Against Our Own 11-22-10

Josiah Elias

11-22-10

Against Our Own

I was driving down the freeway the other day, pondering some of the things that have been happening in the lives of those around me. So much drama, complaining, fighting, disagreements, depression, sickness and it seems like the breakthrough was just out of reach. It's not that there was anything so drastic that it was life threatening or devastating but just these obstacles standing in the way of so many people and they were reaching out for help. The more I began to ponder on what was going on in these situations I realized that just about everything appeared to be within our control. Something that could have been prevented if the individuals involved would have just practiced some self control or integrity. As I continued to ponder this, the Lord showed me something about tactics God had used in the Bible to fight the enemies of the Israelites. I shared this lesson with the Sunday Night service last night but I felt compelled to get it out to as many people as possible and because I still feel like its the word of the Lord and that it still needs to be spread. I heard that other pastors and guest speakers are sharing the same message. So clearly its a word to the church in general. Hear it. Now Let me break down for you this tactic I'm talking about.

Here is Gideon after he has rid himself of 10's of thousands of soldiers to a measly 300 and they are supposed to fight off the Midianites who have well over 120,000 soldiers. This was their tactic.

Jdg 7:20 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!"

Jdg 7:21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

Jdg 7:22 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.

Now did Gideon and his 300 strike down over 120,000 with their swords or not? Technically no. What God did was created this confusion amongst the camp of the Midianites and they started killing each other off! They turned their swords on themselves. Self-Destructive you might say. Here's another account.

This is Jonathan and his armor bearer charging up a mountain to fight the Philistines; which is one of my favorite stories in the Bible! They go up and began to take on this army by themselves and then Saul finally catches wind that his men have attacked the Philistines (Jonathan & the armor bearer) and he goes up after them to start fighting and this is what happens.

1Sa 14:20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion.

Again, we find the same tactic. God is not using only the sword of Jonathan to destroy all the Philistines rather He's turned the swords of the Philistines against themselves as they begin to destroy each other. The Lord brought confusion amongst them and they fought against themselves. God even said He would do the same thing with the Egyptians.

Isa 19:2 "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

We see now that there is a reoccurring tactic the Lord is using to destroy the enemies of Israel. Now hold onto that thought for just a brief minute.

The devil does not have the ability to create. He mimics and perverts what has already been created. The ideas and concepts of God, the devil takes them, perverts them and utilizes them to come against the Kingdom of Heaven. Fortune telling is a perversion of the prophetic, healing ointments and other mental meditations for healing are a perversion of the gifts of healing. Love which IS God has been perverted to a lustful cheap thrill, drunkenness on alcohol is a perversion of drunkenness in the Holy Spirit. All of these things and much more were originally created for blessing and enjoyment, and usefulness with God at its center. However, the devil will do everything he can to pervert them and use these tactics to his advantage.

Now back to the topic at hand. Remember the tactic the Lord was using to destroy the enemies of Israel, the devil has taken this very tactic and brought it into the church. Allow me to explain.

When we as believers have these fights amongst ourselves, it is literally in the spirit, bringing our swords out to fight amongst our own camp. My gossip, is a sword swinging at my brother or sister. My attitude towards my leadership, are swords flying towards my own camp. The rumors I spread, yup swords. You can paint the picture however you like, whenever there is unresolved disagreements in the family of the church it quite literally it us fighting against ourselves. Turning our swords on our neighbors.

The reason why I want you to be aware of this is because the enemy could be using this tactic to create strife and division amongst each other here and if we're not careful and don't recognize what the enemy is trying to do than his trickery ultimately destroy us. We cannot let this happen. It may not literally destroy us, but it can certainly prolong what God is intending for us to move into spiritually as a body.

Understand this. When you have an issue with someone else in the church, the issues between the two of you doesn't just involve the two of you. Fact is, your conflict affects the entire body! Why is this? When you chose to be a Christian, you became adopted into a FAMILY!

Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

As a family, we move together as unit, everywhere that we go. So when there is division or strife amongst the family, the whole bunch comes to a hault until that issue is resolved. The mouth is a sword. This is the most common way we bring the sword upon our own.

Isa 49:2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me."

One more thought for you to chew on.

Sometimes we turn the sword on our own companions and we don't even realize it. We're so oblivious to how we treat people that we don't understand that we are slowing down the progression of the entire church with our mindless gossip and other silly offenses. This needs to simply be highlighted to you so that it can be eradicated. You can do one of two things or preferably both. You can ask the Lord to show you what faults you have in this area and I'm sure that He will be happy to reveal them to you. Then you will be faced with the responsibility to do something about the way you have been acting. Don't be offended, swallow the pride just for a moment and tell the Lord thank you for revealing this to you so that the whole body can proceed forward with what He has in store for us all. Its so worth it. The second thing you can do is to ask someone within the church whom you trust and respect to honestly tell you if you struggle with this problem. Now brace yourself, you may hear something you don't necessarily want to hear; but again its so necessary to get this issue uprooted.

Here is what Jesus has to say on the topic.

Mat 18:15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY WORD MAY BE ESTABLISHED.'

Mat 18:17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Jesus is basically saying that if you have a problem with a brother in the Lord then go to him and try to resolve it. If he won't listen, do everything you can to bring reconciliation! Bring in some others to talk with him, bring in the church to talk with him! Do whatever it takes to make things right! Why is this so important Jesus? The following verses gives us a hint as to why its so vital.

Mat 18:18 "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Mat 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Interesting that in verse 18 which we quote so often because the idea of it so cool. We pray all the time, “YES GOD WE JUST BIND THIS SPIRIT, & WE BIND THIS AND THAT IN THE NAME OF JESUS AND WE LOOSE THE KINGDOM IN THIS SITUATION, WE LOOSE MIRACLES, SIGNS AND WONDERS!” Then we sit back and wonder why we don't see any manifestation of everything we just supposedly bound, and loosed. I wonder why? Is it perhaps that because we have not done what Jesus said to do in the previous scriptures! If we haven't reconciled our issues with our brothers and sisters, maybe that offense that we are still carrying negates the authority to bind and loose things that we should be able to. That offense, that unresolved issue, that sword that we have brought against our own camp hinders the moving of the Spirit of God in your life, it clogs the direct access to the authority promised you simply because we cannot reconcile. Again in verse 19 we wonder why when two of us agree on anything then it should be done for us by the Father in heaven, and when it doesn't happen we just think, “awee this doesn't work! This promise is broken!” Not so. The sword turned against your own brother because you can't stop talking trash about him, complaining about him, whining about her, spreading rumors about your friends, talking behind their backs is hindering your breakthroughs. Not just for you BUT FOR THE ENTIRE BODY YOU ARE ATTACHED TO!

Now I'm not saying that this principle is an absolute and that God isn't Sovereign and can't do anything He pleases. I know many times He sovereignly blesses us and extends grace and mercy and still pours out His Spirit upon us because He is longsuffering and patient. But the idea is very biblical and clearly an issue that needs to be overcome in today's church if we are to move on.

Please take an inventory of your life and see if this is something that needs to be cleared out of your own heart. I beg you don't be selfish and carry that offense, because you are hindering the rest of us in this family from receiving what the Lord wants to do in our church and circle of friends. When we can overcome this, honor each other, respect one another, and LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS CHRIST COMMANDED, I believe we will see such an easy flowing of the Spirit of God in our midst. We won't have to pray for hours to see it, we won't have to fast for months to receive it. The presence and power of God will be heavy and near with nothing clogging or hindering it. Then there will be such a release of the Glory of God in our midst we will be progressing to the next level in the Spirit that God has for us to obtain as a family and WOW do I want to be there!

Thank You Jesus. That you offend our minds to pierce our hearts! We have to be broken so that we can be put back together again. Our hearts desire is to be blameless before You God. Please help us Holy Spirit to be exactly that, blameless. May this shift happen within our church and bring about a mighty outpouring in Jesus name, amen.

So Much Love For You All,

Josiah Elias

~Revival SD~

We Need His Eyes 11-17-10

Josiah Elias

11-17-10

We Need His Eyes

I wonder how we really see people in life. When we go through our day certainly we see a lot of people but what do we really see? Male, female, white, black, tall, short, fat, skinny, druggy, middle-class, upper-class, poor, rich, snobby, cares what people think, doesn't care what anyone thinks etc. Most of which is probably stereotypes anyways. We see a lot of people with our eyes, but we certainly don't often see them with our heart, or as I would like to say, “Through His Eyes”. Jesus saw people with a perspective that nobody else has ever seen people through. Simply because Jesus had such an intimate relationship with the Father, He would see people through the eyes of the Father. When everybody else saw loser, He saw winner. When they thought scum of the earth, He thought royalty. But why is it so difficult for us to do the same thing?

My goal in this blog is not to only get you thinking about how you see people, but to allow this perspective to provoke you to do something about how you interact with people. Apparently in many of our lives our own pride and fear overrides how we care for people. Its not supposed to be that way. But the fact of the matter is it does much of the time and that's a sorry fact. I see people who are lost and going to hell and my heart goes out to them, I want to reach out to them. I see toddlers with diseases or youth with health conditions and I know in my inner man that I should be able to do something about this! Not because I'm anything great, but because Christ me is GREAT!

Col 1:27 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.

When I look at the life of Christ and what He has commanded us to do, I see no excuse for not making an effort to share this love with those around us. We all know that we need to do it but rarely do we act on that conviction. THAT IS A PROBLEM! I know that in my own life, this problem is going to cease and I'm going to make a great effort to see people through His eyes; allowing that to motivate me to reach out to them. We can all probably quote the Great Commission off the top of our heads, but only a few of us could say truthfully that we are living the Great Commission daily. Doesn't this convict you? It convicts me even writing this. Things have got to change Christians!

Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

I have a friend who goes out and preaches every single day! He is radical in how he delivers the gospel fearlessly to literally 10's of thousands of people in the streets all the time. He gave me this analogy. “You see Josiah, its like these people are drowning and I carry a life-vest. Or their in a burning building and I have the capability to rescue them...they are lost and dying and I have the answer to life. If there was somebody physically dying right before our eyes, we would do everything in our power to save that person, when spiritually we know that they are lost and dying and we carry LIFE everywhere that we go and yet we don't utilize the spiritual life-vests that God has given us.” Tragic. People have told this friend of mine that if he was in another country he would be dead by now for sure, yet we in America are so blessed to be protected by the 1st amendment rights that we so rarely utilize. Who knows how long it will be before those rights are stripped from us and sharing our faith in this country will become increasingly more difficult. When that happens we're really going to be regretting the fact that we didn't take advantage of the rights we had as U.S. Citizens to share our faith publicly while they were available.

Mar 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

In order for the Lord to work with them, and to confirm the word through the accompanying signs, they had to go out and preach everywhere! It was when they were faithful to go out and preach the gospel that the Lord obviously supported what they were doing with signs, wonders, and miracles! Therefore, people were getting saved left and right and being delivered from all kinds of oppression! We simply cannot let our pride or fear override our love for the lost and the desire within us to reach lost souls for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sure they thought John the Baptist was a freak but look what he did for the Kingdom of Heaven. He preached a radical message that nobody had preached before him. He prepared the way for Jesus! What an honor!

Mat 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

Mat 3:2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

Mat 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.' "

BEFORE I SHARE ANY MORE...ANSWER THIS QUESTION TO YOURSELF. ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE JESUS? YES OR NO? Now read on...

Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Mat 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Mat 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Luk 8:1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him.

Luk 9:6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

That's just a few. That's what Jesus did. Who can argue it? What about the apostles???

Act 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Act 8:4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

Act 8:25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Act 10:36  The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—

Act 11:20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Act 14:7 And they were preaching the gospel there.

Act 14:8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

Act 14:9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

Act 14:10 said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked.

Act 15:35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Are we getting the picture yet?

Act 28:30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

  Act 28:31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Tit 1:3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

We can sit here and dish our scriptures on the importance of doing this, but for some reason today's church has this blockage that just seems to subconsciously discard this command and think that we're okay without it. Or perhaps that someone else will do it, but its not for me. WRONG! This is why its so important to see people through His eyes. When we can learn to see people from His perspective and care for them and love them, we are fulfilling His commandment to love one another and sharing of our faith will follow.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Joh 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

See them the way Christ see's them and we will be moved with compassion to want to throw them the life-vest that each of us Christians carry. We will be provoked to reach out to those around us. But something has to rise up within us that says “THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW IS NOT RIGHT AND SOMETHING HAS GOT TO CHANGE; STARTING WITH ME!” You can change the way you think right now and simply ask the Lord to give you His eyes! Its a prayer I'm convinced He's been waiting for us to pray. Be careful however, if you pray the prayer than you will be saying to God that you are willing to see people the way He see's them and not just to see them, but to be challenged to do something about it. When you leave your house and you begin going out to run errands or go to school or work, you will begin seeing people differently. This will challenge you to do something with your new perspective on people. Don't just pray the prayer because you know its the right thing to do, pray the prayer when you truly want to live your life a little bit more like Jesus. When we can see people the way that He see's them, we will be moved with compassion to reach out everywhere we go and within our families. Let it start with you. Time is running out.

God, Give Us Your Eyes.

Josiah Elias

~Revival SD~

Don't Forget Jesus 11-12-10

Josiah Elias

11-12-10

Don't Forget Jesus

So many times we get carried away with all the Christian routines of our daily life that we tend to forget what is most important. Caught up with the making sure that we read our Bible, pray throughout the day, attend the church services we are normally do and whatever other routines we abide by. I believe it can distract us from our relationship with God, if our motives are misguided.

Now I'm definitely not saying that these things are bad, THEY ARE GREAT! But where the problem comes in is when we lose the focus of WHY we are doing these things. We can read the Bible because we know that its good for us but tend to forget that the reason we're reading the Bible is to better our knowledge of Who God is. Discovering new and hidden things in the scriptures about the character and nature of God. We can pray a routine prayer before we eat a meal or go to bed, forgetting that the reason we pray that prayer in the first place is because we are incredibly grateful that God has blessed us with this meal or given us another day of life and health. Jesus modeled it this way and scripture encourages this.

Psa 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Mar 8:6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.

1Th 5:16 Rejoice always,

1Th 5:17 pray without ceasing,

1Th 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

One topic that I want to camp on for a minute is why we come to church. Many of us go to church because that's just what we do on Sundays or Wednesdays and its been that way as long as we can remember. When that routine because the driving factor as to why you attend a service, you have lost the focus as to why your a Christian. When you attend a church you should be attending because you aim to fellowship with God and other believers. The fellowship with other believers will strengthen your walk with the Lord. Its healthy to have that relationship with other people who are like minded with you. When you are looking to God to give you a message for those who need one you may just wake up one Sunday morning and have a word on your heart for the congregation that will bring life to someone in dire need. Blessed to bless others.

1Co 14:26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

Being a pastor now I know what its like to be sitting in my office, praying and asking God what He would like me to share with the group in a particular service. We strive to hear from Heaven on what will motivate, encourage, edify, convict, and benefit those who hear the words we believe God has given us to deliver. Now on your part, you can come to that same service and if you believe your just coming to hear some speaker, than you will miss what God is trying to do in you. However, if you have the mentality that the minister speaking has been seeking God and has a message from God to the group that day, then it should provoke you to really pay attention and apply the lesson. Not because there is something the minister will say to you that will change your life, but perhaps God has something for you that will change your life and He's chosen that minister to be the messenger. Trust that the message he or she is delivering is from God and listen carefully to it. What is God saying to you through that sermon.

I've heard it said before that if you want your own ministry the best way to get that is to serve another persons ministry. Look at Joshua serving Moses, Look at Timothy under Paul, observe all the disciples under Jesus! They all had incredible ministries but had to serve someone else before they were ever given a platform of their own.

You may have some dreams and visions in your heart, but make sure that you don't forget about Jesus! Don't forget that the reason you serve under a government and authority at a church is to do what is pleasing in the sight of God and to build integrity and character within yourself. God will see and honor in that and bless you with the desires of your heart.

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Now let me be clear on one thing. I'm not saying that your entire relationship with God is dependent upon your church attendance. NO WAY! In fact, you shouldn't have to attend church to be fed. You should be feeding off of the word all throughout the week. Singing Him songs, praising Him, loving others, having quality prayer time with God, and feasting on His word. THEN...when you come together in church you can share with one another what God has been teaching you throughout the week and encourage all those in fellowship with you. What an ideal way to do “church”.

To sum this all up, what I believe God wants me to say to you is this. Don't just follow through with the mundane repetitious routines of life as a Christian without discovering the immense value in what your doing. Your only hurting yourself if your just doing what you do because that's just the way it is. Or that's what you always do. You have to “Delight Yourself” in the Lord. Do these things because you are seeking after God and you see the value in spending time with Him.

I don't spend time with my wife because I have to, I spend time with her because I choose to! I want to! Its a joy! I am investing in a relationship with someone that I love! The same is true with God, we invest in our relationship with Him, because it is the most valuable relationship that we can ever invest in. Time spent with God is never wasted when the goal is to know Him better! To truly spend time with Him! Not just punch in the time clock with 15 minutes of prayer time, or 1 chapter of Bible reading. That doesn't score you any brownie points with God. Better a 5 second prayer from your heart towards God than 5 hours of soaking time with Him when you are not getting to know Him any better.

Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Abide in His love. Dwell with Him, be with Him, love Him, honor Him, spend quality time with Him. I promise you, this concept of just simply enjoying God is so vital to our relationship with him. If you don't know how to enjoy God, or have trouble developing that relationship with Him, just email me back and I would love to talk with you and go over some ideas that will help develop your relationship with God. All you need is a willing heart.

Pursue Jesus, don't forget about Him. Read His word, but don't forget about Him. Sing Him songs, but don't just sing songs, remember that your worshiping Jesus. Come to church, but only in pursuit of Jesus. Love other people because that's what Jesus would do. BE JUST LIKE JESUS!!!!

Josiah Elias

~Revival SD~

Fresh Word- A Prayer For Us 11-5-10

Josiah Elias 

11-5-10

Fresh Word 

A Prayer For Us

    Father I lift up every person who reads these Fresh Words. I pray that You would minister to them right where they are. Even right now as they are reading this message I pray that You Holy Spirit will invade the room they are in and began to smother them in the love of El Shaddai (Almighty God). Come Holy Spirit, with Peace that surpasses understanding, comfort for those in distress, healing for those who are sick in any fashion. Rest for those who are anxious and tired, joy for those who are broken and beaten, LOVE for those who are hurting and feeling unloved! I pray God that you would meet every need of every person who reads this prayer. Our hearts are hungry to be consumed with the Fire of Your love. We want to KNOW YOU Jesus. Not to know of You, but to truly KNOW YOU! Thank You God for giving us all these incredibly blessings that we so often overlook. The simple fact that you are reading this means that you have a computer, and internet access! THAT ALONE IS SOMETHING THAT SUCH A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF OUR WORLD HAS! GOD WE ARE SOO BLESSED! Thank You!
    I pray Lord that these Fresh words wouldn't come from myself but rather that they would come straight from Your heart. Whatever it is You would like to speak to us each day I pray it would be revealed in our quiet times with You.
    Father place Your anointing on our lives. Set us apart for the cause of Christ. Set us apart to burn with a holy passion and earnest desire to seek Your face every single day! Forgive us God for not giving You the attention and time that You desire and deserve. Help us Holy Spirit to make time for You in our busy lives. Nothing should be in the way of You and I. Those things I recognize as idols. Anything that replaces the spot that should be reserved for You is an idol. Those idols need to be destroyed and You God need to be back in the center of my entire life.
    Please give me the grace to serve You with all my heart! Give me strength to diligently seek You! My heart is for You! I know that I cannot do this on my own, I need Your help and I'm asking that You Father would meet me where I'm at. I know that I'm not perfect, but I'm striving to live like You. The areas of my life that I have not laid down at Your feet, I now choose to willingly lay them down. Rid me of those things, and replace the void in my life with a holy addiction that is pleasing to You. I BELONG TO YOU ADONAI (Master, Sovereign Lord)! My life is Yours.

I hope that you can take this prayer and make it your own.
God Bless you all!

Psa 30:11  You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
Psa 30:12  To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Have an incredible weekend and
make sure your priorities are in line
with what God would want them to be!

Your brother in Christ,
Josiah Elias

Fresh Word- Doers of The Word 11-3-10

Josiah Elias
11/3/10

 

Fresh Word

Doers of The Word

I love this scripture.

Jas 1:22  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

    It is so important for us to be a people who not only come to church and hear what the pastor is saying, what kind of songs their singing, the overall message of the whole service. It is so important to factor in application to what your learning.
    I just had lunch with my pastor and we were discussing the word, and character. How the bottom line of all meetings, discipleship, bible studies, services and so on is to help produce character in individuals life that make us more like Jesus. It doesn't do us any good just to hear the word if we never apply the principles the Word gives attention to. It doesn't do us any good to receive knowledge on Christian things without ever applying them to our lives.

    Its really easy for someone to say that they are a Christian but it is quite a different story when you ask them to prove it. If someone were to walk up to you right now and ask you to prove that you were a Christian, what would you do? Would you quote some scripture at them? The Pharisees could do that. Would you sing them a Christian song? Anybody who's heard of K-Love could do that. Would you try to them all you know about Jesus? Professors and other scholars could do that but that doesn't mean they KNOW HIM. The best way to prove that you are a Christian to somebody is to invite them to hang out with you for a day. Your lifestyle will depict where you allegiance lies. If you are a Christian you should be expressing that through your lifestyle. Your heart for God should be leaking through your speech,  your dress, your conduct, your thoughts, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! This is how people will know that you are a Christian.
    Its not enough just to know the Word and expect it to affect your life. You have to be willing to allow that Word to change your character. Just like its not enough to know about water, and how to drink it. It will do me no good unless I actually take the glass of water and begin to drink it, then it will benefit me immensely! In fact if I don't do that than sooner or later I'm going to die. I need it. Just like you need the word, you need the Spirit of God, you need each other, and all of these tools and relationships are used to mold your character into that of Who Christ is.

Jas 1:23  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
Jas 1:24  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

I like this scripture so much.
For people who do not practice what they are being taught, what the Holy Spirit is teaching through the pastor, through the minister, through the worship leader, through the bible study leader, he is like a person who see’s who he is naturally or even metaphorically, but he leaves and immediately forgets what he saw and what was brought out.
When I think of this scripture I visualize the word coming into someone’s ears and teaching them to be kind to people. This person being an angry, rude, arrogant, mean person. He hears this, recognizes that this teaching applies to him, leaves that meeting and immediately discards everything that he was just taught through the meeting. Why in the world did that person come to the meeting in the first place?!

We watched a movie this past weekend at youth conference at the church called  “To Save A Life” and my favorite quote from the movie is when the main character at a youth group interrupts the service and asks all the students, “What is the point of all this if your not going to let this change you?” Ask yourself that! What is the point of going to church if your not going to let it change you. Are you perfect? No! We all need to change, we need a character adjustment. We need to STARE SO LONG AT JESUS THAT OUR WHOLE BEING BECOMES MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM. That's why its important to come and hear the word, that's 1 of the reasons why its important to go to church, that's the reason why its important to not only hear the word but to actually make those character adjustments and LIVE IT OUT!

I hope this challenges you to take a look at your attitude. I hope this challenges  you to look at the gatherings you find yourself in and actually take into account what your being taught. How does it apply to your life? Is the pastor up there just wasting time, talking to a bunch of brick walls? That might be just as productive, because a brick wall is going to do nothing with what the pastor is preaching, but apparently many of us don't do anything with what he preaches either! So what makes us different from the brick wall?!
    We need to walk into each service, each gathering, each personal prayer time and personal bible study with a heart that says Holy Spirit change me to be more and more like Jesus through this word. Through this prayer. Through this teaching. I want to be just like Jesus.

Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.

Are you clay? Or are you a brick wall? Teachable? Or do you know it all? Does the word that you hear actually change the way you live your life? Are you coming to listen to a man? Or are you coming to listen to God?
Re-evaluate your heart and your attitude! EVEN NOW! That your through reading this, ask the Holy Spirit to continue to break you down and build you back up the way He wants you. TO LOOK JUST LIKE JESUS! JESUS BUILT!

Josiah Elias
~Revival SD~

Fresh Word- Testimony of Compassion 10-30-10

Josiah Elias
10-30-10

Fresh Word

Testimony of Compassion

What’s up saints!
I want to share with you a testimony which I believe will encourage us all to be challenged in being used by God today.
On Thursday night, I attended the “Food Distribution” here at the Connection church. Its a program that we've had for several months now, we do it on a monthly basis. I attended the very first one we had months ago which was awesome. There wasn't that many families that came through at the time but my oh my have we grown since then! Over the last several months I didn't get the opportunity to go to the Food Connection, so I was anxious to check it out this time to see how things had developed. I have heard so many stories from those who have been involved and the stories were so awesome.

Let me very briefly break down what happens.
We serve approximately 175 families, which is well over 600 persons with food for the month. Salads, cheeses, meats, fruits, vegetables and much more! These families humbly come in, fill out the paperwork they need to, than they wait in the sanctuary while we serve them 1 family at a time as quickly as we can. Some of these families have to wait in the sanctuary for an hour or 2 while they wait for their number to be called. While they are waiting, we preach the gospel to them, they have opportunity to come to the back of the sanctuary where there are teams ready to pray for them for healing both physically, emotionally, spiritually and any other way. My Job last night was to take the shopping carts filled with the food and walk with the family out to their car to put the food in their cars and to ask them if there was anything I could pray for them for. This was the most incredible part!

Of course there was this blessing in my own heart just to come and serve a ministry that I saw was making such a difference in the community.
Felt just like Jesus.
Mar 10:45  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

It was so awesome to see how they were being blessed. I couldn't tell you how many times I heard them say, “Thank you sooo much for having this here at the church, its such a blessing to come here for food”.

The conversations that I had with them as I was loading the food into their vehicles was the best part of the whole night. Just to elaborate on a couple, there was a lady in particular whom when I asked if she needed prayer for anything at all, she paused and through an already cracking voice said, “I'm so lonely.” My heart immediately went out to her. Something had occurred in her life a long time ago that she couldn't overcome and because of that she felt like she couldn't get married yet she wanted to.
Immediately I could see the bondage that the devil had on her simply because something tragic had happened long ago, and now she is suffering and can't find a partner because of these chains. I began to tell her how I can relate to her on feeling lonely, and what I did to overcome it. I shared with her the love of Jesus and how He will never leave her nor forsake her.
Heb 13:5  Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU."
That He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Pro 18:24  A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.
That the comfort of the Holy Spirit is priceless and beautiful.
2Co 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2Co 1:4  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
How Jesus paid such an incredible price so that He can be with her every single day at every moment if she wants it.
Saying this to her holding her hand, as tears began to stream down her face, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit all over me as I ministered the love and joy of God Who desires to be her Lover. I assured her that God would be there for her no matter what.
We prayed and she thanked me. I encouraged her to go home and to renew her relationship with the Lord, to break open that Bible and to begin to speak to Him as if He is right there because He is. To draw near to Him.
Jas 4:8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

The experience was incredible.
One more story.
I walked another couple out to their vehicle and placed their food in the trunk and again asked if there was something I could pray for them for. The gentleman asked for healing. He had just had brain surgery and was experiencing side effects from the surgery. He couldn't think as clear as he used to, he now gets confused easily, his eyes are blurry and so on. The wife spoke up as well and asked for prayer for her son who needs to get his life on the right track. We prayed for the son first, and than for the gentleman with the side effects from the surgery. God was all over him. He didn't even really bow his head while we prayed but instead he looked me right in the eyes as I grabbed his head and began to release healing over him. It was a moving moment. We prayed once and nothing happened and I asked to pray again, the second time he said that one of his eyes was surprisingly clear but the other was still blurry. I intended to keep praying believing for an increase in healing, but we got into a conversation of how God has kept him safe through literally dying twice but coming back to life. So I began to share with him about his destiny and why God has kept him alive and his purpose.



Est 4:14  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

They seemed really blessed that I had taken so much time with them to minister to them in the parking lot of the church. I encouraged them to come to church and get planted somewhere, not because church is so necessary but because church can be an awesome avenue that the Lord will use to release them into ministry. Not to mention its good for the body to be with...the body!


The reason I wanted to share these stories is because I was moved with compassion last night. Which reminded me of Jesus.
Mat 9:36  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

Mat 14:14  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Mar 1:41  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." 

Jesus was moved with compassion for the lost. For the hurting. For the poor. For the sick. I want to be just like Jesus.

I told my wife last night that I was so moved with compassion for these people. They were right here in my home church, I didn't have to go to some third world country somewhere outside of the states but they were right here. It would be awesome to go to those places and I intend to, but these were right here and I could impact them so close to my home. I was moved with compassion for them. I wanted to shake all their hands, I wanted to hug them, I wanted to kiss them, I want to love on them, I wanted them to know that we can provide for them more than just food. The food will be gone, in a few weeks, and you will need to come and get more. But there is food that will never run out. There is water that will quench all your thirst.
Joh 6:35  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

What can you do today to impact someone who is hurting. Perhaps you don't have to preach to them, but you can simply love on them. You can just tell them that you love them. You can buy their lunch. You can introduce them to a loving and caring God Who has all the answers to the questions we don't even realize we have yet.
Ask God what you can do for someone else to do. Its the most fulfilling feeling ever. Try it. You will be blessed. I assure you. Love someone.

Josiah Elias
~Revival SD~

Fresh Word- In A Battle 10-28-10

Josiah Elias
10-28-10

Fresh Word

 In A Battle

    I'm just reminded that are in the fight of our lives. Every single day we are faced with challenges that test our faith, our allegiance to God, self-control and so much more. People think of this Christian walk as this crutch for the weak. Something that people do to help make themselves feel better about life, or to cope with difficult circumstances but that there's really nothing there.

I beg to differ.

    If I was the devil, I would want Christians to be satisfied with just their salvation. Sure whatever, let them have their fun. Let them have pizza parties every wednesday, bbq's on sunday. They would pose no threat to me. I wouldn't mind if they showed up to church 5 days a week and sat through every service. If they knew all the Christian lingual. If they could memorize whole books of the Bible. Whoop-dee-doo. They could pray the most eloquent prayers and sing the most beautiful songs but I wouldn't really mind.

On the other hand.

If I was the devil and there began to raise up these Christians that were convinced that what Jesus did, they could do greater. If they actually did what Jesus told them to do.
Mat 10:7  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Mat 10:8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Joh 13:35  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Mat 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

If they actually did some of these things, it would really disrupt my plans here on the earth.  Good thing, most of them don't realize that their in a battle. Good thing most of them don't realize that they have the same power in them that raised Jesus from the dead! Good thing they don't realize that they are LITERALLY sons and daughters of God. Cuz if they did, I would be in trouble.

Don't ever forget that we are in a battle. There is an enemy out there, an adversary who is trying to break us down. If he can't rob us of our salvation, he will do his best to keep us as these petty little Christians with no purpose and no destiny, who only think that the main goal in life is to make it to Heaven.
Eph 6:12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We are in a battle. Have that armor on every single day.
Eph 6:13  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Eph 6:15  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Eph 6:18  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Understand that you have a responsibility to stand against the devil. To be intolerant to his schemes and attacks. We are equipped with everything we need to fight him off every single day.

Our faith is not a crutch for the weak.
Our faith is a sword and shield for the strong.

Our God is so awesome that He can touch every single one of us wherever we are. Whether we are grieving, rejoicing, crying, laughing, confused, lost, hurt, emotional, excited, bored you name it! He'll meet you right where you are.

Just be aware that the devil wants to keep you useless. Wants to keep you down. Wants to keep you on the defensive all the days of the your life.

Don't tolerate him.

Stand up for what you believe in. Keep your chin up and smile.

Smile because Jesus loves you!
Smile because you have the victory!
Smile because your name is written in the Lambs Book of Life!


God Bless You All!!!!
The Best Is Yet To Come.

Josiah Elias
~Revival SD~

Fresh Word- Be With God 10-27-10

Josiah Elias
10-27-10

Fresh Word
Be With God

    For today's fresh word I just want to be brief in explaining that God truly does want to be with you. I believe that many of us don't have the revelation that God desires to be with us. We believe perhaps that He wants us to behave, to tell other people about Him, to support our local churches, and to read His word. But we don't yet truly understand that God simply desires to be with us!
    What does that mean exactly?

    If someone walked up to most of us right now and asked us if we were into  “religion” we would probably give them the answer most Christians tend to give and that is, “I'm not into religion, I'm into a relationship”. The reason why many of us would give that answer is because, well as cheezy as it may be, its still true!
GOD DESIRES RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US!!!!

What is 1 thing that every relationship has? COMMUNICATION! God wants to talk with you, He wants to show you things, He wants to give you dreams, He wants to  just hang out with you, He wants you to invite Him into your daily routines! Doing the dishes, getting gas, buying groceries, going to work, driving, EVERYTHING! He just wants to be involved.
GOD WANTS TO BE WITH YOU.

Jesus paid a pretty intense price so that He could have His dwelling in each and every one of us, and we always think of Him as if He's so far away. Dan McCollam the minister who spoke at our School of The Supernatural this last week was elaborating on how much effort we spend trying to get God to come visit us when the truth is, He's inside of us! Our efforts should be about LEAKING HIM OUT TO EVERYONE AROUND US! To the atmosphere we find ourselves in! Wherever the King goes He brings His Kingdom. So perhaps allowing the Kingdom of Heaven to invade your kitchen while you do the dishes. Asking the presence of God to flow out of you while your at work. You may just realize an attitude shift in the work place that makes the environment a whole lot more enjoyable because God is influencing the work place through your involvement.

Now again, all of that can happen when you begin to host the presence of God in your life, but what I want you to focus on today is just the simple fact that God just wants to be with you. He really does want to hear what you have to say towards Him. You may be thinking, well if God knows my thoughts than why do I have to tell Him what He already knows I'm thinking? Well, I know that my wife knows I love her...but I still want to tell her “I LOVE YOU” all the time, because I know that she loves to hear it. She knows I think she's beautiful, but I still tell her “YOUR SOO BEAUTIFUL!” all the time. Same principle.

Joh 15:9  "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

Abide- suschēmatizō        soos-khay-mat-id'-zo
From G4862 and a derivative of G4976; to fashion alike, that is, conform to the same pattern (figuratively): - conform to, fashion self according to.

We have to conform to the love of God. Get in the same pattern of love that God has for us. The relationship that Jesus has with the Father is the same type of relationship that we need to be having with those all around us! NOT JUST WITH THOSE AROUND US HOWEVER, BUT WITH THE FATHER HIMSELF!
Its all interlocked. The relationship that the Father has with Jesus, He desires to have with every one of us. HE WANTS TO BE WITH US! He was with Jesus all the time...He loved Him! It was very clear! He was pleased with Him.
Mat 3:17  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

The Fathers relationship with the Son was perfect! We aren't perfect like Jesus is, but the Father still desires to develop His relationship with us every single day. He wants to simply be with us.
Take some extra time today, somewhere in the busyness and just be with God. Just think about Him. Whatever makes you smile. Perhaps about how you got saved. Remember that story and bring it up over and over in your mind.  Thank God for it. Look at the sunset, look at the stars at night...whatever it takes. Just be with God, read His word, sing Him a song. You will feel closer to Him, especially if this can become a daily routine in your life!
A moment spent with God is never a moment wasted.

Love you all!
Josiah Elias
~Revival SD~