I pray all is well with all of my readers. The Kingdom is constantly expanding its reach and one way is through the internet. A co-laborer in the ministry, Byron, has recently launched a new website and I am the featured guest writer in this week's blog section. So instead of posting my blog here, I direct you to his website: http://www.chainoffire.com/chain/blog/ Feel free to leave comments on his website and browse through the different areas.
God Bless!
Christ's Ambassador
May 28, 2009
May 21, 2009
Emptied or Empowered?
Any time there is an increase in darkness or demonic influence there is always a greater increase of light and God’s power (available). The problem we face is that with the current increase in darkness is that the light and power that God wants to break-in with is not being tapped in to adequately.
As I awoke this morning I was met with two messages; one was 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 and the other was a shooting at the park of my job last night, light and darkness. Today’s word is putting focus on the right things.
1 Cor. 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
1 Cor. 2:4-5 “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
When we focus on people, big names, and ministries we empty the cross of its power, handcuffing God and handicapping the people. But when we focus on Christ and the cross we empower the people through Christ because they’re putting their faith in God’s power. Change does not come, demons do not tremble at the name of some man or ministry but when the cross is centered and embraced. If we hope to combat the darkness that is prevelant in this region and country we must put our focus back on the cross of Christ.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Flesh is no match for spirit. The rebellion and sexual immorality and everything else that we see in this young generation are spirits not flesh. We fight a losing battle when we try to combat those things with programs and personalities. I was guilty of that very thing and I saw the fruit of it; young people with no desire for God once the programs stopped and once the personalities were gone. As I was in prayer this morning, the Lord told me to, “let go of what’s popular and grab on to what’s powerful. Programs and personalities may be popular but prayer is what’s powerful.”
2 Cor. 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strong holds”
Our weapons are mighty through God. Programs in themselves are not bad; preachers in themselves are not bad but separate from God they are no match for the warfare we are up against. Let us let go of what brings no power and join together in prayer that the power of God may be released like never before in this region.
Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the placed where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
See you tomorrow night at The Prayer Cave, 8-10pm. God Bless!
As I awoke this morning I was met with two messages; one was 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 and the other was a shooting at the park of my job last night, light and darkness. Today’s word is putting focus on the right things.
1 Cor. 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
1 Cor. 2:4-5 “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
When we focus on people, big names, and ministries we empty the cross of its power, handcuffing God and handicapping the people. But when we focus on Christ and the cross we empower the people through Christ because they’re putting their faith in God’s power. Change does not come, demons do not tremble at the name of some man or ministry but when the cross is centered and embraced. If we hope to combat the darkness that is prevelant in this region and country we must put our focus back on the cross of Christ.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Flesh is no match for spirit. The rebellion and sexual immorality and everything else that we see in this young generation are spirits not flesh. We fight a losing battle when we try to combat those things with programs and personalities. I was guilty of that very thing and I saw the fruit of it; young people with no desire for God once the programs stopped and once the personalities were gone. As I was in prayer this morning, the Lord told me to, “let go of what’s popular and grab on to what’s powerful. Programs and personalities may be popular but prayer is what’s powerful.”
2 Cor. 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strong holds”
Our weapons are mighty through God. Programs in themselves are not bad; preachers in themselves are not bad but separate from God they are no match for the warfare we are up against. Let us let go of what brings no power and join together in prayer that the power of God may be released like never before in this region.
Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the placed where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
See you tomorrow night at The Prayer Cave, 8-10pm. God Bless!
May 20, 2009
God has need of you!
Tonight at prayer, God said, “The world needs God but God needs bodies to work through.” We ask where God is in all that is going on. He is waiting for a vessel to become available.
Ezekiel 22:30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”
God desperately wants to break-in this darkness that is hitting this generation but he must first find one that will stand in the gap. This is not a call to be a big name preacher or worship leader. This is not a call to build the hottest youth ministry. This is a call to much prayer and fasting. This is a call to surrender everything to God and say, “use me as you see fit”.
God has never used the strongest or most popular to do mighty works in his kingdom. Look through the Bible at people like David (the illegitimate child), Moses (stuttering Moses), Abraham (beyond old), Gideon (the least in his family) just to name a few.
1 Corinthians 1:27-31 “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him…let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
As I prepare for Friday night, I continue to ask God to search my heart and reveal any impure motives. I don’t seek any recognition or promotion for what happens; I simply want to be a catalyst to take this region in to a lifestyle prayer and intercession. It has nothing to do with me or The Embassy Church but everything to do with God. I want to see salvation come to Greensboro and the surrounding areas like never before. If it was going to come through concerts, programs, and the like then it would have already happened. This is only going to come through committing our hearts back to the Father and crying out for his mercy and grace.
Proverbs 3:34 “He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.”
2 Chronicles 7:14-15 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”
If we want this generation to awaken to righteousness and the love of Christ then their must first be humility and repentance. God has need of you. Will you deny yourself that someone else may live?
Ezekiel 22:30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”
God desperately wants to break-in this darkness that is hitting this generation but he must first find one that will stand in the gap. This is not a call to be a big name preacher or worship leader. This is not a call to build the hottest youth ministry. This is a call to much prayer and fasting. This is a call to surrender everything to God and say, “use me as you see fit”.
God has never used the strongest or most popular to do mighty works in his kingdom. Look through the Bible at people like David (the illegitimate child), Moses (stuttering Moses), Abraham (beyond old), Gideon (the least in his family) just to name a few.
1 Corinthians 1:27-31 “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him…let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
As I prepare for Friday night, I continue to ask God to search my heart and reveal any impure motives. I don’t seek any recognition or promotion for what happens; I simply want to be a catalyst to take this region in to a lifestyle prayer and intercession. It has nothing to do with me or The Embassy Church but everything to do with God. I want to see salvation come to Greensboro and the surrounding areas like never before. If it was going to come through concerts, programs, and the like then it would have already happened. This is only going to come through committing our hearts back to the Father and crying out for his mercy and grace.
Proverbs 3:34 “He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.”
2 Chronicles 7:14-15 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”
If we want this generation to awaken to righteousness and the love of Christ then their must first be humility and repentance. God has need of you. Will you deny yourself that someone else may live?
May 19, 2009
Who Will Go For Us?
As I look around, there are some things that have been weighing heavily on me and its time to speak. Over the last 2-3 weeks, the attack on this younger generation has been nothing less than mind boggling. From a senior male being killed in a car accident while trying to get some lunch during a normal school day (less than a month from graduation), to 9 and 10 year old females attempting to perform lesbian acts in a bathroom, to siblings physically fighting each other, to 35 students murdered in Chicago this year alone! The enemy is pulling out all stops to take out this generation. I visited a young man in the hospital on Saturday who was jumped because he chose to stand up for a female that was being disrespected. He wound up with a broken jaw, chin, and needing two plates in his skull. If the enemy cannot literally kill this generation, he wants to have them so messed up that they won’t fight. We understand that as the 2nd coming of Christ draws closer that evil will increase and intensify.
2 Timothy 3:1 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
The picture that Apostle Paul paints, looks a lot like what is going on today, especially with the youth of this nation. Looking at this just on its surface can be disheartening and depressing but we must understand that when darkness increases so does the light! Paul could have ended this passage as is but look what he commanded
Timothy.2 Timothy 4:1, 2, 5 “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction…But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
This is not the time for us as believers to sit back and be passive but like never before we must press in to the presence of God and be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The only way to save this generation is that our prayers and our light must overshadow the work of the enemy.
John 19:30 says, “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘it is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
Christ said, it is finished. What is the “it”?
1 John 3:8 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
All of Satan’s works were destroyed through the cross when Christ said, “it is finished”. There is no sin that has not been defeated. There is no kid that is beyond salvation. There is no city that is beyond revival because, IT IS FINISHED. We must stand on Christ’s words and take what’s ours in Christ. There is already a remnant emerging all over the United States of believers, young and old, with a heart for this generation and a blazing love for God. Mighty things happen when agendas are put aside and believers get on one accord, just look at Joshua, Gideon, Esther, the early church in Acts. The Lord is calling all believers to stand in the gap, stand between life and death.
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!”
This Friday night from 8-10pm I charge each of you to inconvenience yourself and press your way out to the "Prayer Cave" at The Embassy Church Int'l as we intercede for this generation. It has nothing to do with titles, ministries, or numbers. This is a call to those who have a heart for God's people and chose to no longer sit by and let them be sniped out. Any questions, please contact me via e-mail: egaines@embassychurchgso.org More information to come...
2 Timothy 3:1 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
The picture that Apostle Paul paints, looks a lot like what is going on today, especially with the youth of this nation. Looking at this just on its surface can be disheartening and depressing but we must understand that when darkness increases so does the light! Paul could have ended this passage as is but look what he commanded
Timothy.2 Timothy 4:1, 2, 5 “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction…But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
This is not the time for us as believers to sit back and be passive but like never before we must press in to the presence of God and be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The only way to save this generation is that our prayers and our light must overshadow the work of the enemy.
John 19:30 says, “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘it is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
Christ said, it is finished. What is the “it”?
1 John 3:8 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
All of Satan’s works were destroyed through the cross when Christ said, “it is finished”. There is no sin that has not been defeated. There is no kid that is beyond salvation. There is no city that is beyond revival because, IT IS FINISHED. We must stand on Christ’s words and take what’s ours in Christ. There is already a remnant emerging all over the United States of believers, young and old, with a heart for this generation and a blazing love for God. Mighty things happen when agendas are put aside and believers get on one accord, just look at Joshua, Gideon, Esther, the early church in Acts. The Lord is calling all believers to stand in the gap, stand between life and death.
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!”
This Friday night from 8-10pm I charge each of you to inconvenience yourself and press your way out to the "Prayer Cave" at The Embassy Church Int'l as we intercede for this generation. It has nothing to do with titles, ministries, or numbers. This is a call to those who have a heart for God's people and chose to no longer sit by and let them be sniped out. Any questions, please contact me via e-mail: egaines@embassychurchgso.org More information to come...
May 1, 2009
Quit Being Stupid!!
Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid” (NIV)
I was up tonight and found myself at the office reading my word and listening to theramp.org. I wound up reading 2 Chronicles 14-16, three short chapters about the story of King Asa. He was the king of Judah and brought great reformation and revival to the people of Judah. He was just rocking the devil’s head, tearing down all the altars, seeking the Lord, and getting the people to seek the Lord. They even made a wholehearted covenant to seek the Lord and killed those who would not seek the Lord. This guy even kicked his own grandmother out of her position because she had idols set up. It was a drastic reformation and in all of this he sought God. Then in the 36th year of his reign the king of Israel (his enemy) went up against him and actually begin to build a wall around the city of Judah to keep anyone from coming out or going in.
When King Asa found himself being enclosed or put in a restricted place he began to get caught up in fear and flesh instead of faith. He sought to try and solve his problem by seeking help from man instead of God. This was a great reformer, on fire for God and pursued him with everything but he had a lapse. We’ve all had moments like this. We could be going hard for the things of God and then that one thing constricts our movement and we have a lapse. Try to handle it through men instead of going to God. This isn’t where I’m focusing. In chapter 16, God sends a seer to Asa to show him his error and what he should have done. But look at his response, “Asa was angry with the seer because of this (rebuke or correction); he was so enraged that he put him in prison.” (Emphasis added mine) King Asa never recovered from this; he never took the advice and corrected the problem. He continued to seek help from men instead of God, which lead to his demise.
His response was everything. As I read this I immediately thought about Joshua and the battle of Ai. The one time he didn’t seek God and instead sought the answer out in man he failed. He tore his clothes and wept and the Lord came and rebuked Joshua and told him how to fix it. This was Joshua’s response, “Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes and Judah was taken” (Joshua 7:16) Instead of getting mad at God, he took the rebuke and advice and corrected the problem. Because of that we know what happens; he went on to possess the land promised to him.
We all make mistakes, even while going hard after God but how we respond to his correction is critical. God said he chastens or disciplines those he loves (Rev. 3:19). There are numerous passages talking about the benefits of correction, it’s not something to be taken lightly. If we mess up and someone corrects us to get back on the right path, how dare we try to get angry! Sometimes it takes someone on the outside looking in to show us where we messed up and help us get back on track. I leave you with the words of Job,
Job 5:17a “Blessed is the man whom God corrects…”
I was up tonight and found myself at the office reading my word and listening to theramp.org. I wound up reading 2 Chronicles 14-16, three short chapters about the story of King Asa. He was the king of Judah and brought great reformation and revival to the people of Judah. He was just rocking the devil’s head, tearing down all the altars, seeking the Lord, and getting the people to seek the Lord. They even made a wholehearted covenant to seek the Lord and killed those who would not seek the Lord. This guy even kicked his own grandmother out of her position because she had idols set up. It was a drastic reformation and in all of this he sought God. Then in the 36th year of his reign the king of Israel (his enemy) went up against him and actually begin to build a wall around the city of Judah to keep anyone from coming out or going in.
When King Asa found himself being enclosed or put in a restricted place he began to get caught up in fear and flesh instead of faith. He sought to try and solve his problem by seeking help from man instead of God. This was a great reformer, on fire for God and pursued him with everything but he had a lapse. We’ve all had moments like this. We could be going hard for the things of God and then that one thing constricts our movement and we have a lapse. Try to handle it through men instead of going to God. This isn’t where I’m focusing. In chapter 16, God sends a seer to Asa to show him his error and what he should have done. But look at his response, “Asa was angry with the seer because of this (rebuke or correction); he was so enraged that he put him in prison.” (Emphasis added mine) King Asa never recovered from this; he never took the advice and corrected the problem. He continued to seek help from men instead of God, which lead to his demise.
His response was everything. As I read this I immediately thought about Joshua and the battle of Ai. The one time he didn’t seek God and instead sought the answer out in man he failed. He tore his clothes and wept and the Lord came and rebuked Joshua and told him how to fix it. This was Joshua’s response, “Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes and Judah was taken” (Joshua 7:16) Instead of getting mad at God, he took the rebuke and advice and corrected the problem. Because of that we know what happens; he went on to possess the land promised to him.
We all make mistakes, even while going hard after God but how we respond to his correction is critical. God said he chastens or disciplines those he loves (Rev. 3:19). There are numerous passages talking about the benefits of correction, it’s not something to be taken lightly. If we mess up and someone corrects us to get back on the right path, how dare we try to get angry! Sometimes it takes someone on the outside looking in to show us where we messed up and help us get back on track. I leave you with the words of Job,
Job 5:17a “Blessed is the man whom God corrects…”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)