How To Receive Your Miracle

How To Receive Your

Miracle

Dr. Christian Harfouche

Power House Publishers

Pensacola, Florida

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural references are from the King James Version of the Bible.

How To Receive Your Miracle

Published by:

Christian Harfouche Ministries

4317 N. Palafox St.

Pensacola, FL. 32505

www.globalrevival.com

Phone 850-439-9750

Second Printing, June 2000

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Christian Harfouche All rights reserved.

Reproduction of text in whole or in part without the express written consent by the author is not permitted and is unlawful according to the 1976 United States Copyright Act.

Cover design and book production by:

DB & Associates Design & Distribution dba Double Blessing Productions

P. O. Box 52756, Tulsa, OK 74152

www.doubleblessing.com

Cover illustration is protected by the 1976 United States Copyright Act. Copyright © 1998 by DB & Associates Design Group, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America.

Dedication

his book is dedicated to every person who knows and

Twants to know that God will heal him. The Lord wants each person to walk in divine health and to experience the abundant life provision of His mercy and love. He doesn't want any human to hurt in any way.

This book is dedicated to the most loving, giving person I have ever met, Jesus Christ, my heavenly Father.

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Contents

Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1 Prevailing in Times of Transition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2 Anointed With Fresh Oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3 Miracle in the Making. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

4 Transformed by His Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

How To Receive Your

Miracle

Chapter 1

Prevailing in Times of Transition

1

he Bible teaches that we are journeymen—people Twho journey from glory to glory. We do not stay at the same level, because God through His Spirit changes us into His image and likeness.

Any time you experience change, you experience transition. During times of transition, there are moments, hours, and days when you feel uncomfortable. This is because you are journeying through a dimension or a realm you have never been before. It is unfamiliar to you, and if you are not careful, you will yield yourself to the lies and suggestions of the enemy.

You will begin to hear such thoughts as, "If you were doing what God wanted you to do, why do you feel like this? Why are you experiencing this?" The pressures of these thoughts attempt to overcome you. Therefore, you need to learn how to prevail in times of transition. You need to learn how to receive your miracle!

In Matthew 11, we find John the Baptist in such a time of transition, and he is beginning to waver.

Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew 9

How to Receive Your Miracle

John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me

Matthew 11:2-6

John in a Time of Transition

John had come to a place in ministry where he was about to be promoted. He was going to experience change.

This was the same John who leaped in his mother's womb for joy when the anointing of God came upon him (Luke 1:41)!

This was the same John who heard the Father say, "The One upon whom you see the Spirit descend is He"

(John 1:33).

This was the same John who came preaching, "Repent, prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Matthew 3:2).

This was the same prophet who said, "Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"

(John 1:29). He said, "I am not worthy to untie his sandals. He is mightier than I. He is coming after me. I am baptizing you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (John 1:27,30;33).

This was the same John who recognized Jesus when he saw Him and was positive about his convictions. He didn't have a doubt. He said, "I didn't know Him before, but when I saw the dove descend upon Him, I knew He 10

Prevailing in Times of Transition

was the Christ."

John the Baptist knew exactly what he believed. He wasn't open to the liberal theologians of the day. He wasn't confused or double-minded about who Jesus was.

Neither was he double-tongued, feeble, intimidated, or inhibited about preaching. "You vipers," he said. "You offspring of snakes. Who has revealed to you to escape the judgment to come?" (Luke 3:7).

So it wasn't that John did not know what he believed; he knew exactly what he believed. And this was the same John who said, "I must decrease so that He might increase" (John 3:30).

What Happens After Faith Comes

The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). But how many of you know that after faith comes, the devil comes?

The devil doesn't come before faith comes. The devil doesn't come before the truth is spoken. The devil always comes after the truth, because he has nothing to say unless it is in opposition to the truth!

In other words, the devil is not a creative being. He doesn't have a thing to say. He can only take the truth and twist it. Therefore, until the truth is spoken, the devil is silent.

You don't hear the devil talking in the Garden of Eden before God said, "Don't eat of the fruit of the tree." You don't hear him tempting man before God said, "The day you eat of it, you will surely die." But once God had said, "You will surely die," the devil said, "You will not die."

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How to Receive Your Miracle

The Bible also calls the devil "the tempter." In other words, he tempts. The Bible also calls him "the thief." In other words, he steals. But in order for him to steal, there must be something for him to steal. He cannot come to take what you have unless God has given you something.

Good News, Bad News

The moment you hear the Gospel—the Good News— and you believe it, you get the faith to perform what you heard. That's the Good News. The bad news is, the devil knows you received the Good News, and he knows there is a possibility you might act upon it. Therefore, he begins to put pressure on you.

That is why you need to know how to prevail in times of transition; times that seem foreign to you. These are the times when you say, "Lord, what in the world is going on?

I don't understand. Why haven't I received my miracle?"

When you fly a jet that is built to break the sound barrier into a higher level and speed, the closer you get to the sound barrier, the greater the resistance becomes.

Things start shaking, and it seems as if you are going the wrong way.

This is what happens to you in times of transition.

Your mind says, "This thing is going to break up! Don't push the throttle any more. This thing was not designed for that. It's going to fall apart!"

Penetrating the Barrier

That's exactly how you are in the Kingdom of God.

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

When you begin to soar with the Lord and put the Word to work, the closer you get to the place of breaking the barriers of the enemy—that realm of resistance and shaking where it feels as if every bone in your spiritual being is going to fall apart—you don't understand what is happening. You've never been there before.

But the Good News is, don't pull back on the throttle.

The Good News is, you are about to penetrate that barrier, and once you break it, you are going to get to the other side, you will receive your miracle, and it's going to be smooth flying, in Jesus' mighty Name!

Jesus said that some people receive the Word with joy, but when they have to suffer persecution and tribulation for the Word's sake, they become offended.

Do you know that the only reason the enemy attacks you is to steal the Word? Lay hands on yourselves and say, "If I'm going to be just like Jesus, it's going to be because of the Word. The Word of God is going to change me into His image." The enemy knows that, and he knows you are well on your way to another realm in the Holy Ghost.

So the only thing he can do is pour on the pressure— psychological pressure and the pressure of natural circumstances. He can't do a thing to you, but in the natural, your situation can seem so uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and foreign, you begin to wonder, "What's wrong? When I was way back there, things went smoothly. Now I'm over here, and things are shaky.

There's a storm, and things are flying in every direction. I can't handle any more."

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How to Receive Your Miracle

Speaking Your Faith

That's where John was. John had already spoken his faith on many occasions. Have you spoken your faith? You said, "By His stripes, I was healed." Then the pain came, and some powerless theologian said, "We'll see!" Or you have tithed and believed, "All of my needs are met according to His riches in glory," and— bam! —you went into unfamiliar territory.

I've heard people say, "Listen, man, I was better off when I was in the world!" How many know that when your father is the devil, he leaves you alone for a while?

You're not a threat to him. But when you trade sides, God becomes your Father, and the devil becomes your enemy.

God equips you to go into the enemy's dimension, overthrow his altars, tear down his fortresses, and lay claim to the souls he holds. That's when the devil targets your life.

John preached it. He taught it. He believed it. Notice John has never wondered whether or not Jesus was the Messiah until he was thrown in jail. Before, John had said, "I must decrease that He might increase." Then, when he was in jail and the circumstance that was going to decrease him came, he began to wonder whether or not he had heard God right.

I am not saying God puts you in jail, in a sick bed, or in the unemployment line to teach you something.

Absolutely not! I am saying that if we spiritualize this text, we see John as representing the old way and Jesus the new way.

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

Where You Ought to Be

God says, "You and I are going to make a transition from where you were into a place where I am leading you; to a place you should be.

During this time of transition, the enemy will bring across your path situations and pressures designed to cover you with a maze of confusion so he can rob you of the confidence, the testimony, the commitment, and the assurance that will lead you through.

By putting on the pressure, he tries to get you to take your hands off the throttle. He tries to get you to back off and not let that thrust carry you through to penetrate and break the barriers.

In prison, he put the pressure on John. John began to wonder, "What am I doing here? I wonder if I missed God.

Is Jesus the One? I want to make sure I'm right."

Soaring Above Your Circumstances

When you were called by God to go into high places and you know it; then you tell it, preach it, confess it, and believe it. Everything is all right as long as you are making your way upward.

Some airplanes are unpressurized. They can't fly at an altitude of 30,000 feet. They are not designed for that altitude. If you take them that high, they begin to fall apart!

However, God has equipped and "pressurized" you as a Christian to soar above the circumstances of life. When 15

How to Receive Your Miracle

you know it, you begin to preach it, believe it, and testify to it!

Everything is fine as long as you're only 10,000 feet above the Earth. But the higher you get, the greater your responsibility and need to believe becomes.

You look down, and you say, "My God, I can't keep this thing together by myself!" But how many of you know it's not you holding things together anyway?

It is the anointing on your life that is doing it, just like it is not the pilot who holds the airplane together. The high-altitude airplane handles the pressure; it was designed to do that. It can soar high. So is the believer who holds to the word of truth and never allows the pressures of the adversary to talk him out of it.

A man or woman of transition always fulfills the mission. On the other hand, a stagnant person won't have such problems, because his battles have already stopped.

Why? Because he stopped. If you quit taking territory, in the natural it feels much better, because all the pressure is off.

On the other hand, seasons of transition demand commitment, intensity, tenacity, and wholehearted conviction. In the natural, seasons of transition will feel like your mind is racing, like your heart is pressed, and like your relationships are stressed.

As a matter of fact, everyone around you—people you count on—will start freaking out. It's not because they are bad people, but because the enemy knows if he does not stop you this side of the barrier, he will never stop you.

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

If John Could Be Stopped

He knew if he could stop John—if he could get John to relinquish what he said and negate or reverse his testimony about Christ—it would influence what is in our four Gospels today.

John was not immaculately conceived; John could have reversed his message. Some people think Jesus could have never sinned. The Bible said He could have, but He didn't. If Jesus could have, John could have.

Now, John in prison is having those thoughts. We know it because of the words he spoke. He asked, "Is He the One?" He told his disciples, "Go out and ask Him, 'Are You the One, or should we seek another?'" (Matthew 11:3).

The disciples probably thought, "Man, aren't you the one who baptized Him? We've been following you. You're the one who said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!'"

John's disciples went out to ask the Lord, and Jesus said, "Go tell John again" (verse 4). How many of you have gone to the Lord in prayer and asked, "Why am I going through what I'm going through?" and you get the same word you got before?

"Go tell John again." You preach it, believe it, shout it, and declare it, and everything's fine. Then you step out to possess it, and the circumstances change.

When you were a kid, if you knew you could beat up the neighborhood bully, you stood up for yourself. But if you thought the bully was too big or he could beat you up, you were silent until he was far enough away that he 17

How to Receive Your Miracle

couldn't get you. Then you started telling him off.

Once You're in the Promised Land

Likewise, while you're still in the desert, it's easy to claim the Promised Land and talk about what you're going to do to the giant once you get there. But once you've crossed over the barrier of the River Jordan, and you've come to the place where you can now lay claim to the territory, suddenly you realize there's a giant over there saying no. You cannot allow yourself to forget the promise God gave you.

"Go tell John again. Go show John again." In other words, God says to you, "I am leading you over. You are going to be the head and not the tail. As your days are, so will your strength be. You are going to be blessed in your going out and your coming in. Whatever you do will prosper!"

When God speaks to you about these things and you hide them in your heart and believe them, the Holy Ghost begins to direct you into your realm of influence. Once you get into the ring, so to speak, the blows fly and you begin to experience the pressures of heated battle.

You go to God and pray, "Lord, I don't understand it.

It's so unfamiliar. I didn't know it was going to be like this.

Am I in your will? What in the world is going on?"

If you pray this long enough, God will say the same thing He said to you before you started.

Offended in the Word

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

"Go show John again.. " God does not change His mind. "Go show John again that these things are happening. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are preached to. And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me" (Matthew 11:4-6).

In our Western mind and the limited vocabulary we possess, we think that the word "offended" means someone is saying, "I'm offended at that."

In the Book of James, the Word says, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2). Jesus said, ". .Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me" (Matthew 16:23). What Jesus is referring to is being offended in the Word of God.

The Bible says Abraham ".. staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20). In other words, Abraham did not stagger. He did not fall. He did not become double-minded. He was not offended in the Word of God. By faith, he knew he had the promises of God! He believed God!

Remember, the Bible says about Jesus, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Here Jesus is saying, "Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me."

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus said, "When persecution comes, you are thrown in jail, the pressure is heavy, things in the natural are pressing you, and you don't seem to be capable of zeroing in on exactly what is 19

How to Receive Your Miracle

happening in the realm of the Spirit, some people will be offended because of the Word."

Your Most Difficult Challenge

When faith comes and God moves you to that realm where you need to possess the promise given to you, that's when you meet your most difficult challenge.

Lay hands on yourself. Say, "I have within me through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God every provision necessary to fulfill my destiny in God. I am not afraid of transitional times. They are necessary to lead me to my destiny. They are necessary to lead me to my miracle."

Now Jesus sends word to John, saying, "Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me."

Several years ago, God began to fill our hearts with a big vision. It seemed like we had run as fast as we could, and there was no way to do more in the natural. I've heard people say, "I wish I could be in two places at once." Well, I wish I could be in a hundred places or a thousand places, for that matter, at the same time, because there is so much to do in God, and there is so much God can fill our spirit with.

In the initial stages when you begin to journey out, it seems like everything goes smoothly. It's like when a jet takes off and leaves the runway, you can immediately feel the power of the thrust and the change in the smooth transition.

Decision-Making Time

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

When things start going like that for you, God begins to speak further to you, because you reach plateaus in your spiritual walk. You reach realms where you have to make a decision.

You can either become satisfied with what you have and where you are, or you can let go and go where God is taking you.

In the first stages of your spiritual journey, you are still not that far removed from familiar territory. In other words, you are not so far out that you can still lean on your own ability.

It's a little like standing in the ocean where the water is only six feet deep. You are in the ocean, but you figure you can always manage to get to where you can stand up.

If you're 6 feet 2 inches or 6 feet 4 inches, you're all right.

You're still in control. But if you keep going farther into even deeper water, you will eventually get to the point where you can no longer see the shore or touch the bottom. You have now lost control.

The Point of No Return

Eventually you get to a place in God where the land you could have become anchored to is no longer visible, where you can no longer reverse your steps, and where "Plan B," which you could have counted on is no longer an option.

There's a realm in God where you might as well keep going, because there is no turning back—and it is at that exact time that the adversary launches his hardest attack against your life.

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How to Receive Your Miracle

Those are the times you need to know how to put your mind in check, how to put your words in check, and how not to be moved by what you feel. And you are going to feel in the natural like everything is shaken, rocking, and falling apart. But on the inside of you, keep that Word that God has put there: "I am going to achieve. I am going to reach my destiny in God. I am going to receive my miracle!"

Settling for Tradition

Of course, there are people who settle for tradition.

They tell you, "It is safe to be traditional." You don't have to be imaginative, and you don't have to be led by the Spirit. All you have to do is discover something someone has already done, and you think you can do it, too. That's tradition.

When you are a transitional person, you glean from the experiences, teaching, preaching, and insight of others, yet God says, "That's not enough, son. That's not enough, daughter." He begins to tug you, woo you, and direct you.

At first you're excited, because you know you're hearing God, so you start running around having a good time. But all of a sudden you find yourself in a realm where you say, "Where in the world am I?" You look around and say, "Wait a minute! I've never been here before. As a matter of fact, I don't know how to get back!"

I can remember a time riding a Triumph Bonneville with my hair halfway down my back, wearing dark shades, doing PCP and cocaine, and having a hard time just speaking English. But I don't know how to get back 22

Prevailing in Times of Transition

there. I've forgotten that realm.

I can remember when I used to worry and panic just to believe God for hundreds of dollars. I don't know how to get back there.

Starting in 1993, we saw deaf ears opened, blind eyes opened, wheelchairs emptied, and other miracles of every form and fashion. But I'm not satisfied. I don't want to go back to 1993. This is a new day in the Lord!

God Understands

I have news for the devil. Every time the pressure is intensified, there's a still, small voice on the inside of the believer that says, "God is the same. He never changes.

This is the way!"

"Go show John again. And then tell him, 'Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me.'" Notice that Jesus did not berate John. As a matter of fact, he speaks favorably of John.

Do you know that God understands? Do you know why? Someone will answer, "The Lord knows we're just human." Listen, the Lord is human, too! I know I just shocked some religious folks. When He became a man, it was not a sham. It was not a scam.

The Bible said Jesus did not take upon Himself the form of an angel (Hebrews 1:4). He literally became a man! "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. ."

(John 1:14). As a matter of fact, the Bible says, ". .there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

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How to Receive Your Miracle

Yes, the Lord knows you are human, and He became a human in order to whip the devil as a human and gain the right for every human being to whip the devil, too.

The Temptation of Jesus

When Jesus stepped out of His time of preparation into full-time commitment, immediately, the Bible said, the Spirit of the Lord drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Did you know Jesus never held a conversation with Satan during the first 30 years He was on planet Earth?

"Oh," you say, "but He knew Satan when He was in heaven." But He was now a man. God had become a human being, and He was so vulnerable! He had absolutely no divine abilities whatsoever outside of the realm of the nine gifts of the Holy Ghost.

That's good news. It means you don't need to be divine. You just need to be a partaker of the divine nature.

To defeat the enemy, Jesus had the nine gifts of the Holy Ghost working in His life since His baptism in the River Jordan.

He was driven into the wilderness—foreign territory He had never been in before—where He was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights.

Then, when Jesus was hungry and at His most vulnerable point, the highest-ranking officer in the kingdom of darkness, the devil, personally came to tempt Him. Up until that time, Jesus never had a conversation with the enemy on that level.

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

As a matter of fact, when Jesus dealt with the devil before His incarnation, He didn't need to quote scripture to him. Remember, the devil had said, "I will be like the Most High." God did not need to quote scripture to him to throw him out of heaven; He just did it.

Satan fell out of heaven before man was created, yet every scripture we have referring to his future says, "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isaiah 14:15). That was spoken by a prophet a long time after God had thrown the devil out of heaven.

So when God opposes the enemy, He does not need to fight with the methods He has given you and me. We are the ones who have to take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and use it against the enemy. The good news is, the battle has been won, and the Victor has been crowned.

"It Is Written"

The wilderness experience was the first time in Jesus'

life that He faced the adversary, and He needed to fight him as a human by the sword of the Spirit. Jesus told the devil, "It is written, it is written, it is written. Blessed is he that shall not be offended in the Word of God."

Listen to me: I don't care how far out you have journeyed in God. I don't care how unfamiliar it seems, how heavy the pressure seems to be, or how intense the warfare is. Don't take your eyes off the Word of God and put them on the storm!

Keep the words "It is written" in your mouth. Keep the words "It is written" in your heart. Keep the words "It is 25

How to Receive Your Miracle

written" in your life. When you do this, you will defeat the devil every time for the glory of God!

Jesus said of John, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? . .A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet" (Matthew 11:7,9). Then He said that John was a special vessel from God, ". .notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (verse 11).

Applying the Power of God

Now look at verse 12: "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

Do you know the need for violence is there because there is an enemy trying to resist you from taking the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, you need force—not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. You need a spiritual application of the power of God to lay hold on the kingdom of God.

Someone will say, "Wait a minute. Didn't we lay hold on the kingdom when we were born again?" Yes, we did in one sense. But do you know that Jesus said, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)?

If God wants us to be provided for down here the way we would be provided for up there, we must turn on the power of God and lay claim to that part of the kingdom.

We must say, "Devil, get out of my way! I'm violent, and the Holy Ghost lays claim to what belongs to me!"

The Realm of Miracles

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Prevailing in Times of Transition

If God says, "As my days are, so shall my strength be,"

I am going to rise up and say, "I refuse to yield to the pressures trying to weary me, weaken me, or press down the flesh. I am going to use the power of God to live strong and healthy in the realm of miracles, because Jesus said, "The violent take the kingdom by force.'"

Did you know the devil hates it when Christians begin to walk in the realm of miracles? God has anointed us to live in a different dimension, a higher realm, than we've ever lived before. And it doesn't matter how high we go— there's more in God!

I was ministering in a large miracle crusade in Dallas, and a man came to me and said, "My ear has a hole in it. It was destroyed in Vietnam." I don't know what God did, but after we ministered to him, that man could hear whispers. He had been completely deaf before.

Another man came in the healing line with a scar from the top of his ear all the way across, where surgeons had gone in and removed his eardrum. He did not even have an eardrum! But God healed his ear, and that man, too, could hear whispers.

A brain-damaged woman sitting in a wheelchair got up and started walking around. I was told she walked about 50 steps. Another woman threw down her cane and also started walking.

Deformed Arm Healed

A visiting Baptist man had a deformed arm that was an inch and a half shorter than his other arm. All his clothes had to be tailored to fit his deformed arm. After 27

How to Receive Your Miracle

we ministered to him, he began to feel an ache.

He went home, fell asleep, woke up in the morning, and put on his suit. He was shocked to discover he now needed to have all of his clothing altered again. God had caused his deformed arm to grow out to the length of his normal arm! I know the devil was mad.

When you operate on that level, the devil hates you and targets you. But Isaiah 54:17 says, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. . "

After we moved into our new international headquarters building in Pensacola, Florida, we prepared to launch an international institute of signs and wonders to train people to move in the anointing of God.

At first, we didn't do any advertising to let anyone know our plans. But when the word got out, not only did the Christians know about it, but the devil knew about it as well.

We'd drive out of the parking lot and find a strange van parked out there with people watching us. As we drove around town, we'd see another van following us.

Everything in the natural seemed unfamiliar as we stepped out into our spiritual journey with God.

The Devil Got Nervous

One day as my wife, Pastor Robin, was driving out of the parking lot, she noticed some young people across the street holding hands in a circle. Someone told us there is a 28

Prevailing in Times of Transition

satanic coven in Pensacola, so the devil has been telling his people to pray against us!

How many know it takes a loser to pray to a loser?

Only losers pray to losers. Winners pray to the Winner!

Hallelujah!

I'm glad the devil is nervous, and I absolutely refuse to be moved by turbulent, shaky times of transition.

What God has placed in your heart—the vision, the conviction, or the assurance—is more than enough to keep you through that barrier-breaking time and lead you into another realm where God's goodness, mercy, blessing, and overflowing abundance will cover your life mightily for the glory of His Name.

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Chapter 2

Anointed With Fresh Oil

2

n my frequent travels around the globe, I have seen a Ilot of misunderstanding about the anointing.

Some people have minimized the anointing down to goose bumps or a chill. I'm referring to well-meaning, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled Christians who have not been taught or have failed to learn how to cooperate with God's ever-present, supernatural power.

If you are a child of God, He has made available to you a power that is beyond your wildest expectations and your mind's ability to comprehend. There is a power available to your spirit man that you cannot analyze, evaluate, or understand.

This is why it is imperative you learn how to yield yourself to such spiritual, invisible, dynamic, supernatural power. I believe that as a child of God, you have access to that anointing 24 hours a day.

The Bible says in Acts 10:38 that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. . "

That tells us that the anointing is for action. Jesus Christ was anointed to do good and heal all that were oppressed of the devil.

If you will remember, when He was performing a 31

How to Receive Your Miracle

miracle on the Sabbath day to a woman who had been bowed over and bound by the devil for 18 years, Jesus said, "Ought not this woman. .whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" (Luke 13:16). It is never too late to receive your miracle!

Jesus and the Anointing

That tells us that bondage is the work of the devil, and deliverance is the work of Jesus. When we put this fact together with the scripture that says God anointed Jesus to heal, we find that the anointing is here to destroy the bondage of the devil.

That means if we know how to put the anointing to work in our lives, we will always manage to cast the devil and his influence out and destroy his bondage for the glory of God.

The first sermon Jesus ever preached was when He walked into the synagogue in Nazareth, took the scroll of the prophet Isaiah from the leader of the synagogue, and read from Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4:18,19

Even Jesus wouldn't preach without the anointing! I 32

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know some theologians and preachers today do not think you need the anointing to preach, but even the Word of God incarnate did not preach until He was anointed by the Holy Ghost!

Breaking the Curse

How are You going to set them at liberty, Jesus? By the anointing. How do we know that? Because God said in Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my

spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."

In Luke 4:18, Jesus said He was anointed "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." This was the Year of Jubilee; the year when the prisoner was set free, the poor were made rich, the slave was liberated, the curse was broken, and the blessings were made available.

Jesus said, "I have been anointed by the Father to preach, to usher in, and to herald a brand-new dispensation in human history."

Just because the anointing is available to you—just because the Spirit of God lives in you, you have the ability to speak with other tongues, and you believe the Word— does not mean you are walking in the anointing. Why?

Because you need to experience the presence of the living God every day of your life. You cannot live off yesterday's anointing.

The Anointing

To clarify the broad realm of God's provision, I need to point out that when God talks about His Spirit, His 33

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presence, the hand of the Lord, and His glory, He is talking about the same thing—the anointing.

The anointing is the element God has made available to us that is capable of breaking our bondage and releasing His power in an unlimited fashion.

Psalm 92:10 says, "But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh

oil." If the psalmist said, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil," that means there is a need to be anointed with fresh oil every day.

Strong in the Power

The anointing gives you access to the power of God.

Paul said it like this in Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

I have seen so many Christians trying to be strong, but I could tell they were trying to be strong in their own ability. They were using their intellect; they were putting their education to work; they were forcefully using their willpower; and they were actively, obstinately standing to affirm what God said.

But do you know if that's all we have, sooner or later we will give out, because we cannot win spiritual victories by natural means. We need God's supernatural power in our lives to gain an ever-present miraculous victory.

So when God says, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might," He must be talking about being strong because of the presence and the anointing of God 34

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in our lives that causes the Word of God to live and become rhema to us.

As Jesus said to the devil, ". .man shall not live by bread alone, but by every [rhema] word of God" (Luke 4:4).

Health to All Your Flesh

Why? Because when the Word of God comes to you— when it is a rhema to you—it is packed with the anointing.

It is packed with the Spirit. The Spirit is life to those who find the Word, and it becomes health to all their flesh.

I was ministering in Raleigh, North Carolina, one night, and I began speaking about the Spirit of the Lord brooding over the face of the Earth. I brought out how the Spirit brooding, along with the Word spoken, brought together creation for the glory of God.

We had tremendous miracles that night. The most exciting happened to a woman who was born with a deformed left eye. Her eye was only partially developed, and she had never been able to see out of it. I don't think she was familiar with Pentecostal or Charismatic churches. I believe she came out of a denominational church.

She came to the meeting, heard the message on faith, and I laid my hands on her. The power of God went into her, and she fell down under the power. I know some people are skeptical about power demonstrations of God.

They wonder whether or not God will really knock someone down.

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I believe that God can shake a building. I believe that God can shake a city. I believe that before this move of God is over, men and women are going to know their God, and they are going to do mighty exploits as a result of knowing Him and walking in His anointing. I believe there is a dimension in the Holy Ghost that the Church has not yet accessed, let alone begun to walk in.

Holy Laughter

When that woman fell out under the power, I knelt down and put my right palm on top of her left eye. As I did, the power of God (the anointing) began to rise up and pour out of me in the form of laughter.

I laughed, because I knew that the same God who said, "Let there be light"—the same Spirit who brooded over the face of the deep—was in that service to verify the Word with signs following.

As I laughed in the Holy Ghost, there was complete silence in the church. When I finished ministering to the woman, I left her and began ministering to other people.

A few seconds later, I heard her laughing as she still lay there. And when she did, the whole church began to laugh hysterically!

After she got up, she said, "I want to testify. When you held the palm of your hand on my eye and said, 'Let there be light,' a shaft of light shot into my eye socket. Now I can see for the first time in my life! I can read clearly."

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for!

Taking God at His Word

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I was recently on an airplane and saw a negative, derogatory magazine article about the Christian faith. The title was "How Man Created God." It takes an absolute idiot to come up with a title like that!

All joking aside, there are some Spirit-filled Christians today who do not take God at His word. They do not allow Him to operate His full power in their lives, because they think they know better.

God is a Miracle Worker. It doesn't matter what we choose to believe. He is not dependent on our intellectual acceptance of who He is, and His anointing is not dependent upon our acceptance of it.

Just because we do not sense the anointing sometimes, or we choose to walk in the natural and do not make our claim on it, does not mean God's ability is diminished to perform miracles, defeat the adversary, or break bondages.

He is not going to be sorry or apply for another job just because some people don't believe His anointing is beyond an emotional experience.

Renewing Your Strength

The psalmist said, "You are going to promote me. You are going to renew my strength. You are going to exalt my horn like you would the strength of a unicorn or a wild bull."

In the scriptures, the horn is a symbol of force, strength, or power. And we know why. David said, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil!" The anointing gives you 37

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strength. It gives you a world-defying, devil-defeating element in your life that will never leave you nor forsake you. God has made that anointing available to you!

The anointing is one of the provisions of redemption many of us have ignored or failed to fully analyze, evaluate, and accept.

Three That Bear Witness

The Bible says, "There are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one" (1 John 5:8). We could read it this way: "There are three that bear witness on Earth: the blood, the Word, and the anointing: and these three agree in one."

Let me show you what God did through Jesus. He not only provided the blood to redeem you; He provided the Word to wash you and renew your mind, to give you the faith you need to perform the mission He has given to you; and He also gave you the anointing to equip you in your daily walk with Him.

So there are three that are made available to you: the blood, the Word, and the Spirit. And this is where some miss it. They go off hunting the anointing and become so superspiritual, they allow the adversary to come in and steal that which is genuine, and they become wackos.

They think the anointing, being led by the Spirit, and being anointed means being absolutely out from under the Word of God.

On the other hand, because of these people, others have backed away from the very power God intended to accompany the Gospel. Teachers and preachers have 38

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become dry and so legalistic, they kill the influence of the Holy Spirit and deny Him access into their lives and ministries.

We need both the Word and the Spirit to see God's miracle-working power in our lives.

"Because of the Anointing"

Isaiah 10:27 says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing."

Listen to what God said through His prophet: "There is a day I am prophesying about. When it comes, your disposition will change, because the burden of the enemy that was weighing you down, wearying you, and causing you to succumb to life's pressures is going to be taken from off your shoulder. And the yoke that has bound your neck and kept you stiff and hardhearted against God, bound to the curse of the Law, poverty, insensitivity to God, sickness, disease, and sin is going to be smashed. It is going to be broken from off your neck and annihilated."

Why? Because of the anointing!

We can say it like this: "And the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing." Or we can say, "The anointing shall destroy the yoke." Or we can say, "The anointing destroys the yoke." And just because it did so once in your life does not mean it stopped. The anointing breaks the power of the devil off of you daily!

The anointing can be present with you to break the 39

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power of the devil off of you in the experience of salvation.

Then the anointing breaks the power of the devil off your mind so you can renew your mind.

Then the anointing breaks the power of the devil off your body every time you feel weak or weary.

There is a place in God where those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and mount up with wings as eagles, the Word says in Isaiah 40:31. God has made available to you the anointing that destroys the yoke!

Jesus Walked in the Anointing

Jesus came 2,000 years ago to verify and fulfill the Word spoken about Him. One of these words about Him and the day He came was Isaiah 10:27, which we could read: ". .his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing." Why?

Because of the anointing!

Jesus came and walked in that anointing. Colossians says of Him, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

Do you know that Jesus represented the fullness of the Godhead bodily? Do you know that He was with God and He was God, but He stepped out of the invisible dimension of heaven and moved into the material dimension of Earth? And do you know He became flesh and bone—flesh and blood—man? He became a human.

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How God Became a Man

Now let me show you how God became a man, because it is important. If you are going to learn to walk with the anointing, you must understand how the anointing works.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God and appeared to the Virgin Mary. It doesn't matter what the liberals say; she was a virgin. And Gabriel said to her, "You are going to conceive and bring forth a child. You are going to call Him Jesus. He is going to be the Son of God."

And Mary said, "How can this be?"

This is how the angel explained the process of the incarnation to her. He said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.. " (Luke 1:35).

What was he talking about? "The anointing is going to come upon you, Mary, and you are going to conceive as a by-product of the anointing moving.

"The anointing, Mary, is going to take the words that God sent through me, and it is going to ignite the Word with the ability to sprout and produce a harvest in your life. That anointing will go into your mortal human womb and become a flesh-and-blood child who will be born into the Earth realm."

God Will Fulfill Your Vision

The invisible God has provided an invisible element that comes into your spirit man, bringing a vision, a 41

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dream, a word, or a promise. But before God is through, it is going to come forth through you and materialize in the form of a building, a work, a business, a family, a harvest, or a miracle.

The anointing will produce what God has said. It will come through you and visit your life with the equipment of heaven. Confess, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil—every day!"

So how did Mary conceive? Through the anointing. She got anointed! The Spirit of God—the power of God—came upon her. And that anointing, although invisible, spiritual, and supernatural, materialized.

The Anointing and Creative Miracles I once ministered to a man who had been on disability for four years. He was in pain 24 hours a day and was on crutches. He had 13 deteriorated disks in his back.

Yet the anointing performed such a miracle that when the man returned to his doctor after he had been prayed for, the doctor and his staff said, "Come in here. We don't understand this. This is not the same back we x-rayed before."

The anointing will create new bones and perform other creative miracles. The anointing will put a kidney where there is no kidney. The anointing will grow an amputated finger. The anointing will grow an amputated arm. The anointing will open blind eyes. It will unstop deaf ears. The anointing will bring the dead back to life again! The anointing will bring your miracle!

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The anointing is God's supernatural means to bring heaven's provision to planet Earth. And before this thing is over with, men and women will learn to walk in the anointing.

The Thing Jesus Lacked

As we saw, the Bible says there are three that bear witness in the Earth: (1) The Spirit, (2) the water (the Word), and (3) the blood.

Jesus, from His infancy until His maturity at age 30, walked with only two of these elements in His life. He had the blood, and He had the Word, because He was the Word.

But until John said, "The Spirit descended on him," He did not have the full measure of the anointing.

John said, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him" (John 1:32). As you know, the word "descended " means to come down from above.

This means the Holy Spirit couldn't have descended upon Jesus if the Spirit had already been upon Him prior to His baptism. And this means that the third element necessary for supernatural ministry came upon Jesus at the time of His baptism.

For 30 years, Jesus was the Word, but He never preached. For 30 years, Jesus was God incarnate, but He never performed a miracle.

For 30 years, Jesus was filled with heaven's blood that was going to cleanse every human being who ever 43

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believes, yet He never went out, cut His wrist, and laid His hands on anyone to get them cleansed with His blood.

Doing the Works of God

Jesus waited until the element that God has sanctioned to equip came upon Him, and then He began to minister in that power. And this is what He said to people: "I am not doing it by my power as Deity. I am not doing it at all.

The Spirit of the Father who is with Me is doing the work." That means God sent the anointing to work with Jesus so Jesus could work the works of God!

Remember the time Jesus noticed a blind man sitting along the road, and He told His disciples, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day. ." (John 9:4). He never said, "I must work the works of Him" when He was 28 or 29. He never said, "I must work the works of Him" until He had the equipment necessary to do those works.

If you have the Holy Spirit, you have the equipment necessary to get the job done!

As I travel around the world, I meet people who have been full of the Holy Spirit for 30 years, but when I encourage them, "Go ahead and pray in tongues," I can tell they are not anointed. How? Because you can't be anointed with fresh oil and then walk under pressures, stress, and fear.

And when I ask them again, "Go ahead and pray in tongues," they say, "Yabba dabba doo." They have received only three or four syllables in the past 30 years.

That's all they pray.

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Proof of the Anointing

If you are anointed with fresh oil, the joy of the Lord will live mightily in you, and the Word of God will be on the tip of your tongue. When someone asks, "How are you?" your reply will roll out of your mouth to verify that God's victory has provided something for you.

When you are anointed, the prison doors are opened.

When you are anointed, the chains have been shattered.

When someone is walking around depressed and oppressed, it is not because he is not full of the Spirit; it is because he needs to be anointed with fresh oil. He needs a fresh refilling; a fresh overflow of God's divine power.

Increasing the Anointing

To have the power of God operating strong in your life, you must do what God said to do. He said, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself. ." (1

Corinthians 14:4). That means your spirit is edified and built up by how you pray. And that means God fills your spirit man with the anointing through your prayer life.

The anointing then fills your cup, and your cup runs over. And when your cup runs over, the yoke that has been trying to get on your neck is broken, and the burden that has been trying to get on your shoulders is destroyed.

That's why the Bible says in First Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you."

Of course, you cannot cast your cares of Him intellectually, because before you take even one step, you discover you have taken your cares with you. Cares are 45

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nothing more than spiritual forces designed to trouble your heart.

And that's why Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1). Don't be anxious. Don't be careful.

Don't be fearful about anything. But how can you do that unless you walk with the anointing?

The Anointing Produces Deliverance When you get anointed, the assurance, the peace, the victory, and the joy of God fills your spirit. All of a sudden you say, "The devil is a midget. He's a pygmy; he's not a giant." And that anointing produces deliverance and liberation in your life!

After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, he began to walk with the anointing and say, "I must work the works of Him that sent me." Later, Jesus went through the sufferings of Calvary.

In Isaiah 53, we find what God has provided through Calvary. Many Christians are waiting for Jesus' Second Coming, but we haven't even put to work the things He provided the first time He came! We don't need Jesus to come again to whip the devil; the devil is already defeated!

I am not saying Jesus is not coming back—of course He is. I believe in the Rapture. I believe Jesus is coming for His people. But I also believe that before the Church leaves, damage is going to be done to the kingdom of darkness by believers who know how to be anointed with the Holy Spirit.

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Taking the Limits Off God

Therefore, we need to put to work what Jesus provided the first time He came. The Bible was referring to the first time around when Isaiah said, "and the yoke shall be destroyed." It was referring to the first time He came when Isaiah also prophesied:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing...

Isaiah 35:5,6

God was referring to the first time around when He said, "I am going to change their hearts. I am going to give them a heart of flesh. I am going to write My laws in their heart. I am going to live My life in and through them" (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26).

Jesus did something at Calvary that all of us need to open our hearts to. Look at this carefully, because I believe that without our personal cooperation, we cannot completely take the limits off God.

You can listen to the Word and even be involved intellectually, mentally, or soulishly—and there will still be limits on God. Until you put your spirit to work and lay claim to believe what God is doing and saying, you will keep limits on Him.

Do you want to see God do something powerful for you? If so, I want you to go with me on a journey. I want you to make a decision to go in the Spirit to that place where the presence of God will be so overwhelming, you 47

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will cash in on what He has promised through the cross.

What Jesus Did for Us

Isaiah 53:4 is a familiar portion of scripture. Read it as if you were seeing it for the first time: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. . "

Do you know what the phrase "borne our griefs"

means? It means He carried them. And the phrase "carried our sorrows" means He took our sorrows from us and carried them.

...yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4,5

The only holy One, the only pure One, the only sinless and spotless One who ever lived on the face of this Earth was Christ Jesus, who became a man. He walked sinless, spotless, and without blemish for 33 1/2 years—and for 30

of those years, He walked without the supernatural, miraculous power of God operating in His life.

The Worthy Vessel

Then He became the first human being since the Garden of Eden to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Why?

Because until that time, everyone who was called to be a prophet, a priest, or a king would have the Spirit of God come upon them.

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Until that time, no one in human history had the right kind of heart to be filled with the Spirit of God, because there was no worthy vessel found to be indwelt by a holy God.

There were many people who were indwelt by evil spirits, but God's Spirit had not filled a vessel since He had breathed into man the breath of life in the Garden of Eden.

Then Jesus came, and the Bible says, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon Him." He was the first candidate for God's spiritual indwelling.

Do you know Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:34)? The nine manifestations of the Holy Spirit operated in Him.

The Barrier of Sin

Until the time of the cross, there was a veil in the Holy Holies as a type of the wall or barrier of sin separating man from the Spirit of God—the presence of God, the anointing of God, and the fellowship of God.

Jesus came from heaven for one purpose: to break down and do away with the veil to unite God and man.

The Bible says God gave Him the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). The devil tempted Jesus to try to stop Him from fulfilling His divine objective, but he did not succeed.

The Spirit of God lived in Jesus, but until His blood was spilled, no one on planet Earth could become a recipient of the Spirit's indwelling. Thus, no one could 49

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walk with power.

You cannot walk with power without the anointing.

You cannot break the yoke without the anointing!

That veil separated the Holy of Holies from the outer court of the Temple. After preparing himself to atone for his sins and the sins of the people, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year and sprinkle the blood of an animal on the mercy seat.

This veil signified that sin was the veil separating God from man. The Spirit of God could not come into the life of a person without the shedding of blood; otherwise, there could be no remission of sin.

Again, Isaiah 53:4,5 tells us that Jesus would give His body for our sins. Then, Jesus said during the Last Supper, ". .Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you. ."

(1 Corinthians 11:24).

The Cross as an Instrument

Something important happened on the cross. The cross is not just an ornament that people wear around their necks. Neither is it a tool used to ward off vampires! The cross is an instrument that heaven's Champion, Jesus Christ, used to thwart the plans of hell for your life!

Jesus said, in effect, "Hell, I am going to take you on!"

And the Bible records in Colossians 2:15 what He did: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he [Jesus] made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

Thank God for the cross! This generation is going to 50

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find out about the power of the cross, and when it does, it's going to be hell for the devil!

In the cross, Jesus broke the power of hell off humanity.

In the cross, Jesus stripped the armor off the adversary In the cross, Jesus tore the devil's weight and yoke off our lives and provided a brand-new lifestyle of victory, anointing, and power for us.

Why was that cross the instrument God used to break Jesus' body? So that by the breaking of His body, our penalty would be eternally paid. And by the breaking of His body, the sin we were guilty of, the sickness we should have borne, and the disease that had infested humanity were all nailed to the cross.

In the cross, God provided the death of your old identity and provided a brand-new identity for you in God.

Paul said, "For me to live is Christ. ." (Philippians 1:21). "Christ" means "the anointed One." Therefore, we could read that verse, "For me to live is the Anointed One."

When the Veil Was Torn in Two

Thus, God broke Jesus' body to bring through His vessel the provision He had made for us. And at the very moment the Roman soldier pierced the side of Jesus, the Bible says the Temple veil was torn in two (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38).

That means when Jesus was pierced, God said, "That's 51

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it! Sin is broken! The veil is ripped! The wall of separation is smashed!"

Jesus said, "No more will mankind need to go through an intercessor or a go-between. Now, I have become the Go-between. I have become a man, and I will hold on to humanity and the Father. They will become part of Me."

And God rent the veil in two. When the veil was torn, the Bible said something came out of Jesus' side. Out of His body—the vessel, the human physical frame of the Lord Jesus Christ—came forth heaven's provision, which was the blood and the water:

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

John 19:34

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

Jesus Broke the Veil

Where did that provision come from? It came from Jesus' side. Why? Because Jesus' body became a type of the veil. Jesus allowed His body to be broken so He could break the veil separating mankind from God and bring mankind heaven's provision. He brought the blood, and it washed you clean. He brought the Word, and it is renewing you daily.

But Jesus didn't stop there. When He rose from the dead, that veil of separation was torn in two. And Jesus 52

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told Thomas, "Thomas, take your hand and thrust it into My side." There was still a gash there, because God wanted us to know heaven will never be closed again!

Today your miracle is closer to you than you believe.

As a matter of fact, if you believe it, you will get it, because that's how close it really is.

Anointed With Power

But Jesus didn't stop there. He not only provided the blood to cleanse us and the water of the Word to wash us; He said, ". .All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18).

Then He said to the disciples—and to us—". .tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued [anointed, or smeared] with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

By now, Jesus had risen from the dead, and the disciples were born again. They weren't just believing on credit anymore. The cross was a fact; it was history, and the devil was defeated.

Jesus rose from the dead with the keys of death, hell, and the grave (Revelation 1:18). His blood was made available. The disciples were saved. And He stayed with them 40 days and taught them the Word of God.

The disciples were good scholars. They wrote the Book. So we should listen to them rather than some contemporary explanations of what they said. We need to know the Word rather than what someone said about the Word.

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Jesus' Promise of Power

"Tarry. Wait until you are endued." What was Jesus saying? He was saying, "Listen, I made available to you through the breaking of My body two elements, but they are not enough. You are washed with the water of the Word, and you are redeemed by the blood, but wait! Don't preach. Don't do a thing. Stay in Jerusalem until you are smeared and anointed with the third element.

"I am going to ascend to heaven with my blood. I have already sprinkled the mercy seat with it. And I will pray the Father, and because that mercy seat is sprinkled and provision is made, He will send forth the Holy Spirit.

"The Comforter will come upon you, and you shall receive power after that the anointing is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8).

Jesus was saying, "You are washed. You are redeemed.

But wait! When that anointing comes that I am giving you, you will go, and these signs will follow you. You will cast out devils. You will speak with new tongues. You will lift up serpents" (Mark 16:17). Notice how powerful the anointing is!

The Victory of the Cross

Some have missed the victory of the cross. For example, when a snake jumped out of a fire and fastened its fangs on Paul's hand, he just shook it back into the fire, and according to Acts 28:3-6, he suffered no harm.

Some fail to understand that when Jesus paid for us, He provided the ability for us to live beyond the 54

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contamination of the world. He even promised that if we drink any deadly thing, it will not harm us. I didn't say it.

That's what Jesus said. However, this doesn't mean you are to buy poison and drink it.

If you are walking in the anointing, the devil can't kill you. Bullets can't kill you. They will miss you; they will veer away. If you walk in the anointing, you will be able to say, like Jesus, "No man takes my life" (John 10:18).

He told His disciples, "It is expedient that I go away, because as long as I am here, there will be only one human vessel full of the anointing of God. But when I go, I am going to duplicate Myself.”

"I am going to send the Holy Spirit, and eventually there will be millions of human vessels with the ability to unmask the devil and let everyone know he is defeated.

They will let everyone know that God is on the throne— and Calvary has prevailed on behalf of mankind!” (See John 16:7.)

"I have broken My body and now, through that provision, the anointing is going to come. Tarry until you are endued with that power from on high."

The Day the Anointing Fell

Then the Bible says, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. ." (Acts 2:1,2).

Glory to God, that was the anointing falling! The anointing made a lot of noise when it hit Earth's 55

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atmosphere. It went ssshhh, like a mighty wind, filling the house where they were sitting. That was the anointing.

"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them" (verse 3). They were consumed with God's anointing.

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (verse 4). It was an overflowing indwelling.

The anointing was provided so we could learn to walk in it.

The anointing will do things that are beyond your ability to comprehend, if you will only cooperate with it.

The anointing will give you supernatural manifestations that are necessary to magnify God. Not only will the anointing bring joy, peace, and the fruit of the Spirit; it brings divine, supernatural manifestations like the one when Philip was caught up, like the one when Jesus walked on the water, and like the one when Peter walked on the water. These events illustrate the anointing in operation.

Confess, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil!"

Expressing Doubt Religiously

Someone will say, "I believe God can. " That's not enough.

Someone else will say, "I believe God does sometimes."

That's not enough.

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As a matter of fact, much of what people say they are believing is nothing more than doubt expressed in religious form. When you say, "I believe God can," you are still not committing yourself to God. He said, "I can never lie. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am the God that healeth thee." He committed Himself to you.

So when you say, "He can, but I don't know if He will,"

you are not committing yourself to God. Your faith is not laying claim to what He has promised. Really, your confession is nothing more than doubt communicated in religious form.

The anointing will rarely work where it is not received. On the other hand, I have seen God knock people down who were standing around mocking, and I've seen them start sobbing, but that's not His usual mode of operation. God does not violate human will. He knows when our heart is truly saying yes and believing and when our mind is only claiming that it believes.

Cooperating With the Anointing

I've laid hands on people and sensed so much power surge around them, I had a hard time standing. The power of God was moving all over their physical bodies, and I could tell they were at the point of either receiving a miracle or experiencing a disappointment. But because their hearts were not in contact with the anointing, it seemed as if it was not a reality to them.

Because God is such a gentleman, humans can put a limit on His power. I believe this is why skeptics say, "It was just an emotional experience. He got all emotional, 57

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but the person right next to him did not experience a thing."

What are the skeptics going to say when God begins to do explosive things through His people? What are they going to say when the world begins to see men and women who not only believe Him and are filled with His power, but now they walk in such authority that mind-boggling miracles are taking place?

God brings His power and anointing to make contact with your spirit so He can fill your spirit with His will and then explode His plan into your life.

"This Is That!"

For example, Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost and said, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. ." (Acts 2:16,17; Joel 2:28).

That was a manifestation of the anointing in action.

How did it manifest itself? Those present on the Day of Pentecost began to bubble forth with divine, inspired utterance. When they were walking in the natural, they didn't, but when the anointing was flowing, they began to bubble forth with the new tongues Jesus spoke of. This inspired utterance flowed through them because God had filled their vessels; and now they were hardly capable of containing it.

I remember when I was first filled with the Spirit.

During praise and worship, God would move, and there 58

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would be silent parts in the service where there was a place given for prophecy. The anointing would come on me. I would feel the power of God on my body, and I would shake. My heart would beat fast. When you are first saved, you are sensitive like that.

Visiting different denominations, I have noticed that physical reactions to the anointing vary. For example, I've been in some Pentecostal denominations where people's jaws shake when they feel the anointing.

Be Sensitive to the Anointing

Some look at that and think it's just emotionalism, but there is a physical response to the anointing. It doesn't mean you have to do it, because as you grow in the Lord, you learn to be sensitive to the anointing without drawing attention to yourself. However, you should never become insensitive to the anointing, and that's where some have often missed it.

When we were babies in the Lord, full of the Holy Spirit, that power used to come on us and move us. Tears would well up in our eyes, God would speak to our hearts, and things would happen.

Then, as we grew (or thought we did), we stopped walking in that fresh anointing. We became dull and insensitive to the anointing. We need to rekindle our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit!

Dreams and Visions

Peter further said in his sermon on the Day of 59

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Pentecost, ". .your young men shall see visions" (Acts 2:17). Jesus had said, "You will be filled with power. You shall receive power." When Peter got up to preach about the power they had just received, the first thing he mentioned was prophecy. The second thing was visions.

Why is God giving me power to see a vision? Because for Him to bring heaven's will to planet Earth, He must bring it to my heart by giving me a vision of it. Then I will receive it and let it be birthed in my life, exploding in the form of God's plan.

Next, Peter said, ". .your old men shall dream

dreams." All you need is a pizza, and you'll dream. Most of us dream "pizza dreams." Yet, God said we will receive power to have visions and to dream.

Why is God giving me power to dream? So He can give me supernatural direction, supernatural revelation, and supernatural witness to the Word of God. The Spirit bears witness to the Word. He never leads you away from the Word or makes you flaky.

In Joel's prophecy, God said, ". .your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. ." (Joel 2:28). In other words, supernatural, divine, inspired utterance will bubble forth out of you.

The gift of prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit fills your life and you are anointed with fresh oil, whether you get up in church and prophesy or not, you are still prophesying.

Why? Because when you are anointed, you can testify prophetically. I used to go to churches and ladies would get up and say, "I just want to thank the Lord for saving 60

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me, washing me with the blood, and filling me with the Holy Ghost!"

And something would go all over the congregation!

Out of their words, the power of God would go shhh and fill that place. People would get up and start shouting.

That's the power of God coming through a yielded vessel.

Anointed To Praise and Believe

When you're anointed with fresh oil, you won't have a hard time praising God.

Recently, I was in a church that was so dead, I said, "Lord, if I didn't know You sent me here, I'd think I missed You." They were singing, "Anointing, Fall on Me," and it might as well have been, "Annoying, Fall on Me." It also made me think of that song "Exhaust the Lord Our God"— or was it "Exalt the Lord"?

I told the people to praise the Lord; instead, they acted dead. I thought, "Don't give up the ghost, folks. Just praise the Lord." They weren't bad people; they just needed to be filled with fresh oil. They needed to have an oil change!

When you are filled with fresh oil, you don't have to do much. Just open your mouth, and your tongue will do the rest. Praise comes out of you forcefully, because the anointing gives you the ability to articulate spiritual, heavenly things into Earth's realm.

Those things coming forth through you break the power of the enemy off people's lives. So we can praise the Lord like that, and we can put the Word of God in our mouth.

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When you are full of fresh oil, you won't have a hard time believing God. When you are anointed with fresh oil, you know you have the spirit of faith, because the Word of God is in your heart and in your mouth.

When do you cease to be anointed? When you take His yoke (which is easy), His burden (which is light), and His joy (which is dynamic and full of power)—but you lose sight of it and begin to operate in the natural, think in the natural, worry in the natural, and pray in the natural, "Help!"

All of a sudden, you feel as though there's a band on your head. You feel that if you open your mouth, something negative will come out, so you might as well not say anything. You walked away, and now there is a different yoke on you—but the anointing can break it!

Putting a Demand on the Anointing

The account in Matthew 14:34-36 shows a clear, practical account of putting a demand on the anointing.

And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

How do you put a demand on the anointing? "Well, brother, I don't know," people walking in the natural will say. But these men in Gennesaret began to act on what 62

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they had heard. They had heard of Jesus. What did they hear? They heard He had said He was anointed!

Instead of acting in unbelief like the people in Nazareth did, doubting the power on Jesus, these people acted on what they had heard was available through Him.

They sent messengers to the sick in the cities in that region and said, "Come!" And the sick were brought to Jesus. Verse 36 says they "besought" Him to pray for them.

This means they begged and pleaded, "Please, let us just lay hands on the hem of your garment!"

Recognizing the Anointing

Wait a minute! They didn't even know if Jesus had come to town to hold a miracle service. They didn't even know if He was going to minister to the sick. But they knew there was an anointing flowing through Him, and it could make its way to them.

So they laid claim on the anointing by initiating the first move. This is what they said: "You don't need to lay hands on us. You don't even need to touch us. Just let us touch You!"

I believe one of the most powerful moves in the gospels is recorded in this text, because it was 100 percent successful. Verse 36 says, ". .as many as touched [Him]

were made perfectly whole."

As many as touched Him.. That means 100 percent of those who said, "Just let us touch You and lay claim on that anointing in your life" and touched Him got healed.

No one left disappointed!

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Jesus didn't initiate it. He just stood there, and they believed, reached out, and touched Him.

Quenching the Anointing

In marked contrast, the people in His hometown of Nazareth acted in total unbelief when He arrived for a visit. They asked, "Who does He think He is? We know Him."

Their unbelief almost completely quenched the anointing in Nazareth, and the Bible says "He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief"

(Matthew 13:58)!

Jesus' reaction was, "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house"

(Matthew 13:57).

Today, your heart can do the claiming and receiving, and your life can be impacted with a divine explosion changing you forever.

All you have to do is reach out. You don't even have to wait for fresh oil to fall on you. Just reach out into the realm of God's promise and claim fresh oil. Let it fill your vessel with divine power. The anointing will break the yoke!

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Chapter 3

Miracle in the Making

3

here is a miracle in the making in your life. How you Tposition yourself in faith will determine the manifestation of that miracle, the growth of that miracle, and the continuation of that miracle in your life.

Jesus said on behalf of His Father, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . .how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37).

Have you ever seen a hen sitting on her eggs? She broods over them from the time she lays them. She sits on them, covers them, warms them, and gives them proper care and attention during the entire creative miracle.

Eventually those eggs change into bodies housing living creatures.

Likewise, there is a miracle in the making in your life.

Too many of us allow the enemy to abort our miracle before it is manifested simply because we don't correctly deal with daily battles and circumstances. Then the skeptics ask, "If God wanted to heal them, why did they die sick? If God wanted to bless them, why did they go bankrupt? If God wanted to protect them, why did they die in an accident?"

There is much more to your miracle than God's will.

There is much more to your breakthrough than God's 65

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intentions. There is something you must do as well. There is a "positioning" God has called you to appropriate in your life so you can see the manifestation of His miracle.

The Spirit of God Broods Over the Earth There is an interesting portion of scripture in Genesis 1:2,3, which says, ". .And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

Earth at that time had experienced a cataclysmic event that destroyed it—that made it without form and void.

Then the Spirit of God moved on a planet that was full of chaos. Like the hen and her eggs, He brooded over the Earth—hovered over it—and gave it His proper attention.

He appropriated His force, power, and intention over the Earth. And when the time was right, the Word of God said, "Let there be light," and God began a creative act described in Hebrews 11:3: ". .things which were seen were not made of things which do appear."

In this chapter, I want to teach you how to allow your miracle to develop from the place where it is being fashioned—where it is an embryo, if you will—and allow it to grow through the power of God until there is no weapon in hell the devil can use to stop you from gaining and keeping God's miracle for you.

A Miracle: The New Man

In Galatians 4:19, we find a miracle in the making.

Paul wrote, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth 66

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again until Christ be formed in you." Paul prayed that Christ would be formed again in the Galatian church.

Do you know that the Word of God has come into your life to form a new creature? Through the cross, your old man has already been put to death by an act of faith.

That old man is dead and buried.

Now, there is a new man living in you who is born of God and created after His image. This new man is formed by the Word of God, feeds on the Word of God, and grows by the Word of God.

This new creature has his own God-given ability to brood over God's promises and miracles until they grow and become larger than the circumstances of life and until the new man experiences them.

Lay your hands on yourself right now and say, "Father, if You said it in your Word, if You said it about me, I am going to believe it. If You said I should do it, I'm going to do it!"

Making Contact With God

Now let's look at Proverbs 20:27, which reads, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." Notice the spirit of man is mentioned here—not his head, his education, his theology, his pastor, or his favorite preacher.

The spirit of man is God's candle or lamp. And that lamp lights, searches, and shines to bring God's glory, Word, and will into the innermost parts of man.

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God, you must contact Him with your spirit. That is what the Word of God says in John 4:24: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." It says further in Romans 8:16, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

And in Proverbs 20:27, we just read that the spirit of man is God's illumination, brilliant beam, shaft, or lamp of light. That means, before God's will can ever be done in your life, His light must come into your spirit.

The Bible says that in Jesus was life, ". .and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). That light shines in the darkness. It is the Word of God. The Bible further tells us that we can walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7).

Lay hands on yourself again. Say, "My spirit has the ability to receive from God, and when it receives, it can accept, believe, and take hold of what God has promised."

A Miracle in the Making

Thus, the scriptures tell us that the entrance of God's Word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.

Putting that together with Proverbs 20, we find that His Word must enter into a person's spirit before it can bring understanding to his or her simplicity.

Not only can you say, "I have a miracle in the making"; you can say, "I am a miracle in the making." Do you know why? Because the Bible says God foreknew and predestined you to be conformed into the image of His dear Son (Romans 8:29).

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You are not going to end up the way you are now. This is just the beginning. God is not through with you. He has just started on you. He is going to brood over your life. He is going to speak His Word into your life. And before He is through with you, you are going to change. Old things are going to pass away, and you are going to accept new things.

You are in a transitional mode, and before God is through with you, you will be transformed by the power of the living God. You can say, "I am a miracle in the making."

Being Like Jesus in This World

God has predestined you to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. That means, you are to be just like Jesus.

Many say, "Oh yes, when we all get to heaven, we're going to be just like Him."

That is true, but the sad thing is, you won't cast out any devils in heaven. You won't raise the dead in heaven.

You won't heal the sick in heaven, and you won't get anyone saved in heaven. If you want to be like Jesus, you should start right here and now.

God's Word comes into your spirit to give understanding and revelation so your spirit man, your heart, can say, "Yes, I can see that. Yes, I receive that." And your heart knows the truth. The Bible says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

That means, you will be free from what you used to be. I used to be a fallen man. I am going to be a victorious 69

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child of God. I used to be a child of the devil. Now I am a child of the living God.

I used to be inferior, bound up, imprisoned, and insignificant when I faced the mountains and the challenges of the world. Now, I am going to overcome and move those mountains, because the truth is going to set me free from what once held me hostage.

Receiving Your Miracle

Your miracle is in the making, and you can take it! No one else can take it for you. You can take it from the place where it is a seed, and you can hide that powerful, world-changing Word in your spirit man.

Before you're through watering it, thinking about it, and brooding over it, it will grow. And before you know it, instead of your controlling that seed, it controls you.

The Word of God starts thinking in your mind, the Word of God starts living in your body, and you will be changed into the image of His dear Son. That's good news!

Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your body—a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Who does the presenting? You do. And it is a living sacrifice, not a dead one. You don't need to slit your wrist or your throat, thank God. You can present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.

An Outward Manifestation

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Then the Bible says in the next verse, "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. ."

(Romans 12:2). That word implies a metamorphosis. That word takes you from the place where you used to be a worm or a caterpillar to a place where you are transformed into a beautiful butterfly. That word is a literal, outward manifestation of an inward miracle.

How does it happen? God said, ". .be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. .," or your thinking. That means, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). You can be changed by what you think—because you are a miracle in the making!

The world offers programs to help drug addicts. These people will always be drug addicts, but they can be non-practicing drug addicts. Other programs help alcoholics.

They are taught to stand up in their meetings and say, "Hello, my name is So-and-so. I am an alcoholic, but I am a non-practicing alcoholic."

Some churches teach that we are sinners, but we are non-practicing sinners. However, the good news is, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The good news is, we are no longer addicts; we are no longer alcoholics; we are no longer sinners; we are no longer hostages; we are no longer down; we are no longer sick; we are no longer confused; and we are no longer afraid!

And because we are no longer any of these, we are going to allow our new thinking to change or transform us into the image of Christ.

As a Man Thinks

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Someone will ask, "Brother, isn't that mind control?"

It amazes me how many people in the world today have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5).

Do you believe the Word of God is the will of God? Do you know we call the New Testament the Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ? Do you have a will? Didn't you think about it and decide what you wanted to put in it?

Don't you think God thought about what He said in His will?

Do you know that every word that proceeds out of your mouth has initially been thought of in your heart?

Isn't that what the Bible says in Proverbs 23:7? "For as he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.. ." The Word of God also says, ". .for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).

That means, what a person meditates upon, he eventually speaks out. If he thinks murder, he talks murder. If he thinks theft, he talks theft. If he thinks filth, he talks filth.

That means, a man's words are an audible manifestation of his heart's silent meditation.

The Thoughts of God on Paper

God's Word became a visible incarnation that sowed the seed, revealing His heart's meditation. This means, the Bible encompasses the thoughts of God on paper.

Someone said, "You never can tell what the Lord will do."

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If you have been married to someone for five years, you know nearly everything about that person. If you hang around a friend for a decade, you start asking the same questions at the same time. You learn about them.

You know how they think and what they will do.

God has made available to man His thought life as well as His plans. Why? Because what you meditate upon is spirit and life when it is from God; but it is spirit and death when it is from the devil.

Great and Precious Promises

The Word said concerning God's intentions for you: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.. " (2 Peter 1:4).

That means, God's promises must come into your spirit. Then your spirit must see that light, think upon it, meditate upon it, and believe it. Before long, that promise begins to fill every part of your spirit. It is a miracle in the making!

It gives you a vision about who you are in Christ, what God holds for your future, and how many angels are working with you.

Do you know we outnumber the devil and his demons? When I meditate upon God's promises, they fill me with the very power of God; then, when I speak them, my words pack the same power to bring God's will into manifestation.

It is similar to when His Spirit brooded over the 73

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waters and He said, "Let there be light," and the power of God brought into manifestation the will and the plan of God.

God's Thoughts and Ways

Some people think that when God moves, or when His power is administered, it is done in spite of the believer.

They think you have nothing to do with God's power in your life. They think it happens without your cooperation.

So they tend to believe that anything you are involved in is not God. In other words, if you have a role to play in something, it isn't God.

But I want you to see something in Isaiah 55:7: "Let the wicked forsake his way. . " "Forsake" means "to let go of, to get rid of, and to abandon." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. . "

...and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

Isaiah 55:7,8

Believers have told me, "You know, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways." But did you notice that God wasn't talking to believers in this passage? He said, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. . "

Living in the Realm of Light

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Have you given your life to Jesus and forsaken your old ways? If so, you have walked away from the realm of darkness, and you have tapped into the realm of light.

That means, you can now know, have, and think the thoughts of God. How? If you put His Word in your heart, you have just put His thoughts in your heart. If you put His promises in your spirit, you have just put His ways in your spirit.

The Spirit of God says, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?" We have!

"We have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16).

What does God's mind think? God's mind never thinks defeat. He never worries about the devil for a moment. He never worries about heaven being overthrown, and He never worries about paying His bills. God's mind always thinks in line with His creative Spirit.

What God Sees

What does God see? He sees an open door. When everyone gives up on you, God's mind looks at you and says, "There are possibilities there."

The Bible says, "God. .quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were"

(Romans 4:17). Why? Because that's the way God thinks.

When someone tells God, "But they're dead," God replies, "No problem!" He quickens the dead. His thoughts are always visionary thoughts.

If you put the Word in your heart and the promises in your spirit, you have received the initial seedbed—the 75

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initial stepping-stone—to a miracle. You have started walking in the path of miracles!

Obeying God's Thoughts

We were in Northern California several years ago, ministering to the sick. A woman was brought to us for prayer, but no one told us what was wrong with her.

There was a long healing line in that service, and when I walked up to this woman, I had a thought or a knowing in my spirit. That thought said, "Turn her around and hit her in the back."

If you walk in the natural, you are not going to think about hitting anyone! This woman had a bone disease, and she was in excruciating pain, so no one in the natural would advise you to hit her in the back. But when God's thoughts are moving in you, there is a miracle in the making!

And when you have spent your time meditating upon His thoughts and His ways, something on the inside of you grows and says, "Absolutely nothing is impossible today. Absolutely nothing!"

When I had that thought, my wife, Robin, and the pastor knew I was going to hit the woman. In fact, the pastor told me later, "I knew you were going to hit her in the back, and I almost told you, 'Don't hit her in the back, because she's got a bone disease, and she's in excruciating pain!'"

But before he could speak, I had turned her around, slapped her on the back—and the power of God had instantly made her whole! There was a miracle in the 76

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making for her!

Guarding Your Miracle

Your miracle may come into your spirit today in the form of a thought. While you are listening to someone preach, you can receive a thought that validates and bears witness with God's plan for you.

If you guard that thought—if you keep that seed in your heart, if you do not allow the devil to steal it, if you brood over it, feed it faith, and ask God to water it—it will grow. And that miracle will change you. It will transform your life, and you will end up on high places in God. But, your miracle will start with a thought! It is up to you how you will nurture that thought.

Notice God mentions two things in Isaiah 55: His thoughts and His ways. The miracle of the woman's healing was God's way; it wasn't man's way. Man's way would be for that woman to have surgery, but healing was God's way.

Someone said, "Oh, brother, I wish God would use me like that!" Before you have the ways, you've got to have the thoughts.

Speaking to Your Mountains

Jesus said, "Have faith in God." One translation tells us to have the God-kind of faith. "For. .whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart. ." (Mark 11:22,23). Why isn't he doubting in his heart? Because he 77

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had a thought!

Do you talk to mountains? Do you talk to challenges?

Do you talk to circumstances? You don't unless you have had the thought or revelation that you have been given the ability and the authority to speak to the thing.

If you don't have the thought, you will never talk to it, you will not meditate upon it, and you will leave that miracle buried in your spirit.

Some people say, "I'm just not sure I have the authority." That's because you haven't been thinking about the promises that have validated the authority in your life.

All some people think about is how big that mountain is. "That mountain is big! I'll bet that mountain has never moved before," they say. "AIDS? No one has been healed from AIDS that I know of. Cancer? It runs in our family.

Look at how big that mountain is!"

They want to hear a sermon some Sunday morning telling them to get up and rebuke the thing that is bothering them. They say, "Mountain, move!" and the mountain just stands there and says, "Ha, ha! You've been thinking more about me than you've been thinking about God's thoughts."

God Is Bigger Than Your Problem

When facing a mountain, a believer should stand in front of it and stare at it. The devil will come along and ask, "What are you going to do about it?"

The believer should reply, "I'm not going to do anything right now. I'm going to meditate on the fact that 78

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my God is bigger than this mountain.

"I'm not going to be hasty. I'm not going to be moved.

I'm going to stand right here and say, 'Mountain, I'm getting ready to talk to you, but right now I'm going to think. I'm going to meditate.'

"I'm going to let that miracle in the making grow on the inside of me, because God has brought me out of the place where I was inhibited, downcast, and bound, and put me into a place of liberation. I now have ability and authority through Christ."

Shrinking Your Problems

Stand there and meditate on the God who is bigger than the mountain; the authority that is bigger than the adversary. If you do it long enough, all of a sudden you will look out there and say, "My God, has that mountain shrunk? It doesn't look as big as it did yesterday!"

That's how you overcome your battles. There will be times when it seems as if the odds against your ministry are insurmountable. The battles and the impossibilities will look so devastating.

But if you get around God, you start thinking about His goodness, His power, and how He never leaves you nor forsakes you. You start thinking about the fact that His angels are working on your behalf.

The more you meditate about these things, the quicker your problems shrink. They start getting smaller and smaller. You will say, "If you get any smaller, I won't need to talk to you!" There is a miracle in the making on the 79

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inside of you. But if you're going to have the ways of God, you've got to have the thoughts of God!

A Healing Thought

While I was ministering in South Africa, a woman with a fused back came to the altar one night for prayer.

Six years earlier, she was riding with her husband on a motorcycle. He was driving recklessly, and they got in an accident.

She fell off and injured her back so severely, it had to be surgically fused. She had been in pain 24 hours a day for six years. Her suffering had driven a wedge between her and her husband.

When she came forward for prayer, the Spirit of the Lord gave me a thought: "Hit her in the back!" If you're going to have the ways, you've got to have the thoughts!

So I hit that woman in the back. When you hit someone whose back is fused, you'd better do it in the Spirit—and you can't do it in the Spirit if you're thinking in the natural, because when you think in the natural, it's impossible.

When I hit her, her legs flew up almost as high as her head and she fell— bang! The ushers stood around thinking, "This is not supposed to happen. She is supposed to fall backwards, and we're supposed to catch her."

But when that woman got up off the floor, she had been instantly healed by the power of God. If you're going to have His ways, you've got to have His thoughts.

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Renewing Our Minds

God says in Isaiah 55, "Listen—forsake your ways and your thoughts." We did, and we haven't stopped. We are being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Verse 9 continues: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." God is referring to people who need to trade their thoughts for His thoughts and their ways for His ways.

Watch what God says about His thoughts and His ways. Verse 10 begins with the word "For. . " That means "because."

For [because] as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10,11

Notice several things in this passage. First, God says, "Forsake your thoughts, forsake your ways, because my thoughts are higher and my ways are higher." Then God says, "Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than human ways, natural ways, or ways of the flesh."

God's Word Produces

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Then He says, "Like the rain comes down from heaven, it doesn't return without producing what it was sent to do. So will My Word." Why? "Because it's My thoughts. It's My intentions. It's My plans. It's My future for you.

"So will My Word be that proceeds out of My mouth; it will not return to Me void. It will prosper in the things I send it to do." Now notice what God sent His Word to do: For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 55:12,13

The Miracle-Workers Appear

God sent His thoughts your way—He sent His words your way—because before they are through with you, you are going out, and creation is going to say, "Those are the sons of God. That's the Church of Jesus Christ. Those are the miracle-workers!"

All of a sudden, the curse that ruled the planet is not going to rule over you. You are not going to sow seed and have thorns come up. You are not going to give without reaping a harvest. You are not going to believe without seeing a breakthrough, because His Word is not going to fail to change you into His image and His likeness.

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The graves are going to give up the dead when men and women of faith come on the scene and say, "Rise up, in the Name of Jesus, because Christ is living in me today!"

That may seem far-fetched for some people who are living in embryonic Christian stages, but Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." I didn't say it; He did!

How are they going to believe what they haven't thought about, what they haven't analyzed, what they haven't meditated on, and what they haven't settled in their hearts to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth? They can't believe it.

You can't cast a devil out of a demoniac if you think that person might jump on you, rip off your clothes, and then beat you up. You can't lay hands on someone who has a communicable disease if you are afraid you might catch it. You shouldn't lay hands on them if you haven't meditated on who you are in God to the point where you know that you know that you know that the devil has nothing in you.

Right now say, "I'm a miracle in the making. God is changing me. His thoughts have come into my life. His Word has come into my spirit, and He will prevail. I am changing."

"Compel the Sick To Come"

I once held a tremendous series of meetings in New York. The meetings opened on a Sunday. People who were in pain because of cancer were healed. Several deaf 83

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ears were opened. God performed miracles night after night.

We told the people, "Go out and invite the sick. Tell them what God is doing here, and compel them to come."

One of the men in that church had a car accident that left him crippled. He was on disability. He was bedfast and had to wear a neck brace. He had a crushed vertebra and scoliosis in his back. He was on pain killers, and he didn't want to come to church.

His wife forced him to come. I couldn't help but notice him on the front row. He fidgeted all through the sermon.

He was uncomfortable. He couldn't sit still. He crossed his legs one way and then the other. He was huffing, as if to say, "Why don't you quit and pray for me so I can go home and take a pain killer?"

Seeing in the Natural

I preached a long time. Every time I said the word "miracle," everyone looked at that guy. Every time I said, "the power of God," everyone looked at him. They were thinking, "Yes, the power of God. But look at that man sitting on the front row. That neck brace looks very intimidating."

Sometimes people are like that. They don't give their rightful attention to God. Instead, they focus on the natural. You can't get God's ways and God's thoughts that way.

I felt the pressure. The devil was telling me, "Quit right now. Don't preach." I kept preaching, because I always do 84

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the opposite of what the devil says. Then, when I had finished, I said, "All right, we are going to start with you, sir. Come up here." He just stared at me skeptically.

"Come on up here," I repeated. "We're going to start with you." He finally came forward. I said, "Sir, I'm not here to pray for you; I'm here to heal you."

He said without emotion, "Yeah."

Dealing With Doubt

I said, "Sir, listen to me. I don't try to do this; I do this all over the world."

"Yeah."

I could tell from his reaction that he did not really believe me.

So I said, "No, no, no. Listen to me. I want to minister to you, and you can be healed tonight—right now!"

"Yeah."

I put my hands on his head, prayed the prayer of faith, and took my hands off him. When I laid hands on him, I had a thought. The devil said, "Pray for a long time, because you know the moment you take your hands off him, everyone is going to see that he didn't get healed, and he is the first person you are praying for. That is going to kill the service."

The devil has stolen from believers far too long. And the way he steals is, he gives us thoughts we believe so he can have his way.

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Ignoring the Devil

So when he said, "Pray long," I made it real short. I said, "In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I thank You right now that this man is healed." I took my hands off him. I said, "All right." I looked at him.

I asked, "Sir, do you take that neck brace off when you go to sleep at night?" I expected him to say yes, so I could say, "Go ahead and take it off." But he replied, "No, I don't take it off to go to sleep at night. I don't even take it off to shower."

His neck brace was not one of those soft braces. This thing was a plastic, cast-like neck brace that looked as if it were holding his head on his shoulders. The ushers came up to help me, and I could tell they were thinking, "Man, look at that neck brace! We've never seen a neck brace like that." They took one step backwards.

I looked out at the congregation. They were all looking at the neck brace, too.

I looked at the man. I said, "Do me a favor, sir. Take that neck brace off." He looked at me as if I were crazy.

I said, "Sir, listen. I know what I'm doing. Just take that neck brace off for me." I looked around. The ushers were dismayed. The pastors looked horrified. Even my wife looked concerned.

"Are You Sure?"

The man took the brace off very reluctantly and looked at me as if to say, "Are you sure?"

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I was getting images of his head rolling on the ground once he removed the brace. "That will end your ministry,"

the devil whispered.

The man took the brace off. I said, "Now do me another favor. Turn your neck." He looked worried. I said, "I'm serious. Turn it any direction." I heard, "You're crazy.

This is it. You're through!"

I knew what the ushers and the pastors were thinking: "You'd better be hearing God; that's all we can say!"

Finally, I got across to the man that I really believed what I was saying, and he turned his neck in one direction —slowly. When he turned it all the way in that direction, he started sobbing, because there was absolutely no pain!

Then he turned his neck the other way. His neck was instantly and completely healed! His spine was also straightened from the scoliosis.

After the service, he carried his two babies down the stairs from the upper room where we were holding the meetings in that church.

His healing started with a thought. It was a miracle in the making.

Going the Distance

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the 87

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waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

Mark 4:35-38

I want to show you something. Jesus said in verse 35, "Let us pass over unto the other side." God has plans for you. He doesn't plan for you to die halfway, to fail halfway, or to stop halfway. He has plans for you to make it all the way!

He sends you His Gospel. He says He always leads you to triumph. He promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Those are His thoughts and intentions toward you.

The Enemy's Plans for You

But while you are on your journey, someone else has the ability to project lies and thoughts that are exactly the opposite of God's plans. The enemy is the one who says, "You are going bankrupt. You are going under. You are dying. Your family is splitting up. You children are going to take drugs. You are going to fail. You are going to catch a disease."

The devil is the one who comes up with thoughts that are exactly the opposite of God's. Why? Because he wants you to believe him. And if you do, you are going to have his ways instead of God's ways.

But Jesus said, "Let us pass over unto the other side."

Watch what happened. Jesus and His disciples all planned to sail across the Sea of Galilee. They got into the boat.

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Jesus fell asleep in the back. He was at peace. He was full of the assurance that His Father was with Him. He wasn't worried about a thing.

While they were crossing in that boat, a storm broke.

The winds rose, the waves rose, the boat was soon full of water, and the frantic disciples went to Jesus. They woke Him up, crying, "Master, don't You care that we are going to perish?"

When Fear Spreads

Do you realize that came as a thought? Someone thought, "We're going to die!" And someone else— probably Thomas—might have said, "O my God, we're going to die!" And that fear spread like wildfire. Have you ever been in such a situation when someone started talking fear, and the more they talked, the worse you felt?

Who told the disciples they were going to die?

Someone had a thought. Why didn't he have a thought that said, "We're going to live"? Because they believed the circumstances rather than God's Word, which contains God's thoughts and plans, and makes God's way available for them.

Jesus said, "You are going to the other side." The circumstances said, "You are dying here." And someone chose to take the suggestion of the circumstances, hide it in his heart, speak it from his mouth, and worry about it.

Now watch: Waking Jesus in the boat was a form of prayer. This is how some people pray: "God, we're dying.

Don't You care that we're going to die?" Who told them they were going to die? They had a thought.

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How to Reverse Your Miracle

People pray, "Lord, don't You see we're going broke?"

Who told them they were going broke? "I'm running out of money." They get that negative thought, speak it, and it begins to reverse God's intended miracle in their lives.

And rather than taking God's Word and allowing it to make His way in their life available, they reverse the order of things.

The Lord spoke to me several years ago and showed me a mini-vision of Jesus sleeping in the back of that boat.

This is the word I got from the Spirit of the Lord: "My voice is softer than the breeze, but it is louder than the storm."

Those were the thoughts of heaven revealed in the still small voice. Think for a minute: "Is God planning for me to fail?" Meditate on that for a while. All of a sudden it will grow in you. You will look at those waves and see they are as nothing.

That's where Jesus was. He was in that boat as a man, but He wasn't worried about the boat going under.

Furthermore, He was asleep. Within His spirit, a miracle was in the making, because God had made Him a man of God. When you are a man of God, you are never caught off guard.

Say Yes to the Thoughts of God

The disciples cried, "Don't You care that we perish?"

Now, watch what Jesus did.

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and 90

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there was a great calm.

And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Mark 4:39-41

Lay hands on yourself. Confess, "Jesus was a Holy Ghost man just like I can be. He was a man of authority, and He gave me His authority. I release the power of the Word of God through my life and my spirit, and I say yes to the thoughts of God, yes to the words of God, and yes to the ways of God. I will not fail. I am a miracle in the making!

"Healing is available for me today. Miracles are available for me today. Power is available for me today. I draw on these things. I receive these things. I expect these things to build up in me and give me the ability to overcome the storms of life, the mountains of opposition, and the obstacles of the adversary.

"I am not going to stand before my mountain as if my hands were tied. I am going to say to that mountain, 'Move out of the way, mountain! Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!' (1 John 4:4)."

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Chapter 4

Transformed by His Power

4

ou are a miracle in the making. God has begun a Ywork in you, and He is going to finish that work. You don't have to wait until the trumpet sounds to be changed.

You can be changed—transformed into His image—this side of eternity.

Yes, when the trumpet sounds, your body will experience a glorifying experience that will change you from a temporal vessel to an eternal vessel. But you don't have to wait until then to experience the mind of Christ, to know the faith of God, or to walk by faith and not by sight.

You don't have to wait until the Rapture to walk as the head and not the tail. You don't have to wait until the Rapture to have the mountain-moving faith God has given to you through Jesus. You can cash in on God's goodness this side of eternity, because you are His workmanship.

God is not working on you to make you the best you can be, because the best you can be is still not good enough. He is working on you to make you the best He can make you. Do you know what that is? The Bible says, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man. ."

(Ephesians 4:13).

God is working on you, because He intends to change 93

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you into the image of His dear Son. The Bible calls Jesus our brother. The Bible says, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11).

That means, the Holy Spirit—the Word of God, God's power—has come into the Earth realm to make a change in our lives.

It is imperative that you glean this knowledge so you can be changed and transformed by the power of His Word. You are a miracle in the making!

Understanding God's Workings

Hebrews 11:3 says:

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Notice if you are to understand the workings of God, you must understand them through faith. Many have said, "God moves in mysterious ways. You never know what God is going to do!"

In the natural, if you rely on your own intellect, education, doctrine, theology, background, or denominational preference, you can't figure out what God is going to do. But the Bible says that through faith we understand that the worlds were framed.

That means, faith has the ability to pour into your spirit an awareness, a comprehension, and an understanding of the workings of God.

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Meditation and Declaration

Then it says that the worlds were framed by the word of God. That means, when God spoke, all creation stood fast. Do you know that before God said anything, He had to think it? Why? Because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34), and everything that is spoken is an audible declaration of a silent meditation.

When God said, ". .Let us make man in our image.. "

(Genesis 1:26), He had to think that plan through. And do you realize He was not caught off guard when the devil moved into the Garden of Eden and got Adam and Eve to violate His law?

At the time, God didn't say, "What are we going to do about a Redeemer? We didn't plan on this." No, God had already prepared Jesus before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20)! That means, He had thought it through.

God is a calculating God. He had the whole thing figured out!

The Bible says, ". .there is no searching of his understanding" (Isaiah 40:28). That means, God doesn't have to deductively reason. Within His Spirit, there is all-knowing. He knows the end from the beginning, so He thought of the perfect plan all the way from Genesis—and even before Genesis—to eternity. He had it all figured out.

As we just read, the Bible says the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Thus, before the universe was put into motion, before Earth was created, and before man was created, God had a blueprint, image, or vision in His Spirit about how man ought to turn out. God said, ". .Let 95

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us make man in our image, after our likeness. ." (Genesis 1:26).

It wasn't until God had breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul that the devil came and asked, "Hath God said?"

The devil possesses no creativity whatsoever. He can't even lie until he finds out what the truth is! He invented the lie. All he did was reverse things to trick Eve, and it doesn't take much creativity to produce that kind of a lie.

How to Release the Power of God

Would you like to bring God's promises to a place of manifestation, to know how to trigger and release the Power of God, and to cause it to become a demonstrated force in your life?

The Bible says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). Notice it says every good gift.

And in Proverbs 18:22, the Bible says, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing.. ." You can go out and find the wrong person and really mess up your life, but if you really want God's will, He will give you that gift first in your spirit, and you will know in your heart that God is about to give you your perfect mate.

Then, when you come in contact with the person who is God's gift to you, His Spirit bears witness with your spirit that marrying that person is His will for you]. After all, according to Psalm 37:23, the steps of a righteous, good 96

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person are ordered or directed by the Lord.

The Bible not only promises, "Every good gift comes down from above," but "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"

(Philippians 4:19). That doesn't mean a chest full of money is going to fall down from heaven. If it did, it would probably kill you!

Knowing God's Will

It means, God will pour into your spirit a thought, a revelation, an awareness, or a knowing of His will, His mind, or His intentions. And once you are convinced that is what He wants, it grows in you. It becomes a reality in you.

You start talking it, living it, and believing for it. Then, through your spirit, it manifests in the natural, and you begin to see it. This is realizing your miracle.

Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. ." (Luke 6:45).

Where did this good man get a good treasure? It came down from above. His spirit was open. Heaven's windows were open. The spirit of revelation was open. It poured good things into his heart by the Word of God.

This person had a good treasure, and out of that good treasure of his heart he brought forth good things. Good things are living inside him by the Holy Spirit.

The word of God framed everything we see, and the Bible says God is upholding all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). That word is like glue; everything is 97

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glued together by the word of God's power.

Words Are Alive!

Jesus said, ". .The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). In other words, they are alive! Words are alive.

Therefore, we understand that the worlds were framed through faith; and we know that the things which are seen were not created of the things which do appear.

How is it that most Christians believe that an invisible God created a visible, material world, the Earth upon which they walk, and a sea in which they swim—yet, on the other hand, they can't understand how His Word can bring into manifestation financial abundance, divine health, and God-ordained circumstances?

The God who creates, calls things that be not as though they were, and raises or quickens the dead is the same God we serve—and nothing is impossible with Him.

If God's word is holding every material thing in the world together, think about it: The very economy, wealth, and riches of planet Earth are only here because they became visible by being spoken into existence through the invisible God.

That's why there are gold mines, silver mines, and diamond mines. The Word of God created that which is visible through the force of His Spirit. And before He did it, He thought about it.

He didn't say, "Let there be. .whatever!" That would have resulted in chaos. God is a God of order. When 98

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creation was finished, He didn't say, "Wow! It turned out better than I imagined. I thought Earth was going to be flat, but it turned out round!" No, He is a God of order. He had a vision in His Spirit, a thought in His Spirit, about how His creation would turn out.

Expect Something Definite

In our Christian walk, we have to have a vision in our spirit about where God is taking us and what He intends to do with us before we ever get there.

Often, in the prayer line when I ask people, "What do you need from the Lord," they say, "Whatever the Lord has for me."

Sometimes I can't help but reply, "Man, how are you going to figure out if you get it if you don't even know what you really want?"

To expect something definite from God, we need to have a definite thought, revelation, vision, scripture, or description of what it is He has already made available to us.

Put your hands on your spirit man right now and say, "I am a miracle in the making. A treasure is building up on the inside of me. That invisible spiritual treasure is going to bring into the natural my miracle and my breakthrough, in Jesus' Name."

God-Breathed Scripture

Look at Second Timothy 3:16,17:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 99

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profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Notice what the Bible did not say. It didn't say all denominations are given by inspiration of God. It didn't say all our preferences are given by inspiration of God.

Someone said, "Well, brother, I never heard it like that." It doesn't matter how you heard it. It says only that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. The word "inspiration" means all scripture is God-breathed—alive with the zoe of God.

When the Bible refers to the Word, it says, ". .the Word was with God, and the Word was God. .In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:1,4). It is zoe, the living element, the vibrant, living divine element of God Himself that went out with every word God spoke. The reason why the Word is holding the universe together is because it is alive!

As a matter of fact, from the time God said, "Let there be light," the universe has been expanding at the speed of light, because God's Word has been expanding as it brings into motion His will and plan.

So when the Bible says, "All scripture is given by inspiration and is God-breathed," we must conclude that the mind, thoughts, intents, and desires of God are breathed and inspired by Him to do something on our behalf.

God's Plans for Us

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Do you know God did not breathe or inspire what the devil said? He does not inspire chaos. He does not inspire double-mindedness. He is consistent in everything He says; therefore, we know His Word is His will. His will is expressed in His thoughts.

God said to Jeremiah, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11).

You can confess, "I have an expectation in my spirit. I have a future in my spirit. It is a future given by God."

The devil fights God's thoughts with circumstances, natural reports, things we feel, and things we see. He tries to bring contrary thoughts to fight the thoughts God puts in your spirit.

God said, "You will live and not die." Circumstances come, and the devil says, "You will die and not live." God said, "I will provide." Circumstances come, and the devil says, "God is not going to provide."

The Lord has put in you by the Holy Ghost the very power that holds the universe together! He said, "Now that power can pour forth out of you to align your life and your words for the glory of God."

"Moved by the Holy Ghost"

The Word is all God-breathed; God-inspired. Watch how it came. The Bible says in Second Peter 1:21, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy

Ghost."

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How are you moved by the Holy Ghost? How are you moved by an evil spirit? Have you ever seen anyone moved by an evil spirit? They cuss. They are violent. It doesn't take much to realize when someone is moved by a wrong spirit. Why? Because the inspirations of that spirit are portrayed through that person.

All over the world, people commit crimes and say, "I don't know why I did it. I heard a voice. I had a thought.

Something told me to do it." That's because they had the wrong inspiration.

But all scripture came because holy men of God spoke when they were moved by the Holy Ghost. That means they heard a voice. They had a thought. The Spirit brought a revelation. They had a vision. And that anointing bore witness to their divine vision.

Awesome Prophecies

The things these holy men prophesied are awesome!

They talked about a victorious generation that would do exploits, renew its strength, and mount up with wings as eagles.

They spoke about a Miracle-Worker who would come and pay the price for all humanity.

They prophesied about a day when the blind would see, the deaf would hear, and the lame would leap for joy (Isaiah 35:5,6). Those are extraordinary things. You don't speak them because you are educated; you speak them because you are inspired.

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divine thought, a revelation, or a vision. Then they spoke that thing, and that's how the Word of God came into being. The Word is still here today. In fact, you can confess, "The Word is near me; even in my mouth and my heart." (See Romans 10:8) Learning From the Word

The Word was given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, as we saw in Second Timothy 3:16. If someone is to be instructed, he should be instructed by the Word of God. The best reproof you can get is from the Word of God. The best correction you can get is from the Word of God.

Yet, there are Christians today all over the world who get into accidents and confess on their sick beds, "God wanted to get my attention." These are well-meaning Christians. Often their friends and relatives tell them, "You are going to come out of this stronger, because the Lord is trying to teach you something."

The Bible never said all accidents are given by inspiration of God and are profitable! The Bible never said all cancer or even some cancer is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. The Bible never said when your bills are not paid, God is trying to teach you a financial lesson.

Thoroughly Furnished

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reprove, and correct you. The Word does these things so we may be perfect and thoroughly furnished unto all good works, as we read in Second Timothy 3:17.

This is what happens: God's spiritual power invested in His Word comes into your spirit for a reason—to reprove, correct, educate, and train you so you can be perfect and thoroughly furnished, not halfway furnished.

In other words, God's Word intends to bring into your life the heavenly "equipment" necessary to help you fulfill your divine call and make you successful in all good works.

These good works go beyond humanitarian works, successful business deals, prosperous works in the natural, God's provision, direction in business, or successful relationships.

The Word of God is able to perfect you into the dimension of casting out devils, opening blind eyes, raising the dead, speaking to elements in the natural, and magnifying the Lord Jesus in your life.

The Word of God did not come to conform into your image; it came to conform you into Christ's image. It will change you. That power is going to thoroughly equip you and fill you with the equipment necessary for you to act just like Jesus! His Word came out of His mouth. It will not return to Him void. You will be furnished unto all good works.

The Devil's Idea

As we saw, God had a plan. When He said, "Let us 104

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make man in our image," He didn't mean just Adam; He was referring to all mankind. But this gave the devil an idea. He thought, "I will make mankind in my image. If I can get them to violate God's law, I can inject my fallen character and my renegade nature into their lives. I will poison the whole human race."

The devil stung Adam and Eve, and through them mankind fell from the time of the Garden of Eden until the cross. But God had an antidote in mind. When He said, "Let us make man in our image," He didn't mean, "Let us try."

God knew He was going to make man. He also knew what the devil was planning, and He had a reserve Champion waiting in heaven for the opportunity to step out of the invisible realm into the visible realm and accomplish His plan. In the fullness of time, Jesus moved out of eternity and stepped into time to fulfill that plan!

God's spoken Word ages ago—"Let us make man in our image"—did not die. It is still recorded. It is still alive, and it is still God's plan. Have you ever felt you failed God? Aren't you glad He didn't change His mind about you?

Jesus Steps Into Time

When Jesus stepped into time to accomplish His Father's plans, for the first time in human history there appeared a man who was in the image of the Father. He was not stained by sin, and He did not have Satan as His father. Everyone else did.

This One said to the Pharisees, "Ye are of your father 105

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the devil. ." (John 8:44). Did you know you bear the characteristics and looks of your father? If you are a child of the devil, you will act like the devil. You will be in the devil's image. But if you are a child of God, you will act like God. You will be in God's image.

Jesus came, took your sin, your sickness, and your poison, carried them out of the city, and said, "See, devil, I'm going to break this body once and for all by nailing it to the cross. I'm taking your power and ripping it off the human race, because when we said, 'Let us make man in our image,' we meant, 'Let us make man in our image.'"

Jesus broke the power of hell over you, and today you are a child of God, born by the Spirit. You are able to bear the characteristics and the nature of your heavenly Father.

The Thoughts of God

Those promises—those exceeding great and precious promises—make you an associate with God in His divine nature. That means you must hear the thoughts of God.

You must think the thoughts of God, because they are His promises.

When God said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5), that meant He thought about it, and He is letting you know how He really feels about you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. No weapon formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17). Those are His thoughts and plans for you.

When you accept these promises, you become a partaker of the zoe, the divine nature or life of God. His life lives in you. You are a miracle in the making!

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The Hidden Gospel

In Second Corinthians 4:3,4, Paul writes: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Notice how awesome this passage of scripture is! It says if our Gospel, the Good News, is hidden, not received, not appreciated, not accepted, or not understood, it is because it is hidden from those who are lost. Why are they lost? The Bible tells us it is because the god of this world, the devil, has blinded unbelievers'

minds.

That means, the devil has messed around with their thought life. Their understanding—the way they see things—is darkened. Although your mind doesn't have eyes, most of you think in pictures.

Some people see only chaos and bankruptcy. Others are pessimists, because their minds are blinded. The pictures they've been accustomed to seeing all their lives are the by-products of the news media, the natural realm, and the devil's lies. They have been so overwhelmed by the negative, darkened spirit of this age, they have no ability to hear the Good News!

Therefore, when the Bible says the devil has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, it is saying he has messed with their thought life. He has hidden the truth 107

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from them by getting them to see the wrong images, think the wrong things, foresee the wrong future, and believe error and not truth.

In fact, if you reverse anything the devil does, you will find out what God is doing! If the devil makes someone sick, you can count on it, God makes someone healthy.

So we can read the above passage like this: If our Gospel is received, seen, perceived, and accepted, it is revealed to those who are saved. Almighty God has illuminated the minds of those who believe so the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

That means, a lost person's mind is darkened because his thought life has been messed up. But a believer's thought life is ignited with heaven's light, and he sees things differently, depending on his growth and maturity in God.

The Perfect Will of God

In Chapter 3 of this book, we discussed Romans 12:2, ". .be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

A believer on his worst day should be able to prove the acceptable will of God! And on his best day, he should have the good will of God in manifestation. And, on his good days, he should have the perfect will of God in manifestation thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.

When you get up and feel your weakest, you should 108

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open someone's blind eye. When you've been having a hard time, you should raise someone out of a wheelchair, pay your bills, and give something in the offering. But when you see a hundredfold in manifestation, you ought to raise the dead and support a foreign mission field!

It is dependent upon the revelations you have received in your heart regarding God's will in your life. God's method of transformation is by His Spirit of revelation.

Feel Good About Yourself

Do you want to be changed into His image? Tune in to His revelatory Spirit. He will give you some revelations.

He gave me some revelations several years ago that were good. I found out it doesn't matter what man says about me; what matters is what God says about me. I started to feel good about myself!

The Bible says it like this in Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. . " You can't have condemnation if you don't receive thoughts of condemnation. Condemnation comes in the form of a thought, yet Christians have a hard time understanding this, because they think it is the by-product of humility.

People say, "I am a nobody, brother. I am nothing."

They think it's humility, but it's really stupidity, because when you get a revelation from God, you find out you are a somebody! He has redeemed you, and He has created you in His image!

In fact, the Christian should feel better about himself than the New Ager does.

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Someone will argue, "Isn't that New Age thinking?"

The devil never had an original thought. If the devil can't condemn you, he will try to puff you up and tell you you're all right when you haven't been cleansed by the blood. But if you have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, you need to feel good about yourself.

Jesus gave His life for you, bought you, and made you clean. Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You have been changed.

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

For [or because] God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2 Corinthians 4:6,7

What did the devil do to steal the truth? He brought lying, contrary thoughts, and blinded the unbelievers'

minds. How did God redeem them? He told them the Good News. Then they had good thoughts. They believed the Good News. And they were born again.

He shone His Spirit, His light, His thoughts, and His promises into their spirits to give them the knowledge or revelation of the shekinah glory of God, which is the presence of God, the anointing of God that shines in the face of Jesus.

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your physical body." Why? "So that the excellency of the power operating in your life may be of God and not of yourself."

That means, because you are not the source of that power, it can never burn out or run out. God is the source of your endless provision of power.

A Higher Realm

In the last chapter, we pointed out the importance of two things: God's thoughts and His ways. Ephesians 3:20

says, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." That is the power we just read about.

You have this treasure in earthen vessels. What is it? It is the light of the glory. That means, it is a revelation of the Word, a perception, or an understanding of God's promises. That means, it is knowing what God is thinking about you and intending for you.

He fills your spirit with that knowledge. Suddenly, He is able to do in your life "exceeding abundantly" above all that you can ask or think. But it is according to that same power at work in you.

When you get that power working, the Holy Ghost leads you into a realm where you see the big picture. Then you know God is with you, and you know His promises are real. And, all of a sudden, when you ask for something, you are asking out of the position of knowing God's will for your life.

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"Believe That Ye Receive"

This is what Jesus meant when He said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24).

Before you can believe you receive your request, you must think about it and validate the fact that when you ask, it is yours, because you already know what God wants to do about the situation. As a matter of fact, you can tell yourself, "Why am I waiting for the answer? It's mine right now!"

When you get to that realm, you know that once you ask, you will receive. And when you receive, thanksgiving wells up in you. It is a heavenly transaction.

You give God a petition, and you receive out of His hand what He has willingly given you all along. You appropriate it in your spirit, and you know that you know that you already have that good gift from above.

You can go around telling everyone, "God just heard me. My bills are getting paid. My family is coming together. My body is healed." And a miracle begins to take place!

A Sign and Wonder in South Africa

Several years ago, we were ministering one Saturday morning in a School of Signs and Wonders in South Africa. The spirit of prophecy began to flow, and God began to reveal things that were in the hearts of people.

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woman there. She said, "Sister, the Lord shows me that you can believe God for almost anything. But there is one thing in your life you don't believe God is willing or able to do."

For a Christian to believe that, you would have to do it subconsciously. Subconsciously, you could have that stronghold in your spirit and not even know it is there, because you have been thinking all the wrong things.

That woman was convicted and began to weep. The next night, she brought her 11-year-old son to the miracle service. He had not spoken a word since childhood. They didn't know what was wrong with him, so he was placed in a school for the retarded. Weeping, she brought him to the altar.

When the Lord revealed the problem to her, the woman corrected her thought life. She repented of her wrong thinking, and she got a different thought: "If God revealed that this is in my life, He must intend to keep His promises regarding my son. Hallelujah!"

The Miracle Manifests

She brought her son to the altar, and the Holy Spirit had me bend down to speak to him. I looked into his eyes and asked, "Do you know who I am?"

And he said, "Man."

I said, "Man of God."

He repeated, "Man of God."

I said, "Jesus is healing you, isn't He?"

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"Jesus is healing me."

"Say, 'Hallelujah.'"

"Hallelujah."

"Say, 'Glory to God.'"

"Glory to God."

And the church went wild!

That miracle was put into motion through a realignment in the mother's thought life. The god of this world—the devil—had blinded her eyes regarding God's ability to heal her son. Oh, she was saved, and she was full of the Holy Ghost, but she was blinded to God's healing promises, because her thought life was not in line with the truth. When she repented and corrected her thought life, it put the miracle in motion in her life!

Put your hands on your spirit man right now and confess, "I'm a miracle in motion. Father, I thank You for that miracle in my life. I will pursue perfection and maturity in the Spirit to believe a hundredfold what You intend to do, in Jesus' Name."

Knowing the Thoughts of God

What you do is incubate the promises of God. You brood over His promises. You access, search, meditate, think, agree, and affirm His promises in your spirit. They fill you with God's power.

How do you know that to be the truth? Ephesians 5:18

says, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in 114

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psalms. . "

What do the psalms say? Psalm 103:1 says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Psalm 91 promises, "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee."

As you get in the Spirit, the psalms will start telling you the thoughts of God! And the Bible says when you start talking to yourself like that, you are being filled with the Holy Ghost. That is God's divine anointing to bring about a miracle in your life.

Ephesians 5:19 continues, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." You can't make melody unless you are meditating on the Good News. If you are thinking bad news and singing, you are going to end up singing the blues!

But meditating on the Good News fills you with the Holy Spirit, and that kind of thinking and speaking releases the will of God, igniting every part of your body and filling you with strength.

Notice that God says He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. He delivers your life from destruction. He crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies. He satisfies your mouth with good things, so your youth is renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103:4,5).

Get Your Mind Involved

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your mouth unless He first puts good things in your mind?

It is amazing to me how Christians believe you can serve God and be directed by the Spirit and not think. They say, "Well, brother, I just don't want to get my mind involved."

You should get your mind saved! Get it renewed with the Word of God. The Word in your mouth is the by-product of a thought you had in your mind.

The promise in Deuteronomy 33:25 says, ". .as thy days, so shall thy strength be." That means, you have no business being alive on Earth without physical strength.

Lying down and being cared for by others is not God's best for you.

Some may ask, "Then why do so many people live like that?" Because not everyone pursues and perseveres to obtain the fullness of God's promises.

Raise your hand to the Lord and pray, "Father, if You want me to live strong physically like a youth all the days of my life, I am going to believe that Word. I am going to receive it as your intention. I am going to meditate on it. It is going to fill me, and it is going to renew me like an eagle."

Miracle in the Making

Mark 3:10 says Jesus healed many ". .insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues." Because of these healings, word about Him spread throughout the country.

Mark 5 is an excellent, practical account of a decision a woman who had heard about Him made to release God's 116

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power in her life in the form of a miracle.

...and much people followed him, and thronged him.

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.

When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

Mark 5:24-28

I would like to approach this story like I've never approached it before. For some reason, we have the idea that this woman with the issue of blood "just happened" to be in the general vicinity, saw Jesus, and said, "Oh, there's Jesus. I'll just go over and touch the hem of His garment."

None of the people who thronged Jesus that day "just happened" to be there. You can't get a multitude to gather in one place unless they have a reason. All of them went there because they had heard about Jesus and His miraculous heal ministry.

Touching Jesus

Some of them touched Him with wishful thinking: "I wish I'd get healed." Some of them touched Him with hopeful thinking: "I hope I'll get healed." And some of them touched Him, saying, "I wonder if I'll get healed?" All these elements are in the Church today, but if you operate 117

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like that, you will fail to cash in on God's goodness and benefits.

Why would a person wonder if it were God's will for him or her to be healed? Because that person doesn't know God's thinking on the subject. And that person hasn't thought about the subject long enough to settle it and say, "I know what God is thinking, and I think what He is thinking. I see what He is promising. I receive what He is making available. I know I am going to receive it."

This woman had lost everything she had, paying doctors' bills. She could have believed that she would never be healed. If she had looked to medical help in the natural, she had reason to be a pessimist.

But one day she heard about Jesus! She left her house and said, "I hear there's a man around here, and sick people are touching the hem of His garment, and they're getting healed." She went out looking for Him. Why?

The Bible said, "For she said. . " Do you know you can't say anything you haven't believed? She said, "If I touch His clothes, I will be made whole."

Deciding To Believe

That means she first sat down in her house and had a thought: "I wonder if that man from Galilee would heal me?" Then she thought, "Wait a minute. I heard He has never turned anyone away. I wish He would heal me. If I could only find Him, I think He would heal me."

She thought about it a little while longer. Maybe she had heard something He said. Maybe she remembered 118

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His saying He was anointed to set the captives free.

Then she got up and decided, "I know God said when the Messiah comes, He will do God's works." She settled it in her heart. "I believe if I go over there and touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole." She got out of the wish, hope, and wonder realm into the "I know" realm.

Then she went out looking for Jesus!

In the midst of a scenario like this, when you decide to believe God's promise and confess, "I know God is going to do this," it gives the devil a creative thought. He's incapable of having a good original thought.

When you say, "I will be made whole," he says, "That makes it easy. I'll just tell you that you won't."

When you say, "I'm going to make it," the devil says, "I'll tell you that you won't."

The Point of Action

On her way to Jesus, the woman with the issue of blood saw multitudes thronging Jesus—but no one received their miracle. They were saying, "I hope so. I wish. I wonder." Nothing was happening. No healing virtue or power was going out of Him, even though He had this treasure in an earthen vessel.

Then that woman had a natural thought. I guarantee it, because you can't have faith without its being tested. The Bible calls it "the trial of your faith" (1 Peter 1:7). If you hear a good sermon Sunday morning in church, before you leave the church, the devil will lie to you about what the minister said.

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That's just what happened to this woman. The devil told her, "You're not going to get healed. You've got an issue of blood, so you shouldn't even be in public. Don't push on those people. He doesn't want to talk to you.

Besides, He's heading in another direction."

The woman started pushing people aside, because she had meditated long enough on what she believed to be God's Word, and it drove her to the point of action. She shoved people out of her way as she reached for His garment.

"Who Touched Me?"

And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Mark 6:29-34

Notice what happened here. Jesus was not walking 120

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around operating in divine knowledge. He was not even aware of the woman! Furthermore, he was heading in another direction.

But the woman's faith had said it, and her thought life and her spirit man had made the decision: "If I only touch Him, I will be made whole."

And when she touched Jesus, regardless of the other sick people in the crowd, the power of God went out of Jesus' being and clothing unknown to Him and went— pow! —into her physical body and completely healed her.

Keeping a Miracle Alive

Her miracle was in the making the moment she had the thought. But her miracle could have been aborted while she was thinking it over, while she was on the way to find Jesus, or while she was pressing through the crowd toward Him. Her miracle could have died, and she would never have received her healing. That miracle was in the making.

Likewise, God starts His miracles in you with a thought. When the woman touched Jesus, the power of God went out of Him, hit her, and Jesus said, "What was that? Something just happened!"

He turned around and demanded, "Who touched Me?"

He didn't know who it was. Everyone around Him had been thronging Him, but when Jesus turned around and asked, "Who touched Me?" they all denied doing it.

Another account says that when everyone denied it, Peter said, "Everybody's thronging You. Why are You 121

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saying, 'Who touched Me?'"

The Spiritual Connection

Peter was surprised at Jesus' question, unaware of the fact that there is a spiritual connection between faith and the anointing.

Jesus kept looking around, and the Bible says that the woman, knowing what was done in her—knowing what had happened in her body—came "fearing and trembling."

Notice she didn't need to go to the doctor to get healed. I am not saying you shouldn't go to a doctor. But the woman knew what had happened on the inside of her.

She knew what was going to happen to her before it happened. And she knew when it happened to her after it happened.

Knowing what was done in her, she "told him all the truth" (Mark 5:33). That means she confessed. That means she had a plot!

Moved by Assurance

It became a probability, then it became an assurance, and then she was moved by that assurance in her spirit.

And in spite of the fact that the Lord was going in another direction, she went and got that anointing out of Him into her body!

Then she backed up and hid in the crowd. But when she couldn't get away with it, she came to Jesus fearing and trembling and finally explained what she had done.

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She said, "I'm sorry. I was at home thinking. I had this thought: 'Do you think if you went out there and touched His garment, you would get healed?'

"Then I had another thought: 'Well, wait a minute. If everyone else in this region got healed by this man, why can't I? Then I had another thought: 'I believe that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be delivered.'

"I said in my heart, 'I am going to get up and go over there, because if I just touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole.'"

Inspired by Divine Hope

She said, "I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission, but I needed a miracle. You see, I've tried the doctors. I've spent all my money, and I don't have anything left. When that thought came into my spirit, I embraced it as a divine hope. I made it my internal assurance, and it moved me through faith."

She continued, "I shoved people out of the way, and I pressed through the crowd that walked in doubt and unbelief. I took hold of the hem of your garment. When I did, something happened in my body.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission, but I said in my heart, 'If I just touch His clothes, I will be made whole.'

And guess what? I am!"

The Bible says Jesus looked at her and said, "Woman, your faith has made you whole. Now go on and continue to be whole of your plague."

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Do You Need a Miracle?

Do you have any thoughts or possibilities in your spirit today?

Do you have any promises in your heart today?

Do you have something you are believing God for today?

Do you have something you believe God wants to do for you in the near future?

Rise up right now and open your spiritual channel to the power of the Word of God that is holding the very ground upon which you stand.

This universe—this planet—is held together by a word that originated as a thought in the Spirit of God. The Bible is full of the power of God's thoughts.

The Bible says God will heal how many of your diseases? All! (See Psalm 103:3.)

The Bible says how many weapons formed against you will prosper? None! (See Isaiah 54:17.) The Bible says how many who come to Him He will cast out? None! (See John 6:37.)

Start thanking God for what He is going to do for you!

There is a miracle in the making!

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Other books by Dr. Christian Harfouche Authority Over Powers of Darkness

Doing the Impossible

The Hidden Power of Your Words

Living On The Cutting Edge

The Miracle Ministry of the Prophet The Silver, The Gold, and The Glory The Spirit Guide

For orders or more information contact: Christian Harfouche Ministries

4317 N. Palafox St.

Pensacola, FL. 32505

www.globalrevival.com

p850-439-9750

Or visit our website:

www.globalrevival.com

Document Outline

- How to Recive Your Miracle

- Contents

- Dedication

- 1 Prevailing in Times of Transition

- John in a Time of Transition

- What Happens After Faith Comes

- Good News, Bad News

- Penetrating the Barrier

- Speaking Your Faith

- Where You Ought to Be

- Soaring Above Your Circumstances

- If John Could Be Stopped

- Once You're in the Promised Land

- Offended in the Word

- Your Most Difficult Challenge

- Decision-Making Time

- The Point of No Return

- Settling for Tradition

- God Understands

- The Temptation of Jesus

- "It Is Written"

- Applying the Power of God

- The Realm of Miracles

- Deformed Arm Healed

- The Devil Got Nervous

- 2 Anointed With Fresh Oil

- Jesus and the Anointing

- Breaking the Curse

- The Anointing

- Strong in the Power

- Health to All Your Flesh

- Holy Laughter

- Taking God at His Word

- Renewing Your Strength

- Three That Bear Witness

- "Because of the Anointing"

- Jesus Walked in the Anointing

- How God Became a Man

- God Will Fulfill Your Vision

- The Anointing and Creative Miracles

- The Thing Jesus Lacked

- Doing the Works of God

- Proof of the Anointing

- Increasing the Anointing

- The Anointing Produces Deliverance

- Taking the Limits Off God

- What Jesus Did for Us

- The Worthy Vessel

- The Barrier of Sin

- The Cross as an Instrument

- When the Veil Was Torn in Two

- Jesus Broke the Veil

- Anointed With Power

- Jesus' Promise of Power

- The Victory of the Cross

- The Day the Anointing Fell

- Expressing Doubt Religiously

- Cooperating With the Anointing

- "This Is That!"

- Be Sensitive to the Anointing

- Dreams and Visions

- Anointed To Praise and Believe

- Putting a Demand on the Anointing

- Recognizing the Anointing

- Quenching the Anointing

- 3 Miracle in the Making

- The Spirit of God Broods Over the Earth

- A Miracle: The New Man

- Making Contact With God

- A Miracle in the Making

- Being Like Jesus in This World

- Receiving Your Miracle

- An Outward Manifestation

- As a Man Thinks

- The Thoughts of God on Paper

- Great and Precious Promises

- God's Thoughts and Ways

- Living in the Realm of Light

- What God Sees

- Obeying God's Thoughts

- Guarding Your Miracle

- Speaking to Your Mountains

- God Is Bigger Than Your Problem

- Shrinking Your Problems

- A Healing Thought

- Renewing Our Minds

- God's Word Produces

- The Miracle-Workers Appear

- "Compel the Sick To Come"

- Seeing in the Natural

- Dealing With Doubt

- Ignoring the Devil

- "Are You Sure?"

- Going the Distance

- The Enemy's Plans for You

- When Fear Spreads

- How to Reverse Your Miracle

- Say Yes to the Thoughts of God

- 4 Transformed by His Power

- Understanding God's Workings

- Meditation and Declaration

- How to Release the Power of God

- Knowing God's Will

- Words Are Alive!

- Expect Something Definite

- God-Breathed Scripture

- God's Plans for Us

- "Moved by the Holy Ghost"

- Awesome Prophecies

- Learning From the Word

- Thoroughly Furnished

- The Devil's Idea

- Jesus Steps Into Time

- The Thoughts of God

- The Hidden Gospel

- The Perfect Will of God

- Feel Good About Yourself

- Treasure in Earthen Vessels

- A Higher Realm

- "Believe That Ye Receive"

- A Sign and Wonder in South Africa

- The Miracle Manifests

- Knowing the Thoughts of God

- Get Your Mind Involved

- Miracle in the Making

- Touching Jesus

- Deciding To Believe

- The Point of Action

- "Who Touched Me?"

- Keeping a Miracle Alive

- The Spiritual Connection

- Moved by Assurance

- Inspired by Divine Hope

- Do You Need a Miracle?

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Dedication.

1 Prevailing in Times of Transition.

2 Anointed With Fresh Oil.

3 Miracle in the Making.

4 Transformed by His Power.

How to Recive Your Miracle

Contents

John in a Time of Transition

What Happens After Faith Comes

Good News, Bad News

Speaking Your Faith

Where You Ought to Be

If John Could Be Stopped

Once You're in the Promised Land

Your Most Difficult Challenge

The Point of No Return

Settling for Tradition

God Understands

The Temptation of Jesus

"It Is Written"

Applying the Power of God

Deformed Arm Healed

The Devil Got Nervous

Jesus and the Anointing

Breaking the Curse

Strong in the Power

Health to All Your Flesh

Holy Laughter

Renewing Your Strength

Three That Bear Witness

"Because of the Anointing"

Jesus Walked in the Anointing

How God Became a Man

The Anointing and Creative Miracles

The Thing Jesus Lacked

Doing the Works of God

Proof of the Anointing

The Anointing Produces Deliverance

Taking the Limits Off God

What Jesus Did for Us

The Barrier of Sin

The Cross as an Instrument

When the Veil Was Torn in Two

Jesus Broke the Veil

Anointed With Power

Jesus' Promise of Power

The Day the Anointing Fell

Expressing Doubt Religiously

Cooperating With the Anointing

"This Is That!"