe out the crops and steal the livestock. No matter how hard he and his people tried, they could not overcome the enemy. The Midianites were those enemies that beat down God's pastures and robbed the seed. In the same way today's Midianites, demons, rob the Word of God to keep us from being fruitful. Notice that they waited until Israel had sown their crops, then they swarmed down to destroy them. They came as grasshoppers. Israel was greatly impoverished.



What did God do? What did Gideon do?

The primary lesson that I want us to learn is that God taught Gideon to hear His voice! Watch and see how the relationship between God and Gideon developed from glory to glory. See how Gideon cooperated with God's leading, and how God provided the grace and the power. Gideon learned to obey His voice. That is really all he had to do. That is really any of us need to do. Notice, God did not say, "You have not obeyed My laws or My precepts or principles." He said, "You have not obeyed My voice." One's voice is personal compared to laws, commands and precepts. Voice is personal it is face to face. It is powerful to hear God's voice. It really does not matter what He says, just as long as His voice can be heard.

The question is: How desperate are you to hear God's voice? How desperate are you to obey His voice.

The end of the story is that Gideon was used by God to motivate a victory and freedom for people, not just for himself. As Isaiah 61 shows, he went from prisoner to priest. He went from a sufferer to a comforter. He turned his junk into jewels. He took the path of the cross to the grave to the resurrection.

In this study we are going to see how God worked, and still works to turn our prisons into freedom. We will also see how Gideon responded to God so that we may follow his steps for our own lives.

Follow Gideon's path- Judges chapter 6.

6:1 He was a victim of his forefather's idol worship. His people were in bondage to poverty due to the past 200 years of idol worship. The first thing we need to do is to forgive those that put us into these prisons. Without this forgiveness, as an act of our will, the rest of the process will not work. If we cannot find forgiveness, then confess that as sin to the Lord and His forgiveness will work through us.

6:1-11 He was working hard at making life work with his own power, but he ended up with failure, low self-esteem and hopelessness. He was hiding in his wine vat underground in order to avoid the Midianites who would come in hordes and wipe out the crops and steal the livestock. No matter how hard he and his people tried, they could not overcome the enemy. The Midianites were those enemies that beat down God's pastures and robbed the seed. In the same way today's Midianites, demons, rob the Word of God to keep us from being fruitful. Notice that they waited until Israel had sown their crops, and then they swarmed down to destroy them. They came as grasshoppers. Israel was greatly impoverished.

6:8 God spoke to the Israelites. In God's mercy, He heard the cries of the Israelites and sent a prophet. His mercy endures forever. The prophet told the Israelites that God was their God, He had delivered them from bondage once and that the reason they were in bondage again (this time in their own Promise Land) was that they did not obey the voice of God (The Word of God). If we do not LIVE on the Word of God daily, we will surely become slaves and prisoners to our enemies. There is no way around it.

6:12 God spoke to Gideon personally. The angel of the Lord, the personal representative of God, came to Gideon. The Amplified Bible commentary says that this was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus. He called Gideon a "Mighty Man of Valor." Why did He use these words to someone who was acting like a coward, who had no self-esteem and was threshing wheat in hiding so that his enemies could not spot him? God always deals with us this way; He sees what we will become. He calls those things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:17). He looks not at what we are, but at what we can be in Him. These are faith words talking.

6:13 Gideon was honest with God. He told Him just how he felt; "If God is with us, then why are we suffering so much?" A lot of people ask these questions. If God is love, why do good people suffer? If I have been serving God, then why am I going through this tough time now?" He asked God "where are all the miracles that you performed with our forefathers in Egypt?" He felt forsaken by God.

6:18-21 God revealed Himself to Gideon as the covenant making God. He showed Gideon Who He is, and He showed Gideon his real position as a covenant partner with God. So often God answers our questions with a revelation of Who He is!

Gideon brought his best to God. Gideon took up his cross. The price of the goat and home baked bread that Gideon brought was extreme for someone in poverty circumstances. Not only that, Gideon cooked soup!

Gideon saw the Cross of Jesus. It could have just been an expensive meal, but God turned it into a covenant meal. In Leviticus 2:1 the meat or meal offering was to be burnt on the altar by the priest. The fact that the Angel of The Lord burned up Gideon's offering with the tip of His staff was a sign of the covenant. I believe that in Gideon's Hebrew mind, he saw a blood covenant that day between himself and God. He saw God exchange power, name and circumstances with him.

The Blood Covenant changes your family, your name, and your inheritance. Gideon received God's name, God took Gideon's name. Mighty Man of Valor: was the Lord's name, defeated weak one was Gideon's name. They swapped.

6:22 Gideon could hear God speak even better now. This was Gideon's main attribute. He took the time to build a relationship and continued to hear God speak. Notice that the Lord had departed in verse 21 yet in verse 23 the Lord spoke. This represents a progressive relationship between Gideon and the Lord.

6:23-24 He had the peace of God because of the Cross (Jehovah-shalom). You can be in terrible circumstances but if you have the peace of God you can overcome anything! "And let the peace of God rule [as an umpire] in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful" ( 3:15 &endash; comment from Amp. Bible).

6:25-32 Gideon had to tear down family idols. After experiencing the Cross of Jesus we need to tear down the altars. Idolatry is based upon one simple thing; SELF-LOVE. This is more of taking up our cross. Idols are not as obvious today as they were in Old Testament times. An idol is anything that makes you walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit. The most accurate test is what or who do you worship? The most accurate test for worship is whom you obey: Your reasoning, your flesh, another person, or the Spirit of God and the Word of God? Walking in the flesh is obeying your flesh (natural desire) and walking in the Spirit is obeying the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. To pull down idols, one must be in contact with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit so one can cease obeying his/her natural desires.

Like in Romans 12:1 after all of the mercy that God had shown to our lost condition, after the giving of the Cross and all of the grace in Romans chapters 1 through 11, He then says, "In view of all these mercies, offer your own body a living sacrifice." In other words, tear down your idols as Gideon did. Offer all of your faculties to God; give Him your body to be an earthen vessel filled with God as Adam was supposed to be. Be willing to be "different" for God; do not be conformed to this world system.

6:34 After tearing down the idols, Gideon was clothed [possessed] with the Spirit of God. He had the power of God. Gideon had the sense, faith and abandonment to obey God and stop obeying the reasoning and natural circumstances in his life. When we turn from idols we will find the result is always more of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The first thing that happened is that the enemy attacked. When we tear down spiritual idols, we can expect a manifestation of the battle in the natural.

6:36-40 He learned to fellowship with God at a very strong level of trust in spite of circumstances (perhaps even because of them).

Gideon bore fruit for the Kingdom of God. He became one of history's greatest deliverers of God's people. Read Judges 7 through 8:21 for the battle. God turned a defeated man with hopeless circumstances into a great historic victory because of two things: 1) The Cross, and 2) Gideon's appreciation of the Cross to the extent that he would go all out for God and make Him the focus of all of his life, not just first or second place, and Gideon's cooperation to tear down idols and strongholds.

In spite of the fact that Gideon had been subject to family sins, curses and the worshipping of idols, the Angel of the Lord brought the Cross on the scene with the sacrifice, and was saying, "There is no way out for you sonny boy, except that I take on the curse and sin that you have coming to you. By virtue of this covenant, I am taking your sin, your family curses, your generational sins passed down and results of idol worship both by you and your ancestors. I will take your name (your identity) which is 'cursed by God' and you will be called by My Name, O' Mighty Man of Valor." Actually Gideon means "cutter down, hewer."

God met Gideon where he was. God did not require him to be someone he was not. But God had faith in him. Gideon learned that you make it not in your own strength but by

(1) Fruit. He learned that he was a Prisoner in the Promise Land. He learned how to be intimate with God, The Flowing River, and he learned Who God is. He learned to Sit, Walk and Stand. The end result was fruit for the Kingdom of God.



Be desperate to hear God's voice. Do whatever is necessary to arrange you life to hear God speak. Take time, more and more time, in the Word. Listen to tapes, read good authors, speak the Word, soak in the Word. Take time to be quite with God. Listen more and talk less. Study the Flowing River as a way to hear God's voice more and more. Change your surroundings from time to time, escape from the familiar.

Allow God to speak to your heart!



(1) These are names of chapters in the book, Grow or Die.

Chkoreff, Larry. Grow or Die. Marietta, GA: International School of the Bible, 1999



Larry Chkoreff 2003



Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 1

Oh if they just knew how much I love them!



"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years" (Judges 6:1).

Gideon's life was lived during a time when Israel relapsed into idolatry, time and time again, followed by invasions of the Promised Land and oppressions by their enemies. There were heroic judges who were raised up to become delivers of Israel, whenever they sincerely repented of their sins. The people showed an outward form of loyalty to Jehovah much of the time. However as we will uncover in this series, the people were mostly prisoners, prisoners even while occupying the Promised Land given to them by God. These people can be a type and example for us as believers in Christ.

So many believers in Christ have known the Lord for many years as these people had, yet for one reason or another are not totally set free from the things that Satan binds us with. Gideon's time was during the fourth (of seven) major apostasies of Israel after they entered the Promise Land. This shows that even more mature believers need to be open to being set free from one kind of prison or another. We need to be humble before the Lord. He may want to use us in a way that can only be accomplished after another level of freedom in our lives.

In this series we will attempt to uncover and deal with many root causes of issues that can keep even believers as spiritual prisoners. However in this first lesson of the series I want to deal with what I believe is the one primary root cause of all root causes, and that is the misunderstanding of God's character, His love, and how He deals with us.

I believe that these people had the same problem that many people have today with Christianity, yes even many, far too many believers. They did not really understand the depth of God's love. The problem usually lies with the fact that even believers are blinded from the truth of God's perfect and complete deliverance accomplished at the Cross and the resurrection.

So many people who look at Christianity don't want anything to do with it because they look at it as just a religious option. Man has so often misunderstood God. God made us in His image, but we attempt to make Him in our image. When Jesus came He disrupted many religious concepts about God. He loved to spend time with the tax collectors and prostitutes, but at the same time He said that a person would have to be radical to follow Him.

In the book of Hosea God compared His people to adulterers because they had turned from Him, their husband. Then He shows us the cause and effect of their restoration. First God freely forgives them (Israel) and the result is that they turn to Him. This is how our salvation occurred!

Read God's heart in this passage. "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror" (Hosea 11:8,9).



Believers often misunderstand, and even misinterpret the truth about Christianity and the Bible. There are generally two opposing views, both of which miss the truth that Jesus and the New Testament desires to convey. I believe that most people fall into one of these three groups, or even portions of all of them.

1. Performance and legalism.

2. False grace.

Both of these extremes will keep you a prisoner.

3. The truth, which is the realization of the blood covenant, the Cross.



1. Performance and legalism. The Galatian church had this sickness and Paul asked them, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?" (Galatians 3:1). "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years" (Galatians 4:9,10).

A lot can be said regarding this lifestyle, but in summary it promotes the idea that your old nature, the Adamic nature sometimes called the "flesh" can be disciplined and trained to be Christlike, or at least God-pleasing. If you attempt to obey God and do not eventually comprehend His love expressed through the blood covenant, you will become a miserable legalist. You will find yourself treating other people the same way. If this is you, most likely you have slipped into being self righteous without even knowing it. You look at others who are not perfect and sneer at them like the Pharisees did. You forget where you came from, you forget what God forgave you for, or worse, maybe you don't even know how bad you are! You don't know how to treat people with the mercy of Jesus so that they can find Him.

If you have believed this form of religion, get free! It will never work and does not please God. The apostle Paul said, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find" (Romans 7:18).

If this is you, you have not comprehended the love of God. Down deep you are miserable, you do not enjoy peace, joy, and the fruit of the Spirit. You may experience depression and fear. You have never really comprehended the true Gospel message. "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Yes you will be called to obey, you will be called to be forgiven when you confess your sins, but the key is the sacrifice, the blood, the Cross. This is the center of all!

If you try to live this way you are severed from Christ and under a curse!

You will be a prisoner and under a curse if you attempt to live this way. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them'" (Galatians 3:10).

"If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing)" (Galatians 5:4 Amplified Bible).

2. False grace. Often when people find that performance leads to failure and frustration, or if they are simply turned off by the self-righteous people in the church, they turn to the opposite extreme, false grace. Don't get me wrong, grace is a God thing. It is the very thing that caused us to come to God in the first place. We can only be saved by grace, and we can only live this life by grace. So what is the problem? People who also have never comprehended the true Gospel message of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" tend to live out false grace.

Paul address both extremes with the Galatians when he stated in Galatians 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap."

If this is you, you may feel that God is a loving, mushy, God who understands your weakness, your tendency to sin and not be perfect. He just winks at your sin like a misguided parent and allows you to go on in your lifestyle. Actually He does understand, He understood so completely that He bore your imperfections, your sin, so that you might not be destroyed. Jesus instead was destroyed in your place. It was not cheap or easy, it was bloody and the most violent death ever recorded. He suffered in Hell for you. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1).

God loves you much more than just excusing your sin. Sin is like cancer, if it is excused it will kill you. If it is removed, you will be healed. Forgiveness by God actually removes your sin. Therefore you must be honest with God, agree with Him, and bring Him those things that do not line up with His character. The word "confession" actually carries with it the idea of agreeing with God. There is no condemnation, just a loving Father who wants to take you higher than you can imagine, in His power, not yours. "For this is the will of God, your sanctification…" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

If this is you, actually you have a good point and need to be understood. God does indeed understand your frailty, your imperfections, the temptations and tendency to sin. Therefore He wants you to confess it before Him, hate it, and go on to allow Him to live His life through you.

If this is you, you are missing the main point. Jesus wants you to experience Him through the Word and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is most likely a doctrine to you more than a living being on the inside of you. You can only enjoy His presence by realizing the true value of the Cross.

Jesus died on the Cross so that you could be free from sin, not to excuse it!

If you continually live a permissive lifestyle without being honest with God about your sin, eventually it will eat you up and you will be miserable. Some people take this to the extreme and never even get saved because they feel that God honors all religions.

God never dispensed grace as an excuse to live a sloppy disobedient worldly lifestyle with a way to keep one's conscience clear. Grace is an attribute of God that gives us the power to allow Him to live His life through us. We are supposed to get out of the way and allow Him to live in us. This was God's original plan for mankind, and it has not changed.

Being gut level honest with God with your sin will keep you free. You must not compare yourself to other people, but only to the pattern set forth by Jesus in the Scriptures. It is not put there to condemn you, only to protect you by seeing that if you are not lining up with His pattern, that you may come to Him for cleansing and go on until He changes you.

Most people in this category fail to make the Word of God an active thing in their lives because they don't want to feel condemned by its demands. Eventually, their minds drift off into an worldly state and do not even know that they are living in disobedience because they never face the truth. They become truly deceived. If this is you, you are a prisoner. "Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34). It is easy to become free, but it is your choice.

I believe that this was the main malady during Gideon's time. They had forsaken the integrity of God's demands to put all things under the blood, His blood.

3. The truth. The solution is the Cross, the blood covenant. The solution for Gideon turned out to be the blood covenant, as we will see in future chapters. Paul told the Galatians that their solution was the truth of Christ-in-them when he said in Galatians 4:6, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'"

You will know the truth, about the Cross, and it will make you a free person.

I believe that in Gideon's day that people were living both extremes. Most likely what both extremes were missing was the blood sacrifice that God had provided to forgive their sins. The Lord knew that they could not keep the perfect law, He knows that we cannot, but He gave them a solution, the blood sacrifice. Our solution is much better, it is the final blood sacrifice, the Cross of Jesus that gives us His life living in us, and takes our life and gives it to Him.

What you really need to understand is, "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Jesus did not die so we could perform better or to excuse us when we sin, but He was condemned as a criminal because we were criminals and we do criminal acts. He died and rose to leave our criminal nature in the grave and give us His nature. We do not please God by our works or by our accepting His grace in a toxic way, but we please God only with faith. Faith in what? Faith in the fact that He left our old nature in the grave and gave us His nature.

Jesus wants us to understand that He offers us a blood covenant. In that covenant, your entire being, the sinful man went into Him at the Cross. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." You died in Him. He rose in you. He takes your sin, you take His character, not only legally but also experientially, little by little.

Paul said he would only preach the Cross. It is the power of God. Performance based obedience and excusing sin is not the power of God, it is religion at its worse. In this series you will see the Lord's love as the starting point, the Cross, then you will see true forgiveness that springs from that love, then you will see the obedience that results. But the starting point cannot be anything but the Cross.

Christ in you. Meditate on this truth until it gets on the inside of you. It is true. The problem is you need revelation on the truth. The truth does not change because you do not believe it. You need to tell God that you are having trouble believing the truth and He will adjust you and reveal it to you. It is not something you can do by yourself, but you must be honest. Many years ago I memorized Galatians 2:20 and Romans chapter 6 so that I meditated on it constantly during the day. Finally, I remember the feeling, it really got on the inside of me and I believed it.

Listen to this.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1,2).

"Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God" (Romans 6:4-10).

"Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:11). The word "reckon" is an accounting term. Just put it down in your credit column that you have already died with Christ. When you get to Heaven you will see a file drawer showing your death certificate, it will most likely be dated the day you made Jesus your Lord. Another file will show your birth certificate with the same date on it, a microsecond after your death.

When we concentrate on that, the old nature dies and is starved to death.

Our true identity is established by God's Word, who says we are righteous. We are not righteous because we act that way, but because of Jesus' finished work at the Cross and resurrection. We no longer see ourselves as poor old worms, sinners who are unworthy. We used to be sinners, but it would dishonor God to see yourself that way now that you are born again. He says you are righteous. Now it is up to you to believe what He says more that you believe what you see with your eyes. When that happens, your life will begin to change.

It won't all happen at once. Romans 7 shows Paul in the struggle.

God does not want us to be condemned every time we miss it. Therefore, I believe, He showed that even the apostle Paul struggled. That can give us some comfort when we need to come to God for forgiveness.

Paul said, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good" (Romans 7:15,16).

Romans 8 gives us the solution.

"O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin" (Romans 7:24,25).

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:1-5).

Paul told the Galatians the solution in verse Galatians 5:18, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

Your rewards.

While God's love and many of His blessings are without conditions, many blessings do have conditions. For instance, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). The condition is that you should seek first. It's not that God is trying to hold back His blessings, but obedience quite often is the ingredient needed to stop Satan. I don't know about you brother and sister, but I desperately need "all things" added to me.

You will enter into a rest that is incredible. Will you always be at peace and be happy? No. But whatever happens will be overcome by your walk with the Lord and you will bear fruit to His glory. Your faith will please God. You will experience His presence in your own time with Him, the Bible will become exciting. Your fellowship with the Lord will constantly be improving. God will supply your needs of love, security, and significance.

Paul told the Galatians that their reward for "walking in the Spirit" would be, "But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law that can bring a charge] (Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified Bible).

Your life will become more and more connected to God's presence. You will hear Him in your spirit. He will send you on errands to bless hurting people and reveal Himself to them without you even knowing it. His work will appear in your life and you will realize that He is at work within you to help a hurting and dying world!

You will be free from the poison of both erring viewpoints. You will walk with God in confidence and without condemnation, but it will not be with a rule book in your hand, fearing that you might break one now and then. On the other hand, when you do act in offensive ways or even sin, you have an advocate, a lawyer named Jesus who brings you to the Father and cleans you up. Your sin is put away and you are made clean, just like a virgin, as if you never sinned.

The extreme of legalism is like God giving you a brand new airplane and all you can do is push it around. The extreme of false grace is like just sitting in the airplane and going nowhere. The Cross and the realization of God's love, God moving in to take up residence in you, will give you the key to fly the airplane high above all the things of earth! Get your eyes off of yourself, and onto Jesus. Forget about yourself. What a rest!

God's rewards.

The Lord will be glorified by you because He will be living His life through you. He will be able to reveal Himself to others through you. He will enjoy your worship and fellowship. You will be blessed to be a blessing. The Lord's presence on a daily basis is more reward than all the silver and gold in the world!



"Many years since I saw that 'without holiness no man shall see the Lord,' I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, 'We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith.' This I testified in private, in public and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work." John Wesley (1771)

"Oh, if they just knew how much I love them!"

Larry Chkoreff - December, 2002



Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 2

The Word is a seed!



Let us continue to follow Gideon's path to see how God changed him from a prisoner to a freedom fighter.

"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.



And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites, that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.' Also I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed My voice.'

Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, 'The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!' Gideon said to Him, 'O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.'



Then the LORD turned to him and said, 'Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?' So he said to Him, 'O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.' And the LORD said to him, 'Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.' Then he said to Him, 'If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 'Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You." And He said, 'I will wait until you come back.' So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.' And he did so. Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, 'Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.' Then the LORD said to him, 'Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die'" (Judges 6:1-23).

Gideon was working hard at making life work with his own power, but he ended up with failure, low self-esteem, and hopelessness. He was hiding in his wine vat underground in order to avoid the Midianites who would come in hordes and wipe out the crops and steal the livestock. No matter how hard he and his people tried, they could not overcome the enemy. The Midianites were those enemies that beat down God's pastures and robbed the seed. These were God's people like we are. They had a covenant like we do; however Satan had neutralized them in their effectiveness for God's mission for their lives.

Midianites. The Hebrew definition is strife, contention, and confusion.

In the same way, today's Midianites, demons rob the Word of God to keep us from being fruitful. Notice that they waited until Israel had sown their crops, then they swarmed down to destroy them. They came as grasshoppers. Israel was greatly impoverished.

God has a simple system for His covenant people to live by.

It is simple and childlike. It is living by the Word of God planted in your heart to bear fruit for all of your needs and all of God's needs and purposes on this earth. Please read the preceding sentence again. Get it down into your heart, deep down. Meditate upon it.

"But he answering said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God's mouth" (Matthew 4:4, Darby).

The angel of the Lord said to Gideon, "I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not obeyed My voice." This is why Gideon's people were in such terrible condition. They should have been exercising dominion over their enemies, not threshing their wheat hiding in caves. Wheat threshing is done in the open air with the wind acting as the threshing power.

The satanic world has never changed its strategy. Satan started with Adam and Eve in the Garden by convincing them that they did not need to live on God's Word. He even twisted the Word when he told Eve that God had said to not even touch the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God never said that, He had told them not to eat of it. There is a big difference. God wanted them to sustain their lives on the Tree of Life, the Word of God, however they were convinced to sustain their lives with their own reasoning and intelligence.

Living by depending upon the Word is the only normal way for a righteous, new creation person to live. To live any other way is abnormal. It is like putting diesel fuel into a gasoline engine. It will just not work properly.

Thousands of years of cultures contrary to God's simple plan for man has distorted how we are supposed to live. Jesus was very clear when He taught His disciples and us that the entire Kingdom of God, its very mystery was embedded in the parable of the sower in Mark 4, Luke 8 and Matthew 13 "And He said to them, 'To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables'" (Mark 4:11).

The parable of the sower, Mark chapter 4, contains the secret.

"1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.

2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

3 "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4 "And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

5 "Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.

6 "But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.

7 "And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8 "But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

9 And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.

11 And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,

12 "so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.'"

13 And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

14 "The sower sows the word.

15 "And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

16 "These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

17 "and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.

18 "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,

19 "and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

20 "But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

21 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?

22 "For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.

23 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

24 Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

25 "For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him"" (Mark 4:1-25).

Now go back and study the ways that Satan steals the Word, and determine to overcome those temptations in God's power.

God's program is to have us feed on Him, Jesus, the Living Word of God. "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53). When we do He plants supernatural seeds into our hearts which grow into fruit. The fruit is for our character, our earthly provisions, and for God's work, ministry. This fruit glorifies God because only He can produce it, it is not something that we have produced and asked Him to bless.

The Word is actual substance when planted in our hearts by God speaking. Back in 1984 my income did not come close to my family obligations. I was talking to the Lord about it and He instructed me to give Him my budget. Then He told me that He was planting 2 Corinthians 9:8 into my heart as a seed; "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." He told me to meditate on it, confess it and stand on it. Within a few months my budget had been met. Since then I understood how the seed works. Of course there were other acts of obedience and I had to continually hear and obey God during the process.

Our substance is supernatural. You cannot see it with your eyes, or hear it with your ears. But you can thank Him when you know it is planted.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). When you look at the color yellow, your eyes see the evidence and relay it to your mind. When you hear the train that you cannot see, your ears hear the evidence that you cannot see and relay it to your mind. When you hear the Word of God you have another sense, faith, which tells you that the seed of the Word of God is now planted in your heart, and if you nurture it fruit will spring up from it.

Once the Word is planted in our hearts we are responsible for watering it with our verbal confession of it. The parable in Mark chapter 4 makes it clear that Satan will use all means to steal the Word, the seed from your heart. You will be tempted, but your weapon is the Word itself. Confess it out loud, several times daily! Repent your way through the trial and the fruit will appear.

Like a Rock! Fix your mind on this evidence. It is surer than anything!

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings [Words] of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the roc" (Matthew 7:24-25).

Take a lesson from the Israelites.

This passage of Scripture in Judges chapter 6 is very poignant with the idea of this struggle. First, the Hebrews were in desperate trouble because they had not obeyed the Word of God. Satan had succeeded in stealing the seed out of their hearts through their own rebellion and self-sufficiency. Also, there was a continuing destruction of the seed that were sown into the ground, in their farms, which is a picture of our hearts. The Midianites rode their hordes of camels down and destroyed the crops while they were still only seeds. That is Satan's program for you and for me!

God spoke to the Israelites. In God's mercy, He heard the cries of the Israelites and sent a prophet. His mercy endures forever. The prophet told the Israelites that God was their God, He had delivered them from bondage once and that the reason they were in bondage again (this time in their own Promise Land) was that they did not obey the voice of God (The Word of God). If we do not live on the Word of God daily, we will surely become slaves and prisoners to our enemies. There is no way around it.

Often the Lord must wait until we are hurting enough to really look at our true condition.

Could it be that only our failure and brokenness can bring us to trust only in the Word? Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Why are the poor so blessed? Because they will trust only in the Kingdom of Heaven, which, according to Mark 4:11 operates on the Word seed of God.

So often while we are in the process of allowing the seed turn into fruit we will go through tremendous suffering and even crushing unto despair of life. Look, if Satan is working you over to steal the seed, it is not going to be a party. However, he is only doing God's work of killing your flesh. Isaiah said that the Assyrians were God's rod when they attacked Israel.

When seeds germinate in the ground they absorb many of the elements in the soil. When God's Word germinates in our hearts, it absorbs the flesh, the sin, and the things that do not belong there. Oh, what a mighty God we serve!

Can we then thank Him for all of the things that come into our lives that crush us and make us "poor in spirit?" The Lord loves you very much. Don't let your circumstances taint God's character. He loved these Israelites and He wanted them to prosper, but He had to wait until they hurt enough to cry out to Him. Then His next step was to have the prophet show them why they were hurting. There is a hurting that is caused by not depending upon the Word, and there is a suffering that comes when we do depend upon the Word. So either way, get ready!

We desperately need to repent. Repentance is a gift of God. Too many people feel condemned when they are called to repent, and in their pride they miss God completely. While all the time the Lord is standing there in His mercy longing to deliver. But He needs our wills turned towards Him, He needs our sins of pride, rebellion, self-sufficiency, and not trusting in His Word confessed as sin. As soon as we do He forgives and moves us on to the next step. His grace kicks in, as we will see in the next chapter.

If you have not been depending upon on seed, the Word planted in your heart, for everything in your life, this is a great time to confess that as sin and repent. Don't live on the lower level of life, which Heathens must endure, rather turn, and you will find the Kingdom of God at hand.

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added [come upon you without human effort] to you" (Matthew 6:31-33).

Laid out flat!

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you [laid you out flat, horizontal], that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15:16).

It's all about fruit! God's original plan for man was to have His Word spoken to man's heart, for man to react and obey His Word, resist the devil who would attempt to steal the precious seed, and then rest while the seed matured into fruit. Adam decided that he could abandon that plan and substitute it with a "better plan." That "better plan" is called sin.

Now God has us in a recovery mode. A major factor in the recovery is to be laid out flat, or in other words, to allow our "better plan" to fail. How can God plant seeds in a garden that is vertical and that is running around trying to use things that are not even seeds? Often we think God is unkind by allowing us to fail, but in fact it is His love and compassion to allow us to be "laid out flat" in order that we may return to normal and bear His fruit.

John 15 was a major part of Jesus' closing statements to His disciples. He emphasized fruit. He said that some of the conditions were to obey His Word and to be laid out horizontal so that the fruit could grow. In the parable of the sower, Jesus said in Mark 4:11 that this parable contained the very mystery of the Kingdom of God. Fruit is the mystery. So many people miss this simple Gospel of the Kingdom.

Thank God that as believers we are going to Heaven when our bodies die. But how are we supposed to live between now and then? He wants all of our needs supplied by fruit. We can watch His fruit supply the fruit of our character, the fruit of our material needs, and fruit in blessing others. Love, security, and significance are the big three.

Woe to the person who is so strong that he/she can make life work with "the better plan" and avoid being laid flat.



Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 3

Why Gideon?



Why did God choose Gideon?

As we will study in future chapters, God revealed Himself in a marvelous way to Gideon. What was it about Gideon that caused God to reveal so much to him? Gideon saw himself as a very poor candidate. He said, "So he said to Him, 'O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house'" (Judges 6:15).

Why did He not choose a religious person or a military leader? What did Gideon bring to the relationship? What can we learn about God? What did God bring to the relationship? Why was God able to reveal Himself to Gideon in such a mighty way? What can we learn from Gideon so that God will reveal Himself to us in a marvelous way? It was enough for Gideon just to have God reveal Himself! That was life changing! It was history changing!

I submit that God with His foreknowledge foresaw some characteristics in Gideon that He knew He could work with. Do you possess these characteristics?

God does not look for the high and mighty, the ones who are strong in personality and worldly success. He loves to work with those who do not feel like that they are worth much. He can take those people and show them their true worth in Him.

I believe that what God saw in Gideon was:

1. Honesty and transparency with God. "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom" (Psalms 51:6). "and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

2. Meekness. "Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).

3. A willingness to listen to God and to quickly obey Him. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (John 14:21). The more you see of Jesus the less fear and the more faith you will experience. That is why obedience is so important. You will not know how God is going to do the impossible in your life any more than Gideon knew how God would wipe out an army of tens of thousands with a mere three hundred. But if you are experiencing God and His very person on a daily basis, you will have peace.

Meekness is often misunderstood. Meekness is not "sissy." I have heard it said that meekness is like a large strong Arabian horse who can be led by a silk thread. Power under control!

The definition of meek according to the Strongs Concordance is:

"mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness. Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time. (Is. 41:17, Luke. 18:1-8) Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God's goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will. (Gal. 5:23)."

"The common assumption is that when a man is meek it is because he cannot help himself, but the Lord was meek because he had the infinite resources of God at His command." Described negatively, meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self interest; it is equanimity of spirit that is neither elated nor cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all."

As we go through the first parts of this story line by line, look for these attributes in Gideon, and then determine to line up your life with God in much the same way. See how God worked with Gideon and expect Him to relate to you in a similar way.

Also notice that Gideon changed the more he related to God. Faith was building, and Gideon's speech was changing. It is good to give God all of your doubt and unbelief, but it is not good to stay there. After the fleece experience in Judges 6:36-40 Gideon no longer expressed negative thoughts and words. His relationship with God was deepening. Faith is the result of communing with God.

The Lord asked Gideon to do some very bold spiritual and military tasks, and Gideon never wavered. These same requests would have been met with Gideon's doubt and fear in the very beginning of the story. I submit that just hearing God speak and being with Him changed Gideon. It will change you and the things in your life.

Judges chapter 6.

"1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.

3 So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.

4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.

5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites,

8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;

9 'and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.

10 'Also I said to you, "I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not obeyed My voice.'"

Not obeying God's voice is where they missed it. Did they even hear His voice?

11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.

12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!"

The Lord always calls those things that are not as through they are. He sees our potential and calls us that in advance, calling them into being, Romans 4:17.

13 Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

How often have believers asked these same questions? "If the Lord…then why." God honored Gideon's honesty and realness. God wants the real you, not the religious fake. It is safe to be real with God. He can only deal with people who are honest from their hearts. But the Lord loves us too much to allow us to stay in our fear and doubt. Look how He answers Gideon.

14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"

Notice the Lord did not give him a direct answer to his question, but rather took a path that would eventually reveal who He is to Gideon. When we see Jesus, we don't need so many answers.

15 So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."

Gideon saw God's suggestion to save Israel as absurd in light of his own condition.

16 And the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man."

How many of us would be bold enough to believe a word from God like this? But hearing God speak builds faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word.

17 Then he said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.

Here is Gideon's realness again. Doubt in the midst of faith. But he confessed it.

18 "Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You." And He said, "I will wait until you come back."

19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.

This was a major financial sacrifice in light of the poverty Gideon was living in. God loves it when we "waste" ourselves on Him! Stinginess ties God's hands.

20 The Angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

Quick obedience by Gideon. Remember John 14:21 says that God reveals Himself to the obedient.

21 Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face."

This ritual was a sign of the blood covenant with deity to Gideon. When we see and appreciate the revelation of the blood covenant, we see God face to face. To see a God who would accept our sinful condition as His own, and suffer with it is awesome. But then to see that He also gives us His very own life in lieu of ours, His resurrection life, that is enough to make us fall down and worship.

23 Then the LORD said to him, "Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die."

Seeing God face to face is enough to make one fear, and indeed fear unto death. But God gave him peace instead.

24 So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD -Is &endash;Peace (Shalom). To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, "Take your father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it;

26 "and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down."

We are called to tear down our own idols as well as those of our forefathers that might be bringing a generational curse upon our lives. An idol is anything that we feel can provide for our needs other than God. This was a bold move by Gideon! He was risking everything. He was burning his bridges behind him and moving forward trusting in the Lord.

27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.

29 So they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And when they had inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing."

30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it."

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!"

Gideon's boldness even affected his father.

32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar."

33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

When we tear down idols and are obedient to the Lord, the enemy will always attack. But look how the Lord counters the attack. He clothed Gideon with the Holy Spirit and took possession of him!

34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him; and he blew a trumpet, and the clan of Abiezer was gathered after him. (Amplified version).

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

Here is the story of the fleece. Fleecing God has its place only when totally led by the Holy Spirit. It is not to be our normal means of communicating with the Lord. Notice as Gideon matured and even encountered more difficult circumstances; he did not continue to put out fleeces.

36 So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said--

37 "look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said."

38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew."

40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Judges Chapter 7

1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley."

"2 And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

We should always remember that when things look overwhelming, not to evaluate our own abilities, but His.

3 "Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.'" And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' the same shall not go."

5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink."

6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.

Why this test? I submit that the people who fell to their knees most likely also put down their weapons and took their eyes off of the enemy. They were more interested in their own comfort. The people who "lapped" stood tall, stood alert, and just took enough water with their hands to stay healthy.

7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place."

8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.

Here is faith talking again. Calling those things that are not as though they were. But God is compassionate. He said to Gideon, "But if you are afraid…"

10 "But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant,

11 "and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.

I feel that the name Purah represents the Holy Spirit in our lives. Purah means green bough, a glorious plant. God knows our weaknesses and if we stay connected to Him we will allow Him to meet us where we are. He knew that Gideon needed more information, more faith.

12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

Notice, when we enter into warfare with the Lord, the enemy does not give up quickly, on the contrary, the Midianites came without number, as locusts, as numerous as sand.

13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, "I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed."

14 Then his companion answered and said, "This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp."

15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand."

The above story is awesome to me. If we could overhear our enemies speaking we would see that it is they who are in fear. What do we have to fear? The people in Jericho were afraid of Joshua and his army, and God revealed that to them.

16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers.

No swords, just trumpets and pitchers! The trumpet is the sound of praise and war, the pitcher is we as earthen vessels filled with the glory of God, His light!

17 And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:

18 "When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!'"

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers--they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing--and they cried, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!"

These people were in unity. When you need to overcome a situation, line up with people who can agree.

21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

This may sound absurd, but God is able. He did this in modern day Israel when the Arabs and the Soviets were attacking.

23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan." Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.

25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan."

Does this sound like the same Gideon who said, "So he said to Him, 'O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house'" (Judges 6:15)?

God used Gideon's realness, his meekness and his quick obedience as the raw materials. God added Himself as a real person into Gideon's life, and you see the results!

This life should not be about just "making it" with as few problems as possible. We should be looking for opportunities to take our perplexities and turn them into victories for the Kingdom of God. Junk to jewels! This is purpose; this is real life. The rewards are eternal!



Larry Chkoreff March 2003




Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 4

Mighty Man of Valor? Was this a true statement?



# Let us continue to follow Gideon's path to see how God changed him from a wimp to a warrior.

# "And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!’ Gideon said to Him, ‘O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites"" (Judges 6:12,13).



He called Gideon a "Mighty Man of Valor."

Why did He speak these words to someone who was acting like a coward, who had no self-esteem and was threshing wheat in hiding so that his enemies could not spot him? God always deals with us this way; He sees what we will become. He calls those things that are not as though they are. He looks not at what we are, but at what we can be in Him. These are faith words talking. "(as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed--God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did’" (Romans 4:17).

If you looked at the thermostat on your furnace and it recorded the temperature as being 40 degrees F, you would turn the thermostat up to call for a higher temperature like 65 degrees F. The result would eventually be 65 F. You called those things that are not as though they were. If, on the other hand, you looked at your thermostat and you said, "Oh no, it is only 40 F in here," and did nothing, it would continue to be 40 F. You moved your hope to 65 F, and your faith in action accomplished the goal "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
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Your self-image is very important to God.

God was slowly changing Gideon’s self-image.

Your self-image is much more than just a "feel good" issue. God wants to give you a truthful and accurate self-image. Who you see yourself as, is important to God. God must work through you. He cannot just show up here on earth. In your realm of life you have the influence He needs and wants to use.

However He can only accomplish His work through you to the extent that His character is formed in you. This is where your self-image becomes important. Although Jesus was misunderstood, persecuted, neglected, and even crucified, even though He identified with mere humanity, He never lost His identity. He always knew who He was. He never allowed other people and circumstances to give Him his identity and self-image. That is God’s goal for your life!

Circumstances and other people can be liars when they define our self-image. We need to obtain our self-image, our world-view, our identity, from the only source that cannot lie, that is the Word of God! Life and circumstances have most likely given you a poor self-image, but if are a child of God it is not accurate. Give God the tablet of your heart and allow Him to paint thereon His truth! "Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart" (Proverbs 3:3).



The old sin mindset will define your self-image if you allow it.

"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; With the point of a diamond it is engraved On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars" (Jeremiah 17:1). I completely understand if your past life has painted a poor self-image on your tablet. I was there. I can remember, clearly, what it is to feel like a forgotten thrown away person, insignificant, unworthy, and useless. Sin and this world’s culture will take its pen of iron, and like the point of a diamond, engrave that on the tablet of your heart. But the blood of Jesus can erase that image. When you become born again, you become a New Creation in Christ. In other words, you change your race, you change your birthright, you change your inheritance, all of a sudden you are righteous, and the King of kings takes up residence in you.

If the Holy Spirit, whose presence used to slay sinful people, will actually take up residence with you and make you His temple, you are special, you are different, and you have been totally recreated!



Many years ago I was taking an extended walk with the Lord.

In a moment of feeling that I wanted to totally consecrate myself to Him I said, "Lord, write your purpose on the tablet of my heart by the pen of the Word dipped into the ink of Holy Spirit." I just wanted whatever God wanted for my life, no more, any less.

I could see some sort of canvas inside of me with the Lord writing His plan on it for my life. "Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart" (Proverbs 7:2,3).

The Lord responded, "I don’t have to write; the plan for your life was written on your heart before the foundation of the world. The counterfeiter has stolen your canvas and has painted his plan on it, covering up My plan. What needs to be done now is to scrape away the counterfeit paint."

The Lord knew that I had met an artist many years before that would steal beautiful paintings from galleries, not for their art beauty, but just for the value of the canvas. He would then paint his work over the original. This is the picture I saw.

I believe that God has a beautiful purpose for you, here on earth, one that will satisfy you beyond your greatest dreams, dreams that you may have never dreamed, but that are locked up inside of you (Ephesians 3:20).

I also believe that much of the counterfeit paint consists of old sin and especially generational curses, including things that happened to you when you were young, and things that happened to your forefathers before you were born. I can tell you two things from my experience. First, God has been taking me into my purpose, and is still working it out. Second, it has not been easy; it has taken "overcoming" at every step of the way. But nothing in life is easy, so why not go for the "gold."



God was intent on changing Gideon’s self-image.

God had a plan for His glory, and He needed to change Gideon before it could be accomplished. God focused on two things.

# 1. "The LORD is with you." Strongs Concordance defines "Lord" as Jehovah, the existing One.

2. "you mighty man of valor!" Strongs Concordance defines "mighty" as intensive strong, strong man, upright man, champion, chief, excel, giant mightiest, strongest, brave man.

Strongs Concordance defines "valor" as army, host, forces, valiant, strength, riches, wealth, power, substance might, strong, efficiency, ability.

If Jehovah, the self-existing one, is with you, and He who cannot lie tells you that you are a "mighty man of valor," then you are in good shape, no matter what your circumstances look like, and no matter what your past has been.



Hear the Lord say, "Hello mighty, intensively strong, upright champion, you who excel as the chief, you who are the strong brave person I see you as. You may not know this, but you are an army, you are strong, valiant and efficient, you have great ability with wealth power and substance. I will not only be with you, I will abide in you. You and I will do great things."

My self-image will come from what I consider my true worth or value to be.



How can I know my true worth and value? Humans were created to obtain their true worth by the evaluation of another person. What others think about us will eventually determine what we feel our worth to be. The problem is, we have been listening to the wrong person. God Himself is supposed to give us our worth. What He thinks about us is what should give us our true appraisal and that will develop our self-image.

The trouble is that mankind has been separated from God and we have allowed liars to determine our worth. God is the only one who cannot lie.



The actual worth of anything is determined by the price that someone is willing to pay for it. You may have a house appraised at $150,000 but if every prospective purchaser who comes along is only willing to pay $99,000 then that is its value. But if someone desires to pay $500,000 then your appraisal is insignificant, your house was really worth $500,000. That purchaser must have really loved this house in order to pay $500,000 for it!

Extravagant love!

God’s extravagant price that He paid for us is what gives us our true identify. The price that He paid for us demonstrated the extent of His love for us. A person invests His assets in what he loves.

Sometimes it is difficult to feel that God loves us. We hear about it, read about it, sing songs about it, but so often life’s circumstances seems to contradict His love. Like "If He loves me, then why is this happening, or why did that happen?"

The very nature of God is love. God is so much bigger and greater than we can imagine and this is true of His love, as well. Our human love is often so petty, stingy and self-centered.



But God’s love is vast; it is boundless; it is extravagant!

The only way we can really know this is to depend upon God’s Word more than our feelings. Ask yourself, are you spending more time with your feelings than you are with God’s Word? Your feelings are not always the truth, God’s Word IS TRUTH!

#

Paul prayed that we would experience this love. The Holy Spirit will make this real to you!

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, That you may really come to know, practically through experience for yourselves, the love of Christ which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience; that you may be filled through your whole being unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!)" (Ephesians 3:14-19, NIV-amp).

Notice that Paul’s prayer is for the church to know God’s love not just by intellect, but by experience. Notice, also, the four dimensions; we only have three space dimensions. That gives us a clue that His love cannot be fully explored!

#

We thought that we were not worth much, but God sent another "appraiser" here to correct the lie.



These parables can help us understand our true worth.

The field and the treasure.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field" (Matthew 13:44).

The man who found the treasure is Jesus. The field is the world. This is stated in Matthew 13:38 in another parable. When the man discovered that there was a treasure, he hid it. This is like Jesus putting a cover on us so that Satan cannot steal us. He did not really want the field, but he was realistic enough to know that in order to get the treasure, he had to pay the price for the field. The price of the field was very high. It cost him all he had.



God cannot be bankrupted, however, His main priority was creating a family, and Jesus was all He had for that. But he did it with joy because he knew the value of what he was getting in the treasure. If this was a natural man his neighbors and friends probably would have thought he was crazy paying that kind of price for a field that was apparently good for nothing, but they did not know about the treasure. This goes along with John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Only the "whoevers" here are the ones he gets. Those are the treasures in the field. He redeemed the world (purchased it) for the sake of the "whoevers."

Titus 2:14 says, "who [Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

That is His treasure, a people that are His very own. A people who have been purchased out of the world, redeemed from wickedness, purified and made zealous to do what is good. The price was Himself, all He had and all He was. He laid down His life. He gave Himself to buy that field for the sake of the treasure, His redeemed people.

What a man spends his money on will tell you what he loves. If someone spent EVERYTHING he had for you, you must be special in His eyes!



The Pearl of Great Price

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45-46).

The first parable shows God’s love for His people collectively, but the parable of the Pearl reveals the measure of God’s love for each human soul, individually. We are not just part of a group; you know a number in a large group with a faceless relationship with the boss. No, we have a personal one to one value. We are not just a number; we are a name and a face. He knows how many hairs are on our head. He knows our thoughts before we think them. He cares about our hurts and fears.

The merchant in the parable is Jesus. He was not just a tourist; He was a person who really knew the value of that for which He was looking. When He found this one pearl, He realized that it would be a good bargain to sell all He had just to buy that one pearl. One’s wife would have probably complained when her husband told her that he sold the house, the car, and the furniture, everything just for one pearl. Can you imagine how she would have reacted? How many of us would do that? That is the love of Jesus; it is extravagant!



God wants to give you His generic identity and your personal identity. We all need to know our generic identity in Christ; that we are new creations, we are righteous, we are His children, we are holy, that we are seated in Heavenly places in Christ. The Lord also wants you to realize your personal identity, the very destiny of your life that He ordained before you were conceived. Most people never achieve this destiny because they do not totally submit to Jesus as Lord. However, it is never too late. He conceived you with a vision written on your heart, your personal destiny but sin, Satan and the flesh has distorted and tainted it. Now allow Him to bring that back into your life. This is called "abundant life."

#

The cost of the pearl is the same as the cost of the field, all He had. What did that price represent?

A pearl suggests suffering. All the gateways into New Jerusalem are made from pearl; there is no other way in! The suffering of the oyster produces a pearl. A grain of sand gets in to the shell and causes great pain. The oyster excretes a substance that turns that pain into a thing of beauty. Then the pearl has to be found and raised from the depths of the sea. Again, there is a lot of work for us, His servants. Picture Jesus holding that one pearl (you) in His hand and saying to you "It was for you that I paid that price. I gave all I had."



Our true identity cannot be totally realized without death and resurrection.

In much the same way as the pearl indicated suffering, the treasure in the field was a "dead" and buried object. I submit that these two parables indicate that not only are we the treasure, but that our new identity in Christ, our new self-image comes out of our death and resurrection.



Soak that in for a moment. He saw that our "death" was only the prerequisite to our resurrection. If you have been dealing with a bad self-image, poor self esteem, then this is the time to rejoice for resurrection is coming! So many of us deal with rejection, inadequacy and low self-esteem. But the value of something is always determined by the price that someone is willing to pay.



Some facts about God’s love.

1. It is individual:

Jeremiah 31:3 says, "The LORD appeared to us in the past [it is not a new thing it is from old], saying: ‘I have loved you (individually, personally) with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’"



2. It is everlasting.

3. It precedes time. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will --."



4. It is irresistible. Song of Solomon 8:6 says, "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame."

Picture yourself, the Pearl in the hand of Jesus, and He says to you, " My love for you is individual (personal), everlasting (will never end), it precedes time and it is irresistible."

#
# Our purchase price was His blood! What did it mean for Jesus to give His life (blood) to purchase us?

The life is in the blood. The blood simply represents the entire life of an individual. Jesus did not just give us a little of His blood; He poured it all out unto death.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

What does the blood have to do with the purchase of a human being? Why did the price have to be blood?

#
# The purchase price of anything must be equal to or exceed the value of the item.

Leviticus 17:11 says, "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."



The Blood must be shed a perfect 7 times.

The most important day of the year in Israel was the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). On that day alone, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies (the Presence of God) with the blood of the sacrifices that covered the sins of Israel for one more year. Leviticus 16:14 says, "And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times."

It was the blood alone that could atone for the sins of God’s people. The blood had to be brought right into the presence of Almighty God in the Holy of Holies. Notice it was sprinkled seven times. Seven is the number that indicates a perfect work that has been done. This was exactly fulfilled in the way that Jesus shed His blood. His blood was sprinkled precisely seven times before the sacrifice was complete.

1. Luke 22:44 takes place in the Garden of Gethsemene. "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."

2. Matthew 26:67 is in the house of the High Priest. "Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists (rods). Others slapped him…."

3. In Matthew 27:26 Pilate had him flogged. "Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified."

4. In Isaiah 50:6 They pulled out his beard. "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting."

5. Matthew 27:28-29 describes the crown of thorns. "They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said."

6. Matthew 27:35 tells of the crucifixion. "When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots."

7. John 19:34 says they pierced His side. "…but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water."





What did we receive in Christ when He purchased us?

Not only was God extravagant in the price He paid for us, He was equally extravagant in what He gave us after the purchase.

We became heirs, joint heirs and children! Romans 8:15-17 says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and joint (co)-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

Notice that we not only share in His riches, but also in His sufferings. Our share of His sufferings are trials and tribulations when we stand on His Word.

In 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 it says that all things (of God) belong to you, and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. All things is quite an inheritance! We cannot work for God’s inheritance; it is a gift by grace. But we must be able to hear the Holy Spirit speaking our inheritance to us; otherwise, we might end up being paupers and beggars, and forfeit our inheritance.



We receive this inheritance through the Holy Spirit and the Word.

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you" (John 16:13-15).





How can we respond to God’s love?

We must stop being mean, stingy and petty with others; we must learn to be EXTRAVAGANT LIKE GOD!

Do you really know God’s Love? If you do, you will rely on it.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).



#

Read the story of the woman pouring out approximately $20,000 worth of ointment on the head of Jesus.

Read Mark 14:3-9. Jesus said that what she did will be remembered every time the Gospel is preached. The disciples complained, Judas the treasurer objected with gusto. Jesus said she did what she could. He was very happy with her total devotion. She wasted her very security and life savings on Jesus, and He, God, was happy and excited about it.

It really takes faith and a personal encounter with the living Jesus to waste your life on Him; to be extravagant with Him. The reward is tremendous, like it was for this woman.



How can you "waste" your life on Jesus? He does not call us to be great performers, or Bible College graduates. We may not even be called to be pastors or evangelists, but each and every one of us has an opportunity to waste our lives on Him. Ask yourself how you can do it today, then the next day and the next. Be extravagant with your time you give to Him and others, your money, your love, your forgiveness, the list goes on and on - how about your entire life?



Treat others with extravagant love!

When you speak about and treat others with a negative attitude you are actually an instrument of Satan. When you see the best in others, when you treat them with love and build them up, you are an instrument of God.





He was and is extravagant for us; let’s return the same!



Much of this lesson was taken from the International School of the Bible’s discipleship series lesson 204. Extravagant Love, which lesson was greatly influenced by the book by Derek Prince, Extravagant Love.



Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 5 - Slavery





Since 1979 Jesus has progressively set me free from "prisons" that I had been put into by sin. A lot of these "sins" were things that others had placed on me. Some of them were my own doing. Some of them were simply things that were passed down from former generations. I believe that all three of these are causes of bondages and prisons in our lives.

So many people are too proud to admit that they need help or that they need to be set free from slavery. "Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, 'If you continue in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to anyone. How do you say, You will be made free?' Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever practices sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not abide in the house forever, but the Son abides forever. Therefore if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed'" (John 8:31-36).

Notice, Jesus spoke this to the Jews "who had believed on him." They did not want to hear that they were slaves and that they needed someone to set them free. So many Christians today are the same way.

Jesus' mission statement spoken on the day He started His ministry emphasized setting people free. He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour" (Luke 4:18,19).

Paul tells us in Romans Chapter 6 that we have "already" been set free from sin's slavery. "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" (Romans 6:16-18).

It is true that we have been (past tense) set free. It is also true that we need to be (future tense) set free. Legally we are no longer slaves to sin and Satan once we make Jesus our Lord. However, there is a progressive realization of that fact. Progressively we work out that truth in our lives.

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, [not in your own strength] for it is God who works in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire] to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:12,13 - added phrases from Amplified Bible).

All too often even believers can become comfortable in the status quo and all too comfortable with their prisons. They do not want to "rock the boat" preferring to stay with their "friendly prison" rather than be free. Comfort zones make even enemies seem like friends.

A good example for visualizing this truth is the story of the Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt and going through the desert toward the land promised to them by God. This story is recorded in the Books of Exodus and Numbers.

The Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians for over 400 years. Egypt is the type of the "world" to which we were slaves prior to Jesus saving us. I don't think we can imagine how deep this slavery mindset was imbedded into the soul of these Israelites. Generation after generation these people had no identity, the husbands did not know when their wives would be taken away, the mothers did not know when their children would be taken away. They had no rights whatsoever.

God sent a deliverer, Moses, to confront the slave-master Pharaoh. Jesus came and confronted our slave-master Satan.

The people of Israel were led across the Red Sea in a supernatural way out of the hands of Pharaoh. Their former slave-masters had no more dominion over them. Likewise, we were baptized into Christ and have been taken out of the hands of Satan.

However, God did not take the Israelites directly to the Promised Land. He led them through the desert. The deserts of your life are going to come. They are part of God's program of deliverance from slavery, and you need to know how to respond in faith. The Israelites did not respond in faith.

We see in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 that God tells New Testament believers to be warned of the ways of the Old Testament children of God.

God provided for the Israelites in the desert in a marvelous way. Several times He provided for water to gush out of a rock. He provided fresh bread from Heaven every morning (Exodus 16:15). Their clothes and shoes never wore out. God turned the bitter pool at Marah into a wonderful fresh water lake (Exodus 15). Yet they kept murmuring against God and Moses because they were not used to living by faith in the unseen God. They continued to want to live by their natural senses, even preferring slavery.

These Israelites show us that being a slave for a long time can give us a slavery mindset that is not easily overcome. God knows how to walk us through the overcoming process, but so many times we do not like God's ways.



What are some of the symptoms of the slavery mindset? Give yourself a check-up.

One of the sneakiest types of slavery is slavery to oneself, otherwise known as selfishness. When we continue to yield to our own selfish desires, we become slaves to our old fallen nature, the flesh.

A lack of identity is the primary attribute of a slave. Slaves have to get their identity from someone else. That is why you see people in the American culture running around trying to get fancy cars, having certain types of friends, dressing a certain way, being part of a movie star's fan club, etc. In some cultures it may include belonging to the proper tribe or family. They are trying to define who they are by how they look, what they drive and with whom they associate.

How are we supposed to receive our identity? I believe that God created us to receive our identity through having a relationship with another being. We are designed to become like the person with whom we become intimate. We receive our identity from whom we obtain our needs. God wants us to become intimate with Him in order to receive our identity from Him. He has taken up residence inside of us. If that does not give you identity, self-worth and dignity, then nothing will!

During the first century, the Romans dragged people from their homes and made them slaves. Families were forever separated, never again to see their parents, children, brothers, sisters or spouses. Most likely the women and men were raped and beaten. They completely lost their identity.

From the slave's point of view his life was now different. He had no identity of his own; he was a non-person. The only thing that he had left was what he could do in his work. The only scale or measure of who he was now was the way he performed his task. If his master looked at him with pleasure because his task was done well, he could feel some self-esteem. Even if another slave admired his work, or perhaps someone else up the ladder of authority gave him one compliment, one measure of "well done," he could feel good about himself.

His life was now a formula. (How I perform) + (how you feel about my performance) = (my self-worth).

The human being was created by God to obtain his worth from God's unconditional love. Now exactly the opposite has happened; humans feel like all love is totally conditioned upon how they perform, and worse, how their masters feel about their performance.

Slaves are "men-pleasers" (Ephesians 6:5). They are constantly trying to get the applause and approval of other people. Their work has no other meaning. If their boss, their parents or teachers are pleased with their work, they feel good about their self worth; if not, they feel like "nothings." They are always attempting to get friends who will give them their identity and self-worth.

Slaves work for "eye-service" (Ephesians 6:5). While they are being watched, they work hard, but as soon as their authorities turn their backs, they goof off. They hold in their resentment against their authority. They criticize them and bring them down all the time.

Slaves Complain. They always blame their problems on other people. In their minds, their horrible state of being is always somebody else's fault.

Some slaves become very good at manipulation. They learn how to please and even "love" others, so that they will be "loved back."

Slaves do not like obeying authority. They have learned that authority is bad; they hate their authorities.

Slaves have no authority so they are always manipulating others in order to serve their own needs. Some slaves use their sheer brute force, like shouting and screaming in order to get others to conform.

Slaves have no self-esteem so they use other people, religion, amusement and immorality, which are some of the same things the Israelites used in the desert to achieve some sense of self worth.

Now let us go back to the story of the Israelites. God was trying to work the slavery mindset out of them by their journey in the desert. Only two of the original group made it, Joshua and Caleb. The only other ones who made it to the Promised Land were the children of the original slaves. Perhaps they did not have so much of the "old slave life" to try to forget.

Why did Joshua and Caleb make it? If you read the accounts in Exodus and especially in Numbers, both of these men spent a lot of time with God. They spent a great deal of time outside the Tent of Meeting where the presence of God abided while the others went about their earthly interests.

It is the same with you today. If you spend more time with entertainment and with minding the things of the world than you do with God and His Word, you too will remain as a slave.

Joshua and Caleb determined to believe what God had said. They did not consider final truth to be what they saw with their eyes. Final truth to them was what God had said.

In Numbers chapter 13, Joshua, Caleb, and ten others went into the Promised Land on a spying expedition.

"Send men so that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give to the sons of Israel. You shall send a man from every tribe of their fathers, everyone a ruler among them" (Numbers 13:2).

Notice God told Moses that He had given this land to the sons of Israel. That was God's Word, His promise!

Twelve spies went in. Ten gave a bad report.

"But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there" (Numbers 13:28).

"Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are'" (Numbers 13:30,31).

"We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Numbers 13:33).

Seeming like they were grasshoppers to their enemy was part of the slavery mindset. Ten of the spies looked at their enemies, two of the spies looked at God's Word!

If we know that it is God's will for us to be free, then we need to know what we need to do in order to cooperate with Him so that the task can be accomplished. Remember that we do have a free will. God will never impose His blessings on us. He must see that we are willing to receive and to give up those things that are hindering us. God will not set us free from our friends, but only from our enemies. If we are holding on to old slavery based habits as something that we like and enjoy, God cannot help us get free.

Sometimes God instantly sets new believers free from demonic situations. I don't know why He does some this way and others have to take the long road. It seems like it has nothing at all to do with the person being set free; it is simply God's plan for each individual.

Sometimes it is a combination of both. All I can say is, you should be prepared to let God have His way in your life.

Sometimes we have strongholds that are demonic and sometimes the strongholds are in our "flesh," or patterns of our old nature. Galatians 3:13 tells us that Jesus took our curse for us so that we could go free. However, we need the knowledge and the will to cooperate with God.

A stronghold is fortress of false knowledge that is believed on as truth.

How strongholds get a foothold in your life:

a. Your sin. All sins give demons a foothold, but one of the worst is sexual sin. Sexual acts bind two people together spiritually in a very unique way.

b. Generational sin. Demons follow families for generations, and gain the right to put the same diseases and curses on them (the law of inheritance). Demonic religions are based upon worship of ancestral spirits in order to perpetuate curses and control of families. They convince people, even Christians, that they must pay a price to a witch doctor or a spirit for protection and blessings. Some even purchase items and drinks as a way to receive protection and blessings. These people believe that by contacting and being in touch with the spirit of their ancestors they will be blessed and have protection from evil. Actually, just the opposite happens. They become prisoners to Satan, the enemy of their soul!

Most festivals like Mardi Gras in America are designed to perpetuate curses over regions. Sometimes even family reunions can be used by demons to perpetuate family curses. Voodoo, many religions and most occults have festivals. Generational curses are one of the most powerful ways that demons attach themselves. Generational spirits often attempt to captivate young members of a family during the teenage years. This is the time when rebellion is most evident. If they cannot succeed, they will try again later in life.

c. Sin in the world. This world is full of sin, which promotes demon activity.

d. Weights, or oppression you might receive from someone else. A very common tactic used by demons is to sexually abuse a young person and thus gain entry for the rest of his/her life. A weight is not a sin you performed, rather it is oppression against you by someone else's sin.

e. Through an idol in your life. Many religions are based upon the spirit world. They believe that objects such as stones, rivers, trees, etc., contain living spirits. They fear and thus worship these spirits so that they will meet their needs in life. An idol can be anything that you make more important than God. It can be a person, a habit, a custom, even a Christian denomination. An idol is anything or anyone in your life to whom you go for your needs other than God. You worship whoever or whatever supplies your needs. It is an act of your own free will.

f. Rebellion against authority. If a person does not submit to Jesus as Lord, that person, by default, will be under the control of some other being. Eve was deceived by Satan, and she deceived Adam. Adam should have taken dominion over Satan but he did not. Eve, in effect, took inordinate authority and Adam did not exercise his ordained authority. The original sin demonstrates how authority and sin are tied together. Obviously, they both should have submitted to the authority of God's Word (the Tree of Life).

g. Christians can be vulnerable (some disagree with this). If we are influenced by demons before coming to Jesus, there could be a period of time before we receive deliverance. Some never do receive deliverance based upon the fact that they do not wish to totally yield. Obviously, a Christian cannot be "possessed" by a demon, but they sure can be influenced. It does not matter if we use the term possessed, influenced, oppressed or whatever. What matters is that we know how to get rid of demonic activities in our lives!

These Scriptures show that we are still vulnerable even after we believe. "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons" (1 Timothy 4:1). "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough" (2 Corinthians 11:3,4).

Some say that the blood of Jesus protects Christians. Yes and no. The blood protects us when we are obedient Christians. We cannot presume God's protection if we are living in disobedience. "...who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2). Christians do need deliverance. I have personally been involved with some absolutely amazing demonic deliverance that resulted in Christians being healed and set free! This is not doctrine but it is factual testimony.

The Scriptures show us a process that God often uses for getting us free. If you look at Isaiah Chapter 61 that Jesus was quoting in Luke 4:18-19, you will see His mission statement expressed. "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; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Luke 4:18,19).

Here is how Jesus often starts the process:

He heals your broken heart. He knows that when you come to Him that you have been most likely beaten up by the world, and have received some type of heartbreak. It may be in a relationship, a career, or whatever. He gently heals this through His Holy Spirit.

He speaks (proclaims) a word of liberty into your life. God normally deals through His Word and through a promise.

He gives you eyes to see Him, to see what kind of condition you are in or have been in. You always need to make the choice. He will not set you free from your friends, just your enemies.

Then He gives you liberty from your captivity. God's ways of setting us free are amazing. He has and uses many different ways. I can personally testify that He does indeed do it!

Isaiah 61 continues with more, including giving you joy, making you an "oak of righteousness," rebuilding your personality and character, providing for your material needs, and putting you into ministry for Him to reach out to your realm of influence.

How can you cooperate with God?

Here is what Jesus said about getting free. "Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, If you continue in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31,32).

First you must continue in His Word. The word "continue" is a strong word. It means to settle down, abide, and make our home in His Word. It does not mean to look at His Word once a week or even five minutes a day, it means to sustain your very life by His Word. "But He answered and said, It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).

The word used in this Scripture for "word" is "rhema." Rhema means a personal Word spoken from Jesus to you. You must invest time with God to receive His rhema.

Next you must be committed to being Jesus' disciple. That means to be so united to Him that He is your teacher in everything. It means that you drop your pride and allow God, who knows you better than you know yourself, to have His way with you. He also loves you more than you love yourself. When you are going through discipline with the Lord, remember He is doing it because He loves you.

The result will be that we will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. "Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). Knowing Jesus is knowing the Truth. Having a personal, close, intimate relationship with Him is the only thing that will really make you free.

God may use many methods of delivering this freedom to you. He may cause demons to be cast out of you, or out of the influence of your life. Or He may take you through a long process of getting free through pouring the Word into your life.

My own personal experience has been one of displacement. I continually pour the Word into my vessel, and everything that is not of God comes out, including demons. Matthew 8:16 is an example of Jesus casting out demons with His Word. It says, "And evening coming on, they brought to Him many who had been possessed with demons. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick."

We are responsible for becoming slaves to various things and people (excepting of course those issues that have to do with our childhood). We become slaves to whomever or to whatever we yield. Only we can exercise our own will (volition) in yielding. The cure is to begin to yield to Jesus in obedience to His Word, and by doing so you will become His bond-slave. In that, and that alone, will you find perfect liberty and freedom.

"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16).

Be honest. Confess your sin. Practice honesty and truth at all cost. When you lie, you make Satan your father.

Renounce any contact you have had with anything demonic: music, porno, TV, movies, drugs, alcohol, occult, horoscope, Quija boards, fortune telling, card games, etc.

Renounce any relationship to family ties that may be used to pass down curses. You can be courteous to family without receiving their curses.

Stay close to Jesus through prayer, His Word, selective friends and church groups. Keep your mind filled with Godly things. The mind is the battlefield.

Be open for whatever ways God wants to deliver you. Desire to be free and don't limit God. He has many ways to set you free. His mission is to set you free (Luke 4).

Forgive. This is the big one! Here is a principle that is too often overlooked. Jesus taught it this way:

"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). This can be interpreted, "forgive us in the same measure as we have given forgiveness to those who have sinned against us."

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14,15).

It's not that God does not want to forgive you, He will not override your own will. Holding in bitterness and resentment towards another person hurts us. We bind that sin to ourselves, and that will destroy us. The wages of sin is death. What we need is the free gift of God, which is forgiveness.

So many people are tormented their entire lives because they will not forgive. Sickness, disease, poverty and many other maladies have been instantly healed when forgiveness is accomplished.

Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is an act of the will. The root word for forgive carries the meaning to cut away or remove.

When someone really hurts me and even uses treacherous means to take advantage of me, it does not feel good. The first thing I want to do is to expose them and to see justice accomplished. However, I know that is not how God works. I then recall the meaning of forgive; to cut away. So I say with my mouth, "Lord, I forgive so and so. I take his sin off of him and put it onto You." You see, without Jesus, we cannot forgive because He is the only one who can take anybody's sin. He is the only way we can forgive.

If you will do this with everyone in your life, The Holy Spirit will fill you in a mighty way, and you will unlock the hands of God to work on your behalf. You will be set free from things you didn't even know existed.

Prayer for deliverance.

"Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that you are my Lord."

1. Personally affirm your faith in Christ. "Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You are the Son of God and the only way to God - that you died on the Cross for my sins and rose again so that I might be forgiven and receive eternal life."

2. Humble yourself. "I renounce all pride and religious self-righteousness and any dignity that does not come from You. I have no claim on Your mercy except that you died in my place."

3. Confess any known sin. "I confess all my sins before You and hold nothing back." Now list and confess them.

4. Repent of all sins. "I repent of all my sins. I turn away from them and I turn to You, Lord, for mercy and forgiveness."

5. Forgive all other people. "By a decision of my will, I freely forgive all who have ever harmed or wronged me. I lay down all bitterness, all resentment and all hatred." Now list and confess them.

6. Break with the occult and all false religion. "I sever all contact I have ever had with the occult or with all false religion. I renounce all the works of the devil, Satan, and other evil spirits in my life. I confess and renounce all my occult practices and sins as abominations before You, a Holy and righteous God. I renounce any occult influence from my forefathers." Now list and confess them.

7. Prepare to be released from every curse over your life. "Lord Jesus, I thank You that on the Cross You were made a curse, that I might be redeemed from every curse and inherit God's blessing. I renounce every curse from my forefathers. On that basis I ask You to release me and set me free to receive the deliverance I need."

8. Take your stand with God. "I take my stand with You, Lord, against all Satan's demons. I submit to You, Lord, and I resist the devil. Amen!

9. Expel. "Now I speak to any demons that have control over me." Speak directly to them. "I command you to go from me now. In the name of Jesus, I expel you! I pray that any evil power or ability I may possess, or which have oppressed or possessed me, be completely destroyed or removed from me. I commit myself, my body, my mind, my personality, my emotions, my whole being to the Lord Jesus Christ to be my Lord and savior. I pray this in the mighty Name of Jesus, believing I am delivered."

It is important to have Godly counseling during and after deliverance.



This lesson taken from "Be Real with God," chapter 14; by Larry Chkoreff



Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 6

Forgive or pay the debt!



Let us continue to follow Gideon's path to see how God changed him from a wimp to a warrior.

"Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD" (Judges 6:1-6).

"Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, 'Take your father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down'" (Judges 6:25,26).

Gideon was a victim of his forefather's idol worship. His people were in bondage and in poverty due to the past 200 - 400 years of idol worship and the generational curse passed down to them.

One of the ways we can pull down idol altars from our past is to exercise forgiveness. The first thing we need to do is to forgive those that put us into these prisons. Without this forgiveness as an act of our will we will remain Prisoners in the Promise Land. If you cannot find forgiveness, then confess that as sin to the Lord and His forgiveness will work through you. You also need to ask to be forgiven for any generational curses that you have perpetuated. Sin is like a seed. The fruit is always greater than the seed. Your forefather's sins become fruit in your life, and so on with your children. You can cut that off with forgiveness, repentance and confession. You can intentionally put the fruit of your sin and that of your ancestors on the Cross, as Jesus has become a curse for you.

Perhaps you have been the victim of sin.

Perhaps you have been abused, physically, emotionally, or even sexually. You may think that no one knows how you feel. Well be sure that at least one person knows how it feels to be abused, and that person is Jesus. He was horribly abused, even sexually abused when He hung naked on the Cross. He bore the entirety of your abuse. There is no reason for you to bear it again.

When we feel like we are not vindicated in some matter, when the truth is not revealed, or when someone who treated you so unjustly looks like the innocent party, it is not easy to let that go. Consider not only your own health and well being by forgiving, but also remember, that eventually everything, every word and deed will come into the light of God's judgment. Rest in the fact that the boss, the only one that matters, God Himself knows the truth, and you will be vindicated one day. "Its not over 'till its over."

You may find it impossible to forgive the person (s) who abused you. Think of this. God is very angry at what happened to you. His wrath is kindled. He is not passive about your abuse. However, God's entire wrath was put on Jesus instead of you. Also, God's entire wrath was put on Jesus instead of the person who hurt you. That is forgiveness, to put God's entire wrath on Jesus instead of your abuser. Do it and you will be set free!

Forgiveness is love and it is God's nature. You are not walking in love if you are not forgiving. You are not expressing God's nature if you don't forgive. You are violating the very nature of the Holy Spirit who resides in your body.

"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little" (Luke 7:47).

One of the greatest sins is that of harboring unforgiveness. So what is the answer?

Jesus' love and grace and your experience of that love is the answer

Jesus is waiting for you, not to condemn you, but happy to have you come to the Cross to give Him your sin and the sin of those who hurt you. So many Christians run from God in shame and guilt when they discover sin. God's grace is amazing!

When I cannot find forgiveness in my heart, I immediately confess it as sin before God. I do not allow it to find a welcome home in my heart. I know that "death" will result! What is the promise?

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"(I John. 1:9). Forgive means to remove. God will remove your sin like a surgeon removes a cancer, and He will put it on Jesus at the Cross.

Just this week as I was writing this lesson I received a fresh experience from the Lord on this subject. I did indeed confess my sin of unforgiveness towards a person. It was not something that I wanted to hang on to, but rather it was something that was hanging on to me. Within minutes, God's grace and His arm went into action! An honest confrontation occurred and forgiveness flowed from all parties to one another. It was an amazing example, and the Lord was sure on time for the writing of this lesson.

Too often believers hear about forgiveness and come under guilt and condemnation because they do not believe that have attained it, or they feel that it is impossible or too difficult to even strive for. They might feel like they know forgiveness is a command of God, but they do not realize that it is their privilege. They see it as a burden. Actually believers in Jesus are the only ones who can truly forgive due to the fact that without the work of Jesus on the Cross forgiveness is impossible.

Forgiveness resides in you. It is an accomplished work. It is not something that you must work at or strive for. It is part of the finished work of Jesus inside of you through the Holy Spirit. The only thing standing in your way of realizing the benefits is your confession of your inability to do it and confessing that as sin. When you ask for that mercy, not only will you receive mercy but also you will be overtaken, as I was this week, with justification and the actual manifestation of the benefits. The following Scripture in Luke says it well.

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:13,14).

In order to forgive you must be know that you have been forgiven. In order for you to be forgiven, you must have sin in your life. In order to have that sin forgiven by God you must be honest with yourself and Him about your sin. So the first step is transparency and honesty about yourself. Transparency with yourself, with God and with those closest to you is the only road to health and forgiveness.

God's remedy for sin is to come to the Cross, and then come to the Holy of Holies into His presence and let His character flood your character. His holiness will replace your sin and your unforgiveness. This is the only remedy. You cannot do it yourself. It is the displacement method. You cannot just empty out your sin, rather God floods you with His holiness and love and the sin must leave.

Do not be discouraged if you have to do this time and time again. God is not the one who condemns, Satan is. God will take you back as many times as you come. When you stop coming is when He is grieved. Walk out into the light of reality. Drop your self-deceit and face this sin for what it really is. Take sides with God against it. Purpose in your heart never to go back into that sin again.

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger for ever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalms 103:8-12).

Remember the word for forgive in Greek means to cut away, to remove.



Forgive means to separate. It is the same word used in the New Testament for death. To die is to be separated. To forgive requires cutting the sin away from one and putting on another.

Forgiveness defined: (Greek) APHIEMI- means to remove - to send away, the remission for the punishment due to sinful conduct, the deliverance of the sinner from the penalty.

To forgive is to love. God so loved the world that He gave His son to take away our sins.

To forgive is not an emotional thing nor does it require one to make light of the offense. Forgiveness is surgery. Simply look at the sin of those that have hurt you and agree with Jesus, that He bore that sin and the consequence of that sin for that person, whether they know it or not. If you put their sin on the Cross and allow Jesus to bear it rather than you or that person, you will tie the hands of Satan from tormenting you.

Forgiveness does not mean that you must be back in fellowship with the one you have forgiven. That is not necessarily a sign of forgiveness. You may indeed be called to forgive someone whom God wants you in fellowship with. On the other hand, often I find that those who I need to forgive are not the ones that God wants me close to. We can "love at a distance" which often is the wise thing to do.

Forgiveness turns us from the power of Satan and sets us free to receive all that God has for us, our inheritance. "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:18).

We have the power to release other people, which at the same time will release us.

Matthew 18:18 speaks about forgiveness. "Whatsoever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." You receive what you don't forgive, memories, thoughts, deeds. You will experience those things. This is a law.

Matthew 18:21-22 says "Peter asked Jesus, if my brother sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Seven? Jesus said, no seventy times seven." In other words, no limit.

Jesus warns about forgiveness.

Matthew 18:21-35 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

21 Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and [1] let it go? [As many as] up to seven times?

22 Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!(1)

23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants.

24 When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [probably about $10,000,000],

25 And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.

26 So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything.

27 And his master's heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [canceling] the debt.

28 But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe!

29 So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all !

30 But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt.

31 When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master.

32 Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me to.

33 And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you?

34 And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers- see definition (1)), till he should pay all that he owed.

35 So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.



(1) The definition of torturers (the jailers) according to Strongs Concordance is:

"one who elicits the truth by the use of the rack 1a) an inquisitor, torturer also used of a jailer doubtless because the business of torturing was also assigned to him to test (metals) by the touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the colour of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal 2) to question by applying torture 3) to torture 4) to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to torment 5) to be harassed, distressed."



Who is your tormentor?

It is our experience that satanic beings torment those people who withhold forgiveness. This is the easiest mode of entry for satanic forces to invade humans. Forgiveness is also the easiest way for humans to cut off their influence! We have seen it work in an amazing "cause and effect" manner. It can be like turning on a light switch and the darkness is gone! Some sicknesses can been healed when forgiveness is exercised.



We always pay the penalty for the sin we do not forgive in others.

My opinion is that the unforgiving attendant paid the penalty for the debt that he would not forgive, the $20. I base that on the fact that he did not receive the penalty due for his original $10,000,000 debt, which was being sold into slavery, but for the $20 debt, which was going to prison and being tormented.

If my assumption is correct, then we should know that we always pay for the sin in others that we will not forgive. We will be tormented with the torment due to them.

You receive what you don't forgive; memories, thoughts, deeds, these you will experience here and/or in eternity. This is a law.

Who do you think you are to not forgive?

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

If, as the Scripture verifies, you have indeed been crucified with Christ, and He now lives in you; then who are you to keep Him from forgiving? Are you restraining Christ in you from displaying His very nature?

His very essence is forgiving. That is who He is! If you do not forgive you are denying Him. It is a very serious matter.

If you find yourself in the position of the "contemptible and wicked attendant," you can get rid of it with I John 1:9 which says "If we confess (agree with God's judgment) our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (take them away from us and put them on Jesus) and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."







Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 7

Warfare Prayer



Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together and, crossing the Jordan, encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him, and he blew a trumpet, and [the clan of] Abiezer was gathered to him (Judges 6:33-34 &endash; Amplified).



The trumpet was the sound for warfare. Speaking the Word of God is our most powerful and aggressive warfare weapon.



Here is a practical prayer guide for your personal use. We have listed a few Scriptures under each prayer category. In addition, we have given you additional Scriptures that you should look up and speak.




Warfare

Prayer Book



Entering into the rest of God.



Jesus is the High Priest over our confessions. When the Word of God is confessed and prayed over a person or a situation, it is powerful! Jesus created everything by His Word. Jesus IS the Word. Jesus gave us the authority to use the Word as if it were He saying it!

John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being."

When the Passover was administered to Israel in Exodus 12, the Israelites were told to put the blood of an innocent lamb over their doors and the death angel (demon) would "pass over" and not hurt them. Jesus is the Lamb of God, and we can put His blood over our doors and over the doors of our loved ones and those that we pray for. How?

Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their soul to the death."

The words of our mouth will apply the blood. Notice in Exodus 12 that as long as the lamb's blood stayed in the basin, it did no good. But when they took the hyssop, dipped it in the blood and applied to their door, then God and the devil could see it. The hyssop was a common weed which did not seem to have much value. The words of our mouth do not seem to have much value, but when we dip them into the Word of God (Who is Jesus Himself) and apply them as blood, God sees it and the devil sees it!

Jesus takes our confession and makes it powerful. Hebrews 3:1 says, "Therefore, holy brothers, called to be partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus."

When we speak God's Word, Jesus takes it to the Father and asks Him to perform it. John 16:23 says, "And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you."

Then we can enter into rest and let the Word do the work. Hebrews 4:1 says, "Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it."

"For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

Angels go to work when they hear God's Word. "Bless the LORD, O angels of His, who excel in strength, who do His command, listening to the voice of His word" (Psalms 103:20).

Demons flee! Psalms 149:5-9 says, "Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to carry out vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, (representing our spiritual enemies) to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with iron-bands, to carry out on them the judgment written; this is an honor for all His saints. Praise the LORD!"









Praying for salvation



Jesus is the Lamb that took away the sins of these people:

List the people for whom you are praying



Hosea 14:7,8. "Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. "Ephraim shall say, 'What have I to do anymore with idols?' I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.""



2 Chronicles 30:18-20 "For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary." And the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people."



Matthew 16:26-27



Salvation Prayer Weapons

"…Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds." Ezekiel 13:17-20,



Salvation Prayer for individuals and groups. Satan, spirit of unbelief, let go of the minds you have taken in the Name of Jesus. Let go of the veil that you are holding over their spiritual eyes. We cast down anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God, specifically pride and rebellion. We take down all known strongholds, thought patterns, opinions on religion, materialism, fear.



Cover their hearts with the blood of Jesus

That God would lift the veil from their eyes.



That the Holy Spirit would hover over them and protect them



That godly people to be in their pathway each day.



Acts 26:18



Psalms 9:20



Ezekiel 36:26,27



List of people I am praying for:

Call out this list of people, and then confess God's Words over them:





Name yourself, your family, children, ministers, government officials, etc.

List the people here.



























Pray they have a heart to seek God.



Psalms 5:3 "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.



Psalms 46:1



Psalms 119:18 "Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law."



Psalms 139:23,24



Philippians 3:10





Who we are in Christ



2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."



Ephesians 1:7



Colossians 1: 13



Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."



Galatians 5:22,23



Pray against enemies



Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'"



Romans 16:20 "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."



Psalms 71:13



1 John 3:8



1 Samuel 2:10



Psalms 35:1-28



Psalms 69:23



Jeremiah 20:11



Isaiah 54:1 "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD."



Joshua 21:43-45



Protection



Psalms 91. This is very important



James 4:7



Psalms 34:7 "The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them."



Romans 5:9



Rev 12:11



Psalm 23



Blessings

Psalms 5:12 "For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield."



We put the fruit of the sins of these people, and their family inequities to be reaped on the Cross.



Galatians 3:13,14



Proverbs 3:24.



Deuteronomy 28:1-13



Psalms 144:11-15,



Psalms 47:4



1 Peter 1:4,5

Financial

2 Corinthians 9:8 "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.



2 Corinthians 9:10-11



Proverbs 19:17 "He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given."



Isaiah 45:1-5.



Health

Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."



Psalms 73:26



Romans 8:11. "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."



1 Thessalonians 5:23



Proverbs 4:20-22



Isaiah 58:8,

For spiritual vision and ability to see and hear



Ephesians 1:17-19 "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power"



Ephesians 3:16-20



Fruit bearing



Isaiah 30:23 "Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures."



John 15:5, 7-8 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."





Revelation 21:7



Ezekiel 36:37

Discernment

John 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."



Household and Children



Pr 3:33 "The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just."



Pr 15:6 "In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, But in the revenue of the wicked is trouble.

Pr 12:7



Ps 128:3



Children



Isaiah 43:4-8 "Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth-- Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears."



Isa 49:25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Ps 112:2



Ps 147:13



Pr 14:26



Pr 20:7



Psalms 103:17



Pr 31:28



Isaiah 44:3-5,



Isaiah 48:17-19



Jer 31:29



Prayer for Israel

Psalms 83:1-18,





Warfare Prayer

Note: This section of prayers is from the book "Prayer Portions - Sylvia Gunter Atlanta, GA



Father, I bow in worship, praise and thanksgiving before You. I surrender myself completely to You. I am covered with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as my protection. I am submitted to God, I resist the devil and he must flee. In the name of Jesus, I bring the blood of the Lamb against all the works of the enemy.

True and living God, You are worthy to receive all glory and honor. You love me; You sent Your Son to die as my substitute; You completely forgave me through Him; You gave me His perfect righteousness; You made me complete in Him; He won total victory for me on the cross and in His resurrection; You adopted me into Your family; You assumed all responsibility for me; You offer Yourself to me to be my daily help and strength. Your provision for me is complete. Blessed Holy Spirit, I live and pray this day in complete dependence on You. Pray Your prayers through me.

I have mighty spiritual weapons. I choose to stand aggressively in the full armor, which is Jesus Himself. I claim all His victory today. I am now seated in heaven with Him. In Jesus' name, the enemy is under my feet. In Jesus' name, I tear down the strongholds of Satan and reject all his plans formed against my body, mind, will and emotions. I reject all his schemes of hindrance, insinuation, accusation, temptation, lies and deception. Show me where I am giving any ground to him, and cleanse me from every foothold.

The word of God is true, and I will obey You and abide in You. I put off the works of the old man, and I stand in the victory of Jesus to cleanse me from the flesh and enable me to live above all sin. I put off all (my greatest struggles-selfishness, fear, doubt, lust, etc.) and put on (the new nature of holiness, righteousness, truth, courage, strength, faith, etc.).

You blessed me with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. 1 welcome the Holy Spirit living in me to fulfill Your will. Transform me and fill me with Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I stand on victory ground for today. I claim all the work of the cross of Jesus, His resurrection power, His ascended authority and Pentecost for all my victory. You are Lord of all my life this day. In Jesus' name, Amen.



Victory In Jesus

You are the Name above all names, the Lord of heaven and earth, King of all kings, El Elyon-Most High God, Captain of the Lord's hosts. You are the Commander of all commanders, the Commander of the armies of heaven who has no equal who cannot lose, and You are by our side.



All power is yours, Sovereign God our Father. We confess Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We are in Christ, redeemed by His sacrifice on the cross, cleansed, and clothed in His righteousness. We do not presume our safety. We step intentionally into the protection of the blood of the worthy Lamb of God. We plead the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ over all our personal lives, all our family, all possessions, our jobs and businesses, our minis-tries, and the people in our personal and spiritual jurisdiction. The blood of the spotless Lamb of God is our Shield of protection from the destructive intent of the enemy. Jesus has given us legitimate authority to tread on all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure us (Luke 10:19).



Because of the cross of Jesus, the devil has no place in us, no power, dominion, or authority over us. We overcome him by the victory of the blood of Jesus. He has no unsettled claims nor effectual assignments against us. We stand against every lie the deceiver ever told us. We take back all ground we ever gave him and close every door we ever opened to him, intentionally or in ignorance. We refuse his accusations and condemnation, because all our sins and guilt are nailed to the cross. We refuse to converse with the devil. We refuse his tactics of fear and intimidation. Our weapons through God are mighty to pull down enemy strongholds. In the name of Jesus, in His authority, by His blood, according to His word, and in the power of His Spirit, we pull down every stronghold of the enemy in our lives. We resist everything that exalts itself against knowing God and obeying His will.



We overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. We claim the perfect freedom of Jesus. We receive all the fullness the Holy Spirit living in us. We yield all of ourselves to all of God. We plead, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in our lives as it is in heaven this day. We stand in all the victory that is in Christ Jesus, in whose precious name we pray, Amen.



Bondage Breaking Prayer

Father, we come boldly to Your throne of grace, and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. Grant release from bondage to strongholds of the enemy. We plead the blood of Jesus to cancel all commands of the powers of darkness in _ 's life. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. His blood defeated the god of this age. In Jesus' name, take back all ground gave the enemy. Draw out of bondage and deception.



We have the heavenly intercession of the Holy Spirit and Jesus. Father, focus the intercession of the Spirit on. Answer these prayers according to Your perfect will. Lord Jesus, our Intercessor, apply all Your mighty work against the enemy. Bring all the power of the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension against the assignments seeking to destroy

Most High God, contend with those who contend with. Rebuke the enemy in all his operations. Dispatch mighty warrior angels to do battle on 's behalf.



Send Your light and Your truth and lead _ Remove all spiritual blindness, deafness and hardness of heart. Grant eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that seeks You. I plead Your mercy and grace over all 's personal sin, failure and family iniquities. Break through and heal 's wounded spirit. Bind a hedge of thorns around that will repel all the works of darkness in s life.



This battle is not against flesh and blood, and we have spiritual weapons that set captives free. By Your Holy Spirit, break every yoke of bondage in 's life. Grant -conviction of sin with godly sorrow to repentance and deliverance from captivity. Set _ completely free. It is written; you shall know the truth and the Truth shall set you free. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. Thank You for Your mighty work by the blood of Christ Jesus. Thank You for granting me the grace, power, persistence, and love in intercession with faith for until You are glorified in their life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayer For Generational Bondages

""And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." Revelation 12:11



Father, I confess that my family and I have been bound in generational iniquities of, etc. (Ask God to show you.) You are faithful and just to break these bondages and forgive these sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have an Advocate, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who pleads our case. All power is in the blood of the Lamb, which sealed our "not guilty" verdict.

According to the prayer of Daniel in Daniel chapter 9, we repent for our own sins, the sins or our forefathers and the sins of our children.



In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and on the basis of His finished work, I take back from the enemy all ground that our family has given him. I reject his influence and cover these areas with the blood of Jesus. In Jesus' name, I renounce all unholy communications and relationships established by the powers of darkness in our family line. In Jesus' name, I bind, cancel and break all spirits in our family line that are keeping our family in bondage. The enemy has no legal ground in our lives to continue to exploit these generational strongholds, because the power of the cross rendered him legally null and void.



I bring God's word against the enemy. I submit to God and resist the devil, so he has to flee. The finished work of my Lord Jesus Christ binds powers, principalities, rulers of the darkness, thrones, dominions and spiritual wickedness in high places. The name and authority of Jesus rebukes, cancels and nullifies all wicked contracts and assignments of familiar spirits. This is a legal cease and desist order. The enemy cannot win- God contends with those who contend with us.



Captain of the Lord's host, send mighty warrior angels to protect us at the command of Jesus. True and living God, send all curses back to their source. Refer the consequences to the cross of the worthy Lamb of God, who bore them by His sinless sacrifice. We are Your blood-bought children. Send angels to fill up this house, so that nothing can influence us but the power of the living God. Come, Holy Spirit, into our greatest needs and give us a revelation that Jesus is the answer. Speak grace, truth, wisdom and revelation to us in love. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ has all authority here. Amen.



Evening Prayer For The Home

God set apart the priests to carry the ark of the covenant, to minister to Him, and to bless the people in His name (Deut. 10:8). Upholding the word and presence of God, praising and praying to Him, and blessing His people were the perpetual assignment of priests (Jer. 33:18). We are priests by the blood of the New Covenant with the same charge of continual prayer and blessing (I Thes. 5:17, Heb. 13:15). Pray this priestly prayer out loud for your family each evening.



Father, as Your priest in this home, I bow before You to worship and adore You. You are all-loving, all-wise, and all -powerful. You are worthy of all honor, praise and glory. I come to you in Jesus' name and by the sacrifice of His atoning blood which covers our sins this day. As I confess my sins of You are faithful and just to forgive me of sin and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Thank You for Your mercy. I am clothed in the righteousness of the worthy Lamb and anointed with the oil of Your Spirit. You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing, authority and strength in Christ Jesus.



I present our family to You, as the priest of our home. Thank You for the protection of the precious blood of Jesus covering us, our property, and our possessions against the schemes of the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. You have clothed us in the full armor of the Lord Jesus to withstand all the flaming missiles of the enemy. The blood of Jesus is between my family and all evil footholds of the enemy, which we may have invited by ignorance or disobedience. Break the power of any soulish prayers that have been offered for any of us not in Your perfect will. In Jesus' name, I command the enemy to leave this home. Send mighty warring angels to surround us, dismiss all enemy assignments, and protect us from harm (Psalm 91).



Fill our household with Your Spirit, so that sin has no dominion here. Minister your love, joy and peace to us. You are our rear guard throughout the night (Isa. 52:12). Bless us with refreshing and renewing sleep to awake to a new day of Your plans for us. Thank You for the assurance of Your covenant of faithful-ness to us. Draw us closer to You, give us a passion for Jesus and bless us to fulfill Your highest purposes. Thank You for the right and privilege of protecting my family by this prayer offered in



Jesus' name, Amen.







Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 8

God called the entire Body of Israel into the battle with Gideon.



"And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan." Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

Now the men of Ephraim said to him, "Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?" And they reprimanded him sharply. So he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? "God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that" (Judges 7:21-8:3).

This portion of Gideon's story speaks about some very important Biblical truths.

Overcoming is more than just making life better for us! Overcoming brings on an anointing for bearing fruit for God's Kingdom. This takes it out of the realm of "Me, me," and brings real purpose to our lives.

Overcomers are not loners!

They are called to bring others into the battle. The Levites crossed the River Jordon first, but they made the way for the rest of Israel to pass over. We were called to act as the Body of Christ. It is a dishonor to God to attempt to work without others, without His church, His bride!

Overcomers are warriors!

As believers in Jesus Christ who live during the "last days" we are called to be in warfare mode not peace mode. Lives are important to God, eternal lives. The other things in our lives may be important to God, but their purpose is not so that we may live "happy peaceful lives." What is important to the Lord are people, people who are imprisoned by the enemy.

The warfare mode will put you in the mind of carrying about what God cares about, people. The peace mode will put you in the mind of carrying about money and other earthly treasures.



The following is quoted from the book, God's Plan and The Overcomers. (1)

"The Principle of Overcomers

The way God works, as illustrated in His Holy Scriptures, is to find a few as a nucleus in order to reach the many. This was true in the patriarchal age. At that time God chose people individually: those such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Later on through Abraham (the few) God reaches the whole nation of Israel (the many)-that is to say, God reaches the dispensation of the law through the patriarchal age. Then from the dispensation of the law (the nation of Israel) God reaches to the dispensation of grace (the church out of all nations); and likewise from the dispensation of grace He will reach to the dispensation of the kingdom (the entire world), and from the dispensation of the kingdom to the new heaven and the new earth (the new creation), for the kingdom is the prologue to the new heaven and the new earth. So then, the principle of God's operation is from the few to the many. "..the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God" (Col. 2.19). The joints are for supplying, while the bands are for knitting. The Head holds the body together through these joints and bands. And these joints and bands are the overcomers.

Jerusalem typifies the whole church, whereas Zion -which is in Jerusalem-represents the overcomers in the church. Jerusalem is larger than Zion, yet Zion is the stronghold of Jerusalem. What answers to the heart of God is called Zion; that which speaks of the failure and sins of the Jews is called Jerusalem. God allows Jerusalem to be trodden down, but He usually keeps Zion intact. There will be a New Jerusalem, but there is no new Zion because Zion never grows old. Each time the relationship between Zion and Jerusalem is mentioned in the Old Testament we are shown that the characteristics, life, blessing and establishing of Jerusalem are invariably derived from Zion. The elders were in Jerusalem, the ark was to be in Zion (1 Kings 8.1).

God does good in His good pleasure to Zion, and He builds the walls of Jerusalem (Ps. 51.18). God's name is in Zion, while His praise is in Jerusalem (Ps. 102.21). God blesses out of Zion, and Jerusalem receives the good of it (Ps. 128.5). The Lord dwells in Jerusalem, yet He receives praises out of Zion (Ps. 135.21). God speaks first to Zion, and then the good tidings reach Jerusalem (Is. 41.27). He dwells in Zion and thus sanctifies Jerusalem (Joel 3.17). God today is seeking, among the defeated church, 144,000 (a representative figure, to be sure) to stand on mount. Zion (Rev. 14.1). Each and every time, He uses relatively few believers as channels to pour forth life into the church for her revival. As their Lord did, these few must pour forth blood in order to let life flow.

The overcomers are to stand on the ground of victory for the church and instead of the church. They are to endure sufferings and shames. Therefore, God's overcomers must forsake all self-complacencies, pay the cost, let the cross cut off all that comes out of the old creation, and stand against the gates of Hades {Matt. 16.18). Are you willing to hurt your own heart that you may gain God's heart? Are you ready to let yourself be defeated so that the Lord may triumph? When your obedience is made full, God will quickly avenge all the disobedience (2 Cor. 10.6).

The Work of the Overcomers

In examining the principle of the overcomers we must notice two things: (1) that whenever the whole body fails, God will choose relatively few to stand for the whole body; and (2) that God calls these few to carry out His command so that through them He may later reach the many. When God chose the children of Israel He called them all to be a kingdom of priests among the nations (Ex. 19.5,6). But at Mount Sinai they worshipped the golden calf and failed terribly. Because of this, God selected the Levites-who kept His command to be His overcomers. They were given the priesthood in lieu of all the rest of the children of Israel (Ex. 32.1529).

When God works He first works in a few, and then through them He works to the many. In order to save the children of Israel He first saved Moses. He delivered Moses out of Egypt before He delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. He dealt with David first, and after He had laid hold of David He liberated the children of Israel from the hand of the Philistines so that they became a great nation. Spiritual end must be reached by spiritual means. God dealt with both Moses and David to such a degree that they would not at all use the flesh to help God in accomplishing His purpose.

God first gained 12 persons, then 12O-and so the church was born. The principle of the overcomers is God's calling a few to do the work for the blessing of the many. A few are called so that many might receive life- God plants the cross in the hearts of the few causing them to accept the principle of the cross in environments as well as in their homes-thus enabling them to pour forth life to other people. God needs channels of life by which to pour out life to others.

Standing in Death That Others Might Live

God put the priests in the place of death so that the children of Israel might have a way to life. The priests were the first to step into the water and the last to come out of it. They were God's overcomers. Today God is seeking a company of people who like the priests of old will step into the water, enter into death, accept the dealing of the cross, and stand on the ground of death first, so as then to open for the church a living way. God puts us first in death for the sake of giving life to others. God's overcomers are God's pioneers. Not that the priests were capable of accomplishing anything, but because they bore the ark. They must bear the ark and descend to the riverbed. How we should let Christ (typified by the ark) be the center.

How we should be clothed with Christ and enter the water.

The feet of the priests stood on the riverbed; their shoulders bore the ark. Standing in death, they as it were uplifted Christ. The riverbed is the place of death. Nothing at all comfortable, nothing at all appealing. Not restful, not sitting, not lying, but standing. If I live according to my ill-temper, Christ cannot live in others. But if I stand at the bottom of the river, other people will cross the Jordan to victory. Death works in me, but life works in others. In my obedience to death, life will operate in others for their own obedience to God. The death of Christ quickens His life in us. Without death there can be no life. It was most agonizing to bear the ark at the bottom of the river, for it required great diligence. A slight carelessness and the holy God would destroy them. They stood there, watching the children of Israel pass by one by one. And so they were left to the last. Consequently the apostle declared this: "For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all . . . as the filth of the world, the off scouring of all things" (1 Cor. 4.9-13). He would that others believe on the gospel, yet without his chains (Acts 26.29). Oh, let each of us ask ourselves: Do I work for fame, for prosperity, for sympathy from others? Or do I seek for life in the church of God? May we be able to pray thus: 0 Lord, let me die that others may live. God says explicitly that this would not be easy; nonetheless, this is the only way towards the realization of God's eternal plan.

Remaining at the bottom of the river till all the children of God had passed over speaks of how we too cannot come out of death until the kingdom finally arrives. Fortunately Joshua (a type of Christ) at last gave the command, Come up out of Jordan. Our victorious Joshua will also call us up out of the water of death. And such will mark the beginning of the kingdom. Many people are not disobedient, they are just not fully obedient; with many people it is not a not paying any cost, it is rather a paying insufficiently; with many it is not a spending of no money or of sending no soldiers, but it is a committing of less than all (see Luke 14.25-35).

Gethsemane is reached by way of the cross. Without the dealing of the cross none can say, "But as thou wilt" (Matt. 26.39). Many are those who aspire to the calling of Abraham but abhor the consecration on Mount Moriah. Do I fret over my neighbor's easy life? God places me at the bottom of the river to be His overcomer. He allows me to be chained that others may hear the glad tidings. Death works in me, but life in others. This is the only channel of life. The dying of Jesus fills me first with life and then lets this life flow out to others (2 Cor. 4.10-12).

What does God's overcomer do? He stands in the death of Christ that others may receive life. The word of the Bible must be experienced by us first before we are able to preach it. The light of the truth needs first to be transformed into life in us before it can be transmitted as light to others.

God causes His overcomers to see a truth and to prove it in their lives first so that they in turn may bring many to the obedience of this truth. Truth must be organized in us and become a part of our being. Before we can ever tell others about faith, prayer, and consecration, we ourselves must first have the experience of faith, prayer, and consecration. Otherwise, these will merely be terminologies with no substance. God leads us through death so that other people may have life. We are required to go through sufferings and pain before there can be life in others. For the sake of learning the truth of God, we need first to stand at the bottom of the river. The church is unable to cross over to the mainland for victory because there is a lack of priests standing at the bottom of the river Jordan. All who stand at the bottom of Jordan are capable of creating a seeking heart in others. If a truth has been deeply organized in me, that will draw others to seek the same. Many of the truths of God are waiting to be organized within men. As we let truth be worked into and organized in us, we allow the stature of Christ to grow an inch in us. The overcomers receive life from above to supply the body."

(1) Nee, Watchman. God's Plan and The Overcomers. New York, NY: Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.





Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 9

Clothed and possessed by the Holy Spirit!



Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together and, crossing the Jordan, encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him, and he blew a trumpet, and [the clan of] Abiezer was gathered to him (Judges 6:33-34 &endash; Amplified).

Notice that right after Gideon tore down the idols of Baal, the enemies rallied for an attack and God clothed Gideon with the Holy Spirit. These two concurrent events are very like what happens today when we decide to turn from our idols. We engage in warfare and the Holy Spirit possesses us.

Baptized with fire!

In Luke 3:16 John the Baptist said, "I baptize you with water, but a mightier one than I is coming and He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Many believers do not recognize some very key things that Jesus told His disciples in John chapters 14, 15 and 16. He knew that He was to be killed, that He would be resurrected and come back. He also knew that He would leave a second time and that He would send the Holy Spirit to take His place.

He said the following knowing how we could feel fatherless if we could not experience His presence. "I will not leave you as orphans [fatherless]; I will come to you" (John 14:18).

He told His disciples before he ascended that they would be immersed into the Holy Spirit. "For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

He told them not to worry after He left. He explained that the Holy Spirit would take His place and make Him (Jesus, God) real to them. Read what Jesus told them in John 14:16-26.

Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would make Him real to them. "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me" (John 15:26).

"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7).

Jesus told His men that he would come back soon. He did! He came back in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and Jesus are not different persons; they are the same, but in different form. The Holy Spirit can actually dwell inside humans, where Jesus was restricted to one human body.

The disciples had two experiences with the Holy Spirit. The original disciples received the Holy Spirit of the resurrected Christ in John 20:22. However these same men had no visible change of character until they received the Holy Spirit of the ascended Christ on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.

Many times in the Book of Acts do the Scriptures make it obvious that there is an event, an experience, whereby the Holy Spirit is poured out on believers and at the same time the Holy Spirit wells up from the inside. It is similar to the flood in Noah's day. Not only did it rain from the sky, but the springs from the earth exploded as well!

A. Resurrection Sunday, John 20:22.

Resurrected Christ.

In-breathed Spirit.

Result was life.



B. Pentecost Sunday, Acts 2:4.

Ascended and Glorified Christ.

Outpoured Spirit.

Result was power.

The group of 120 in Acts chapter 2 abandoned themselves and they became lost in the presence of God. They spent time and invested words for intimacy. They received power that transformed their lives, power to witness, power to have all their needs supplied, power to expand their influence in other lands and power to experience intimacy and fellowship with the Glorified Christ on a daily basis.

Jesus is no longer the man walking the Sea of Galilee, nor the man suffering on the Cross, nor the man who was simply resurrected. He is now different! No human being saw Jesus in this state, except John on the Isle of Patmos as recorded in the Book of Revelation. Look at Revelation chapter 1.

The disciples experienced something on the day of Pentecost that we all need to experience. When Jesus went back to Heaven the second time in Acts chapter 1, He took a new position as the ascended Christ, not just the resurrected Christ. Jesus left earth in the form of a resurrected being, but He came back through the Holy Spirit as a much superior being, one who had ascended to the right hand of God and who had been glorified.

Notice, His disciples did not mourn in Acts chapters 1-3 as they did in the Book of John when He was crucified. This time, when He left, they took Him at His word of promise that He was coming back soon in another form. Not too many days after He left, He did come back as the Holy Spirit, and they were filled. Then, they proceeded to live their life in fellowship with Jesus just as if He were there with them (He was).

Baptised means to be immersed. First we are baptised with water and now with fire. The fire is His presence. When we are baptised in water we are (in type) dead, we are humiliated, but the water does not go into us and totally kill us. It is exterior. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the fire of God going inside us. It is our choice. We can choose our pride over His presence and control over us. He wants to kill our old nature by fire. God promised Noah there would be no more water, but only fire. Demons are destroyed by fire not water.

Do we need to be filled more than once? Some denominations argue about this and miss the whole point. We are not independent containers filled with an outside source, as water from a pitcher being poured into a glass. If this were true, then perhaps we would need to be filled again and again because we have the possibility of leaking.

John 15 says that we are connected to our source like a branch on a vine. It is not a matter of being re-filled, but a matter of staying connected to the vine. The sap in the vine represents the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We need to abide in the vine. Jesus says that obedience to His Word is what keeps us abiding. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is being flooded with God when we are connected to Him as the vine and the branch. His sap flows into us, and we stay connected if we abide.





How much filling is enough? Luke 6:45b says, "for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Personally, I like the idea that the Holy Spirit flows out of my mouth telling me that I am full!

There has been much confusion and controversy about the Baptism in the Holy Sprit. Some talk about the gifts of the Spirit being the main issue and some talk about tongues being the main issue. Some say baptism is for service, that if we really desire to serve Jesus and witness with power, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They are not wrong, they all have merit, but I do not believe that they touch the primary purpose of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

What about the gifts of the Spirit?

I feel that we need to leave the giving of gifts to the giver. I have personally had many of the gifts operate in my life from time to time, but not all of them.

I believe in speaking in tongues as a valuable and powerful gift. God uses it not only in public ministry, but more importantly He uses it to take control of our mind for His benefit.

James said that the tongue is the rudder that guides the entire ship. If you want to give Jesus the rudder of your life, you should give Him your tongue. Private praying in the Holy Spirit's language is powerful to bring God's full plan to your life and to thwart the enemy's devices. Most instances in Acts where people received the fullness of the Holy Spirit speaking in tongues was one of the first manifestations. There is a full teaching on this in the ISOB curriculum called "The Holy Spirit and the tongue."

I have many personal testimonies on how praying in the Spirit for prolonged periods have delivered me and brought God's purposes into my life and the lives of others. In the early 1980s I was truly in desperate circumstances. My business was losing more money daily that I could even count. I was living in a 9 X 9 foot room in an old broken down mobile home in rural Georgia. But I would pray in the Spirit for hours at a time and spend more countless hours just praising God. Whatever time I was not working I was in the Word. The Lord did miracles, some manifested in the natural, others in my soul!

We change when we pray in the Spirit. Our mind is renewed. We open up another huge gate from which we may hear God speaking to us.

Several times I prayed in the Spirit, actually agonized, only to find out the purposes were to deliver one person from Hell and another from drug addiction.

A Jewish friend of mine came to Mt. Paran Central with me in the early 1980s. There he heard a message in tongues. He gave his life to the Lord. Later he told me that he heard a Hebrew Scripture when the tongues were spoken and that he knew that God was speaking to him.

If you have a hunger and desire to know God on a deeper level, receive the promise that He made to us before His crucifixion. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come" (John 16:13). Fellowship with the Holy Spirit by praying in the Spirit and you will be amazed at the truth you will receive! Not only spiritual truth but practical truths that can help you with your everyday tasks like raising your children, or taking a final math exam.

I believe that the main purpose for being baptised in the Holy Spirit is to make Jesus real to us.

God's wants to set us free from different kinds of slavery. However, the freedom is not the end purpose. The end purpose is to give us freedom so that we may enter into His presence and fellowship with Him, which will result in bearing fruit for our lives and for the Kingdom of God.

Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke 4:18 when He announced His purpose for His ministry. Isaiah 61 starts out with Jesus saying that the Spirit of the Lord has anointed Him to bring good news to the poor, afflicted and broken hearted. Jesus proclaims liberty to the captives, opens prisons for those who are bound, binds up the broken hearted and proclaims the "Acceptable year of the Lord" or "Year of Jubilee" (the time when slaves would go free). He goes on to list many other things that His ministry would accomplish.

He says that these prisoners and poor people would be changed and that they would be trees of righteousness, strong and in right standing with God. He said that they would no longer be heavy with sadness and mourning, but that they would be filled with joy.

Then He said that they would rebuild the waste places. In other words, their wasted lives would be rebuilt, like Nehemiah (whose name means the comforter or the Holy Spirit) rebuilding the broken down walls of Jerusalem. In addition, He said that all their needs would be taken care of and they would become priests of God, or His personal representatives. They would then, in turn, become deliverers and set others free.

Jesus promised to do this for all of us, but He is not here on Earth any longer. He sent another comforter, the Holy Spirit, to take His place. The Holy Spirit is the one who now administers this promise to us. We cannot partake of all of these advantages if we are not in touch with Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

We need Jesus to be real to us. We need to be vitally linked with Him in order to experience all that is promised in Isaiah 61. When things are going bad in our lives, if we can hear Jesus speak to us, everything will be all right!

If we are prisoners, if we are poor, broken hearted and beat down, we do not need to wait to go to Heaven for help; we need it NOW! We can have it now in this life, but we need to be in touch with God. He needs to be real to us. He needs to be more than a religion, more than the doctrine of our denomination, more than the words of Scripture (as important as they are). We need to be in touch with the living Jesus in the same way as His disciples were when He was on Earth, and in the same way they were after He left Earth, as in the Book of Acts.

What can we do to cooperate with God?

Can you give yourself away? I don't understand all there is to know about receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit, just that I know some do and some don't. I know that God is not a respecter of persons. I truly believe it has to do with the answer to the question, "Can you give yourself away?"

Watchman Nee wrote, "Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted ... he hath poured forth this. Acts 2:33.

How can I receive the power of the Spirit for service? Must I labor for it? Must I plead with God for it? Must I afflict my soul by fastings and self-denials to merit it? Never! That is not the teaching of Scripture. Think again: How did we receive the forgiveness of our sins? Paul tells us it was according to the riches of his grace, and that that grace was "freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." We did nothing to deserve it. We have our redemption through his blood, that is, on the basis of what he has done. What then is Scripture's basis for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? It is the exaltation of the Lord Jesus. Because Jesus died on the Cross my sins are forgiven; because he is exalted to the throne I am endued with power from on high."

We receive the Holy Spirit by faith. Faith in what? Faith that the Word of God says that we are entitled to the fullness of the Holy Spirit because of what Jesus did for us. Jesus spoke about the fullness of the Holy Spirit in John 7:38-39, "He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.' (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified)."

So Jesus needed to be glorified before we can have faith in receiving the Holy Spirit as an overflow of living water. What does glorified mean? Glorify is a word that means for the true thing to be revealed and disclosed. It is like someone taking a drape off of a new statue and revealing it for the first time.

In John 17:4-5 Jesus was praying to the Father and He said, "I have glorified You upon the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now Father, glorify Me with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was." Jesus revealed the Father to the people with whom He came into contact. Now it was the Father's turn to show who Jesus really was.

How was Jesus glorified? Remember, glorified means to show the true identity of the person or object. In Luke 24:13-27 Jesus is talking to the two men on the road to Emmaus. He said, "'Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:26,27). Then these two men got so excited that they found the 11 disciples and they began to tell them what Jesus had just revealed. All of the sudden the resurrected Jesus showed up at this meeting and took over. "He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.' Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day'" (Luke 24:44-46).

He gave them revelation or glorified Himself in Moses, Psalms and the Prophets. It says in verse 45 in the Amplified version, "He thoroughly opened up their minds to the Scriptures." He was speaking about the Five books of Moses, the Books of the Prophets and the Psalms.

Shortly after this, Pentecost took place and they were baptised in the Holy Spirit and fire!

He glorified Himself in Moses:

In Genesis as the creator and the seed of woman. He showed Himself to be the propagator of a new race through a blood covenant to replace the fallen race of Adam.

In Exodus, He showed Himself as the lawgiver and as the Passover Lamb for the broken law. He is the one who splits the Red Seas of our lives freeing us from the bondages of the world.

In Leviticus, He is the maker of the blood covenant, and the one who asks that we take up our cross and live in holiness.

In Numbers, He is our provider in the deserts of our life; He is our manna from Heaven and our water from the rock.

In Deuteronomy, He is the one who redeems us from the curse of the law.

He glorified Himself in The Psalms:

In Psalms, He is our shepherd and the one to whom we can pour out all of the troubles of our heart in honesty and without condemnation, like David did.

He glorified Himself in The Prophets:

In Isaiah He is the suffering Saviour who takes our sin and sickness.

In Joel, He shows the promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. However, before the promise in Joel chapter 2, He showed the required consecration, which precedes the promise.

He also showed them what I saw when I got saved and filled at the same time in the Book of Revelation as it is foreshadowed in Ezekiel and Daniel.

In Ezekiel 37, He is the one who gives our dry bones the new birth with the Holy Spirit. In chapters 38-39, He defeats our enemies. In chapters 40-42, He shows us the temple of God so that we will know that we are invited to get into a close relationship with Him.

In Ezekiel 43, He showed them the glory of the throne and the tabernacle where God meets man as in Revelation 21. In Chapter 44-46, He asks us to consecrate ourselves so that we may be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

In Ezekiel 47, as in Revelation 22, He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit who causes the river to flow out of our innermost beings into the dead sea of humanity so that people can be made alive with God.

In Ezekiel 48:35 His name is "the Lord is there," in the heavenly Jerusalem dwelling with His people.

In Daniel chapters 1-6, He reveals Himself as the one who asks us to be in the world but not of the world. He is with us in the fiery furnaces and lion dens of our lives.

In Daniel chapter 7, He shows Himself as the Ancient of days who gave kingdom victory to the saints. In chapters 8-9 the battles are likened to the battles in Revelation.

In Daniel 10:5, He shows the ascended victorious Christ as in Revelation. Chapters 10 and 11 shows more war.

Daniel 12 tells about the need to stand, for some will be worn out by the enemy. Now look at Daniel 12:12. For those who stand to the end, there will be victory. This is what I saw when I got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit at the same time in 1979!

In the New Testament, Jesus truly revealed Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He resolved the paradoxes of the Old Testament that said that God is merciful and forgives sin, yet visits the inequities upon the children of up to four generations (Exodus 34:6-7). This is the powerful message of the Cross spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18 which says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

He revealed Himself as the Son of God, as the Word of God, as the Truth, the Life and the Way!

He revealed Himself as the Messiah who will come back a second time as a great King on the throne.

In John 14-16, He revealed Himself as the Holy Spirit who would live in His disciples.

In Luke 24 and Acts 1 Jesus told His disciples to consecrate their lives and go and tarry or wait until the promise came. This is our part: obedience, consecration and abandonment.

In Revelation He is the One clothed with the garments of war and judgment. His eyes were like a flame of fire, His voice like the sound of many waters. He is the Lamb at the Throne of God with our curse in His nail scared hand. He is the One who walks us through the tribulations of life that look like they will destroy us. He is the One who comes on His white horse to deliver us when we have stood longer than we think we could have stood. He is revealed as the Coming King, the victor over Satan and all evil. He is the One who turns every evil affliction into a blessing .



We need to be hungry for God to be real to us. The 120 in the Upper Room were just a small number of people who Jesus had revealed Himself to after the resurrection. There were at least 500. What happened to the others? Perhaps they were not hungry enough. Maybe they were too proud, or too engrossed in their work or their family. Maybe they were too worried what others would think of them. Remember the 120 were criticized and laughed at.

We have to be radical in the Word to be victorious. The blood covenant is cut not by blood but by words. The more Word you have the more blood you have, the more character of Jesus you have, the more sin He removes, the less influence demons have, and the more of the Holy Spirit you have. "For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit" (John 3:34).

We need to be open to Jesus and trust Him. Luke 11:11-12 says, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone, or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"

The Holy Spirit always honors repentance. He seems to show up when we turn from our sin, the ways of the world, our pride and our laziness. Acts 26:18 says, "in order to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."

Prayer. Lord Jesus, the Word of God says that you have a desire to fill me with your Spirit so that You and I can be more intimate. I am hungry for you and your presence in my life. Jesus, I believe your Word. I confess to you that I want everything you have for me. Come, Jesus, baptize me with the Holy Spirit and fire. I am open and ready for the fire in my life. I renounce and repent from all sin in my life. I forgive everyone who has wronged me. I offer myself to you a living sacrifice. You are sovereign over my life. Have your way. I offer to you all of my members, my mouth, my tongue, my hands, feet, ears and eyes.

Take it all!

Larry Chkoreff May, 2003




Addendum to Lesson 09

Clothed and Possessed by the Holy Spirit



Often I wonder and ask God, "Why do some people receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and others do not? Up to this date I simply assumed that God has kept this to Himself and that it was not my business. I do not wish to stand in judgment of others because people are very complex. I never want to judge others out of my own experiences and belief system. One never really knows what is going on inside of the other person. However I feel like on the threshold of teaching this lesson on the Holy Spirit that the Lord has spoken some things that He would have published on this subject.



1. The Holy Spirit may be more readily expressed to those who are more desperate. The Scripture below is from Matthew chapter 6. It infers that there are two places where we can put our trust for earthly needs: In the system of the World such as the Gentiles do (those without a covenant), or in trusting God and His Kingdom. Mammon is anything that provides for us other than faith in God and His Word, no matter how benign and good it may look. Then it goes on to say that if you are trusting in the World system, that your body will not be full of light, or you will have great darkness and if you trusting totally in God that you will be full of light. Well, the Holy Spirit is light!

Knowing your weakness and being desperate is a welcome sign for the Holy Spirit to fall on you. It surely was in my case. That is my own testimony dating back to 1979.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). I know so many people who have grown so much closer to the Lord through their desperation.



2. The baptism in the Holy Spirit has its source from two directions; from within and from above. The flood in Noah's day was similar, it sprang from the depths of the earth and it rained from above. Why? In order to destroy evil. It is the same with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I need Him to come and destroy my evil!

Are you desperate for Him to come and destroy your evil?



Floods from within. "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39).

Floods from above. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17).

"Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear." (Acts 2:33).

"For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:16).

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15).



Matthew 6:19-33.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."





Prisoners in the Promise Land

Chapter 10

Gideon, the overcomer!



In this the final chapter of this series about Gideon and Prisoners in the Promise land, I want our focus to be on how Gideon became a mighty overcomer, not just in his life but also for all of Israel. Remember he began as a prisoner, as a man who was in fear, depending upon his father's idols, among his people who were living in poverty due to the oppression of their enemies. They were a people who had not obeyed the voice of God and they were hurting.

Notice that God waited until Gideon and his people had a good reason to listen to and obey Him. He waited until their enemies made them desperate. But when God did speak, what did He say? What did he ask Gideon to do? What did He ask in the way of obedience? We can learn from Gideon's experience.



Did God just come and do a miracle? Or did he take a different path? Compare this to the poor people in John chapter 6 who God fed with a miracle. The next day they followed Jesus and requested another miracle banquet, but He did give them one. Instead He told them eat His flesh and drink His blood. He wanted them, and you, to enter into a blood covenant with the Creator. Our next series, Grow or Die will go into more detail on this. But Gideon's path was much the same. God took Gideon on the path to a blood covenant lifestyle.



The blood covenant lifestyle

1. Hearing. He was brought into intimacy with God so that he could hear His voice more clear. With each encounter, Gideon's faith to hear God speak increased. The most important thing that we need is to touch Jesus. Our lives are changed when we touch Him. Certainly obeying Him and cooperating with Him are very important, but if we don't start with His touch, following plans and rules can come to naught.



2 SIT. God told Gideon that he was a mighty man of valor at a time when Gideon was acting like a coward. The Lord always wants us to discover our new identity which is given to us by the blood covenant. He wants us to understand who we really are in Christ, and He wants to reveal His promises to us. God showed Gideon the blood covenant by the experience in Judges 6:21 when fire rose out of the rock and consumed the offering.



3. WALK. After God had obtained some faith and confidence from Gideon, He asked him to destroy his family idols. We are called to continually take up our cross and deny our flesh ways to walk a holy walk with the Lord. This is all by grace with a lot of forgiveness and patience on God's part. The Lord is always bringing us to a crisis event in our lives so that we continually choose Him and His word as our provider instead of all of the other things we have been depending upon for our love, security and significance.



4. STAND. The Lord wants us to know that we are in spiritual warfare and that our weapons are not natural or carnal, but they are mighty through God. Proclaiming God's Word is our most powerful weapon. "Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers--they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing--and they cried, 'The sword of the LORD and of Gideon'" (Judges 7:20). Proclaiming the Word applies the blood of Jesus, and causes your spiritual enemy to flee.



5. Overcoming fear. God helped Gideon overcome his doubts, fears and temptations. He allowed him to "fleece" Him twice. He allowed Gideon to spy on the enemy to see for himself that the victory was his before the battle was engaged, Judges 7:15.

Why do we keep repeating Sit Walk and Stand, Ephesians 2:6, 4:1 and 6:14-17?

Why do we keep repeating Revelation 12:11 which includes the same three blood covenant factors, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Revelation 12:11).

Because it is God's plan for our lives. It is the way we are to live this life until we get to Heaven. Gideon did not overcome in his own power, neither will we, but he cooperated with God in order to allow His power, and plan, to work. So much has to do with our yielding our will to Jesus. Someone once said to me, "You Christians just lean on God as a crutch." I said, "Yes, just as a branch depends upon the vine for its very life." Jesus is the ultimate overcomer, and if He lives in us then overcoming is simply living out the nature within us.



In the end times Jesus is intense about looking for overcomers? Overcomers make up His army, they bring Him His bride, they accomplish God's purposes.



In each of the seven churches in Revelation, Jesus is proposing the same thing, "Will you be an overcomer?"



"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7).



"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death" (Revelation 2:11).



"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it" (Revelation 2:17).



"And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations--" (Revelation 2:26).



"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Revelation 3:5).



"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name" (Revelation 3:12).



"To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).



Gideon was an overcomer, and as in the Book of Revelation, he became a mighty warrior for God. His life's purpose was fulfilled.



The question is, are you desperate enough to allow Jesus to live out His life in you?





Larry Chkoreff June, 2003