swordministries.org

The Word is God

admin — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:57:29 +0000

The Word is GOD! Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. The word (God) is a seed that is planted in our hearts. The seed (God) begins to grow on the inside of us producing faith (persuasion) to believe. As faith to grows within us, God sees the image of Himself. God then begins to move and work where he sees His image and likeness. No one ever has a miracle unless God is working with Himself within that person. Faith and His likeness reside where there is the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, etc.

Numbers 15:37-38

37 The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.

The Holy Spirit is represented by the blue cord…the shamash. The use of the traditional prayer shawl was to remind the Jews to do the commandments of the Lord and not to follow your own desires, but to be holy to God. The prayer shawl was a point of focus to keep their heart and mind on the Lord and the things of the Lord. If we keep our soul (mind, will, emotions) focused on God’s word and His Spirit, then our faith will continue to be stirred and grow! Being wrapped up in the prayer shawl was symbolic of being wrapped up and covered in God.

Isaiah 40:31

31Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up {with} wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

Malachi 4:2

2But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

As we stay wrapped up and covered in the Lord, we shall have day to day strength and power for overcoming in everyday living. We shall be able to run the race set before us without weariness, but not only that we shall arise with healing for others and overflowing with joy. When Jesus wrapped Himself in His prayer shawl in the Garden of Gethesmne, He was mounting up with wings like an eagle, abiding in the secret place, abiding under shadow of the Almighty, covered with His feathers under His wings shall you trust and find refuge.

The Hebrew word for “wait” is quava. It means to twist, bind like a rope, bind yourself as a rope with the Lord. The fringes on the prayer shawl represent the working relationship of the believer and the Lord. The blue cord being intertwined together represents our relationship with Him and waiting on Him.

To avoid walking in the flesh, daily we must walk in the Spirit. We must put on Christ by being intertwined in Him. We must be wrapped up and covered in Him.

Another word that deals with being “wrapped up” or “being one” with Him is the Hebrew word halahah. Halahah means “to walk”. Ephesians 5:8 says “walk as children of the light”, living like Jesus. As He is, so are we in this world. We are the light of the world. In Genesis 5:24, “Enoch walked (in habitual fellowship) with God; and He was not, for God took Him. Genesis 6:9 says that Noah walked in this same fellowship with God. We must create the atmosphere and habits needed to walk in unbroken fellowship with the Lord.

Being Led by the Holy Spirit

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:57:52 +0000

The Holy Spirit has been sent to lead and guide us. He is responsible for all of our
breakthroughs. He is known as the Truth Giver; the truth that He gives brings
enlightenment. By listening and yielding to the Holy Spirit, you can avoid negative life
experiences.
A. The Holy Spirit’s main objective is to bring truth.
1. God’ people are destroyed, or cut off, due to a lack of knowledge
(Hosea 4:6, AMP).
2. God’s answer to your receiving knowledge was to send the Holy Spirit
(John 16:12-13).
3. Many times, instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them, people
allow circumstances to determine whether or not they are on the right
path. Doing this can lead to destruction.
a. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in the area in which you need
help.
4. Don’t think that you haven’t been saved long enough or that you won’t
be able to know when the Holy Spirit is speaking.
a. Those who are born again have a right to recognize His leading
(Romans 8:14).
b. He wants to show you things regarding your life by guiding you
into all truth (John 16:13-14).
5. The Holy Spirit bears witness, or testifies, with your spirit (Romans
8:16).
a. When your spirit and the Holy Spirit are in agreement, you will
have peace about your situation.
b. Man is created in the image of God; he is a spirit.
1. Man is a spirit and possesses a soul that lives in a physical body.
a. When a person dies, his or her spirit separates from his or her
body and continues to live on forever.
2. Proverbs 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp, or candle, of
the Lord, which searches the inward parts of the belly; if you follow
your spirit, rivers of living water will flow out of you (John 7:38).
a. Guidance comes through your spirit. Many times people try to
be led by their mind, senses or by what others say, although
these things do not line up with the Word of God.
3. God made man in His image (Genesis 1:26-27); God is a spirit (John
4:24).
a. We are spirit beings that have been created in His image.
4. Man is a tri-part being with a spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians
5:23).
Many people confuse the spirit and soul as being one when they
are actually different.
a. The soul houses your mind, will and emotions.
b. Your physical body is a spirit container.
c. Paul was trying to decide if his spirit should stay in his body or
go to be with Jesus (Philippians 1:23).
d. The flaw in the human body is that it perishes and decays; the
beauty of the inward man, your spirit, is that it is renewed daily
(2 Corinthians 4:16, AMP).
5. Being born again does not take place through the flesh, but through
your spirit (John 3:3-6).
a. Man’s spirit receives eternal life, God’s nature and the life of
God.
b. Man’s spirit is made a new creature in Christ.
c. Learn to hear His voice.
1. The New Testament uses heart and spirit interchangeably; the heart is
the center of man (1 Peter 3:4).
2. Look at the word heart and you’ll see the words: hear, ear, he and art.
a. He is in the center of your heart so you can have an ear to
hear Him. That is your art as a Christian.
3. Everything in your spirit becomes brand new when you are in Christ (2
Corinthians 5:17).
4. You have received the Holy Spirit so that you will know and
understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:12-15).
a. A natural person can’t understand spiritual things because his
spirit isn’t aligned with God’s.
b. Spiritual things will become more real to you the more spiritconscious
you become.
5. It is God’s will for you to hear Him.
a. Don’t think that just because you’ve been “bad” He won’t talk
to you. He’s a counselor and will speak to you even while you
are doing “bad” things.
6. You are supposed to follow and imitate Jesus so that you can hear His
voice (John 10:27).
a. If you do not imitate and follow a stranger, you won’t know the
stranger’s voice (verse 5).
7. For your steps to be ordered, or established, by God, you must hear
Him (Psalm 37:23).
8. God wants to instruct, teach and direct your path (Psalm 32:8;
Proverbs 3:5-6).
a. When you are searching for something—a house, a new job, a
spouse—allow the Holy Spirit to give your heart peace and to
be a witness to your spirit, or heart (Colossians 3:15, AMP).
9. Ask yourself five questions to see if what you are doing is in
agreement with the Holy Spirit:
a. Does it go against the reasons and rationalizations of the
world?
b. Does it require courage?
c. Does it require faith?
d. Does it line up with the Word of God?
e. Does peace rule in your heart?
Hosea 4:6, AMP
Romans 8:14
John 16:12-14
Romans 8:16
Proverbs 20:27
John 7:38
Genesis 1:26-27
John 4:24
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Philippians 1:23
2 Corinthians 4:16 AMP
John 3:3-6
1 Peter 3:4
2 Corinthians 5:17
1 Corinthians 2:12-15
John 10:27, 5
Psalm 37:23
Psalm 32:8
Proverbs 3:5-6
Colossians 3:15, AMP

How to Strengthen Faith

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:58:43 +0000

1. Faith is strengthened when we believe in the integrity of God’s Word.
II Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
2. Faith is strengthened when we walk in obedience to God’s Word.
I John 3:22
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
3. Faith is strengthened when the revelation of God’s Word grows in you.
John 4:41
And many more believed because of His own word.
4. Faith is strengthened when we keep the word of faith in our mouth.
Mark 11:23, 24
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
5. Faith is strengthened by speaking the Word of God out loud.
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
6. Faith is strengthened when we surround ourselves with that which cultivates faith.
Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Mark 4:41
And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
7. Faith is strengthened when the love of God grows in our life.
Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
8. Faith is strengthened through humility.
Luke 9:40-50
40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. 46 Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. 47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, 48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.” 49 Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”
You can see that the disciples’ lack of humility and discipline hindered their faith.
9. Faith is strengthened as we develop a pure conscience.
I Timothy 3:8, 9
8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
10. Faith is strengthened by praying in the Spirit.
Jude 20
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
11. Faith is strengthened by a power surge of holy boldness.
Acts 4:29 – 31
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Wash Your Words

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:48:08 +0000

Have you ever heard watch what you say? Undoubtably, you have yet the Word of God gives us a better picture of how to communicate with grace.

I kept hearing the Holy Spirit say, “Wash your words.” As I began to study out the term,”watch” and the term,”wash”, I was astonished at how much more peace flowed from within. I began to realize that I had been almost anxious to the point of worry concerning being misunderstood when I spoke.

So I began a search with these questions in mind: What am I supposed to watch? What does it mean to let my words be washed?

Over and over when the Bible speaks of watch it generally connected to prayer. Watch and pray. Even so if you study the examples of the word watch in the Old Covenant, it was men set at an appointed place by their leader to watch for the movement of the enemy.

So then what does wash have to do with this scenario??

Washing is the act of cleansing. David prayed in Psalms 51:2,”Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” and again in Psalms 51:7,”Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Notice that he said wash me throughly. Have you ever seen a pot that has had something burned to it? It takes more than a mear gentle wipe to be ride of the blackness and foul odor that comes from the inside and the outside. It takes some real effort. Yet like King David we can exude confidence that if we yield to the washing that God does that we can be and remain whiter than snow.

What a blessing, the wash. KJH

Healing Is Gods Will Part 1

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:57:05 +0000

1. God’s Medicine Proverbs 4:20-22,”My son, give attention to My words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.”
2. God’s Strength Joel 3:10,”…Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’” Nehemiah 8:9-10,”Then he said to them,”Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Romans 15:13,”Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
3.God’s Original Creation Genesis 1:26-31,”Then God said,”Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them,”Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds, of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said,”See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, it which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
4.Origin of Sickness and Disease Romans 5:12,”Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, in death through sin, thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 6:23,”For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
5.Sickness is a Work of the Devil Job 2:7,”Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head.” Luke 9:56,”For the Son of Man did not come to destroy mens lives but to save them.” Luke 10:16,”So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, who satan has bound, think of it for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Acts 10:38,”how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
6.Covenant of Healing Exodus 15:26,”and said,”If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 23:25,”So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.”
7.Unchanging Redemptive Names Jehovah Rapha Matthew 9:12,”When Jesus heard that, He said to them.’Those who are all well have no need a physician, but those who are sick.’” Jehovah Nissi Exodus 17:15,”And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:”
8.Sickness is Part of the Curse Galatians 3:13,”Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written,”Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)” Proverbs 26:2,”Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.”
9.In the Types of Redemption Passover Lamb I Cor. 5:7,”Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Cleansing Ceremony of the Leper Lev. 14:1-2,”Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,”This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing; He shall be brought to the priest.” The Year of Jubilee Lev. 25:8,”And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you fourty-nine years .” Luke 4:18-19,’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, 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.” Atonement for the Plague Numbers 16:47-48,”Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague begun the people. So he put the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.” Serpent on the Pole Numbers 21:4-9,”Then they journeyed from Mt. Horeb by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Eden; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses:’Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said,’We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses,”Make a fiery serpent and set the serpent on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”
10.God’s Will in Heaven Matthew 6:9-10,”In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as is it is in heaven.” Rev. 21:4,”And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have past away.” Deuteronomy 11:21,”that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
11.Firstfruits of Our Inheritance Philippians 3:20,”For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 8:23,”Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
12.The Good Shepherd Exodus 34:4-9,”So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mt. Sinai, as the Lord has commanded him; and he took in his hand two tablets of stone. Now the Lord desdended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed,’The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the quilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation. So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said,”If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

God Hears Himself Unclog Your Ears

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:00:03 +0000

You can only communicate clearly the information you possess, and the information you possess comes to you through the process of perception. Perception is the process by which a person converts different stimuli into information. When God communicates and when God receives information, He does not process what He sees and hears through tainted perception. There are no imperfections in God’s ability to hear, no paradigms through which he perceives His surroundings. God’s ability to communicate is perfect and without flaw.

When Adam and Eve first spoke to God, there were no hindrances between God’s mouth and their ears. They did not perceive God or His Word through sin or worldly thinking. There were no negative experiences that could have altered their perception of God’s Words. When He spoke, they were not offended or touchy about what He said because they did not listen to His Word through past hurts and injuries. Man, who was created perfectly in the image of God, received God’s Words as God Himself would receive them.

When God releases His Word, it carries the creative power of God to produce the results which God predestined for it to produce. However, for that Word to work its innate power in our lives, we must be able to receive the seed. Our hearts must be open to God’s Words, and we must be able to perceive correctly what God is saying. Our ears must be unclogged from all the words that the world, the enemy, and our flesh are constantly speaking, so that we can receive what is pure.

Think now about the parable of the sower. Jesus told his disciples, “The sower sows the the Word.” However, things try to come along and enter into the picture which will hinder those seeds from actually producing. Some of the most common seed killers are doubt, unbelief, bitterness, and unforgiveness. The birds of the enemy come and try to eat the seed before it can get down deep into the ground of our hearts. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches come to choke the young plants of God’s destiny, like weeds in a garden. Because sometimes our hearts are like shallow rocky soil, the seeds of God’s word never take root deep in our hearts to produce lasting change. The first step in receiving God’s Word is removing those things which are hindering us from seeing and hearing God correctly. Our feelings are produced by our perceptions, and our perceptions are a product of our paradigms. We must allow the Word of God to cleanse us and change our paradigms, our belief systems. We must analyze ourselves: What do I believe? Is what I believe the Truth of God’s Word or is it twisted by perceived injury? This will help to prepare the ground of our hearts to receive God’s Word. We want the seeds to grow deep with a strong root system so that the truth will not be easily torn out of our lives by circumstances.