If I live in reaction to a problem, then the author of that problem has influenced my thought life and behavior. The devil has no right to influence my agenda. You never see Jesus living in reaction to the devil; He only lived in response to the [...]

I had an encounter with the Lord over this passage; it changed my life. It transformed me from a person who could only see the tragedy that happens in the last days to someone who looked at what God was wanting to do in those days—redeeming and [...]

Jesus uses this illustration for repeated day and night prayer, and then God says, «I’m going to answer speedily.» I’m thinking, «Man, I’ve been banging on this door for 15 days; when is this going to open?» He says, «I’m going to answer speedily,» [...]

Because this world has a right to see who Jesus is: He’s alive; He’s resurrected; He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. It’s the believers who have chosen not to live contaminated by the fear of men that embrace fully the fear of God and live [...]

I’m not looking for people who want to be famous or powerful; I’m looking for a poor spirit. I’m seeking those willing to say, «God, You can do whatever You want with me.» David thought of himself differently than you might realize. Sometimes we [...]

But the costly times of thanks bring loss; there’s the bad report. You immerse it in grace. I thank you because you’re bigger than this. That’s what thankfulness does: it captures our moments, the seemingly random parts of our lives that could [...]

Faith comes from surrender, not striving. It’s the product of yielding to the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and the encounters or experiences that He takes us into to think and see differently. What I want to do today is talk about faith, but it [...]

God has purposed to take every pile of ashes and turn it into beauty. He didn’t determine to take every pile of ashes and turn it into an acceptable situation; He actually determined to take what was the most repulsive part of our lives and turn it [...]

If you’re like me, you find all kinds of things planted in your garden bed. You’ve got the word of the Lord over your life, but like this guy, you say, «God, I do believe, but I’m fighting. I’ve got some unbelief too.» We’ve thought that the answer [...]

Choose wisdom, not money; choose this, not wealth. Then he says, «Look what wisdom brought to the game.» Wisdom comes with riches, along with all the other distractions you could have encountered. It’s the same concept in Matthew 6: seek first the [...]

The disciples only asked Jesus to teach them one thing. If I were in the disciples' shoes, I might have asked him how to raise the dead, how to heal the sick, or how to perform any number of extraordinary things. The twelve disciples, who were [...]

Say to the one who is fearful, «Don’t be afraid. God is going to vindicate you with full recompense for everything that has been lost. He will restore you. This is actually the release of the grace of God into an individual’s life that helps bring [...]

You have unlimited strength in Christ; the enemy is withering as we speak. He has limited strength. I didn’t say no strength; I said limited strength. Verse 9: For they are all trying to make us afraid, saying their hands will be weakened in the [...]

This concept has been very real to me for probably close to 20 years, but I feel like I’ve just barely scratched the surface, and I ache for what Jesus taught—the ascended lifestyle, living in that place of fellowship with Him. He actually designed [...]

We recognize that the devil doesn’t come to us in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork. He doesn’t make himself known as the devil; rather, he presents himself as something we would value. He actually has to parade his thoughts as virtuous in order [...]

I may not know what’s always happening, but I can always live with hope because I know that nothing I’m facing caught Him off guard. I can always return to that place of confidence, knowing that even though I didn’t know what to expect, my [...]

The journey is merely a relational journey. Yes, He brings blessings, and yes, He brings prosperity; He does all those things. But it’s such an interesting journey because anyone who builds a relationship with God based on what they will gain from [...]

Every time I grapple with the concept of generosity, I’m also contending with the concept of my identity. A generous lifestyle affects how you perceive the world around you. It will impact your relationship with money. But let me clarify something: [...]

So when he says, «Your strength is renewed like the eagles,» he’s saying, «Listen, I’m setting you up to enter into a dimension of strength that you’ve never known. On your best day, you could not accomplish what you can accomplish by the renewing [...]

If God is silent, it’s never punishment; it’s either because He has already spoken and you need to review what you’ve heard, or He’s trying to connect you with the right people who will add into your life the missing piece. This emphasizes [...]

Paul makes this statement: «For I’m not ignorant of the devil’s devices; I’m not ignorant of the devil’s schemes.» I don’t like the idea of studying the devil and his tactics; that’s nauseating to me. But I also don’t want to go to the other extreme [...]

When Jesus says to you and me, «Go into all the world, preach the gospel, disciple nations,» you may be like me, thinking, «Wait a minute, all we’ve got is a kid’s lunch.» If we listen further, He provides a step-by-step approach because He isn’t [...]

The real evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is power. Many people are satisfied with good theology and stop short of a divine encounter. The revelation of Scriptures should take us into an encounter with a person who transforms us. Power has [...]

Everything about you is wired and designed to perceive, to recognize, to have fellowship and exchange with the Almighty God. I’m not as good at it as I want to be, but I’m better than I used to be. It’s my «yes» before He speaks that positions me to [...]

Peace is a huge part of God’s economy for us as believers. I’ve talked to you even in recent weeks and months about this issue. For me, whenever I feel anxious and stressed—for example, let’s say it’s 11 o’clock in the morning and I go, «Man, what [...]

If I’ve told you earthly things and you do not believe, what was His intention in telling them earthly things? His intended outcome, as He invited them into this dialogue, this experience, this journey, was, «Come, I want you to step into belief and [...]

The lies that you and I have dealt with throughout our lives must be addressed. It’s not good enough that we get out of the red; we have to get into the black. It’s not sufficient that I stop the bad thoughts; I must replace them with what God says. [...]

How important is the mind of Christ? It’s important for probably a thousand reasons, but one of them is that it’s the only way the authentic you will ever be known. The mind of Christ is not something imposed upon you; the mind of Christ is [...]

This is a special time for us today as we remember my mother, who was promoted to heaven last week. While it’s difficult, the scripture says, «to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.» We know where she is and where many of your [...]

There’s a picture painted for us in this part of Philippians 4 of a military guard protecting a person’s heart and mind, the place where thoughts come from—the mind itself. That military guard is there because of the previous verse: pray over [...]

Have you ever thought of someone you wanted to call or maybe stop by and visit? It wasn’t a thundering voice from God; it’s just that moment when you think, «Oh, I should call them.» You call them, and you find out it was a miraculous moment that [...]

The command to not fear is the most frequently repeated command in the Bible. Why? Because it leads to unbelief. Complaining is the language of unbelief. Complaining only comes from a heart that has a lordship issue. I want you to go with me to [...]

Sometimes we pray for a situation; intercession stands in the shoes of another and prays on behalf of them as though it were our own issue. When you pray for your neighbor, it’s not just praying at them; we pray as though their struggles are ours. [...]

When we begin to submit ourselves to the inferior, we allow anxiety and stress to fill our minds with what-ifs that have no life in them, and the enemy is once again working to undermine our identity and first love relationship. In this whole [...]

We have a city without hope, and even if all of them were born again, there are many Christians I know who still lack hope. We need to adopt the template of heaven and think in terms of God’s dream over culture, society, and conversation. We must [...]

This prayer reveals what I believe is a very serious mandate: we are responsible to pray for the blessing of God in our personal lives. In a moment, let’s read Psalm 67 in its entirety. We’re going to focus on one verse, expand on it, share a [...]

They came to worship a child who could do nothing for them; the essence of abandonment in worship is that there are no strings attached. I give everything because of who you are, not because of how it benefits me. Thank you, please be seated. Thank [...]

And when you go into a city like Corinth, you don’t need a philosophical message; you need a demonstration of the raw power of God that separates people from the torment that has kept them in bondage. There seems to be a greater faith in the return [...]

When the Bible says laughter is good medicine, it actually means, if you look it up in the original language, that laughter is good medicine. There’s an interesting story from David’s day where he was so hungry for the presence of God to rest in [...]

Unbelief is not the absence of faith; it’s the presence of unbelief. There is a difference. Later, he says, «I believe; help me in my unbelief.» The problem is that you can have more than one seed growing in your garden. The longer I walk with [...]

He says to Moses, «Pick up the snake, but do it by the tail.» I’m not a snake person, but one thing I do know is that you don’t pick up snakes by the tail. As long as I hold it behind the head, I would be tempted to thank my intelligence; my [...]

Suddenly, there’s this sound created that blanketed a city called Jerusalem and changed the consciousness, awareness, and mindset of an entire city. You had people who crucified Jesus 50 days earlier now asking the question, «What must I do to be [...]

While the life of Resurrection is the Christian life, you only get there through the cross, and it is a daily expression of surrender that invites the spirit of Resurrection. Grab your Bibles and open to Matthew 26. I have quite a different word [...]

See, it’s easy to obey God when you have an expected, anticipated outcome. The challenge in the lifestyle of obedience is facing things that you can’t control and can’t explain; they don’t happen quite the way you anticipated. So now, good morning, [...]

It says that if Jesus increased in favor with God and with man, it’s amazing. I understand why he needed to increase in favor with man because it would be Zacchaeus who welcomes him into his home. It will be the Pharisee who invites him to his [...]

You see, this is the initial fulfillment of that Old Testament unusual metaphor of an open heaven, angels coming and going—the fulfillment of divine purpose on the earth through a house that happens to be positioned on the edge of two worlds. This [...]

I like to take this bread, this wafer, and I like to make sure that I don’t come to it as a cracker; I come to it as the broken body of Jesus. It’s important that I make that transition so I’m not merely going through a religious routine; I’m [...]

Gossip and slander mirror the value system of an inferior kingdom, causing evil to increase. It tries to bring death to its target and ultimately to the one gossiping. It’s a two-for-one deal for the enemy; it’s the reason it is one of the primary [...]

Why would Jesus make Judas the treasurer? Some would say it’s to expose him. I’m not so sure; Jesus tends to promote us into positions and places where we have the opportunity to deal with our issues. I was chuckling at Christie’s questions, where [...]

The real battleground for our life is between our ears; that’s where the real conflict is. What happens is the enemy is so nervous about your authentic creative expression that he tries to keep you in anxiety, fear, and shame to cut back your [...]