Destroying Sacred Cows Parts 1 & 2

1. Doubt – Mark 11:23 – Doubt is not the thought to doubt, but the thought to doubt is only the temptation to doubt, not the action of doubting. For instance, if I see a person limping and I think, “I should go pray for that person.” But the thought pops into my mind, “Prayer doesn’t really work.” That thought is the temptation to doubt. If I still go and pray for the person, I did not doubt, but if the thought stops me from praying, then I doubted.

2. One Person’s faith (Responsibility of the person praying) – James 5:14 – The only person responsible for healing is the one praying, not the one being prayed for. Jesus told His disciples that they could not cast out the demon because of their lack of faith, and He told the Pharisees that they nullify the commands of God by traditions of man.

3. Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing – In order to believe and have faith, one must first hear the good news.

4. Great faith/little faith – Matt. 8:10 & 15:28 – The only 2 people Jesus told they had great faith were non-Jewish people who no covenant with God nor promise of healing from God. Yet they received from Jesus what they asked for.

5. Leading of the Spirit – Romans 8:14 – The Greek word for led is “agontai” which means “to more, impel, of forces and influences affecting the mind.” What affects the mind? Thoughts. You meditate on the Word and do what your Father does by knowing His character which is written in the New Testament (Jesus was the express image of the Father).

6. Rhema vs. logos – logos becomes rhema when you do it (man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds… You LIVE by the rhema).

7. Freely you’ve received, freely give – not talking about money – For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. The things Jesus says to give are healing, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out of demons.

8. Anointing that abides –– We are first anointed (set apart) for God, then the Spirit comes upon us. One comes before the other, that is why it is “the Spirit is upon me because I am anointed.” The Holy Spirit is a person, He does not come and go, He is either all here or not at all here. Also, we are temples of the Holy Spirit, He lives in us.

9. Truth About the Holy Spirit Baptism – The Holy Spirit abides in us, He does not come and go. We are filled once and never need to be filled again. The Holy Spirit is described as rivers of living water that flow from us. He is a person, He either lives completely in us or not at all. He is the One who teaches and that is why the Bible says we need no man to teach us. He does not automatically fill us as soon as we believe (Acts 19:2) but all we have to do is ask and believe in order to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit.

10. Paraclete – the helper – sent alongside to help – Again, he never leaves us or forsakes us, and He is OUR helper, we are not His. We go and He follows, that is why it says that signs will follow all who believe. He provides the signs AFTER we go. And the Greek word paraclete also means “someone giving evidence that stands up in court.”

11. Jesus only healed those who came to him. Aggressive healing. – Jesus healed many who did not ask Him, some examples are the paraplegic at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:6), the man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-4), the widow’s dead son (Luke 7:1-15), just to name a few.

12. He could do no mighty works - Matt 13:54-58 – In His hometown, the people in the synagogue were first amazed at His teaching then they realized who He was and they were offended. Naturally, they would turn their backs on Him and avoid Him like the plague. But some sick people came to Him and He healed them. It’s not that He lost His power or anything like that.

13. Can sin stop a person from being healed? – No. Jesus only gave two reasons for not being able to heal or cast out a demon:  Traditions of man and unbelief. James 5 says to bring the sick person to the elders and the prayer made in faith will heal the sick, and if he has sinned he will be forgiven.

14. Paul’s thorn in the flesh - 2 Co. 12:7 - Paul’s thorn, in his own words, was a messenger of Satan. He knew the Old Covenant inside and out, and he knew the stories. When he used the phrase, “A thorn in my side,” He obviously knew that it was used in the Old Testament to refer to God’s enemies.

15. Job - Job, as far as we are aware, did not have a covenant with God. The book of Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. In fact, Job misspoke when he talked about God because he said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” He did not know that God was not the One Who was taking away, it was the devil.

16. Timothy’s stomach - Paul told Timothy to drink some wine with his water. Since wine is alcoholic, it has the ability to kill bacteria.

 

17. 2 Timothy 4:20 - Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick. KJV Later in the story, Trophimus joins up with Paul, so we know he recovers. But if you look at the Greek word for “sick” in this verse, it is the word “asthenounta” which actually means “physically weak, feeble, or exhausted.”

18. Inherited authority vs. delegated authority - Delegated authority is authority that has been borrowed from someone. Inherited authority is authority that is given by inheritance.

19. Rebuke – Mark 4:39 - The word rebuke simply means “to scold.” So if you say, “Devil, I rebuke you.” You did absolutely nothing. The actual rebuke is telling him what to do. For example, the correct way to rebuke the devil would be to say, “Devil, I rebuke you, GO!” The “go” part is the actual rebuke.

What About Prayer?

When choosing new Apostles:

Acts 6:5-6 NIV
6 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

The Greek word used here for "prayed" is proseuxamenoi which means "properly, to exchange wishes; pray – literally, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith ("divine persuasion"). Accordingly, praying (4336/proseuxomai) is closely inter-connected with 4102 /pístis ("faith") in the NT."

When Peter and John were released by the Sanhedrin:

Acts 4:24 NIV
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

In this passage, the word "prayer" is not present in the Greek. The Aramaic Bible in Plain English is closer to what the actual Geek says:

And when they had heard, they raised their voice as one to God, and they said, “LORD JEHOVAH, you are God, who made the Heavens and The Earth and the seas and all that is in them.” Acts 4:24 (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

So they basically worshiped God when Peter and John showed up.

Acts 9:40 NIV
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

The Greek word used here for prayed is prosēuxato which is from the same root as used in Acts 6:6.  If you notice verse 6:6, it is pertaining to an action the Apostles took when new apostles were selected. They prayed for the new apostles to receive the Holy Spirit.

In the second example, Acts 4:24, the Apostles raised their voices in worship to God, and asked for boldness, signs, and wonders to be witnesses for Him (vv. 29-30). This is what happened next:

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:31 NIV

The word for prayed here is the Greek word deēthentōn which means "properly, to feel pressing need because of lack – hence, to make urgent appeal; to have deep personal need causing one to beseech (make earnest, specific request)."

If you continue reading from v. 24 to 31, it is all part of the same thought. They didn't pray (prosēuxato) TO God, they lifted their voices to Him to ask (deēthentōn) for boldness because they lacked it. After they made their "urgent appeal" to God, the place where they were was shaken.

In the example of Peter, his prayer (prosēuxato) accomplished something: It brought Tabitha back to life. He didn't ask God to do it, he did it himself. There is a definite correlation between what Jesus told us to do, and the word used for prayer.
 
Matthew 21:22 NIV
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

The Greek word for "ask" is aitēsēte which means "I ask, request, petition, demand." If you look at Peter's example again, when he prayed he did not ask God anything. He did not ask the spirit of death to leave. He did not ask the dead person if she had enough faith. He demanded Tabitha to get up. This is the way Jesus "prayed": He demanded the devil and his works to leave.
 
Luke 4:35 NIV
"Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

Jesus told the demon to be silent and come out. The Greek word for said is "legōn" which means "I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, I call, name, especially in the pass., I tell, command. So He commanded the demon to be silent and come out. This is how we are to treat the devil and his works.

Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

The Greek does not have the word "the" it simply says, "Sick heal, dead raise, lepers cleanse, demons cast out; freely you received, freely give.

The Greek word for give is "dote" which means "Administer, give, supply, furnish." If we are giving first aid to a victim, we are "actively doing" something. We are to give people healing, resurrection, cleansing, and casting out of demons. We can't ask a demon to leave, that is giving it a choice to stay; we must force it out, and the same goes for sickness and the death.

Jesus is our example and the Gospels show us how we are supposed to "do the same works as me (Jesus) and even greater works." (John 14:12)

We walk daily with God. Our dialogue with Him should be continuous. When we encounter sick or hurting people, we need not bring it to God. In Matthew 10:8 He told us to do it. He also told us that the miraculous signs would follow us in Mark 16:17. We have the same Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us that rose Jesus from the dead, we are His ambassadors, our dialogue is no longer between us and God, it is between us and the problem. We tell the problem what to do in Jesus' Name. It MUST obey because Jesus is above everything that has a name (Phillipians 2:9), and all must bow to His Name. We are to "go about doing good and healing all who are oppressed of the devil."

Are You Really Humble?

Philippians 2:8-11 (NLT)

8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus humbled Himself. How did He humble Himself? By being obedient to God and dying on a cross. "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42). He didn't want to go through it. But true humility is doing what God asks of you.

God does not demand anything from us. We have freedom of choice, which is why people are sick. The Word says, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 11:29-30)

You see here that people are weak, sick, and dead because they did not recognize the body of the Lord. What exactly does that mean? It means that if you know the definition of His body broken for you, you understand that "by His stripes we are healed." His body was broken for us, and by His stripes we are healed. He paid for our healing at the atonement.  If you simply take communion and never grasp the reality and truth of His body being beaten and broken for your healing, then you will never reap the benefits from it.

If it were not for freedom of choice, we would simply be robots. God asks us to do certain things through the Bible. We don't have to do them. He does not force us to do what He asks. That is what the parable of the two sons is about. One said he would do what his father wanted him to do, but didn't. The other said no, he would not do what his father wanted, but turned around and did it. They both had a choice to make, whether to be obedient to what their father asked them to do, or not.

God does not take away our freedom of choice. But Jesus commanded His disciples to do things in His Name. Then He told them to teach others to do the same things He commanded them to do. So we are supposed to be doing the same things they did. In fact, Jesus said that we would do the same things as He, and even greater works because He went to the Father. Jesus also said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) IF you love me. So anyone who says they love Jesus and doesn't do what He commanded does not really love Him.

He told His disciples, "If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I." They were His friends, how could they possibly be glad that Jesus was going away? This is how: If their will aligned with God's will, they could be happy because God's will was being fulfilled. It makes men happy when Gods' will comes to pass. We have a role to play. We are ambassadors for Christ as though God is making His appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."(2 Corinthians 5:15) We are here to live for God. How do we live for God? By humbling ourselves. How do we humble ourselves? By being obedient to God. If we love Him, we should be glad to do His will. True humility is not saying condemning things about yourself like, "Oh, I'm a sinner," or "I'm nothing." That, in reality, is pride. How is it pride, you ask? By overriding what God has already said about you. God says that we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, His beloved, His children, the righteousness of Christ, we are hidden in Christ, we are blameless. Shall I go on? If you think putting yourself down to lift Jesus up is right, you're wrong! God has lifted Jesus high above every name. Putting yourself down in front of God is sin, because you are telling God that He is a liar, or that you can somehow override what He says about you.

It doesn't get any clearer than this. God has said every good thing about you, and He never says anything bad about you. God never brings up your past; it is the devil who is the accuser. So stop listening to the devil and believe what God has already said about you.

Is It OUR Warfare?

Revelation 17:14

"They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

1. What occupations require you to carry weapons?
Military, law enforcment, secret service, security guard.

2. What do all these have in common?
They all protect something or someone.

With weapons, they protect themselves, they protect others, they uphold the law, they stop criminals.

3. What kind of weapons does God say we have?
God says that the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinithians 10:4) The Word also says, "in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left" (2 Corinthians 6:7)

John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
So Jesus has His kingdom, but it is not of this world. Jesus also says that His kingdom lives inside of us ("nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21)

Acts 5:38-39
"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
A Pharisee named Gamaliel stood up in front of the Sanhedrin and told them that if what Peter and the other apostles were doing was of human origin, it would fail. But if it were from God, the Sanhedrin would be fighting against God.

4. So what does it mean to fight against God?
It means going against what God wants, even if you think you are following the law to the "t". If you set yourself against people who are doing the will of God, even if you think you are right and they are wrong, then you are fighting God.

1 Corinthians 9:26
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
According to this verse, Paul fights. But he doesn't fight like a man beating the air.

5. What does it mean to fight like a man beating the air?
It means doing things that make you think you are fighting, but seeing no results from your efforts, and you are not really making any difference for God's kingdom. You have to have tangible results in order to be doing any good for the kingdom.

1 Timothy 1:18
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight

1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith

All the verses above mention fighting.

6. Who are we fighting?
The devil and his demons.

7. Are we effective when we fight?
Only if we know what the weapons are that God gave us, and how to use them.

Ephesians 6:17
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
As we see here, the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.

8. Why would we need a sword?
Because 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Self-controlled and alert describe all the occupations that use a weapon. Our ENEMY the devil prowls around seeking whom he can devour. That means he can't devour everyone. He is seeking someone to devour. We have to fight with the sword to keep him off us.

9. Are we really in a battle?
Yes. God's Word says so by talking about the weapons of our warfare. It is OUR warfare because we are the body of Christ. It says that God will crush satan underneath OUR feet.

10. Why does God's Word say that we must fight the good fight?
Because we MUST fight. If we are sitting around doing nothing, the devil will find us and devour us.

11. Does anyone fight sitting down or while they are sleeping?
Not normally. That usually means you are not self-controlled and alert.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

12. If we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us (1 Corinthians 6:19), then don't you think we are supposed to be active and continue the ministry of Jesus Christ?
Yes. He gave us His Spirit for a reason. In this world we are like Him, and we are His ambassadors. We do the same things as He did, and even greater works for this reason. (2 Corinithians 1:22, 1 John 4:17, 1 Corinthians 5:20, John 14:12)

Hebrews 10:32 (NKJV)
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions. (The Greek word for fight is altheo, which means "a struggling, as in an athletic contest.")

13. Why would we struggle when we get saved? Isn't it supposed to be all peace and love once we are in Christ?
The reason we struggle is because we have an enemy, the devil. He is against everything good, and he is the author of sickness, disease, and everything that is against God. Once we are saved, we become members of God's household and the kingdom of God. The devil then actively pursues a battle against us. Peace and love come from God, and we can have peace in the midst of hardship, but we should never say that it is God giving us sickness or disease. When you do that, you are calling God a liar, because God is always good. Jesus says that no one is good except God. If parents can love their children more than themselves, and God loves us far more, He would never give us a sickness or disease to teach us a lesson. If parents can love their children this much, and Jesus walked the earth doing good, and then He turns around and says that even loving someone that much is not as good as God, then why do people blame God for the sickness the devil gives them?

2 Corinthians 10:3
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

14. So then, how do we wage war?
With the weapons God gave us, by following Jesus' example. When the devil tempted Him in the wilderness, He used the Word of God to fight back. When the devil had His cousin John the Baptist murdered, He went out the next day and started healing people. That is how we gain ground for God's kingdom.

15. How do you know that sickness and disease is from the devil?
Because Acts 10:38 tells us that Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil." That shows that the people were sick because they were oppressed by the devil, the devil gave them the sickness to oppress them.

1 Peter 2:11
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

16. What does it mean that sinful desires war against our soul? I thought our fight was against the devil, not our own sinful desires.
There are many places in the New Testament that show where our natural mind fights against us. But if we are living by the Spirit, we are spiritually-minded. It also says that our natural mind is enmity, or at war, against God. The King James Version is closer to the definition of the Greek word for natural mind. The problem with the NIV is that it says our sinful mind is against God. If we are saved, we have the mind of Christ, and our mind is no longer sinful, we simply have to renew the way we think to think more like God thinks. So the KJV saying our "carnal mind" is against God is much more accurate because it means that our mind before we were saved, before we had the mind of Christ, is against God. That is why Jesus told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." Because Peter was thinking with his natural mind and not with the spiritual mind; not with the mind that supports God's purpose.


Revelation 12:17
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

17. Who is the devil at war against?
Us! We are God's people and we hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 19:11
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.

Revelation 19:19
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.

18. Who is the army that is with the rider on the horse?
We are.

19. How do you know?
Because "whoever is not for Him, is against Him." (Matthew 12:30)

Revelation 2:16
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.