All posts by : Joel Phillips

One of the greatest preachers who ever lived was a man named Charles Spurgeon. He pastored a church in London during the late 1800s called the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

There were five young men who wanted to hear Spurgeon preach, so they travelled to London. They arrived early for a Sunday morning service but found that the doors were locked. While waiting for the place to open, they were greeted by a man who asked, “Gentlemen, is this your first time here?” They told him it was. “Well, let me show you around.”

The man brought them inside the church. He then asked, “Would you like to see how we heat the church?” They weren’t really interested because it was a hot day in July, but they didn’t want to offend the stranger so they consented. They were then taken down a stairway, a door was quietly opened, and their guide whispered and pointed, “This is how we heat the church.”

Surprised, the young men saw hundreds of people throughout the room kneeling in prayer. They could hear people calling on the Lord and asking for His blessing. Softly closing the door, the man put out his hand then introduced himself. It was Pastor Charles Spurgeon.

The Greatest Use of Your Faith

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

Satan isn’t troubled by us having discussions about the Bible, or voicing complaints to each other about the horrible state of today’s culture. These things do nothing to unleash the power of God. But a Believer who understands the power of prayer is formidable threat.

God’s people can conquer anything by through faith, and the prayer of faith is the most valuable, most powerful, and most far-reaching exercise of our faith. Is it any wonder that Satan does his best to take this weapon from the Believer, or hinder him from using it?

The first century church, and all other victorious believers throughout time, had one instinct: PRAY. When in trouble: PRAY. When intimidated: PRAY. When uncertain: PRAY. When persecuted: PRAY.

Prayer Changes Things…and People

“Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.” (Psalms 80:18)

As we open up our lives to God’s power, He WILL begin to revive us, however things may not follow a predetermined schedule or order. Who can outline what God has in mind? But one thing’s for sure, God has not changed. He is still superior to anything the enemy can throw against us. No situation is too hopeless for the power that the prayer of faith accesses.

God will be no more eager to respond tomorrow than He is right now. He is waiting for you to take His promises seriously and go boldly to the throne of grace, and call on Him in prayer. Things will change, including you!

A few months ago I got fitted for contacts. After wearing glasses for 40+ years it was amazing to be free of those things hanging over my eyes. But the process of getting the right prescription for contacts was pretty challenging.

My ophthalmologist had me look through a machine with lots of lenses (refraction test) and determined the best prescription. Then the doctor gave me a trial pair of contacts, which I wore for a couple of weeks. I then returned for a follow-up exam prior to ordering the permanent contacts.

The doctor asked me how the contacts were working to which I answered that they were pretty good. She then had me look at an eye chart while wearing the contacts. I was able to read some of the letters, but not all of them. Dissatisfied, the doctor pulled out a round lens and held it in front of my and asked me if that were better. “Yes!” I answered. “Much more clear!”

The Lens of Your Philosophy

All of us have a set of beliefs, ideas, and values that we look at the world through. This view of the world is our philosophy of life. It has been affected and formulated by our upbringing, our experiences, and what we hold true. Like a set of contacts lenses, our philosophy filters how we look at things.

People who don’t believe in the God of the Bible, view the world through a much different lens than those who do. But even among those who do believe in God, there are diverse lenses of philosophy.

When Jesus came to earth, his people couldn’t see Him as the Messiah because the lens of who they thought the Messiah to be filtered what they saw. Today there are people who believe Jesus was the Messiah, but aren’t sure if it’s God’s will to do miraculous things.

God is Holding Up Another Lens

Like my eye doctor who wouldn’t let me be stuck with “pretty good” vision, God is holding another lens for the church…

• A lens confirmed by His Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
• A lens that can gives us the ability to look at things that are not as though they were.
• A lens that corrects what the Devil would love us to settle for, and see beyond our fleshly limitations.

This kind of spiritual lens is not welcome in all churches, much less by all Believers. But Jesus said that for us who would believe in Him, He would give us the power to become the sons of God. This is power that will shape your worldview and give you a philosophy that all things are possible.

God loves you too much to let you settle for a religious status-quo. He wants you to believe that His promises are still available, and that He is willing and able to perform them for you. So no matter how long you’ve had those dead religious viewpoints hanging over your eyes, look again at what you see. It’s going to be amazing!!!

Who Me?

Major changes take place when Jesus becomes Lord of your life. One of the most significant changes, yet often overlooked, is the fact that your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

The truth and reality of this verse should be a motivation for you to take care of your physical body. Engaging in physical activity, eating well, drinking lots of water, being free from drugs and other addictions, and getting plenty of sleep are a few key behaviors that contribute to good health.

Yet keeping up the willpower and strength to engage in these healthy behaviors can be difficult. While there are various reasons, it could be because your focus is your behavior instead of the God who now lives inside you.

“You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Jesus Endured the Cross

How often and how deeply do you dwell on the cross and on what Jesus had to physically endure? How frequently are you grateful for the physical sacrifice that Jesus made for you? Paul writes the following…

“As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross my interest in this world has been crucified.” (Galatians 6:14)

While there was certainly a spiritual battle going on, Jesus could have never endured the agony and suffering of the cross without having the physical strength to do so. It should cause us to ask ourselves if there are endeavors we might be spiritual fit for, but we don’t have the physical strength for them.

There are endless resources about choosing nutritious foods, about engaging in exercise, and about habits that are conducive to physical wellness. But those instructions carry no power. They are merely facts.

Paul preached that there is power in the cross, even though it seemed foolish to others. It’s in the cross that the spiritual power of God is released into the lives.

“It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23)

The Reason People Fail

Dietary, physical activity, and other health-related guidelines are there to direct us and provide us with the means to be healthy. Where many of us fail is that we make following these guidelines like laws. We try to live according to these “laws” independent of our relationship with Jesus. And so we fail time and time again in our attempts to engage in healthy behaviors.

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Make the Most of What You Have

The fact is God’s Spirit lives within us, and it’s his Spirit who gives us the grace and spiritual power to make healthy choices. This understanding is key to experiencing the fullness of God’s power in all aspects of our lives.

Our desire to be healthy should not be rooted in ego or self-centeredness, but in making the most out of glorifying God through using our natural gifts and talents to their highest potential.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10)

The beautiful thing is that healthy choices and behaviors will benefit our being used by God. As God moves within us by his Spirit to do something, we will have the strength and capability to do it!

When I was six years old I was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. I was bedridden with a 104+ degree temperature for over a week. I couldn’t move, eat, or even talk. My parents were trusting God for my healing, but also battling fear as my condition grew steadily worse.

One night my dad was sitting by my bed praying. My fever had spiked to over 106 and I was slipping into a comatose state. Then something happened I would never forget.

I felt a cool hand on my forehead. I was awakened. “Dad did you touch me,” I asked. “No honey,” he answered, thinking I was delirious. “Go back to sleep.” I raised my voice and said, “No dad, somebody touched me!” At the same time I said that, I noticed I was feeling better. I sat up in bed and said with a loud voice, “DAD! Somebody touched me! And I feel BETTER!!!” Then across my bedroom I saw something moving.

Jesus Was There

Focusing my eyes, I could make out someone standing behind my dad. I couldn’t see his face, but he was wearing a white robe and some kind of purple sash.

I knew who it was.

I stood up on my bed pointing my finger and began yelling at the top of my lungs, “Dad! Dad! It’s Jesus! It’s Jesus!” My little emaciated skin and bone body was now jumping up and down. My dad turned to look but saw nothing. But I saw Jesus begin to ascend through the ceiling of my bedroom, and then was gone.

I was completely healed. I was also very hungry (my mom would always laugh later when telling the story of how much food I ate that night). The next day I ran and played (and ate more food) like a kid who had been raised from the dead.

Is it God’s Will to Heal?

Since that night, I’ve never doubted whether or not God can heal. Even as I got older and drifted in my spiritual walk, there’s nothing nor anyone that can take away what happened to me.

But there are many people who aren’t as certain.

The uncertainty isn’t about God’s ability to heal, but whether He is willing to heal. God’s sovereignty, His ways being higher than ours, thrown in with references to Job’s afflictions and/or Paul’s thorn in the flesh, are mixed with religious sounding jargon that saps people’s confidence when it comes to God’s willingness to heal.

There’s even adulation of people who claim that God has given them afflictions to teach them how to depend on Him and grow in spiritual maturity. They won’t say that God caused the affliction, but that He’s allowed it.

God’s Covenant to Heal

Jesus came to show us who God is. What Jesus said and did reveals God’s will and heart. Peter summarizes Jesus’ ministry 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)

Notice that sickness and the devil are put in the same breath. It does not say that Jesus healed those who “were allowed to be oppressed” by the devil. In other words, any oppressive thing (sickness, disease, infirmity) that Jesus healed was caused by the devil.

This is powerfully illustrated in the way Jesus responds to the ruler of a synagogue. The ruler was upset that Jesus had healed a woman on the Sabbath. Jesus asks the man a question…

“Shouldn’t this woman, a descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16, ISV)

By stating that this woman was a “daughter of Abraham,” Jesus is laying hold of one of the most important and powerful ingredients to knowing God’s willingness to heal: THE COVENANT. God has sworn in blood His promises to His people. And these covenantal promises, which will never change, include healing.

Why Aren’t All People Healed?

I would answer this question with a question, “Why aren’t all people saved? Isn’t it God it’s will that none should perish?”

Peter said that Jesus healed ALL who were oppressed. That was true everywhere except one place, His hometown of Nazareth. Those people couldn’t believe beyond Jesus being Joseph’s son. However, for those who DO believe, all things are possible, including healing.

It’s funny to hear Dwight Schrute explain how he uses the Amish technique of shunning people who are guilty of some kind of infraction. But something about “shunning” is not funny. It’s too much like the way people in the church treat others who have messed-up or fallen.

Christians don’t call it shunning. Other terms are used like, “holding them accountable,” or “stepping them down,” or even, “disfellowshipping them.” One church leader uses the verse, “godly sorrow produces repentance” to justify being flat-out mean to someone who has sinned. It sounds a lot like shunning.

Condemnation, guilt, and shame never produce righteous results

Condemnation actually pushes us further from God. But there is a sick side to our souls that actually wants it. We feel like we deserve it, and as the guilt and shame mount within us, we think it’s all a part of the process of getting back on track, and reinstating our good standing with God. But that’s not the gospel!

There are lots of scriptures that point out the fact that those who are in Christ are fully and permanently justified, and declared righteous. One of the best passages is the familiar story of Peter walking on the water, falling, and being rescued by Jesus.

So much has been said, preached, and written about this story, but one part of it is hardly ever referenced. It’s the part when Peter got back in the boat. There was no browbeating. No heavy sighs. No, “Peter, you’re all wet!” Here’s all we’re told,

And when [Jesus and Peter] got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:32–33)

We should be more like that

Somebody falls, Jesus saves them, they’re soaking wet from all their mistakes, but they’re alive and the storm is over! As they come back on board with us, we worship God for how He saved them because it reminds us of how he saved us. After all, we’ve all been wet at one time or another.

Russian Cold War archenemy, Leonid Brezhnev, whispers in President Nixon’s ear

Someone said that when Jesus became real to them, so did the Devil. The fact is the moment we become followers of Jesus a spiritual target is drawn on our lives. With spiritual life comes spiritual attack. But the target is not so much on our backs as it is in our ears. The forces of hell subtlety and unceasingly whisper into the ear of God’s people…

Quit.

This one little word can give rise to great discouragement and defeat. It can convince us that what we are doing is futile, stupid, and/or that no one cares. It can cause our hearts to sink. It will entice our minds to dwell on past failures and disappointments, and give up on any hope for future success.

Anxious and unable to sleep

Paul was seeing incredible things happen in the city of Corinth, but one night he heard the insidious whisper of the Enemy to quit. As he tossed back and forth in his bed, God suddenly appeared to him and said…

“Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” (Acts 18:9–10, NLT)

Paul took those words to heart. He didn’t quit, but continued on for another year and a half, and accomplished great things in the city of Corinth. This experience, along with other times that God encouraged Paul, led him to write these words…

“I pray that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceedingly greatness of His power towards us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19)

Paul is telling us that when the whisper of hell says quit, give up, or throw in towel, it is important that our spiritual eyes remain focused on three things:

1. Your calling has hope attached to it!

It is centered on hope. God hasn’t chosen you to fail or succumb to attack. He who gives life, and calls those things which are not as though they were, has called you!

2. You’re God’s great treasure! 

You’re His valuable inheritance. You’re the apple of his eye. He chose you and loved you before you ever knew him. That will never change!

3. You have God’s limitless power within you!

Inside of you is the same spirit that rose Jesus from the grave. No weapon formed against you can or will prosper. All of heaven is shouting for you to not quit, but press on, continue, and keep going. Anything or anyone that says otherwise is a lie of the enemy…even if it’s just a whisper.

Former Chargers Quarterback, Ryan Leaf, was dubbed as the “biggest flop in NFL history.” The promising quarterback, who led Washington State to its first Rose Bowl in 67 years, called it quits a few months after his twenty-sixth birthday.

Looking deeper into Leaf’s failure is a powerful study how we tend to become what the most important person in our lives thinks about us. His coach at Washington State, Mike Price, believed in Ryan. Coach Price said, “Ryan had a temper and it wasn’t easy, but eventually he would respond and do a great job.” Leaf later said that Coach Price had been a profound positive influence on him. In the middle of his crisis in San Diego, Leaf told one reporter, “I wish Coach Price would call me.”

It’s not how you start, but how you finish

Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus was impressed with his answer and responded,

“You are blessed, Simon (which means, “reed”) son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means, “a rock”), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” Matthew 16:17-18 (NLT)

Peter went from being a weak, reed-like person, to becoming a rock-solid man of God. He went from being the disciple who denied Jesus, to being the one who preached the first sermon recorded in Acts with over 3000 people saved!

Expecting the best brings out the best

A school superintendent in San Jose conducted an experiment. He brought three of the top teachers together and told them, “You’re the best teachers we have, and we are going to give you 90 of the top students and let you run with them, then we are going to compare results.”

When it was over, they learned these 90 students had progressed 30% farther than others. The superintendent then said, “I have a confession, these were not 90 of the top students, they were randomly selected.” The teachers thought about it, one responded, “Well, I guess that just shows what the best of best teachers can accomplish.” The superintendent said, “And I have another confession, you’re not the top teachers. We also selected you randomly.”

Relationships don’t grow on perfection, but on forgiveness

Ernest Hemingway told a story of a Spanish father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in Madrid newspaper. The ad read:

“Dear Pablo, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.”

On Saturday 800 Pablos showed up at the newspaper office looking for forgiveness from their father.

Forgiving someone can save a failed relationship. Believing in someone can save a failed life.

People who drown do so often within eyeshot of someone else. And those who can see the person drowning often are unaware that the person is drowning—because drowning doesn’t look like drowning.

A drowning person can’t call for help—they have to be able to breathe before they can speak. Their mouth is sinking below and rising above the water gasping for air. There isn’t time to exhale, inhale, and call out.

A drowning person can’t wave for help—they instinctively extend their arms to the side and press down to lift their mouth out of the water, thus they are unable to raise their arms.

There are people around you drowning

A person you know is not drowning in water, but in life. Whether you realize it or not, they’re going down.

A person you know is drowning in the waters of a family crisis. The lives of the people closest to them are unraveling and suffocating them in the fragments. They’re drowning in the hurt, confusion, and bitterness.

A person you know is drowning in self-confidence. They think they have all the skills to make it in life. They work hard and consider themselves a good, law-abiding peron. But the relationships in their life are strained because no one measures up to their standard. It seems the harder they try to come down to everyone else’s level, the worse things get. They’re drowning, but they’d be the last to admit it.

A person you know will readily admit they’re drowning, but they don’t believe you or anyone else can help them. Many people have tried but fallen short, and the disappointment has left them skeptical. They’re drowning, but they withdraw and isolate themselves from help.

The Unseen Weight of Failure

Then there’s the person you know who has failed miserably. They’ve messed up their life, and the lives of many others. They’ve broken promises. They destroyed trust. They’re barely treading water, and they’re about to give up entirely. What’s worse is they are convinced they deserve to drown.

Shame. Guilt. Regret. Isolation. These fallouts of failure are like weights below the surface, tied to the soul. There are unseen, unheard, and many times unknown. But God sees, hears, and knows; and is reaching out to save them.

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

Right this moment

God is sensitizing you and making you aware of someone who is being overwhelmed by circumstances. You may feel helpless, but there is no person or situation that is beyond God’s life saving power. God wants to show what a drowning person looks like and how to save them…and He’s wants reach out to them through you!

Being generous with money is in the DNA of church

The early church was amazingly different than the pagan culture around it. One way in particular was with money. The pagans were known to be very stingy with their money. But the early Christians were known to be very generous with their money.

“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need…and they had favor with all the people.” (Acts 2:44, 47)

Even while persecuting the early church, Roman Emperor Julian said this about the Christians:

“Why do we not observe that it is the Christians’ benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead, and the pretended holiness of their lives that have done most to decrease atheism. For it is disgraceful that Christians support not only their own poor but ours as well, and all men see that our people lack aid from us.”

Look at the history of Christians God has blessed financially and you’ll find a clear track record of generosity among them. Whether it’s paying tithe to establish and maintain a ministry, or sending money to foreign fields, or raising money to build a new facilities, or taking special offerings to help a family in need, Believers who are open-handed with their money experience abundance.

What We Give Lives On

What those who have gone before us gave, and what we now give, lives on. Money placed at the apostle’s feet…a basket handed out in a tent meeting…offering plates passed down the pews of a sanctuary…or the hitting of the “send” button to complete an online gift, all connect us together to something much bigger than ourselves, and will live on long after were gone.

Water is one the most essential materials on the earth. Water sustains life. Water cleanses. Water heals. Water refreshes.  It is the object of many kinds of recreation and fun. However, it can also be the source of great destruction.

There is news this week that California’s Oroville Dam is collapsing. The dam is succumbing to the power of water and putting thousands of people in harm’s way. A traditional Japanese proverb says that water is the most powerful force on earth. From the chasms of the Grand Canyon to the smooth round rocks found in a river, we see that given enough force and/or enough time, nothing can stand up against water.

Water and Spirit

A very insightful description of the Holy Spirit’s work is likened unto water. It is by the water of the Holy Spirit that we are brought into God’s family, that our lives are transformed, and that they are made effective.

“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

“We are saved through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5)

“John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:5, 8)

“He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

Filled Again?

After Peter and John had been arrested, interrogated, and threatened by the Jewish rulers, they returned to their brothers and sisters in Christ. They cried out to God in prayer.  Then we are told,

“When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

These are the same people who were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Now we are told that they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” again.

What happened? Did the Holy Spirit leave them?

The power of the Holy Spirit is not static. It’s not like a lake or a pond, but like a river or an ocean. Flowing. Moving. Changing. We do not possess the Holy Spirit, He possess us! The Holy Spirit immerses us in the love and life of God’s kingdom. Not just once, but ongoingly.

As we live, minister, serve, give, etc., the Holy Spirit’s strength and power within us dissipates. We need to press in again to God for a new filling with the Holy Spirit.  We need to submerge ourselves again and again in the Holy Spirit’s deep oceans, and experience the power of water.