Next Wave Conference

The World Didn’t Give It To Me and the World Can’t Take It Away!

I know in whom I trust… there for I am filled with joy knowing He will never let me down. In Jesus is where my trust lies. He is my corner stone, my refuge, my buckler, and my shield! I am hid behind the wing of His Authority. Nothing shall be impossible for me because I am surrounded by His purpose. I am full of joy and desire today because He has given me the victory! I said joy not happiness. See happiness is an emotion… happiness will come and go with the resisitudes of life. Happiness is worldly, but JOY is a lifestyle and it’s heavenly! This lifestyle only comes through our life being hidden in our trust in the Father. We must choose to abide under the shadow of the Almighty and there is where the Joy of the Lord comes from. He not only desires to give us the victory His desire is to fill us and sustain us until the victory comes. This is the walk of faith… not only having faith that the victory is coming but placing our faith in the knowing that God has placed the joy of the Holy Ghost at our disposal NOW! He has given us the gifts of the Spirit so that we can live in fullness ALL the time!

24-7!

This freedom and joy only comes from the Father and it is freely given but it must be continually chosen. You chose what to eat. You chose what you are going to watch on TV. You even chose what cloths to wear. Just as you make those choices even when you may have 20 outfits to wear, 200 channels on TV, and you have to chose from thousands of eating places; the fact is you make the choice. Even when you are not sure what out fit to wear, restaurant to eat at, or show to watch… you locate your inner desire and then you chose according to that desire. See your desires provoke your decision. So it is not that we lack the access to the joy of our Lord, but yet we lack the desire for the things of God. “Oh No!!! Here He goes again”, you maybe saying. “It comes back down to me doesn’t it?” Yep… it comes back to you and what you desire. The Bibles says, hope deferred makes the heart sick but when DESIRE comes it is a tree of LIFE. When the desire for God’s perfect will to be done in your life comes… THEN will you live in His Joy and Freedom! Your desires produce your choices, your choices produce your harvest. I choose today to desire Jesus, His Spirit, and His will for my life. That desire will make me chose to trust Him and it will keep me from trusting in this world. As I make the decision to trust in the Father and who He is, what He has promised in His Word… I am filled with JOY. The JOY of the Lord then provides me with strength. Here is the revelation though… The world didn’t give it to me and the world can’t take it away!

I challenge you today… desire Him, chose His ways, and be filled with Is joy! There is nothing greater than the Spirit of God and His love for us.

I know the master of the wind… I know the maker of the rain…He can calm the storm and make the sun shine again! He will calm the storm and make the sun shine again! Set your mind on things above and all the things you need shall be added unto you. What is going to get you through this storm? The answer is… your desire to come out of this storm victorious… God’s way.

What will prove you desire His will and His victory? Your choices. What will be produced when you choose His pathway? JOY! Joy in the middle of the storm. When happiness flees because it is worldly… JOY will replace the void of happiness because it is Heavenly! Be filled with His JOY this moment! And remember… The world didn’t give it to you and the world can’t take it away!

Making History,

Pastor David Edmondson

The Ole Time Way

As I sit here today feasting at the master’s table… I can’t help but think
back to the good ole days when we use to cry in church. Yes I said cry. I
mean we would get so close to the throne of God that all emotion control
would be released and the tears would fall. We were not crying for sorrow,
we were not weeping over failures, or even trials. We were overwhelmed by
His presence. See it was known that the reason we were gathered was to get
closer to him… to lay our crowns, fears, and cares at His feet. We were
not worried about being entertained. We were not concerned about the
opinions of others. We wanted to lavish our love on the one who first loved
us… Jesus… our precious Father. We sang songs like “Tears Will never
stain the streets of that City”, “He looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My
Needs”, and “Holy Spirit Thou Art Welcome in This Place.” See we knew we
were gathered together… and there He was. We knew that because we were in
His presence then every need we had shall be supplied, and we were so
thankful. Some would shout for joy, some would dance, some would sing… I
often just cried. Even now as I think of those days… I begin to weep. See
I love Him. Jesus has been so good to this ole boy. When I forsook His call
and committed folly in my sin, He stuck by me. He is my love.

I want to know one thing… where are those tears that use to stain the
alters of our churches? I tell you where… they are staining the bar
stools, the web sights, the beds of adultery, and the paths of men’s
opinions. There are no tears of worship in the house of God any more. If we
were to weep, there are no alters for them to fall upon. We have replaced
the alters of repentance and worship with salvation cards, cute sermons with
fancy video clips, and seeker friendly stiles of flesh tattered services.
When the Spirit of God tries to enter our places of worship He is met by the
smell of coffee grains, half hearted worship, and the sent of last nights
party. All the while He desires to smell the burning prayers of His people.
He is longing to smell the desires of our flesh burning on the alter of
repentance. The smell of fear being burnt by the hot coals created by the
worship of hearts in one accord, knowing that Jesus will take care of
everything. I can hear the Spirit of God asking us, “Where are the incense
of my house?” The incense of His house have always been the incense of
repentance, worship, desire, and unity. Can we…. Will we ever get those
days back again?

I thank God we have the ability to have videos, lights, and all types of
media enhancements, but they should be just that… enhancements and not
focus. Listen, the church world we live in would laugh in arrogance at this
type of blog. See I sound like an old back woods, stuck in a rut preacher.
“Come on Preacher”, they may say… “Get up-to-date with the new way of
doing things. You can’t grow a church that way anymore.” I say with pride,
“Grow your churches, play your videos, have your programs, and get them to
sign your salvation cards. As for me and my house we will be in our
backwoods rut staining the alters of Gods house with our tears of worship
and repentance!” Why are you so hard you my say… Why… cause it’s the ole
time way. It is proven! When the tears of the American church were creating
a barrier between our past failures and our future successes that is just
what we were doing, Succeeding! We had, peace, prosperity, protection, and
destiny. Now we stand at the threshold desolation. We have a government that
says this country is not a Christian country any more. The divorce rate has
skyrocketed. Violence has taken over our streets and filtrated into our
school houses. Our prosperity is bankrupt. All the while the institute that
use to protect our values of Christianity, prayer, purity, and repentance
has conformed to a mentality that says the old truths and the old way of
doing things has to change. That institute is the Church and every sense we
began to change our focus from seeking Him (Jesus) to seeking them (people)
we have begun to loose ground every day. So what do we need? We need and old
fashion… sin killin… devil chasing… camp meeting. Where we feel the
fire burning in our souls. Where we feel so good inside, when we leave we
are satisfied. We need a Holy Ghost over flow! You may say, “Where did you
get that from?” Those are the words of and old song we use to sing back in
the Good ole days.

So I will leave you with this… yet again… another challenge. Let’s
you and I go back. Let us go back in our hearts, our desires, and yes even
in some ways our services. Lets go back to where we have all but left Him.
Lets rebuild the alters within the house of God and lets stain them once
again with the tears of love. Why??? Because it is true… it is proven….
it’s the Ole Time Way!

Making History,
Pastor David Edmondson