 Is the Supernatural Really God? Moses boldly marched up to Pharaoh’s palace and was brought before him. “Let my people go!” Pharaoh was not intimidated. He knew Moses. They grew up together. In Pharaoh’s eye’s Moses wasn’t so special. “Who does he think he is anyway?” Pharaoh mused. But Moses wasn’t the same man he was when he left Egypt. He had encountered the living God and learned a few things about God’s supernatural power and his (Moses’) destiny. Moses had seen miracles. He had been instructed to move in the supernatural for the Kingdom’s cause. Boldness is a benefit of seeing the hand of God move powerfully…it takes your faith to new levels. Moses, sure of his calling and his God stepped closer to Pharaoh, looked him in the eye and handed his staff to Aaron. Aaron threw down the staff. There were gasps from the surrounding crowd. The staff of Moses had turned into a huge serpent, slithering around on the steps of the throne. Many in the crowd were stunned! The Pharaoh’s magicians, Jannes and Jambres came forward and also threw down their staffs. Their staffs also became serpents and slithered upon the steps of the Pharaoh’s throne. The gasps in the crowd increased and suddenly many began criticizing and complaining about Moses. “Oh my goodness” they whispered amongst themselves,. “He is doing the same thing those demonic magicians are doing! This must be of the devil!” The mood in the crowd changed….they eyed Moses suspiciously….. “How could this be God if it looks so demonic?!” No doubt about it they reasoned…Moses is in deception. The Heart of the MatterOf course we know it didn’t really happen this way. (Read Exodus 5) The people of the day, the children of Israel, had no problem believing that God could and would do the most amazing supernatural things. Not only did they know it but they depended upon it. Read the Bible. They had a history of the supernatural and it was normal for the people of God to experience the supernatural, receive miracles, see and speak with angels, perform signs and wonders, etc.. What happened? Somewhere along the way we stopped believing. Bill Johnson of Bethel Church calls that “unbelieving believers”, people who believe in God but deny His power today. All throughout the Word, Genesis to Revelation, the power of God was manifest and evident. Even in the writings of the early church fathers it was obvious that they still believed and walked in the power of God. Tertullian, an early church father around 100-200 A.D., taught new converts to ask for and believe the gifts of the Spirit to come upon them. I believe the problem that caused believers to stop believing and working in the miraculous is the same problem we face today. In lives so engrossed in the natural, we cease to see the supernatural. If churches and believers alike do not heal the sick, cast out devils or do supernatural exploits, we must have an excuse as to why. “Why can’t you do miracles? The rest of the Bible people did!” What kind of answer is appropriate? “Well Brother, God doesn’t do those things anymore.” Once you have one person of “authority” that starts teaching people the new normal is NOT to expect miracles, it infects the whole group. Multiply that by centuries and you have millions of people who believe in Christ but not in His power to be available today. Now THAT is demonic. Don’t be offended! I was a non-believing believer for much of my life. You don’t know until you know…. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Matthew 15:14) The very sad thing about this is that there are so many people who need the power of God manifested in their lives today. Everyday I hear the most heartbreaking stories of people who need a touch from God. Many won’t even allow you to pray for them because they have been instructed that anything miraculous is of the devil. What is the Answer?Pray. Pray for those who need God’s power to at least ask Him to show them if it is real or not. Encourage that God does not lead us into deception if we are seeking Him! Oh what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? (Matthew 7:9) Share scriptures that tell of God’s desire to heal us and deliver us. Give a Biblical reason for them to consider that God has not changed. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 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. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:22-24) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8) Live ready to provide an answer! God is seeking to manifest His love towards us ALL and He will create opportunities for us to display His power to those in need. A person being in need, many times will open a door for God to move. There is nothing like being desperate for God. I have been there! But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: (1 Peter 3:15) If you are one of those who believes that everything God has done, He will do and everything the Bible reveals is for us today, don’t be dismayed. Sometimes you may wonder where you fit in. You may not fit in anywhere right now but God has people just like you all over the earth and increase is happening! Thank God for those you know who believe, and fellowship together, encouraging each other in the faith! Know that you are not alone! We are right here with you! Blessing upon you! Mike
2 Comments
 Naturally Supernatural - Four Simple Things You Can Do
Once believers learn that God is still as real and present today as He was during bible times, we suddenly get a strong desire to experience that “bible times” presence and relationship for ourselves. The biggest problem is that all things considered, that topic of conversation or teaching does not happen in most churches or bible study groups. Mostly in churches that know this truth, you might get a somewhat brief acknowledgement to the spiritual or supernatural things of God, but they are still learning just like you. The desire is there however… Every time I would hear some testimony of God’s power being on display, I would get excited and jealous at the same time. (a Godly jealousy) I was happy for the person but looking for the same things in my own life. When I finally got a serious breakthrough into the things of the spirit, it was like the door was opened and there was no going back. An avalanche of Heaven invaded our lives and our home and increase begat increase. The more we saw, the more we desired it and the more we desired, the greater the manifestation of God’s presence in our lives. But what exactly was going on? Did we learn some special mystical truth that few people knew? Was there some ancient phrase or extra-biblical instruction we followed? No. We were doing very simple things as steps of faith as the Lord led us. Things anyone could do if they so desired. I have written about these things and spoken of them in fairly great detail but this isn’t some thing you have to memorize all the pieces of before you get breakthrough. If you take a few simple steps of faith, you will see breakthrough in the things of the spirit. A key, a very important key is this… How much does it mean to you? Ask God for those things you desire. I know, this is a no-brainer right? The key here is that you must be like the woman who wearied the judge by all her knocking. Ask and ask and ask and knock and seek. If I asked the lord once during the day for breakthrough into spiritual things, I asked Him 200 times. I’m NOT exaggerating. Ask God with a passion. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7 NKJV) Fill yourself with powerful encouraging testimonies One of the staples of my evening encouragement was YouTube videos and programs that featured over the top testimonies about the manifestation of the power of God. In addition to watching It’s Supernatural every day, (archived programs etc.) I would load about 10 to fifteen programs on my computer set to play an angel or supernatural testimony. I would move from the first through to the end watching one testimony after another and then do it again. Don’t laugh! Is this overkill to you? What I was doing was regenerating my mind to conform to the normalcy of supernatural living being our possibility. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2 ) Stay in the Word. The word of God is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. The word will accomplish things in your life that you don’t even realize in the moment. The word is a springboard of testimonies into the supernatural of God. Look at every testimony as a template for your own life. Staying in the word and seeing the healings and deliverances and visitations will remind you what the life of a believer is supposed to look like. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 KJV) Spend Time Waiting Upon the Lord. We have to get to the point where we are listening to the Lord more than we are talking. He KNOWS the desires of our hearts. Setting aside time every day to spend time waiting on Him to speak to us, or just spending time in His presence is something you will never regret. Make time with Him a priority. What do you do while you wait? Think about His goodness or His faithfulness. In the silence, worship Him in your mind/spirit, and look with expectation for Him to honor His word. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8 NKJV) As you take these simple steps of faith, keep very much in mind that the journey, the entire journey is Christ. Seeing Christ formed in you… becoming Christ-like… Fulfilling His call upon your life… The truth is that if we truly keep the main thing, the main thing, the things of Heaven we desire will be manifest as we take these steps of faith. Make a decision, be passionate about what you decide and pursue God with all your heart. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33 KJV) Michael Ps. For added inspiration and instruction check out my videos on YouTube or read my books available on Amazon, quite often for free.  StillnessBe still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)
Be Still... There is a key to entering into a deeper place in our relationship with God. It's a key that not only allows us but helps us to hear His voice better. It's a key that makes it easier to sense His presence and His nearness... a key that will keep the noise and distraction of the things of the world at bay. It is stillness. We can read a scripture like Psalm 46:10 and have an idea of what it might be saying to us. For years I looked at this verse and thought that it meant pretty much that when everything is said and done we should just believe God to fulfill His promises. This is true on one level. There is a deeper meaning that only seemed to become clear to me as I spent more time with a focused desire to get closer to the Lord and live a more Spirit-led life according to Galatians 5:25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) Be Still with expectation.... Being still for me is a time of coming before God and just sitting in His presence. It isn't a time of prayer or worship, it not a time of replaying the day in my mind or focusing on the issues in my life. It is simply sitting in God's presence and being with Him. I don't meditate on the scriptures normally when I am still before God but I do keep an expectation in my heart that as I spend time with Him that He will manifest Himself to me in some way. When people have asked "What do you think about as you sit in stillness", this is my answer... I keep in my heart an expectation. You see, we hear a scripture like John 10:27 and sometimes we wonder why we don't hear better. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27) It is so very easy to let the distractions of everyday life to crowd out that still, small voice that God can be speaking to us and even answering the desires of our hearts and we might never know it. Let me give you a practical example... If you were watching television in a room crowded with people taking, and suddenly an important breaking news bulletin came over the TV, you would more than likely ask everyone to be quiet so that you could hear this important message. How much more do we need to hear the important voice of God? Be Very Still... What is stillness exactly? The dictionary says that it is the absence of movement and sound. The complete absence? Yes. Just how much do we desire to make this heavenly connection? In complete stillness my focus is upon my proximity to the Lord and my expectation of being with Him. If I am moving about or listening to natural sounds it shifts my focus from the spirit to the natural, even if unintentionally. Many times we have to train ourselves to stop allowing random thoughts to invade this stillness. If you are just learning this discipline, I suggest that you think about a scripture, not to analyze it but rather to allow the Lord to give you an understanding that perhaps you had not considered before. Another thing you might do if various pictures try to invade your thoughts is to picture the Lord's face. (Or what you imagine the Lord might look like) The Bible says to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This is something we must actively do. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:5) Be Still a While... As I began to put this practice into place in my own life, there was a period of learning that took place. I would constantly have to tell my thoughts to be still or my body would want to move around, or I would even begin to wonder if this had the value I had heard that it had. It was all part of the process of learning to be still. In the early days I would wait upon God in stillness for 10 minutes and sometimes even that was a struggle. I gradually increased the amount of time I spent in stillness, but the real breakthrough happened as I began to encounter the Lord and the things of His Kingdom as I practiced stillness before Him. Once Heaven began to open around me and my life, the struggle to wait on God and be still was gone. What could have happened that was so powerful to take the struggle away from me? Encounters with God...real and powerful encounters with God. That's the place where I desire for you to go... that place of encounters with God. Everything changes in His presence! God bless you Michael  Discernment - Should We be Actually Walking in it?Many years ago we attended a church that was big and growing by leaps and bounds. They had to build a bigger place because so many were being added every week. In the end the place could hold several thousand people. Every Sunday the worship team got everyone going. Thousands of people lifting their hands and jumping in worship. They had a staff of about ten pastors and the main pastor was highly respected by most. He could preach in a way that could move people.
This church had guest speakers continually over the years we were there and you would know them if I named them. They were the biggest names and the people most respected in the church world as being men and women of God. Everything not only looked just fine but looked great. People would jump and dance and pray in tongues, every kind of class and group you could think of could be found there and all the things we know should be happening seemed to be happening. In all the years we went there, I always had a bad feeling about the pastor but wrote it off as a personality conflict. I didn’t like him but figured that was just my problem. I just asked the Lord to help me from judging people wrongly. I ignored my “gut” feeling. In the end, after about 8-10 years we left the church. Not long after that we found out the church was going through a really hard time as the pastor was found out to have been having a long standing affair for almost the whole time he was in ministry. Several of the assistant pastors computers were audited because of this about the pastor coming to light, and it was then uncovered that several of the assistant pastors had pornography “issues”. You don’t have to agree with me on this, but as for me and my family I don’t want them to be sitting under the teaching and authority of those living in sin. Period. How could all those people and all those famous ministers miss it, and for so very long? Was there no one walking in any degree of discernment? I blame myself as well because I was in the same boat. I talked to the Lord about this and when I asked Him “where are those with discernment”, He said “You be the one.” That was not just a statement for me but for all of us. He was telling me that it is each one’s responsibility to hear God’s voice clearly and discern good from evil, truth from lies, and what is of God and what is not. Having discernment is especially critical for those desiring to be used of the Lord in ministry. It’s critical for deciding in whose care to place your children. It’s critical for choosing who you join to and who you don’t. There is no getting away from this responsibility. (In my opinion) So… the cat is out of the bag. Feel free to comment in any way you choose. Do we bare any responsibility for walking in discernment or is it all on God or does it even matter? You tell me. I may sound a bit hard here. If so, I’m sorry. I don’t like to see people get hurt. with love, Mike  A couple of years ago a believing friend at work asked me for a word. He knew God was doing things in my life and wanted that same grace over his life as well. I explained to him that I did not “flow” in the prophetic like he did and that he should ask someone that has that gift. My friend was not dissuaded and continued to ask me…. for TWO years! I had to give him credit for persistence. Finally I agreed. The reality was that I knew I could get a word from the Lord but at that time I had to spend some serious time in prayer to get one. He really is a gifted prophet who desired to be launched and used of the Lord so I told him I would pray and ask the Lord where his open doors and breakthrough was waiting for him. I spent two days, or rather two days of my evenings / nights asking about his situation and the Lord spoke to me very clearly. I knew exactly where his breakthrough was waiting. I was excited to relay the good news to him but there was a bit of a hard word attached as well. So I went to him and we sat down and I gave him the good news. The Lord has told me where your breakthrough is waiting. He waited with expectation as I first explained there was a small issue of unforgiveness that he had to deal with. I told him who the other person was because the Lord had shown me a rather large chunk of their relationship. He looked at me in a very detached way and said “That’s none of your business.” but, he continued, “tell me where the breakthrough is. ” I knew of course that his breakthrough was connected to getting his heart right. That was the blockage he was facing but I told him the rest anyway. I said the Lord told me that you are supposed to write out the way you hear His voice and how this has developed in your life. If you do this, many people will learn from it and be prepared for their own ministry and calling. The Lord said the book you write on this will open the doors for you to go and teach. Or to put it another way, your gift will make room for you. I really did not expect him to be so disappointed especially since it took me two days to get the word. He told me that if God wants him to write a book, He is going to have to tell him. That was almost two years ago and he still asks me from time to time if I can ask the Lord for him where his breakthrough is. I find this very sad. The reality is that there are many people whom the Lord has spoken to asking them to share and teach the revelation He has given them. Maybe this is you. One of the biggest hurtles people seem to face in this is the idea that their revelation is not so special or compelling so as to warrant the writing of a book. If the Lord has prompted you to write, He has a good reason for it. Just begin. Believe the Holy Spirit will give you the words He wants you to say. (Luke 12;12) That breakthrough you have been looking for? Maybe this is it. Blessings, Mike |
Archives
May 2021
Categories |
RSS Feed