The PF Women Team at our Annual Team Retreat ~ 2018 Today on Seth Godin's blog, he said: It's tempting to decide to make a profit first, then invest in training, people, facilities, promotion, customer service and most of all, doing important work. In general, though, it goes the other way. Yes, it does. If you are waiting to make a profit before you do these things, in my experience you're not going to make a profit. So many organizations, ministries and churches are struggling with financial issues. I know your pain. As anyone who follows our story knows, our ministry was in a ton of debt four years ago when I came on as director. Since that time, we've gotten out of debt and turned a profit every year. God has done amazing things through out team, for which we give Him the glory! I find that what Seth is saying here is absolutely true, with one disclaimer. For Christian leaders, spiritual disciplines must always be first. Before we started i...
The following is an excerpt from my message last night at Fusion...just thought I'd cut and paste a portion of my notes here...thought it might bless somebody here today who needs to hear it. I usually don't just cut and paste a section of my message notes for a blog post but for some reason felt led to do it today and besides that, I'm exhausted from pouring out last night and just don't have a fresh blog post in me. :) Here goes...
Last night's message was, "Winning the Battle"
Let's look at one example of this:
Last night's message was, "Winning the Battle"
We read in Judges the fourth chapter about Deborah, a prophetess and a judge. She held court under a palm tree during the time that Israel was under bitter oppression due to the rule of Jabin, a Caananite king. Even his name means “cunning.”
Now I want you to note, Deborah was discouraged about what was happening in the nation. She was getting daily reports of Jabin’s craziness. If this would have been in this day and age, Deborah would be getting 24/7 Fox News Updates.
We need modern day Deborahs who will feel that same indignation and say, “enough is enough!!!”
People can talk about us, they can think we are the crazy ones, they can reject our values, our ideas, our views, but let me tell you something they are absolutely 100% DEFENSELESS against our prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I CAN PRAY!!! YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!!!
No matter WHAT situation I’m in, I can pray!
I can pray laying down! I can pray standing up! I can pray when I’m trapped! I can pray when I have money and I can pray when I don't! I can pray when I’m in chains! I can pray when I’m under pressure! I can pray when I'm hot! I can pray when I'm cold! I can pray when you talk about me! I can pray when you ignore me!
I can pray! If I can't pray out loud, I can pray in my head! I'm unstopppable!!!!!!!!!!!! You can’t stop me from praying all I want!
If you are a believer, there will come a time that you have to come out of what you may feel is your little peaceful cocoon and do spiritual warfare. Some people say, “you know, I don’t want to get involved in all that interceding stuff, battling the devil…I just want to go to work, go to church, be a nice normal Christian and love Jesus.” All that is fine until your kid gets into some trouble. Let me tell you, you will have to rise up and do battle. In our children's lives we have to pray things out and pray other things in.
There is time when you must take authority in the name of Jesus on behalf of your family, your church, your world -- and hold on like a bulldog. Let me tell you something I have two bulldogs and they can hold on. It’s said that the nose of the bulldog is slanted backwards so they can still breathe while holding on! I believe it!
You can hold on in prayer while still going about your life. The Bible says pray continually…this is not something mysterious. It's simply praying continually through all of your conversations and situations.
We learn from Deborah how to deal with spiritual enemies. After suffering 20 long years of Jabin’s craziness, the people of Israel started to cry out to God for deliverance.
Are you dealing with some crazy people? Some crazy situations? [Keep in mind, our battle is not against flesh and blood...Ephesians 6:12]
Some of you have been dealing with it 2 weeks, others two months and others 2 year or twenty years but I don’t care how long – the fact is PRAYER makes a difference and they can’t stop you.
Is your unbelieving ex husband or wife driving you to a point in your mind where you are under unbelievable pressure?
Is the IRS breathing down your back and you’ve done nothing to cause it?
Are things pressured in your work place and you have been a faithful, loyal, hardworking employee?
Let me tell you, nobody is a match for a righteous, praying person!!!
Let's look at one example of this:
Judges 4:6 & 7
6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.' "
Barak was fearful and had a reason to be. He had a weak volunteer army with no chariots and just a few weapons and was no match for Sisera’s well trained army of a hundred thousand men.
But he was coming strictly from a logistical point of view. You see, facts and truth are not always the same!
The facts are what you see in front of you. It looks like something bad is happening and the fact is, maybe it is, but the TRUTH IS WHAT GOD DECLARES ABOUT YOUR SITUATION!
You say, “PD, I’m like Barak…you don’t understand. I’m broke and my ex has the most high powered attorney you can imagine.” Let me tell you, that attorney is no match for the Holy Ghost!!!
The truth was that God promised a victory if they would only obey.
Deborah was called “a mother in Israel.” In fact in Judges 5;7 it says, “village life in Israel ceased until Deborah, a mother in Israel, arose.”
This means that everything was out of control, -- chaos -- until a mother rose up and started to do something. If you want to get something done, ask a mother. Moms come unglued -- especially when you mess with their kids and they will take care of business.
Deborah acted on God’s truth, not the facts or the logistics. Barak wanted Deborah to go with him. She assumed the role of military commander to lead the troops into battle. It wasn’t a pleasant job but it was necessary. Listen, I know there will always be something else more exciting for you than pacing the floor in prayer. You would rather be watching a football game or watching NCIS. But there is a cost to making history. Deborah received specific instructions from God about the placement of the troops. As they reached the River, Sisera had received intelligence reports about Israel’s tactics. He gathered up his army and went out against them. This was the greatest display of Sisera’s army that Barak and Deborah had ever seen. It looked hopeless.
I want you to know something…it’s always like that. It always looks darkest before the dawn. Right before something’s about to break, the enemy gives it one last huge push. He puts on a freak show that threatens to scare you out of your wits. But don’t fall for it. In Sisera’s case it was quite a show but it was his last.
Most people, if they just hold on a little while longer, will see the breakthrough. The majority of people give up right on the cusp of something great! As they came to the Kishon River, God caused such a freak rainstorm that it blinded the soldiers and caused the river to flood, sweeping the iron chariots downstream.
Deborah shouted, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands!” Barak went ahead and they defeated the enemy, in fact Sisera abandoned his chariot and ran on foot and the Bible says all of the troops of Sisera fell by the sword, not a man was left.”
One version of the text, in Judges 4;15-16 says this: “Then the Lord threw the enemy into a panic…not one man was left alive.” (TLB)
Sisera had escaped however and ran into the tent of Jael, a Caananite woman he thought he could trust. But Jael was a woman of God. And she wasn’t content to be a bystander. She was in the battle.
Using a household tool, she killed Sisera.
A household tool! You don’t need anything fancy. You don’t need a seminary degree. In fact please don’t get one. You will probably come out of there dry as a corn shuck with the Holy Ghost beaten out of you.
You don’t need anything fancy, you just need to know how to talk to Jesus and you’ll change your world. God doesn’t ask you for what you don’t have, He only asks you for what you DO have.
Jael did, and the battle was over after that! God enabled a weak army that was outnumbered 10 to 1, to have an amazing victory over the enemy. Seven amazing words end this story in Judges 5:31: “Then the land had peace for forty years.”
Final success is guaranteed but we have to do battle God’s way.
Today you may think some of your personal situations are hopeless.
Things may look bleak with your marriage, your children, your grandchildren.
You may feel like the state of our nation is in a hopeless mess.
But I’m here to tell you…people are defenseless against our prayers!!!
I always say, “don’t you dare mess with a person who fasts and prays!”
It's all over but the shouting!!!
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