All posts by : Joel Phillips

Pregnant with possibilities

Darkness may cover the earth, but God’s glory upon His people is becoming more and more realized, bringing hope to the most hopeless situations. Throughout the world God is opening up His resources and releasing them over mankind in remarkable ways.

The Kingdom of God is longing to invade the natural realm. It is a day of supernatural encounters, at least for those who are open to what the Holy Spirit is doing. And it’s God’s desire is that we don’t miss a thing.

“We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, TPT)

The degree to which we perceive the face of God corresponds directly to our yieldedness to the supernatural works of the Holy Spirit. This quest for His face is the ultimate quest.

The Signs of His Face

When God invades a person’s life, things change. Not only that, but the impact of that life on the world also changes. The measure of God’s glory that rests upon a life following these unusual divine encounters affects every person we touch. The supernatural becomes natural as God takes center stage in the places where we have influence. When His glory is present, the things that we used to work hard for, such as miracles of healing and transformation in people’s personal lives and families, come with little or no effort.

Scripture describes that when our lives are marked by the power and blessing of the living God that His face is shining upon us. God’s countenance is toward His people, and the result is that our lives are marked by His favor and power. Our thinking changes, our talking changes, our actions change, even our countenance changes, and people can see these changes!

What happened at church?

If someone were to ask you what the most memorable and positive thing that’s happened to you at a church service, what would it be? For the people in the church I pastor it’s no doubt one of my sermons.

Just kidding.

Seriously though, the most memorable thing that happens at church should be some kind of an encounter with God. Like a revelation of how much He loves them. Or, a reminder of a promise He’s made to them. Or, a melting of a hard heart. A healing. An encouragement. A miracle.

What’s important to realize though is that an encounter with God most often is done through people. For sure God’s Spirit is involved, but God uses people. And not specific people with certain qualifications, but just people. Listen to these words,

“Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!” (1 Corinthians 12:7, The Message)

God-given things

People may love and need my sermons (work with me here), but actually I need something they have just as much. It’s probably not a sermon, but it’s something that the Lord’s given them for me and for others. And it’s not until they release that God-given thing that people will experience a God encounter.

Imagine what church would be like if we all allowed God to use us in the specific areas He has assigned to us. There would be few people saying, “Church is soooo boring.” There would be less comments like, “Where do I fit in?” or, “I wish somebody would just notice me.” Instead there would be talk of how awesome God is. And talk of how he sent someone to minister exactly what they were longing for. In other words, a God encounter.

Our lives are constantly confronted by things that limit and restrain us: “Do Not Touch”, “Do Not Enter”, “Authorized Personal Only”. You go to a museum only to have ropes keep you at a distance from all the exhibits. You go to a concert and only those with “VIP Passes” hanging around their necks are allowed to get anywhere near the band.

The purpose is to keep us out of danger, or protect something that’s valuable, or to limit access to important people. Our lives are filled with yellow tape that we are not allowed to cross.

Yellow tape in the temple?

In the Temple there was a room called the Holy of Holies. This was the place where God’s presence dwelt, and no average person was allowed in. There was a veil, or curtain, made out of a thick tapestry that kept people out.

Only the High Priest, who was handpicked by God, was allowed to pass through the curtain into the presence of God. This was only once a year on the Day of Atonement, and only after many thorough cleansing rituals. If anyone else other than the High Priest tried to enter the Holy of Holies, they would die.

This curtain was like a huge “Do Not Enter” sign hanging in the temple. It was a great divider that hid God from man. But the very moment Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross, Matthew records…

At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:51, NLT)

The tearing of the curtain displays how perfect the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was, and what it did for us. No longer do we have a “Do Not Enter” sign keeping us back from God. Jesus ripped it down in His death, kicking the door wide open for us to have free and complete access to God Himself.

VIP Access to God

It is as if Jesus gave us His VIP pass, granting us His status so that we might experience the close relationship that He has with the Father.

Because of this we can approach God with confidence. Jesus for opened up a way that we might know and enjoy the Father, and experience His fellowship like we were never able to before. Remember this whenever you come to the Lord: the curtain has been torn down, and you have complete access to God himself. There is no more limits or restraints on your life!

God in one word

While there are so many words that could be used to describe who God is, the bible tells us the essence of God is love (1 John 4:8). But even God’s love is multifaceted. At the heart of His love one characteristic shines brighter than all the rest…GOODNESS.

People who don’t make the connection of goodness with God’s love will struggle to identify the source of a problem. They attribute the clear work of the devil to God Himself because they believe that God authors bad things for our good. This has become common in the theology of many because they do not understand the cornerstone of all theology—God is good!

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive… (Psalm 86:5)

What does faith do?

Faith explores the realms opened by the promises of God. These promises are found in the person of Jesus Christ, and they reveal the nature and the heart of God. The playing field of our faith, then, is applying the goodness of God right in the middle of whatever is contrary to His promises, and expecting things to change.

As the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of advancement, it requires forward movement in our thinking and our behavior. When the issue of God’s goodness is settled, our assignment becomes much clearer. We begin to burn with the conviction that GOD IS GOOD. Things begin to open in our understanding areas that were previously out of reach. Instead of living in reaction to problems, hoping for breakthroughs and solutions, we become spiritual explorers filled with hope. We begin to proactively search for places to insert the fulcrum of God’s goodness while using in faith as a powerful lever that will bring about miraculous results.

“Courage and Enthusiasm”

February 9, 1876, crowds of people gathered in cold, rainy weather outside of New York’s Hippodrome (site of current Madison Square Garden) to hear a man named Dwight L. Moody speak. Every detail about the meeting was printed the next day in the New York Times.

It’s recorded that Moody then stepped up in front of the huge crowd of people and announced the title of his sermon would be, “Courage and Enthusiasm,” because he said, “these are the two most essential qualifications for success in the Lord’s service.” Toward the end of his message, D. L. Moody said…

“I believe we would accomplish more in one week than we could in years if we had only fresh baptism. Many think because they have been filled once, they are going to be full for all time after, but we are leaky vessels. We have to be kept right under the fountain all the time in order to keep full.”

The New York Times article records that many of the thousands of people who came received Christ into their lives.

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do

There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Courage is necessary for sharing the message of Jesus because it can be scary. But the fact is the Holy Spirit can do more in and through you in one moment that you could ever do on you own. This is why we need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit.

John Wesley once said, “If you light yourself on fire, people will come watch you burn.” We burn with the power of God on the inside of us. God’s power doesn’t work through random objects, it works through people.

When you come in to contact with someone, you have the opportunity to step up with God’s power and hope to whatever is presented. There’s nothing God can’t handle, and there’s no life he can’t reach. This should fill you courage and enthusiasm!

Fishing season

It won’t be too much longer before those of us who fish will be donning our gear with hopes of hookin’ the big one.

When my oldest son Cole was about 6, his grandpa and I took him fishing at a trout farm (if you haven’t done this with your kids or grandkids, you got to do it!). Literally within minutes of having put his little hook in the water, Cole was landing some of the biggest trout I’ve ever seen!

“Daddy! Daddy! Look what I caught!”

I have a video tape somewhere recording the event. Cole was as hooked as the fish. He loved it! In fact, when he was 7 I began buying him better equipment (the Peanuts edition of the Popeil Pocket Fisherman wouldn’t do). Almost thirty years later, Cole is still an avid fisherman.

In the Summer of 1991, Cole and I were sitting in small boat on a beautiful lake high in the Colorado Rockies. We had snuck out before dawn with the promise from the locals that this particular lake was loaded with trout. Sunrise came. No fish. Noon came. No fish. Sunset was soon coming, and still no fish. Not even a nibble. As we were loading our gear in the car, somewhat dejected, Cole asked me “Dad, is there a trout farm around here?”

The next day we came back and gave it another go. We caught some of the most beautiful, hard-fighting trout you’ve ever seen!

More fishing

This story of Cole and me fishing reminds me of how it can be in our efforts to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. Jesus said,

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mk 1:17)

Fishing for men sometimes can be as easy as fishing at the trout farm. It seems like the Lord literally drops someone into you lap. Then at other times it requires patience and perseverance. But no matter how or where we catch men for Jesus, there’s something in all of us that says,

“Daddy! Daddy! Look what I caught!”

God loves it! And I got a hunch he’s got bunch of videos somewhere of us doing it!.

Ever been in love?

Remember how crazy things were when you first fell in love? The minutes hung like hours when you were apart, and the time flew by so fast when you were together. No distance was too far to travel just to be together.

I fell in love with my wife Kathie at Point Loma University. For a whole year we were inseparable. Then she moved 350 miles away back to her home in San Luis Obispo. I know every inch of those miles because I traveled them often. Sometimes just for the day. Five hours of driving just to see her face and to hear her voice. It was extreme. It might’ve seemed wasteful, but I didn’t care. I was in love!

Love that remembers

One day Jesus was having lunch at a Pharisee’s house. A woman who was from a local brothel snuck in and sat at Jesus’ feet. She began weeping, in fact so much so that she was able to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, and then began to wipe them with her hair. If that weren’t enough, she also poured costly oil all over his feet.

Everybody was watching.

Jesus asked the his host, “Do you see this woman?” “Uhh, yeah, kinda hard to miss her,” answered the Pharisee. Then Jesus told him,

“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, therefore she loves much.” (Luke 7:47)

She was in love with Jesus. She was grateful for the grace he had shown her and did not care about how over the top or extreme her expression of love may of seemed.

Don’t be that guy

What was happening with the Pharisee is what can happen to us. Over time we can forget where God has brought us from. We lose that un-abandoned expression of our love for Jesus and our thankfulness for His grace. We see ourselves as having arrived, and can began look at people who are expressing their love for him as extreme, maybe even weird.

Don’t forget what God has done in your life, and more importantly don’t forget to express your love for him. Others may think you’re being extreme, but don’t worry about them. Be like the woman, not the Pharisee. God’s forgiven you extravagantly why not love him extravagantly!

You probably know the story of Jonah pretty well. Jonah’s the guy who tried to run from God and found himself in the belly of a really big fish. It seems so silly. What was so difficult about what God said to Jonah that would cause him to run in the opposite direction?

Here’s all God said,

“Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They’re in a bad way and I can’t ignore it any longer.” (Jonah 1:2, Message)

That doesn’t seem so difficult, but let’s look at it in a different light. Put yourself in Jonah’s shoes, and then replace Nineveh with the city you live in. God is saying for you to go to a city you really dislike and preach…to the WHOLE city. That kind of changes things a little doesn’t it?

God loves the whole world

God loves people, therefore God loves the cities, communities, states and countries that people live in. No matter how dark things have become, no matter how much men have rejected God and turned away from him, no matter what…God’s great love remains. And we are the ambassadors of that divine love.

When Jonah finally did what God had called him to do, here’s what we are told happened,

“The people of Nineveh listened, and trusted God. They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it—rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers. When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he got up off his throne, threw down his royal robes, dressed in burlap, and sat down in the dirt.”…God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn’t do.” (Jonah 3:5-6,10, Message)

No more excuses

No wonder the battle is so fierce against us being obedient to God’s calling—whole communities are up for grab. And the Enemy knows this very well, so he bombards us with every excuse in the book to not do what God has called us to do.

No matter what, the calling remains! God is still saying, “Up on your feet and go to the city” (at least the one you live in)…and preach the good news!

A Kingdom Culture

A culture is the system of beliefs, disciplines, practices, and relational boundaries that reveal how life is lived among a particular group of people. We are working on building a culture where God’s kingdom honored. This will position us for future advancements. We will be enabled and empowered to invade the world around us instead of waiting for them to come to us. For this to succeed we must pursue the necessary things to sustain it.

It is abnormal for a Christian not to have an appetite for the impossible. It has been written into our spiritual DNA to hunger for the impossibilities around us to bow at the name of Jesus. The lack of miracles isn’t because it is not in God’s will for us. The problem exists with us. Moves of God’s power fail when we begin to wane in our commitment to it.

Where do you eat?

There are two tables you can eat at. One table is filled with a bunch of horrible news, while the other is filled with the incredibly good news of God’s Kingdom. I’ve been eating at the table of God’s good news for so long, people have to remind me that the other one exists. But one of us, or even a few of us, feeding at this table doesn’t create a Kingdom culture.

What we have really worked hard over the years, especially this past year, is to try to build a culture around God’s kingdom. Trying to arrange our conversation, thinking, planning and praying around that. Being a people with constant good news is actually “living in denial.” It’s when the enemy makes a suggestion, you reply “request denied.” That’s the right kind of living in denial. You don’t dwell on the garbage that the enemy feeds out to people.

No more excuses

“For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20)

Stories of the impossible happening are becoming the norm, and the company of people who have joined this quest for an authentic gospel, the gospel of the Kingdom, is increasing. Loving God and His people is an honor, but we can no longer make up excuses for powerlessness because powerlessness is inexcusable. Our mandate is simple: raise up a generation that can openly display the raw power of God.

A man was totally afraid to fly. His friend was trying to console him, “Don’t you know that Jesus said, ‘I will be with you to the end of the world?’” “Yeah, but He also said, ‘LOW, I will be with you,’ not HIGH I will be with you!” 

Tune into the station

While we may laugh at such a story, the promise of God being present with us is no laughing matter. There are many misconceptions of what constitutes God’s presence. Ask yourself, “When am I most aware of the presence of God?” Everyone’s answers will vary, and yet none of them will be wrong.

Some may think they need more “information” about God to be closer to Him. While knowledge of God is a wonderful thing, what will bring us closer to Him is being more aware of His presence.

Have you ever thought about that fact that radio signals project whether or not anyone tunes in? In a much greater sense, God is with you right now. He knows what you’re doing, even when you don’t pay attention. Tune into the very real presence that’s already there. God isn’t present only when you feel him most; he’s present all the time and in every place.

Like wax?

“Mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord” (Psalms 97:5)

If the mountains melt like wax in God’s presence, there’s a good chance that we are going to experience some type of affect in God’s presence. Almost a century and a half ago, the great evangelist Charles Finney described it this way…

“The Holy Ghost descended on me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart. The waves came over me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, “I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me.” I said, “Lord, I cannot bear any more;” yet I had no fear of death.”

This type of experience from God’s presence is still available. It will change everything! It will cause the weapons of Satan’s attack to lose their power.  It will also cause the hard hearts to soften.It will bring healing to people’s lives. And most importantly it will open the door for God to come and do what only He can do.