March 05, 2006
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A Theology for Overcoming Last week we "warned" people about the risks of being entrepreneurial and how we can get in over our heads. We ended by agreeing the the risk is worth it; God still calls people to be entrepreneurial and His will isn't "risk free." Everyone that says yes to the Lord and to their heart's desire will face some opposition from the enemy and some uncertainty in discerning the Lord's path and timing. That's the adventure of spiritual life. Contrasting the True and False - So we all have to deal with problems, trials, persecution. We don't pretend everything is rosy all the time. Here's where theology for trails starts to go south... God sovereignly arranges trials to perfect our character? If that's true, we shouldn't try to overcome them, we should submit to the trials. The healing movement is gradually defeating a belief that God is the author of sickness and he uses it to develop our faith. Here are the kinds of verses we have traditionally used to make our trouble seem spiritual.
These verses really point to the reality of difficulty. "We" were the ones that decided God must sovereignly be behind our problems. I want you to remember an important theological tenant throughout scripture; God is good, the devil is bad. If we wanted something bad to happen we would turn people over to the devil, not to God . God does good things; the devil does bad things. People come to Christ because of His goodness; we don't get saved to stew in the soup of adversity waiting for heaven.
Our theology left us with faith for trials to develop our character, but no way out of the wilderness cycle; going around the same mountain time after time. We trudge along our whole lives waiting for enough maturity to come to have a breakthrough in our spiritual walk. Most believers emphasize the need for serving and humility and never get on top of their adversity… they believe they should be subservient to problems because God is perfecting their character. If anything goes wrong we blame ourselves or God. Personal sin and God's sovereignty explains everything. Why It's False - The reason we rejoice during suffering and tribulation is because we know God defeats the enemy and so will we. Let's stop painting God as a benevolent dictator who authors life's difficulty to help us mature. Let's stop blaming God for what the devil does and and things that go wrong without anybody's help. God is not up in heaven sovereignly organizing trials, sickness, and temptations for His people. Shame on us for believing that lie - it's worth repenting over. Isn't that blasphemy? Think about it! We're the ones telling the world God is author if evil... makes evangelism a hard sell.
Character is important, but it's not developed by submitting to adversity. Maturity comes when we learn to believe God and take the steps to get above our problems and defeat them. The Last Lap in the Wilderness! A balanced theology will have a place for maturing character and acknowledge problems, but it will also graduate you out of the wilderness as over comers. Listen to these verses:
You will beat your adversity, your ministry will flourish, and you will prosper and bless others. How?
Feeling "Small" - You may be in a season of wanting your heart's desire and experiencing delays and setbacks. It’s natural to feel like grasshoppers in the face of giants. I think God puts us in that circumstance so we have to rely on his power and seek his face. Spiritual warfare is a great motivator for intercessory prayer. Here’s the crux of the Kingly response. God has an answer, there is a “way of escape” (1Cor 10:13) and a path for you to overcome. Note: I left a false statement in italics in the above paragraph. Did you catch it? Do you know why it's false? The heart of God is to grant your heart’s desire. Your personal holiness happens when your desires and your Father’s desires are one and the same. You’ll be using his authority to ask for your heart’s desire and to overcome the enemy. Answered prayer that fulfills your heart's desire really is a tree of life.
A Strategy – Kings expand the Kingdom in spite of the resistance. Warfare is a regular part of their diet. They have giants stuck in their teeth - Kings are the real lions. As you draw closer to the Lord, the circumference of your land will go out. Pray your way through each day. As concerns come up listen for the direction of the Holy Spirit and take authority over every source of resistance. Let prophetic intercession be your response to worry. When there doesn't seem to be any way depend on the Lord to show you how to make one. Break out of the prison of your adversity. Turn mediocrity to a movie where you're the star and all your dreams come true - that's the reality of God's plan for your life.
Overcomers Look Like This - I've had the privilege to meet successful Christians that combine business and ministry. They actually experience more problems than most people because they are doing more things and seeing more mistakes. What is strikingly different is how they respond. They are not defeated when something goes wrong. They prayerfully solve it and go on. They don't wilt; blaming themselves or God. They just start picking up the pieces, knocking on new opportunities, and expecting to find God. They have tremendous tenacity that is really rooted in a knowledge that God always gets them through. For them resurrection life is a way of life. Read More - We touched the open view of God in this article and we recommend reading Part 1 in Releasing Kings for more details. Harold has 5 books on our recommendations site that are "must reads" as well. Exciting stuff that has the greatest practical application in the marketplace.
Life is an adventure. People are a blessing. God is amazing. We're winning.
Love, John & Harold (are dancing - Join us)
Conferences - The Last trip to the Netherlands was a real eye-opener! I greatly underestimated the value of our book, the impact of the message on individual lives, and the value of live conferences. I witnessed the power of God being unleashed in the hearts of men and women by simply explaining the theology and experience behind releasing their heart's desire to expand the Kingdom. Seeing the lights come up in the hearts of God's people feels like sponsoring a jailbreak. One of my goals is to equip others to help us share the message in conference formats before we get overwhelmed with the momentum of what God is about to do. If your church or organization is ready, we can help you start a fire... a big one! Send us your feedback! We get blessed by your emails at "You Wrote Back"
Past newsletters are now Indexed to Chapters in Releasing Kings! Newsletters associated with chapter 12 relate to this week's theme _____________________________________________________________________ Interested in your own WEB? We've posted information on the software we use to create this web site. If you survive the learning curve without losing your sanctification (mine is barely intact), it really is easy to use and the cost is $299 a year - much less expensive than hiring someone. The primary benefit is the ease of making your own changes. Additional info is at: http://www.releasing-kings.com/releasing-websites.html
Progress - Kingly Bio's are Up We've completed the first round of interviews with Kings. These are real people that have been blessed by God in the Market Place and have hearts for ministry. Check it out at http://www.releasing-kings.com/Interviewing-Kings.html. If you have a success story, we'd like to post it by giving you a web page on our site.
Progress - A Teacher's Guide We've completed the first version of a study guide that targets those teaching the material in Releasing Kings. It includes a page of notes on each chapter, all the graphics suitable to make overheads, and a PDF file of the book with the key points highlighted that includes marginal notes, comments, and questions. This material is available for purchase on the teacher's guide page of the web. 509-308-6873
God has given us a great tool to communicate a message that sets people free in an amazing, contagious, life-changing way. If you haven't read it - get it. If you have read it - give it. http://www.releasing-kings.com/Ordernow.html
We've gotten a ton of positive feedback on the newsletter too... get it, give it. Reloading Seniors was powerful. Pass the link on. http://www.releasing-kings.com/Newsletter.html
PS: don't forget to look at the free reports - show your pastor the article on marketplace ministry from the pastor's perspective. You can simply email him this link or print a copy to give him. http://releasing-kings.com/pastors-perspective.html
____________________________________________________________________ You can get your copy of Releasing Kings for Ministry in the Marketplace at 1-800-308-5837 (or) |