Your greatest enemy

In the book of Romans, Paul let us in on who our greatest enemy is. He says “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” He says that in his fleshly body, his mind, his will, and his emotions dwells NOTHING good.

He goes on to say that he wills or desires to do good but within himself he doesn’t know how to always do what is right. You must understand and come to terms with the fact that your carnal mind, will, and emotions are enemies of God. Your greatest enemy is you – your flesh.

If you allow your mind to think whatever it wants, it will cause storms in your life. You can rebuke satan and spirits all you want, but until you control your thoughts, the storm will continue to rage out of control. You can bind satan and evil spirits all you want, but if you make decisions and live out of your emotions, you will sink in the storm-tossed waves that you are experiencing. If you continue to live according to your will instead of fulfilling God’s will for your life, you can fast, pray, bind, rebuke, and quote scripture all you want. The wind that is causing the storm around you is your own will and until you get it under control you will never get out of this situation.

Paul is saying there is an enemy inside of me, and I say to you it is a form of self mutilation for you to try and do something about satan, evil spirits, God, or those around you until you deal with yourself first.

You Are the Miracle!

I am here to tell you that God is on the move! He is just looking for a group of people who will seek Him with all there hearts. The question is not any more “will God use me” , the question is “will I allow God to use me”. God is pouring our the next wave of His Spirit and He doesn’t care who receives it! He is saying “ALL who will let them come.” The blind, the halt, the lame, the broken, the shattered, the whole, and the holy. Anyone who will turn their hearts toward Him and forsake their old way of living, thinking, and doing things will receive this next wave. 2010 is the Year of the Miraculous! Will you allow God to use you in the miraculous? Don’t you say, “Yes if He wants to use me.” That stinks! God wants to use you, He chooses to use you and He died to use you. Don’t say things like “Well I will go if He sends me to someone.” That stinks! He sent us out as a body thousands of years ago and He has never called for us to come home and rest. Go into all the World and preach the good news of the gospel to every creature! This next wave of God’s Spirit is on all of us who will place a demand of faith upon His Spirit to do the miraculous! Lay hands on the sick, speak with new tongues, cast out devils, raise the dead, cleans the leper…. Go! Grab your surfboard, which is the Word of God and ride the wave of the supernatural! He is moving and we must move with Him. God doesn’t want to spend time getting us motivated to move with Him. He wants to speak and we move! It is our job to get the lost, the hurting, and those in need of a miracle to move. We are waisting time waiting on an appointment when God moves on you to do the miraculous. Every moment of your life you are to operate in the miraculous! At Walmart, Kroger, the hardware store, the basketball game, the day care… where ever you are should become the place of a burning bush! You are the conduit that the Spirit of God flows through to do the supernatural. Don’t become clogged up by doubt, unbelief, frustration, intimidation, lack of confidence, or any other circumstance that draws you to the natural. Go now… today… you are the life line to someones miracle!!!

Pastor David Edmondson

2010 The Year of the Miraculous!!!

In the book of Mark chapter 6 Jesus was teaching and ministering in His own country and the people of His country would not recieve Him as who He was. They marveled at Christs wisdom and were amazed at His acts but they would not allow Him to be the Messiah so Christ’s work in that country was cut short. As a matter of fact the Bible says that “…He could do no might works there…” Why couldn’t Jesus perform miracles in His own country like He did every where else He went? Why don’t we see the miraculous and the supernatural like the church use to experience years ago? Why? Well here are a few reasons why I believe we don’t see the miraculous like God desires for us to see.

#1. Familiarity (Mark 6:2-3) “And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?” We see here how familiarity was a cause for Christ not to be able to perform the miraculous. I wander if you are missing your supernatural encounter because God has become to familiar to you. Maybe your flesh has become comfortable with your relationship with the Almighty? Maybe God can’t be God because He is your buddy…. Maybe you don’t believe Him for the miraculous because He has just become another relationship to satisfy your flesh when all the while He wants to be the God of your supernatural. God is God and He refuses to become predictable! He refuses to allow you to know what His next move is. He wants us to be close to Him and He be our friend and Father but not to the point that we allow ourselves to become so familiar with Him that we say in our hearts… “Oh thats just Jesus, the carpenters boy.” He is not just Jesus! He is the God of all creation and beyond! At His Name EVERY knee must bow and EVERY tongue must confess that He is Lord! He died to save your soul but He is alive to preform the Miraculous!

#2. Offense (Mark 6:3) “…And they were offended at him.” This is a big one that keeps us from experiencing the miraculous… offense. I wonder if you may be offended at your God? Are you upset at Him because He did show up the way you thought He should have? Maybe He didn’t deliver you the way you thought He should have. Maybe you have pulled away from God and the things of God because you have become offended at the omniscient omnipresent almighty God because He hurt your little feelings… well quit acting like you are the all knowing creator, and trust God that He knows whats best for you. Offense is the oldest and most powerful weapon in the devils arsenal! Don’t allow it to stop God’s miraculous power in your life!

#3. No Honor (Mark 6:4) “But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” You must honor the Holy Spirit with every part of your being. He demands to be honored! Remember when Jesus was sitting with His disciples and some others in a house and a young woman came in and began to wash His feet? All the men began to rebuke the lady but what did Jesus say? Jesus rebuked them and said, I have been with you all evening and not one of you have desired to wash my feet or honor my presence. Jesus said, this woman has not quit washing my feet with her tears and drying them with her hair sense she walked into my presence. He said she has honored me and every where the gospel is preached what this woman has done shall be preached as a memorial to her. WOW! Christ partly established His legacy on the act of one woman honoring Him for Who He was not for what He could do! Love Him, bless Him, cherish Him, lay at His feet, trust Him, and honor Him… He will do the miraculous!

#4. Unbelief (Mark 6:6) “And he marvelled because of their unbelief.” You must first believe He wants to, He will, He has, and He will again!!! Believing is the first step to the miraculous. If you don’t believe He is the healer than you will never get healed. If you don’t believe He is the restorer than you will never be restored. If you don’t believe He is the savior than you will never be saved. Everything supernatural begins with belief. Unbelief cancels Gods miraculous! You must first BELIEVE and then you will see the miraculous!

#5. Doubt (Mark 11:23) says, ”For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Believing is the initial step but doubt will come to still the seed that has no root! Sometimes it is easier to initially believe but if we do not receive our miracle quickly then doubt will come and try and still our belief. We must understand that God does not exist in our time schedule. He exists in eternity but He operates in time. We must believe, until His eternity has a head on collision with our time… that is the miraculous!

#6. Analyzation (Isaiah 55:8) says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” Miracles are supernatural… that means they are superior to your natural intellect or way of doing things. God refuses to be figured out. He will use a rod one time, a staff the next. He will speak through a bush, a donkey, a rooster, or a rock. God will do what He wants, how He wants, when He wants, and by whom He wants. God refuses to allow us in on what His complete plan is so that we have to depend on Him. Remember He is God and besides Him there is NO other! Don’t try and figure it out… just believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!

It is God’s desire in the year 2010 to perform the miraculous in our midst. But we must embrace His desire and His move. Many say that God is not into the miraculous any more because He only comanded the 12 to go out and do His work. Well lets look at what He says to them and see if that is accurate. In Mark 6:7 and 6:12&13 ) “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits. (verses 12&13) “And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” It says Jesus gave them power over unclean spirits then it tells us what they went forth and accomplished. In verse 12&13 the Bible says they preached repentance or salvation and cast out devils and healed the sick. So my question is if God was only giving His disciples this command and power then why do we continue to preach repentance because that is what they did as well. Whay do we pick up their command to preach salvation while leaving the miraculous laying on the ground of religious interpritation? Why? Why?…. I don’t know why that is why I am asking. Here is our mandate from the Father… Not just part of the command but ALL of it!

(Mark 16:15-18) Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Making History,

Pastor David Edmondson

God Wants To Do More!

I ministered on this thought on Sunday and I am still liberated by the truth hidden within this passage. In 2 Samuel 12: 7&8 the Bible says, “…I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! David had sinned against God, himself, Bathsheba, and his people. When confronted by the Prophet David was compared to a greedy ole rich man who had all the cattle and land he would ever want or need, but when a friend came to visit… instead of taking from his riches he went and took the only lamb that this other poor man had. See David had the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, he had wives, he had God’s protection, he had God’s prosperity; but when he looked out and saw Bathsheba bathing, he stole her. He stole her from one of his servants. If that wasn’t bad enough… he then had his servant killed… married his wife and lived on. Well, you know the story so I will not continue with the details but I was intrigued by the Lord’s response. He says to David… I have given you everything you could have ever wanted. You didn’t lack for anything! I gave it all to you and you did little to deserve my blessings… but here is the part that totally set me back. The Lord the says to King David… even though I have given you all these things… if that had not been enough I would have done more.

I Would Have Done More! I hear the Lord saying that to me and to you! I want to do more for you!!! We must believe that He wants the best for us and then ask him for them and watch Him show off. Not because we deserve His blessings but because He deserves the right to love us and kiss us with His blessings. Listen to me my friend… God wants to do more for you! He WILL do more for you, but you must believe! Do you believe? Eph. 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, See God is able and willing to do exceedingly, abundantly above ALL we could ever ask or think… but don’t stop there… “ACCORDING to the Power that works WITHIN US! You hold the key inside you. What is that key? FAITH! See Hebrews 11:6 says “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” When the two blind men followed Jesus in to the home of one of his followers asking to be healed of there disease Jesus asked them one question… (Matt. 9:27-30) “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” The question is not with God but with you…. Do You Believe! Can You Believe… or are you to hurt, to frustrated, or to far gone? BELIEVE!!!

I had a lady call me yesterday who was at church Sunday and heard the message. She said she took the word as her own. She was broke, penniless, Christmas time, 2 small children, separated from husband, needing God to “Do More”. She said to me that she was at the end of all roads and said to the Lord, “God I trust you and I need you to do more. I trust you!” She went to the mail box and inside was a check for $1,900.00 from the US Government! Now $1,900.00 is one miracle but from the US Government is a whole nother miracle (as we say in Ga). She asked a God… A Father who was sitting, desiring to be trusted.

Lastly, I thought of the tragedy of standing before God when I got home to heaven and He say to me, “Great job David! You were a good husband, good father, you loved me, and you were even ok at being a pastor, but do you know what? I would have done more with you… I wanted to do more for you.” WOW! I don’t want to ever hear that how about you? I am sure your answer is no as well. So what do we do then? We place a demand of belief on the faithfulness of our God!!! Trust Him… Believe Him… Ask Him… There is more for you!

Making History,

Pastor David Edmondson

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

The Bride of Christ

I am not going to give you the whole thought behind this blog but if you come to The ROCK Church Flowery Branch on Sunday you will get the whole message.  But I do want to give you a few things to think about… so here we go.

Since Jesus uses the picture of a bride for his redeemed church, we can read about weddings in terms of his promises to us. First there would be The Betrothal.

The betrothal was binding and could only be undone by a divorce with proper grounds, such as the bride being found not to be a virgin, (see Joseph and Mary – Matt 1 v18-19 ) The young man prepared a Ketubah, or marriage contract (or covenant) which he presented to the intended bride and her father. Included in this was the ” Bride Price “, which was appropriate in that society to compensate the young woman’s parents for the cost of raising her, as well as being an expression of his love for her.

(1Cor. 6:19& 20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. ”

The second step in the process was The Acceptance

To see if the proposal was accepted, the young man would pour a cup of wine for his beloved and wait to see if she drank it. This cup represents a blood covenant. If she drank the cup she would have accepted the proposal and they would be betrothed. The young man would then give gifts to his beloved, and then take his leave. The young woman would have to wait for him to return and collect her. ***Christ has laid the cup of His salvation on the table in front of us and He waits on us to drink it. Just as He did with His disciples at the “Last Supper” (Mark 14:24) ***1Cor. Chapter 12 speaks of the gifts of the Spirit that Christ has given to us to operate in until His return! ***We are now as the bride. waiting for his return to marry us!

There was also so something very important called the wedding chamber or the Chuppah

Before leaving the young man would announce, ” I am going to prepare a place for you “, and “I will return for you when it is ready”. The usual practice was for the young man to return to his father’s house and build a honeymoon room there. This is what is symbolized by the chuppah or canopy which is characteristic of Jewish weddings. He was not allowed to skimp on the work and had to get his father’s approval before he could consider it ready for his bride. If asked the date of his wedding he would have to reply, “Only my father knows.”

***John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

***Meanwhile the bride would be making herself ready so that she would be pure and beautiful for her bridegroom. During this time she would wear a veil when she went out to show she was spoken for (she has been bought with a price)

Are you getting ready?

Making History,

Prepare For Rain!

When the rain of His presence comes again to us will we have prepared
ourselves to rise above the Earth and exist on the waves of His Glory? Or
will His rain find us unprepared and we sink in the deep with all those who
are not expecting Him to show up?

    Noah was prepared for the rain of God in the book of Genesis and he and
his family rose from the cares of this world to live in an ark for 1 year
and 7 months because of his preparation. All those who didn't prepare where
washed away in the very waters of rain that saved Noah and his family. See
it wasn't the rain waters that killed the people of the Earth, for the Bible
actually says the Noah and his family were saved by the water. Well how
could they be saved by the same waters that killed everyone and everything
else? Preparation! If you don't prepare you will not reap the full benefit
of any blessing.

    About 2 weeks ago I awoke one morning with the Spirit of the Lord saying
to me, "Prepare for rain..." See we do a good job of asking God to move.
Asking Him for His blessings. We are continually desiring His rain but we
seldom do anything to prepare for His rain. He doesn't want to kill us...
but there are things in us that must die so we can live in His rain waters.
The rain of course is an out pouring of God's presence. Acts 2:17-21 states,
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of
my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my
Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great
and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." You may have never heard
this scripture before because we never preach it any more. Why? Because we
are not prepared and sadly... for the most part, we don't want it. See rain
is one thing we can't control and we love to control our walk with God and
our church services. Not for me... not any longer... not for The ROCK Church
Flowery Branch. We are preparing for His rain!

    Let me be as Noah must have been, not only with his voice but also with
his actions, proclaiming "Prepare cause it is about to rain!" Oh that my cry
will not fall on deaf ears or undesiring hearts. The beginning of
preparation is within the heart of each of us. Let us prepare or hearts to
receive, be lifted up, and exist on the abundance of the waters of His rain!
Will you join me in this preparation?

Making History,
Pastor David Edmondson

The Tree of Life

Proverbs 13:12 says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire
comes it is a tree of life.”

I remember when I was in the 8th grade I was voted captain of my
football team. One of my responsibilities was to go to the middle of the field
before the start of the game and meet the captains from the other team and
flip a coin to see who would get the ball first. I remember my coach sitting
me down and saying, David if we when the coin toss we always want to defer
getting the ball until the second half. I remember thinking okay but what
the world does defer mean. Well, I quickly learned that to defer meant to
postpone or to put off. When I deferred to the second half I was saying I
wanted to postpone my team getting the ball first until the second half of
the game. Now that may be okay with some people but I was the quarterback
and I was (and still am) very competitive. So I hated to defer because I
wanted the ball right now. I mean we have been busting our hind ends all
week preparing for this game and we go out and the first thing we do is
defer and put the ball into the hands of the enemy! No! I don’t want to wait
any longer… I want the ball now!

This is the way I am and if the truth be known, most of us are. We want
the ball now. We don’t want to wait any longer. We have been practicing,
waiting, meditating, and anticipating this moment for a long time. Just as I
wanted the ball now, we want our promises from God to happen now. We want
our answer now, our miracle now. But just in case you haven’t learned yet…
God doesn’t operate on our time schedules. There are times when it is the
coin flip in your life, you are standing seemingly so close to your answer
but here it comes… defer. Now you have to wait to get your promise. Your
Bible says this makes the heart sick. When your hope; your anticipations,
your expectation, or your confidence is deferred until a later time. Then
your heart becomes sick. Sick with doubt, sick with care, sick with fault,
or maybe even sick with confusion or anger. Some of you may be here now. You
just think it will never come. Like you will never get the ball and have
your opportunity to score, but I am sent to tell you that your second half
is coming. You think that the clock has run out and the horn has sounded
concerning your promise. Well listen to me… the clock has run out and the
horn has sounded but the only thing that is over is half time. It is your
time to have the ball!!! It is your time to SCORE! Don’t let your heart be
hardened and so full of sickness that you can’t muster up enough faith and
hope to believe that the God of your promise is faithful and He is true!

Lastly it says that when the desire comes it is a “tree of life”. I pray
that the desire for the things of God and the promises of God will burst up
from within us yet again! When we obtain “The Desire” to believe again we
then will eat from a continual tree of life. Desire is the first step in
conception. You don’t have relations with someone you don’t desire, right…
I hope?! You must desire them and then you conceive. Where is the desire for
God’s presence? Where is the desire for Him to use us in a mighty way. Not
to build big ministries or to build big bank accounts. But to use us for His
Glory! When we seek first and have the desire first for the kingdom of God
and His righteousness then all the things we hope for will be added unto us.
(Matthew 6:33)

Do you want to live life with all of it’s abundance, joy, and
fulfillment? The you must do as Abraham did and “hope against hope”. You
must apply the medicine of His Word and His promise to your sick
heart, and believe again! Believe Again! Your heart is sick right now but if
you will stir up your Godly desire then you will be able to eat from the
tree of Life!

I hope this encourages you to push on. Tell me what you think by leaving a comment.

Making History,
Pastor David Edmondson

You Are His Ice Cream!

(Zephaniah. 3:17) “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Well My Goodness… this verse here will make you want to shout! Lets look at what the Lord says here to Zephaniah and what He is saying to us.

First he says that the Lord our God is with us. This is a very hard thing to comprehend because to think that the God of all the universe is with us just surpasses our carnal minds. How can God be with us all, all the time.

Through the Holy Spirit of course. The spirit of the “Lord” God. The Spirit of the anointed one, Jesus Christ lives inside of us by the person of the Holy Spirit. He lives above us, in us, and through us! We know the scripture records in Hebrews 13:5 “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” You must make yourself know today that the Lord your God is with you!

Then he says that He is mighty to save. Save me from what?  You may ask.

Well we know He has saved us from the law of sin and death. He has redeemed us from our sins but I think one of the greatest things He can and will save you from is yourself.  I mean… no matter how bad you mess things up God is able and willing to save you from you. That is big!  Quit looking at all the mistakes you have made and know that the Lord your God will save you! He will pick you up, dust you off, and start you over again!

He will take great delight in you. What? You mean God “delights” Himself in me? Yes He does! You are His child. Through the good the bad or the ugly… you are His workmanship!  He delights in you. You are His ice-cream sunday!  You are His Krispy Kream donut!  You are his prize possession!  He delights in you!

I love this one. It says He will quiet me with His love. Wow… just think of that and let His peace over shadow you. He quiets all the noise around you. All the expectations. All the demands. He quiets all the noise… with His LOVE! Oh, how He loves us! Just thank Him with me right now. Thank you Father for loving me! Thank you for making quiet all the voices of distraction with your love for me. Thank you my Father for being you!

Then oh Zeph finishes it off by saying that the Lord rejoices over us with singing. Now think about you in a church service or maybe riding down the road singing about God and His goodness. Now picture the Lord walking through heaven singing about you. About how He loves you, how He wants you to spend time with Him, how He needs your obedience, and appreciates your faithfulness. Can you picture that? Well that is what He does. He sings about you. He rejoices that you are in covenant with Him and that you are His child. He shows His rejoicing by singing about you with the words of His mouth. He creates a beautiful atmosphere over your life by singing over you.

My Lord I am about to fall out under my desk! Listen… can you hear Him? He is singing… about… YOU!

Making History,

Pastor David Edmondson

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