All posts by : Joel Phillips

Every Thursday I write a blog. Every Friday I want to quit blogging.

It’s not that I don’t have things to say. I genuinely want to help and encourage people with my words. I pour hours of thought and prayer into what I write, but the fact is only a few people take time read my blog.

The few “likes” on Facebook about my blog are appreciated, and the comments (even one word “Amen” ones) are like gold. But somehow I can’t escape wondering if anybody gets what I’m saying, let alone cares.

When you deliberate over the structure of a sentence and the words used in it that best translates what’s in your heart, you want somebody to get it. You want somebody to know you care. You want somebody to take it to heart.

God’s Blog

There’s no comparison to anything I write to what God has written. His words are eternal, spiritual, and life giving. So I can’t help wonder if he gets bummed with the way His writings go unnoticed. Psalms tells us…

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. (Psalm 14:2, ESV)

God is wondering if anybody is interested in him, much less what he’s written. Does anybody get it? Get him? Imagine how discouraging it would be to write words with miraculous power attached to them, yet no one seems to interested.

God’s poured out his heart and hopes for people. He’s given keys to blessing and instructions for living. But even though God’s word occasionally gets the nods of people, even a few “amens,” people aren’t really reading and absorbing the things he’s written.

Every morning God writes

Today, before you got up, God was already writing. He was pouring out all sorts of thoughts, plans, and hopes for you. He has instructions for that tricky relationship. He’s giving insights for that breakthrough you need. He’s at the end of the day and showing you how to get there.

Then as you absorb his words, you find they then come out of you to encourage others and remind them how much God loves them. You start to understand not only what God has written, but who he is, and you want others to know too. You can’t stop talking about him, whether anyone listens to you or not.

And you can’t stop blogging about him, whether anyone reads it or not. I want to remember this tomorrow, but he’ll be up early writing stuff to remind me.

Eastern Paraguay

I’m in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. It’s a big, busy city full of people on the Brazilian-Argentine border. It’s a place full of things God is doing. For this, I am excited, but I’m also bummed.

For 12 years I’ve been coming to Paraguay. I’ve seen amazing things happen. Many of the key leaders and pastors that are currently serving were in high school when I first came. To each of them God gave me personal prophetic words that would be used by God to affect their callings.

Something is wrong

The church and people that first captured my heart are in a city outside of Asuncion. Every year I’ve taken teams there who have been likewise captivated with this place and people. We’ve poured time and resources into this church. It was awesome what was happening…until a few years ago.

For the last three years it seemed like something wasn’t right. The people’s faces were long. The worship was lackluster. People who had been there from the start weren’t attending anymore. The other day we found out why.

One of the key rising young leaders was having an affair, and another one of the leaders was misappropriating church funds.

An Eye-opener

As I deal with the disappointment, I realize that God is also dealing with my pride. God brought this verse to my mind…

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
(Proverbs 11:2)

When you consider your accomplishments it’s easy to become prideful, even arrogant. Accomplishments make you think about all the hard work it took to produce them, and pride enters when we think we’ve achieved them with our own efforts, skills and intelligence.

But the very things we take the greatest pride in can be a great eye-opener about where real blessings come from. Those who seek worldly treasures will only find worldly rewards. These rewards die when we die and will account for nothing in God’s kingdom. There may be impressive natural results in our accomplishments, unfortunately they do not have the durability to withstand spiritual attack.

This realization should break us of believing that we can have any lasting success through our own abilities. God will allow us to do things on our own, but because his purposes and plans are the only thing that will prevail, eventually we will be brought to a place of brokenness. This is no fun, but it is so that we would quit leaning on our own abilities, and start operating in God’s power. This is when real accomplishments can happen!

Saints above, people below

Someone once said,

“To dwell in love with the saints above, oh that will be glory. But to dwell below with the people I know, well that’s a different story.”

These words might bring about a giggle, but also a sense of truth. Some people can be very difficult to get along with. But getting along with and even loving people is an essential part of who we are as Christians. Peter puts it so simply,

“Love your spiritual family.” (1 Peter 2:17, TM)

It’s about relationship

God’s kingdom is made up of different kinds of people who come together as His people—His family. Differences no longer separate, and we actually are to enjoy one another’s company. Yet, this would seem utopian when compared to the atmosphere often within the church.

Disagreements over doctrine, money, music styles, politics, etc. frequently cause havoc. Splits, church hopping, lone-rangerism, broken hearts and wounded souls are the results. However, the worse result of our inability to agree is how it robs us of our spiritual power. Jesus said,

“If any two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)

There’s power in agreement!

Satan knows that there is power in our being in agreement and therefore assaults our unity. Sadly, his scheme is done with such spiritual sounding phrases that many fall prey. Some examples would be…

“We agree to disagree”
“We’re on a different page”
“We don’t see eye to eye”
“We’re going a different direction”

These words don’t sound too brutal or heartbreaking, but they subtly divide and conquer.

Love so strong

“Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” (John 13:35, TLB)

This is love so strong that it proves we are God’s people. This is love so strong that it causes us to agree. And this is love so strong that it releases heaven’s power here on earth…among the people below.

The Ache for Home

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home to get food, clean clothes, sleep, and love. Home is a safe place where we can be ourselves. Home is where we love and are loved. Our feet may leave, but never our hearts.

We are told that Jesus became human and made his home here with us. This fulfilled what had always been God’s desire. Early on God had told Moses to make Him a sanctuary so that he could dwell among the people.

Jesus Seemed At Home On Earth

Jesus attracted many followers and did many great things for them. Then in the middle of everything He launched a bomb…

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
(Matthew 16:21, NLT)

It was difficult for His followers to understand what Jesus was saying. One person in particular who would have a very difficult time was Mary Magdalene.

Jesus had cast 7 demons out of Mary Magdalene. Her life was changed forever.  She was a transformed woman. She owed everything to Jesus. As a result she was with Him at Golgotha and witnessed the crucifixion. She heard His last words. She saw Him die and then be carried off to a tomb.

Then, one morning before dawn, she went to the tomb where he was. But somebody had opened the door and taken His body away. She was weeping loudly, when a person came near her and asked, “Ma’am, why are you crying?” Mary blurted out, “Mister, if you’ve taken him somewhere, just tell me.”

The man then said, “Mary.” She recognized that voice instantly. It was the same voice that that had commanded the horrible darkness that had surrounded her for years to leave. It was Jesus!

Mary ran to hug him, but his response was strange…

“Don’t hang on to me,” he said. “Go and tell the others what’s happening.”

Things Will Never Be the Same

There’s an interesting analogy here. Like Mary, we long for the good ol’ days.  We want things to stay the same. We resist change. We spend our energies wishing things were how they were. The problem is that life is not static. It ebbs and flows. It can be wonderful, it can be painful.

Kids grow up and move away. Some people get married, others don’t. You love people and sometimes they break your heart. People are healed and others die.  Things seem easy at times and then very difficult at other times. Great successes, and then rough failures.

Regrets, hurts, disappointments, or just thinking things were better back in the day, can keep us from experiencing what’s happening all around us right now. If we live stuck in the past, we’re not fully in the present.

Jesus has risen from the dead, and His death and resurrection changed everything, and still does. Things will never be the same.

May Gray

While the calendar says it’s Spring almost Summer, today in SoCal it’s a gray dreary day. Flowers are blooming, but the sun isn’t shining. School’s almost out and it’s time to go to the beach, but it’s too cold.

There’s a spiritual similarity. We’ve had the realization of God’s love in our lives, yet we are overshadowed by the darkness of shame from things in the past. We’ve received God’s forgiveness, yet guilt still hangs over us like a spiritual weather system. Our past pours a mixture of depression and unworthiness over us.

We’ve blown it badly, not just once but many times. Even though we know we’ve been forgiven, we can’t escape the troubling idea that somehow the things in our past disqualify us from really being used by God. As a result we make subconscious departures from God’s purpose for our lives. The best we can imagine is that the Lord will only accept us…barely.

It’s about leaving…and returning

It’s good and necessary for us to turn our backs on different parts of our lives. Some of the most important changes in our lives will involve some kind disconnecting. However, there is also “returning” that is necessary, and even powerful.

In rebellion the prodigal son packed his bags and left for a distant country, but in brokeness he packed his bags again and returned home. He was a changed man. He was never the same.

It’s about leaving the old ways of thinking and doing, and having something beautiful happen inside of you. Something that is born in you that wasn’t there before. Learning to love yourself and learning to love others, and no longer being controlled by the past. God wants to make this kind of character transformation in your life.

Before you might have been a person with an extreme temper, but after God makes changes in your life, you can face the same things and hardly get bothered. Resentful people become gracious celebrators of others’ blessings. Bitter people become filled with contentment even in the presence of those who hurt them.

Double honor for double shame

God’s plan is to recover you so completely that you become a living miracle. God has announced…

“…you will be called a priest of the Lord, a minister of our God…Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor.” (Isaiah 61:6, 7, NLT)

It doesn’t matter to what extent you’ve made wrong choices, your past does not define you. Instead of shame, you will be honored. Instead of retreating in guilt, you will step forward in usefulness to God. So when the grayness of your past tries to overshadow you, tell it to back its bags and leave.

More Dangerous

This week our country observes Memorial Day. We commemorate the U.S. men and women who have died while in military service. We are thankful for those who have laid their lives down for this great country. They have defended our freedom and kept us safe from various threats and enemies.

The most serious threat to us however, is something the military cannot keep us safe from. The greatest threat comes in a form much more terrible than ISIS. Its strategy is far stealthier than any terrorist could devise.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Strongholds are areas in our minds where darkness tries to hide. They affect our soul and undermine faith. They tempt us in our thinking to accept lies as truth, and left unchecked are dangerous doorways for the demonic.

Weapons of Our Warfare

God has equipped us to stand up and take what is rightfully ours. We are God’s people, and as long as we are on this planet the powers of hell are subject to you in Jesus’ name. To enjoy freedom, we must learn to use God’s mighty weapons.

The WORD OF GOD is the first weapon that sets us free! It’s important that we learn the Word through preaching, teaching, books, tapes, seminars, small Bible study groups, and/or our own private studies. But the sword of the Spirit is made most effective when we speak it. It is by speaking God’s truth that the strongholds from the Satan’s lies begin to dismantle.

The second effective weapon is PRAYER! True prayer reflects a relationship with God and shows that we depend on Him. We are His children, and He is our Father. When we pray, we open the door for God’s help. We ask Him to free our minds and give us victory over Satan’s strongholds. God answers those prayers. In fact, God is more eager to answer our prayers for help than we are to ask. Think of prayer this way: when we pray in faith, tremendous power is made available to us.

Another powerful weapon for tearing down strongholds is PRAISE! Praise helps us keep our minds on God, His power, and the good things that are taking place in our lives. It is proof that we believe so much that He can and will help us that we sing about it!

As we truly understand that we are God’s children, we will gain confidence to use the weapons of our warfare, and break every spiritual stronghold in our lives.

.

Anxiety is “kryptonite” to a Christian

Living in the turmoil of anxiety, worry, and fear is actually abnormal for a believer. Peace should be the Christian’s normal condition. Yet many do not enjoy peace as regular part of their daily lives. Anxiety becomes a stronghold that paralyzes people, by cluttering their thinking, killing their dreams, and thereby derailing their destiny.

Anxiety, worry and fear may be influenced by natural things, but they are spiritual in nature. The Bible says that, “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7). From this we see that the “spirit of fear” does not come from God and therefore is from Satan, who wishes to steal, kill and destroy our lives.

A Spider’s Web

It is difficult to isolate one strand of the anxiety’s web from the rest of the web. It is often difficult to isolate one cause from other related factors. The main thing that anxiety feeds on is the guilt of sin.

When God created Adam and Eve, there was no evidence of anxiety in man. There was perfect harmony between God and His creation. But sin separated Adam and caused him to hide in fear.

Sometimes there are learned anxieties that we’ve picked up during our childhood and adolescent years. There is an accumulation of things that we derive from our experiences. Anxiety can also be empowered by ignorance; the less we know about something, the greater our level of anxiety. Anxiety can also be fueled by our imagination. Many of our fears are imaginary; they’re about what might happen.

False Evidence Appearing Real

Many of our fears come from failing to grasp our position and status in Christ. We are overloaded with guilty feelings and burdened with a poor self-image of who we are in Christ that leads to fear of failure, fear of rejection, and other qualms.

The greatest source of peace comes from applying the power of forgiveness on the source of our guilt.

First, we are to confess our sins and ask God to forgive us through Jesus Christ.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Second, we are to confess our wrong to those we have wronged. Asking forgiveness and making restitution (if appropriate), will help roll away the reproach and restore relationships.

“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23–24)

Third, we are to forgive ourselves

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

When you were saved, we were placed into union with Jesus Christ. You are one with Him, united in His death, burial, and resurrection. You are His adopted child, placed into His family forever. You are no longer under condemnation. You are completely accepted with God who will never accuse you or berate you.

Fearful thought patterns in a believer must be overcome and replaced with the confident thoughts of the Word of God–your very destiny is at stake here!

Over the last few decades the term “generational curses” has been used to help explain why people struggle with certain things. Various references to Old Testament passages are used to give biblical support, such as:

“I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. (Exodus 20:5, NLT)

Ministering to people with “generational curses” usually involves having people recall areas their siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. have struggling with and what similar things are in their own lives. Then some type of prayer for deliverance made over them.

Families and Familiar Spirits

All families have traits or characteristics that are passed down from generation to generation. There are physical traits, such as blonde hair and blue eyes. Some families have a history of significant musical or athletic accomplishments passed down from parents to children, to grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

There are soul-ish traits that are passed on in families, such things as attitudes, mannerisms, likes and dislikes. This would include learned mindsets like racism, bigotry and sexism.

There are also spiritual traits that are passed down from generation to generation. There are family spirits, or “familiar” spirits, that pass down from generation to generation. It can be things like depression, divorce, alcoholism, drug addiction, anger or perversion, to name a few.

For example a spirit of perversion can manifest things like lust, adultery, fornication and molestation. Incest is certainly a generational and/or a family curse. What is actually happening is a demonic spirit comes around again and again to bring temptations. Personally, I have never been tempted to do crystal meth. To my knowledge, nobody in my family history has struggled with meth, so this isn’t the type of thing that a familiar spirit would try against me. A familiar spirit brings temptation that is familiar to you and your family line.

There is Power in the Blood!

The precious blood of Jesus not only paid for our sins, but it also paid for our healing and our deliverance. This includes the breaking of all curses, including generational curses.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).”
(Galatians 3:13, NKJV)

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
(1 Peter 1:18–19, NKJV)

But the blood must be applied to break the curse. In the original Passover the innocent little lamb was slain. Then the blood had to be applied to the doorposts and lintel, or the curse would strike the first born of the household. Applying the blood broke the curse of death. Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God, who was slain to take our curses upon Him. His blood was shed for us!

You Can Put a Stop To It

If you have a family legacy of negativity, addictions, poverty, divorce, greed or selfishness, you can be the one to put a stop to it. And the good news is that you don’t have to do this alone. God offers us the help of His Spirit to empower you to put a stop to these destructive habits and make life even more productive for your descendants.

Think generationally in your life. How you live today and the kind of power you experience in your relationship with God will pass on a spiritual legacy that will bring blessings to your descendants for generations to come.

One morning King David was reflecting on his battle conquests. A song began to rise within him…

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7, NIV)

David knew what it was like to face enemies who had put their trust in their weaponry, only to see them fall in defeat. He also knew about another enemy who laid in wait for him. This enemy was stealthy, looking for David to put his trust in anything other than God.

A stronghold is anything a person trusts more than God

Trust is an expression of faith. Whenever a person puts their trust in something other than God it allows Satan to gain access and build a stronghold. This is why the Bible tells us…

“Do not give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27, NKJV)

The word “place” in Greek is “topos”. We get our word “topography” from the same word. Literally we are being warned to not give “territory” our lives to the devil, because that surrendered spiritual geography a becomes place where he can build a stronghold.

Satan and his hosts of spiritual darkness are attracted to misplaced trust. They do not care where a person’s trust is placed, just as long it’s not in God. Proverbs gives us an interesting word picture about the connection of trust and strongholds…

“One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.” (Proverbs 21:22, NIV)

The key phrase is, the stronghold in which they trust. If you can find the place where a person has placed their trust in other than God, you will find a stronghold that has been fortified by Satan’s power.

But God’s wisdom empowers us to identify and dismantle Satan’s strongholds.

Trust Attracts

Anything that earns our trust, other than God, attracts the demonic. But faith also attracts. Faith draws in the power of God and His resources. Even angels are attracted when we put our trust in God because they are assigned to us as, “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation,” (Hebrews 1:14).

Trusting God is a privilege that is strengthened through knowing His Word and promises. My friend Dick Mills once told me that he had memorized over 7,700 promises in the Bible. As a result, thousands and thousands of people were ministered to by strength that Dick had as he spoke God’s promises over their lives.

What stubborn issues are you facing? God’s strength is available to you right now. Put your trust is Him, and watch the strongholds of habits, bondages, generational issues, demonic attack, etc., fall in defeat.

Additional Questions to Ask

When asking the question of whether it’s God’s will to heal or not, it might be helpful to ask some additional questions:

• Was Jesus’ blood shed for all people’s sin, or just select people’s sins?
• Were the stripes Jesus bore for all illnesses or only certain illnesses?
• Is it possible that God would choose to heal one person while not healing another?
• Was healing only for certain seasons of Church history?

The fact is when Jesus’ blood was shed He made the payment for all of our sins. In the same way when He took the stripes from the scourging of the cat o’ nine tails on His body He made the payment for all our healing.

He already decided to heal

You can’t decide not to buy something after you’ve already bought it. There are no deficiencies on God’s end of things. The covenant made through Jesus’ blood is not deficient, nor are His promises. Anything lacking is on our end of the equation.

Besides Jesus not being able to do any significant miracles in His hometown of Nazareth, the only other instance of someone who wasn’t healed during Jesus’ ministry was when His disciples prayed for man’s tormented child. They had no breakthrough. But then, Jesus came and brought healing and deliverance to the child.

The things Jesus did are summarized this way…

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38, NKJV)

And it’s by the things that Jesus did and said that God and His will are revealed to us. Jesus said…

“The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19, NKJV)

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9, NKJV)

Jesus IS the will of God

Jesus Christ is perfect theology. We can’t lower the standard of what scripture records to fit our level of experience…or our inexperience. To say that it is God’s will to heal may be a very uncomfortable realization for the religious mindset. Many have created doctrines that you can’t find in the person of Jesus. But Jesus is the will of God, and He healed all who were sick. And He’s still doing it!