Trust God and Live in and from the overflow.

Sometimes we can become so focused on the process that we forget about the presence. I sensed this particularly concerning someone in ministry who had become discouraged. Perhaps you feel as though your ministry simply is not taking off. You have done everything you know to do, and there are times when you wonder whether God has forgotten about you. God has not forgotten you.

Sometimes the problem is that we become so focused on making everything work that we forget the presence of God. We think, “Maybe I need to study more. Maybe I need more knowledge.” There is nothing wrong with knowledge, but sometimes what you need is not another piece of information. You need fresh oil from heaven.

God wants to restore His presence within you so that you minister from a fresh heart. He wants you ministering from a heart that is full, from the overflow rather than from lack. When the drought on the inside is broken, the water of life begins to flow again. There comes a fresh revelation of His glory, His presence, His love, and His mercy. It can even change the way you preach because now you are ministering from a heart that is free and liberated.

I believe God wants to bring us into another level in the anointing. He wants to teach us how to walk by the Spirit of God and trust the Spirit of God. He wants us to stop leaning upon our own understanding and stop trusting in the flesh. He wants us to become aware of Him every day.

If we focus entirely on the realm of this earth, we can become seriously discouraged. There will always be something happening around us. There will always be circumstances that can create fear, anxiety, and distress. But the same Holy Spirit who was present in the days of the apostles is still here today. God is still a very present help in a time of need.

Looking back over nearly fifty years of ministry, I can tell you that God has taken care of us. We have traveled across continents. We have been in Europe, Africa, South Africa, Asia, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, and America. We have traveled many, many miles, and God has looked after us.

That does not mean we have never encountered difficult circumstances. I remember being in a restaurant in Hampton, Virginia, when an angry confrontation suddenly escalated. Tables started flying, people were screaming, and for a moment it looked like something out of a television show. But when I look back over all those years and all those miles, incidents like that have been extremely rare.

I remember another time when I was backing up our fifth wheel during a snowstorm and did not see a steel post near a ditch. I damaged the back of the fifth wheel, but that was it. When I think about all the traveling we have done and all the places we have been, I see how God looked after us.

That is why I want to encourage you to trust the Lord. When the next thing comes your way that looks bad, do not allow panic to be the first thing that enters your heart. Let your first response be, “I'm trusting in the Lord. I'm putting my trust in God.”

There have been circumstances in my own life that initially looked like the worst possible thing that could happen. My mind could construct an entire scenario of what might go wrong, but then the thing I feared never manifested. God brought us through. Sometimes what looked enormous at first turned out to be nothing. The worst scenario my mind imagined simply did not happen.

We have to learn not to lean upon our own understanding. Do not keep looking to the left and the right. Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. Trust Him. It is going to be alright. Ultimately, we belong to Him, and at the end of our earthly journey we are going to be with Jesus.

This is also why I do not want you to make the enemy your focus. I see Christians becoming completely focused on the devil and on spiritual warfare. They talk constantly about warfare, but sometimes nothing changes. I do not live my life focused on warfare. I love Jesus. I serve Him. I walk with Him, talk with Him, and spend time in His presence.

I do not spend all my time telling God about every problem and continually begging Him to do this, that, and the other. God already lives on the inside of me. Think about that. Why would God live on the inside of me and then require me to struggle constantly just to experience His presence?

Jesus paid the price on the cross of Calvary. If He paid for everything I need and I then believe I have to beg and plead with God to make His sacrifice work, I am acting as though I have to add something to what Jesus accomplished. My response is faith, and faith, in its simplicity, is trusting God. I trust Him in every circumstance. I trust Him to guide me, lead me, and deliver me.

That is why I encourage you to spend time in the presence of God. Love Him. Worship Him. Adore Him. Become conscious of the fact that His presence is already within you. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. His presence is on the inside of you.

This changes the way we approach ministry as well. When I minister from lack, I am continually trying to produce something. I am trying to make something happen. I become focused on the process. But when I become full of His presence, I minister from overflow. That is where God wants us.

Maybe you have been discouraged because you have been watching everything happening around you. Maybe circumstances have convinced you that nothing is working. Maybe you have been so focused on what you need to accomplish that your heart has become dry. Come back to His presence. Let the drought break. Let the water of life flow again. Let God put fresh joy and peace within you. Let there be a fresh anointing upon your life.

Do not minister from an empty heart; minister from the overflow. When difficult circumstances come, do not immediately panic. Do not allow your mind to create the worst possible outcome and then live as though that imagined outcome has already happened. Trust the Lord.

Do not make the enemy the center of your attention. Make Jesus the center. Walk with Him, talk with Him, love Him, and spend time in His presence. God wants us to live continually aware of who He is on the inside of us. He wants us to learn how to trust the Spirit of God rather than leaning upon the flesh or our own understanding.

You do not have to live from fear, and you do not have to minister from lack. You can live from the overflow of His presence. Trust Him.

Source: YouTube Broadcast - Sat. 4th. Nov. 2018

The Quality of the Fathers Love

 

In 1 John chapter 3, John tells us to see what an incredible quality of love the Father has given and bestowed upon us. I love the way that is expressed because there is something to be said for receiving a revelation of the love, grace, and mercy of God. We need to understand the quality of His love.

The word love is something we can throw around very easily in this world. We tell somebody, “I love you,” and we may genuinely mean it, but human love can change. Circumstances change. Emotions change. God's love is different. God's love is permanent. It does not fluctuate or change. God does not have mood swings. His love toward us does not alter according to our circumstances, and it does not change according to what is happening in the world. God's love remains the same.

John tells us to consider what an incredible quality of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be permitted to be named, called, and counted as the children of God. Think about that. We were sinners who were saved by grace, and yet God permits us to become His sons and daughters. That is how great His love is.

John then explains that the reason the world does not recognize God's children is because it does not know or recognize God. People who have never encountered the reality of God cannot necessarily understand what we have experienced. Some people have only experienced religion. Perhaps all they have seen is religious formality, legalism, or the idea that God is standing there waiting to get them the moment they step out of line.

But the mercy of God is wonderful. If God were simply waiting to get us, He could have done that a long time ago. Instead, He is patient and loving. Those of us who have been born again and filled with the Spirit know Jesus on another level because we have experienced Him. That is why we need to become full and overflowing. There are people who do not know Jesus. They do not know the love of God or the power of God. They need to encounter the reality of His love.

John continues by saying, “Beloved, we are even here and now God's children.” You are God's child now. You belong to the family of God. Then John says that it has not yet been fully disclosed what we shall be hereafter.

I have often wondered what heaven is going to be like. I am not trying to get there early because I know God has a plan and purpose for my life, but I have thought many times about what it will actually be like. We have finite minds trying to comprehend an infinite God and an infinite heaven. That is difficult. I have little glimpses and insights, and what I see is phenomenal, but I know that when we finally see the reality, we are going to discover that it was far greater than anything we imagined.

John tells us that when He appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He really is. Then he says something very important: everyone who has this hope resting upon Him cleanses and purifies himself. When you receive a revelation of the love of God, the glory of God, and the presence of God, it creates within you a desire to live close to Him.

When you are genuinely born again, you do not wake up every morning thinking, “What can I do to sin today?” That is not what is in your heart. The Spirit of God is on the inside of you. The Word of God resides within you. The anointing is there. The Teacher, the Comforter, and the Guide is on the inside of you. You begin learning to listen to His voice.

That does not mean the flesh never gets in the way. There is a battle between the flesh and the spirit. When the spirit desires to do what is right, the flesh may try to pull in another direction. That is why we have to learn to put the flesh down. Sometimes I say it humorously: fight with your flesh. Deny your flesh the right to control you. Do not allow it to usurp authority over your life.

We have to rein in negative thoughts and emotions that want to run rampant. Every one of us can become emotional. You can have an argument with your spouse and become emotional. It happens. But when you treasure the anointing, you cannot remain in that condition indefinitely because the Holy Spirit begins speaking to your heart. He begins correcting and ministering to you, and then you make a decision not to continue in that direction. That is how we go from victory to victory.

The Bible teaches that the person who sows to the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, while the person who sows to the Spirit will reap life everlasting. If you continually feed the flesh, things become worse. But when you sow to the Spirit, you experience the life of God. That is why we need to keep pressing into the things of God. We need to stay conscious of the Spirit rather than allowing ourselves to be continually overcome by the flesh.

There are also what I call holy emotions. Paul spoke about preaching not merely with excellence of words or man's wisdom but in a demonstration of the Spirit and power of God. When the Spirit of God moves within us, He can stir the most holy emotions. There is joy unspeakable and full of glory, but there can also be weeping in the Spirit. That is very different from simply feeling sorry for ourselves. There are times when your heart becomes tender toward the Lord and something begins to happen on the inside.

I have experienced times when I lay before God and wept and wept until there were no tears left. It felt as though the hand of God was working on the inside of me, pulling things down and removing things from my spirit. When I got up, I felt different. I felt as though I had been washed on the inside, and then God filled me with joy.

This is part of learning to live by the Spirit. The anointing also becomes an internal regulator within us. In the Old Testament there were external ways of seeking direction from God, but we have something far greater available to us because the Holy Spirit lives within us. We do not need a heavenly app that we download every morning to find out what God is saying. We have the anointing on the inside.

We have a heavenly connection to God through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit helps our infirmities. When we do not know what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit helps us. He knows what is within our hearts, He knows what we need, and He knows what God desires for our lives. He is the Comforter, the Teacher, and the Guide.

As you learn to listen to Him, you begin recognizing those inward checks. You may be about to do something and hear within your heart, “Don't do that.” You may be about to say something and suddenly feel yourself being restrained. You stop before those words come out because the Holy Spirit is helping you.

Sometimes we open our mouths too quickly and say something that hurts another person, even when we intended it humorously. We are not perfect. We can express ourselves badly. But He is perfect on the inside of us. The Holy Spirit is continually helping us become overcomers and teaching us how to live for the Lord.

This is what happens when the love of God becomes more than a doctrine to us. We begin to understand that we are His children. We become conscious of His presence within us, and because we love Him, we desire to please Him.

The Father loves you with an incredible quality of love. His love does not fluctuate with your circumstances. You are His child, and He has placed His Spirit within you. Learn to listen to Him. Let Him correct you, teach you, guide you, and deal with your thoughts, your words, and your emotions. The more conscious you become of the One who lives within you, the more you learn to walk according to the Spirit rather than being controlled by the flesh. That is the privilege of being a child of God.

Source: YouTube Broadcast  - Sat. 4th. Nov 2018 .  

Greater Is He That Is in You

I want you to understand something about the supernatural life of God: He is not far away from you. Through the Holy Spirit, He lives on the inside of you. God wants us to become conscious of that reality because when we receive a revelation of who He is within us, it changes the way we see ourselves and the way we face the circumstances of life.

I met Jesus when I was six years old. I was born again and experienced His presence throughout my childhood and teenage years. Then, when I was around seventeen or eighteen, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and it transformed my life. Even as a little boy, I knew there was a call of God upon my life. I did not understand it, but I knew God had placed something upon my heart.

After all these years, Jesus is more real to me now than He has ever been. We have experienced discouragement in our lives, marriage, and ministry. There were even times when I felt like quitting the ministry, but I never felt like quitting God. He was too real to me.

The Bible speaks about those who have tasted the goodness of God and the powers of the world to come. Salvation itself is supernatural. It took the miracle power of God to bring us into new life and wash away our sins. When you have experienced God in a life-changing way, you begin to understand that there is a realm beyond what your natural senses can perceive.

That is why we need a continuing revelation of the awesomeness of God and of the fact that He is personally represented within every believer through the Holy Spirit.

Smith Wigglesworth once said, “You are a thousand times bigger on the inside than you are on the outside.” Think about that for a moment. The Word says, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”

We spend so much time being conscious of our physical existence because this is the realm in which we live. I sometimes call this physical body our “earth suit.” We feel its limitations every day. But one day we are going to leave this old earth suit behind, and then the full revelation of what we possessed spiritually is going to dawn upon us. I believe we are going to realize that it was far greater than we ever imagined.

But God does not want us to wait until then to begin understanding this. He wants us to become God-inside-minded now.

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Sometimes we need to say that over and over again until we convince our minds because our minds have been programmed for the natural realm. We think about God and consider Him with our minds, but our connection with heaven is spiritual. There are spiritual senses that we need to develop just as we have physical senses.

Sometimes our physical senses become so dominant that we need to bring them under control so that we can become increasingly aware of heaven. We need to learn that there is something greater happening on the inside of us than what we are seeing and feeling on the outside.

That is one of the reasons I encourage people to become saturated with the presence and anointing of God.

Think about something that has become completely saturated with water. Eventually it becomes waterlogged and sinks into the water. That is where we need to be spiritually. We are not supposed to stand outside admiring the water of God. Jesus said that if anyone is thirsty, let him come and drink, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

We need to get into the water.

A saturated heart is a contented heart. This world is a strange place, and we can become completely wrapped up in what is happening around us. The stresses of life can be very real. Some people are going through circumstances that are extremely difficult, and I do not minimize that.

That is exactly why the saturating anointing is so important.

It keeps us aware of His glory. It keeps us conscious of His presence. It keeps us in the middle of the river so that when the pressures and stresses of life come against us, there is something on the inside of us from which we can draw.

If it had not been for the anointing and the presence of God in my own life, I do not know what I would have done. There have been many things that could have caused me to give up. But when you have a real experience with the Holy Spirit and He lives big on the inside of you, His presence sustains you.

This is not merely about attending meetings or listening to somebody preach. It is not about a preacher getting up and doing his thing. There are better singers than me, better musicians than me, and better preachers than me. That is not the point.

The purpose is to bring people into the presence of God, to encourage them to enter into His glory and become saturated with His anointing. We are not supposed to be spectators standing on the riverbank. We are supposed to experience His presence for ourselves.

God wants you to know how mighty He is on the inside of you.

When the circumstances around you are shouting something different, remind yourself: Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

When your natural mind is trying to convince you that what you see is all there is, remind yourself that God is greater on the inside of you.

When the pressures of life begin to weigh upon you, do not remain standing outside the river. Become saturated again with His presence.

God wants us to live with a continual revelation of His presence and power within us. He wants us to become so conscious of Him that our awareness of what He is doing on the inside becomes greater than our awareness of what is happening on the outside.

Become God-inside-minded.

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Source: YouTube - Sat. 4th. Nov. 2018

Freedom In Christ Part 3 - Walking in Love, Joy and Thankfulness

Part 3

First Peter 4:8 says, “Have fervent love one for another, for love will cover a multitude of sin.” What a concept. The love of God will cover a multitude of sin. 

This is another important part of walking in Freedom in Christ. There are going to be times when somebody comes to you with a bad attitude and snaps at you, and there are two ways you can react. The flesh can immediately rise up and say, “I’m not going to take this. I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.” But that might be the last piece you have, so don’t do that! (Bad Joke) 

Instead, I can make a decision that I am not going to get into a confrontation and end up with a bad attitude myself. I can allow the love of God that is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost to come forth, and I can respond with the love of God. When you do that, you can see something amazing happen. It is very difficult for somebody to maintain a bad attitude when they are confronted with the love of Jesus flowing out of your heart.

We ought to be kindhearted and tenderhearted toward one another. We ought to allow the tenderness of heaven to work through us. The flesh wants to say, “I’m not going to let that person get away with that. I’m going to tell them what I think.” But if somebody is not teachable, you may simply escalate the situation into a confrontation that is not worth having. There is a better way. Let the love of God rule the way you respond.

I saw a news report on YouTube about a gentleman who was around 67 years old. He was shopping in a store and wearing a mask, and a woman was standing very close behind him. He politely asked her if she could give him a little space. She moved aside, but apparently her boyfriend became angry because this man had asked his girlfriend to move away from him. According to the report, the boyfriend waited outside, followed the gentleman toward his vehicle, and punched him in the chest. The man had recently undergone open-heart surgery, and naturally he was concerned about what that blow might have done to him. The police eventually found the attacker and arrested him.

Think about what happened there. In one moment, somebody allowed anger and the flesh to take control, and suddenly his whole life was turned upside down. That is why we have to be so careful that we do not react or overreact in the natural. It is not worth it. I would rather react with the love of God. I would rather allow the Holy Spirit to rise up on the inside of me and show me how He wants me to respond.

When we have fervent love for one another, it also changes the way we look at other people in the body of Christ. There are people who may irritate you just by nature. They rub you the wrong way. But when you walk in the love of God, it does not really matter because love covers a multitude of sin. Instead of simply seeing somebody with a bad attitude, maybe I can recognize that this is a person who has a problem that I can help them with. Maybe, because there is compassion in my heart instead of irritation, God can give me a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom that will help that person overcome whatever is causing the bad attitude. Then we become the hand of Jesus extended, helping somebody else to become free.

Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” I love that. The joy of the Lord is your strength. The people had been hearing the scroll read, and they were sorrowful and crying, but Nehemiah told them not to sorrow. He told them to go their way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, because the joy of the Lord was their strength.

When I read about eating the fat and drinking the sweet, I think about the "fat" represention the oil of joy and the anointing, the presence of God. Get filled and stay filled with the anointing. Receive the anointing and live in the anointing, because the anointing destroys the yoke of bondage and lifts the burden from off your shoulder. 

"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." Isaiah 10:27   Of course God was talking about the yoke of the Assyrian occupation, that would be broken by the power of God.   But the same principle is true of our lives.  Whatever is opressing you, bad habits, anger, bitterness, fear etc, the anointing will destroy it and as the original Hebrew text puts it, "Will prevent it from coming back"

God does not want us continually living under the weight of human emotions, fear, anxiety, and all the other things that try to assail mankind. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

We can talk about the gifts of the Spirit. We can talk about how God wants to bless our ministries, and receive prophetic words, and all the wonderful things God wants to do through His people. But the things I am talking about here are foundational. We need these foundations in the body of Christ. We cannot become the true body of Christ walking in the freedom that is in Christ until we learn how to overcome these things.

Forgive and forget.  Walk in the peace of God. Walk in the love of God. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength. These are foundational truths that help us live every day in Freedom in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice what it says. It does not say give thanks for all circumstances. It says give thanks in all circumstances. There is a big difference.

Maybe you are going through financial pressure. You can sit there looking at your finances and thinking, “What am I going to do? How am I going to pay this? Where is the money going to come from?”  If we focus on the problem all day and every day, depression, fear and anxiety will take hold,  because all we can see is the problem in front of us.

Instead of continually focusing on the problem, begin to give God thanks right in the middle of the circumstances. When you begin giving thanks, the joy of the Lord begins to rise up on the inside of you. The love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. Fear begins to leave because the word of God says "There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!" 1st John 4:18 AMPC.   I love the way the Amplified Classic translates the Hebrew text " love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror"

When we give thanks and praise the Lord, Anxiety begins to leave. The joy of the Lord becomes our strength, and the peace of God begins to flood our hearts. Suddenly we begin looking at the problem differently.

• God is never caught by surprise by human frailty. 
• He is never caught by surprise by the mistakes you and I make as human beings. 

God knows exactly where we are and what we are doing and thinking, and He will "always cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus"  2 Cor. 2:14 . 

So we can say, 

• Lord, I thank You that You are going to cause me to triumph through this thing. 
• I don’t know how I’m going to get through this mess. 
• I don’t know where the finances are going to come from for what I need, but I am going to trust You because You are my Provider. 
• You are El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough. 
• You are Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides all my needs. 
• I am going to trust You, and 
• I am going to give You thanks.

Give Him thanks on purpose, and do it with a rejoicing heart. Instead of coming before God continually rehearsing how terrible everything is, begin to rejoice. Say, 

• Father, I thank You Lord, that in the midst of the storm You cause me to triumph. 
• I thank You that whatever I am going through right now, You are going to bring me through.”

That is how we begin to walk differently. 

• Instead of allowing somebody else’s attitude to determine our attitude, we respond with love. 
• Instead of allowing sorrow and heaviness to dominate us, we let the joy of the Lord become our strength. 
• Instead of allowing circumstances to fill us with fear and anxiety, we give thanks in the midst of those circumstances and 
• allow the peace of God to fill our hearts.

* Walk in love.   * Walk in joy.   * Give thanks in all circumstances. 

Let the love of God determine how you respond to people. Let the joy of the Lord become your strength, and when you are facing something you do not know how to overcome, give thanks to God in the middle of it and trust Him to bring you through.

These are not just nice thoughts. 

They are foundational truths for living in Freedom in Christ.

God bless you richly,

Gil Howard-Browne  www.revivaltimes.com

Freedom In Christ Part 2 - The Renewed Mind

Part 2

Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I love the way the Amplified puts it because it talks about the renewing of the mind by its new ideas and its new attitudes. That is what God wants to do in us. He wants to give us new ideas and new attitudes. 

The old ideas and attitudes that have been formed through the experiences of life do not have to continue controlling the way we think and react. As we press into God, rely upon the Lord, lean upon Him, and commit these things to Him, He begins to strengthen us and change us. Our thinking becomes different.

God begins to build a whole string of great memories in us. We often sit and talk about where we were thirty years ago and how the Lord has taken us through this incredible journey of revival. We remember what God did, how He touched our family, and how we saw Him touch the lives of the people He had us minister to. Those are incredible memories. 

When you begin building those kinds of memories 
in your life, the failures and negative experiences 
of the past begin to seem more and more distant. 

Sometimes you can look back at your old life and it almost seems as though those things happened to somebody else. The Bible says that when you receive Christ, the failures of the past fade away and your new life in Christ begins.   "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17

God helps us forgive and forget. Those old memories become almost like something that has been stacked away in the archives. They may be part of your history, but they do not have to control who you are today. 

In place of them ... 

• God begins filling your life with the good things 
• That have happened since you became a believer. 
• You remember the great times together in the Lord. 
• You remember being in the presence of God. 
• You remember the things He has done and 
• The victories He has brought you through.

We also need to understand that not every negative thing that happens in our lives means we have to spend hours rebuking, binding, and loosing. 

I am speaking from experience because I did that for years. I spent a lot of time rebuking and binding, and many times nothing changed. My life was the same. Our marriage still had the same problems.  

Then the Lord touched us in those early days of revival. God began to touch us as a family and change each one of us. We began to live in a different realm with the joy of the Lord, the peace of God, and the love of God. Those things began changing many of the hindrances in our lives.

Today, we do not spend our days rebuking the devil and binding every negative thing that comes our way. We have learned to trust God and His Word.   If and when the Holy Spirit leads us to take authority over something, absolutely, we do it with the unction and authority God has placed within us. But we do not have to spend every day doing warfare. God has provided the Holy Spirit, and He lives in me. "because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4.  

I look to the Holy Spirit who lives within me to bring change. 

• I look to Him for 
• strength, 
• healing, 
• hope, 
• joy, 
• peace, 
• love, 

and whatever else I need in order to stay free and walk free in Christ.

We also have to understand that this freedom is a process. It is something we step into and continue to walk in it daily. It is not something we do once and then never have to do again. 

Think about your natural body. You do not eat one meal and say, “Well, that is it. I ate today, so I will not need anything else for the rest of the week.” We continually eat because our bodies need nourishment, and it is the same way spiritually. We continually apply these things to our lives. 

Maybe something happens today and suddenly triggers an old memory. Maybe somebody says something that reminds you of what somebody else said or did years ago, and suddenly the anger or hurt wants to come back. That is when you apply these truths again.

There are people who have been hurt in church situations and carry that hurt around with them. But you are never going to find a perfect church where nobody will ever say or do something that offends you. Why? Because churches are filled with people. They are human beings, and none of them are perfect. Yet God puts His precious treasure on the inside of imperfect vessels and anoints them. Hopefully, they yield to the Spirit of God, who corrects them, changes them, heals them, and sets them free. God is calling us to walk in the Spirit.

Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” 

If God says it is possible, then it is possible. 

I do not have the same issues today that I had when I was a young believer. I had memories from my childhood, my teenage years, and my early Christian life that God had to root out of me. Slowly but surely, my mindset changed. That is what God wants to do for every believer. He wants to put new ideas in our thoughts. He wants to give us fresh vision. He wants to build attitudes within us that are positive and based upon the Word of God.

 “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11    

I read the Word of God and trust the Holy Spirit, The Teacher inside, to make it part of my life, and it builds me up. My spirit becomes strong in the Lord. Then, when I need it, the Holy Spirit brings that Word back to my remembrance. I immediately yield to that Word and allow the Word to work in me. That is what begins changing us. That is what gives us new ideas and new attitudes.

Over time, positive memories and emotions associated with love, peace, joy, and goodness begin replacing those negative things. Then you can look back over your life and say, “Wow, look what the Lord has done. Look where He has brought me from.” 

Maybe there was a time when every little thing that happened affected you emotionally. Something happened and you fell apart. Something went wrong and you wanted to give up. But now you can look at yourself and say, “I’m not that person anymore. I have changed. I react differently.” The things that used to overcome you do not have to overcome you anymore because God has built an inner strength within you.

God also builds within you the memory of how He caused you to triumph. Then, when another negative situation arises, the Holy Spirit can remind you, “Remember what happened the last time? Remember how God brought you triumphantly through that situation?”  God is building positive things and good things within you. So how do we overcome? How do we live free from the things that used to assail us? The Word of God gives us the answer.

Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of God rule in your heart.” I love the way the Amplified describes it: let the peace of God be the umpire of your heart. Let His peace become the deciding factor. That means I have to walk in the peace of God every day. 

If I do not have peace, then I need to do the things that bring me back into that place of peace. Sometimes I just need to get alone with God. I need to find somewhere I can shut everything else out. I may put on some anointed worship and simply focus on the Lord. It might take ten minutes. It might take fifteen or twenty minutes. But I focus on Him until the peace of God begins to rule in my heart and absolutely floods my heart.

The Bible talks about the peace of God that passes understanding. Your understanding may be telling you one thing. Your thoughts may want to go in one direction. An old memory or emotion may be trying to pull you somewhere else. 

But when you allow the peace of God to rule, His peace rises up and overshadows the thought, the memory, and the emotion that was trying to lead you astray. I cannot allow turmoil to usurp authority over my life. I cannot allow anxiety, fear, and all those things to run rampant in my life. I have to rein those things in and bring them to a stop with the help of God, by the power of the Spirit of God, and by the peace of God that passes understanding.

That is part of walking in Freedom in Christ. Let God renew your mind. Let Him give you new ideas and new attitudes. Hide His Word in your heart. Remember the victories He has already brought you through. Walk in the Spirit, and when turmoil tries to take over, let the peace of God become the umpire of your heart. Let His peace rule.

God bless you richly

Gil Howard-Browne

Freedom in Christ Part 1 - Forgive and Forget.

Part One

There are two words that are really, literally life-changing for the believer. They are the words "Forgive" and "Forget"  If we can learn to live with these two words in mind, they will set us free from so many things that affect billions of humans around the globe daily. 

Micah 7:18–19 says, “Who is God like unto You, Who forgives iniquity?” God is a forgiving God. When you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior and asked Him to forgive you of your sins and received Him as your Lord and Saviour, He forgave you and accepted you. The Scripture goes on to say  "'He will again have compassion on us; He will subdue and tread underfoot our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19

I often refer to that as the sea of God’s forgetfulness. He casts that sin into the sea of forgetfulness to remember it no more.

God is not sitting there with a checklist of all the bad things you have ever done in your life, reminding you about how bad you have been. God is not caught by surprise when you and I act like human beings. We are going to make mistakes. We are going to do things that are just plain fleshly. The flesh rears up and does what flesh does best, and that is usually the wrong thing. But God is a forgiving God.

The Scripture tells us that "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12 Think about that for a moment. How far is the east from the west? If you begin traveling east, as long as you continue east, it will never end until you turn around and travel west, there is no end. That is how far God has removed our transgressions from us.

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Isaiah 1:18   The shed blood of Jesus enables us to be washed whiter than snow, so that when God looks upon us, He does not see us as sinful human beings. He sees the redeemed, blood-washed, blood-bought saints whose sins have been forgiven. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

That is the attitude in which we have to walk every day, recognizing the forgiveness God has extended toward us and recognizing His mercy. God is a God of great mercy and great love, and He is more ready to bless us than we are actually ready to receive.

• Likewise, we have to walk in forgiveness. 
• Forgive because we have been forgiven, and 
• Forget because God remembers our sins no more. 
• We forgive those who have done us wrong, and 
• We forget it by faith in Jesus.

Now, that is not always easy to do because we have a brain with an incredible ability to remember things. Our memories extend far back into our lives. You can sit and think about when you were a child and remember little things that happened, both good and bad.

I remember when I was about three or four years old, playing outside on the farm, and an aircraft flew very low over us.  This was not something I had seen nor heard. This was back around 1953. It was a big old prop plane, and it made an incredible noise flying perhaps one or two thousand feet above me. As a little kid, I heard the rumbling of those engines and ran into the house in terror. My folks had to explain to me that it was an aircraft.

I remember that very distinctly because it had an impact on me as a little child. Your brain stores things like that as memories. You have many good memories, but you can also have many bad memories. Sometimes there can be a series of bad things that happened that stand out in your memory, and those are the things God wants to help us overcome.  

Peter had a conversation with Jesus in Matthew 18:21. Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him?” In other words, how many times can somebody do something wrong to me and I have to forgive him and let it go? Peter suggested maybe seven times.

Jesus answered and said, not seven times, but seventy times seven. That is 490 times. Why that particular figure? I do not know, but that is a lot of forgiving and Jesus wanted Peter to know that as long as he has a memory, he will need to forgive often..

I began to realize how our memories can be triggered throughout our lives. You can hear a sound or hear music played, and suddenly it brings back a memory. Every now and again, we will hear a song that was played around the time of our honeymoon, and we will say, “There’s our honeymoon song.” Thank God that is a good memory!

But sometimes what comes back is not a good memory.

• Maybe somebody did something to you that caused you a lot of grief or anxiety. 
• Maybe it became a source of great contention in your life. 
• Suddenly that memory crops up, and 
• you feel that anger or resentment coming back as 
• though the thing happened yesterday.

There are feelings and emotions attached to memories. When you recall certain events, you can suddenly feel the hurt all over again. The event may have happened years ago, but the anger or resentment can rise up as though it had just happened.

That is why these two words, forgive and forget, have to become part of what we do every day. You may have already forgiven somebody, but suddenly the memory comes back and you feel that resentment rising again. Immediately say, “Lord, I don’t want to have this resentment. I thought I was free of it, but evidently the memory is still there. Lord, I thank You in Jesus’ name that You help me overcome this.”

Then forgive that person again.

If you have to do it one hundred times, so be it. If that memory comes back and tries to stir those emotions again, take it immediately to the Lord and forgive again. It will set you free and eventually that memory will not affect you anymore. 

The person who hurt you may never even know that they hurt you. A lot of people do things without realizing how deeply their words or actions affected somebody else. They may just carry on with their life as though nothing ever happened.

Your forgiving them is more for you than it is for them.

I want that freedom in Christ. I do not want to be bound by the memories of the past. I do not want to be bound by anxiety, anger, hurt, and resentment over something somebody did to me years ago. I want to be free of that stuff.

So the minute those feelings arise, give them to the Lord. Say, 

• Lord, I thank You that You forgave me, and 
• I forgive them in the name of Jesus. 
• I thank You for the joy of the Lord that is my strength, and 
• I thank You for Your peace.

Maybe what happened involved betrayal. Maybe somebody deserted you. Maybe there was trauma or danger. Maybe there are memories that still produce anger, resentment, fear, discouragement, loneliness, or hurt.

Whatever it is, do not allow those memories 
to keep you bound to the past.

Jesus has provided freedom for us, and we can learn to walk in that freedom. When those memories rise again, we can bring them immediately to the Lord. We can forgive again. We can release the resentment again. We can thank Him for His joy and His peace.

Forgive because you have been forgiven.   Forget because God remembers your sins no more.

Do not allow yesterday’s hurt to control your life today. Give it to the Lord. Forgive. Let it go. And keep walking in the freedom that is yours in Christ.

God bless you richly

Gil Howard-Browne

AI, Fear, and the Future:

I am in my late 70s now, and over the years I have observed some remarkable changes in society and technology. I have also heard my share of predictions about what was supposedly going to happen to us next. 

Some concerns proved legitimate, some were greatly exaggerated, and others simply faded away as the next crisis took their place. Perhaps that is why I tend to be skeptical when I hear predictions that artificial intelligence could eventually destroy humanity.

Let me be clear: I am not saying AI cannot cause serious problems. Of course it can. Any technology this powerful can be misused, and human beings have an unfortunate history of finding ways to misuse good things. I believe we should take sensible precautions and develop AI responsibly. But there is a big difference between saying, “AI presents risks we need to address” and saying, “AI may become superintelligent, escape our control and destroy humanity.” Those are very different statements.

I remember the anxiety surrounding Y2K. There was a legitimate computer problem involving the way dates had been stored in older systems, and companies and governments had to address it. But around that genuine technical issue grew some frightening predictions about what might happen when the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2000. People were storing dried and canned food because they feared major systems might fail. I remember someone telling me about the potential catastrophe, and my response was something like, “Are you suggesting that on January 1 McDonald’s won’t be selling hamburgers anymore?” I couldn’t see that happening.

My reasoning was fairly simple. McDonald’s and every other major corporation depended upon their computer systems to stay in business. Banks, airlines, retailers and countless other organizations weren’t going to sit around doing nothing and wait to see whether their businesses stopped operating at midnight. They had every incentive to find the problems and keep things working. I see something similar with AI. The companies developing today’s most advanced artificial intelligence are fiercely competitive. They have invested enormous amounts of money, infrastructure and human effort into this technology. None of them wants to cease existing ten or twenty years from now. Their executives, engineers and employees have families too. They have every reason to make sure the technology they are developing remains useful and controllable.

That doesn’t mean they can’t make mistakes. Competition can sometimes cause companies to move too quickly, which is why testing, safeguards and sensible oversight are important. But I think we sometimes forget the tremendous incentive these companies have to keep their own technology under control. There is also another practical matter that often gets overlooked when we start talking about AI taking over the world: AI doesn’t exist independently. It requires enormous computing resources, data centers, electricity, cooling systems, communications networks, semiconductor manufacturing, technicians, engineers and an incredible amount of human-maintained infrastructure.

Before we arrive at a science-fiction scenario in which AI controls humanity, we have to explain how software running on human-built infrastructure somehow gains control over the humans who operate that infrastructure and prevents them from shutting it down. Could someone construct a theoretical scenario explaining how that might happen? Certainly. We humans are very good at imagining scenarios. But imagining something is not the same as demonstrating that it is going to happen.

This is where another lesson from my life comes into the picture. Sadly, human nature is morally deficient. Fame, recognition, influence and money can cloud people’s judgment. I have seen this in ministry. There have been unethical preachers who discovered that conspiracy theories, sensational predictions and frightening messages could increase their audiences and their income. I have watched the same thing happen in media. A YouTube creator may discover that people are growing tired of the usual content and views begin dropping. Then comes the temptation to hype things up. A video saying, “AI researchers are studying a potential safety problem” may not attract much attention. A video saying, “AI COULD KILL US ALL!” is another matter entirely.

That doesn’t mean everyone making alarming predictions is dishonest. I believe many people sincerely believe what they are saying. But sincerity doesn’t guarantee accuracy, and we should never confuse popularity with evidence. That is why, when someone tells me AI could destroy humanity, I want to ask some simple questions: Show me how. What exactly has to happen? What evidence demonstrates that it is happening? What safeguards have to fail? Why would humans be unable to intervene? Which parts have actually been demonstrated and which parts are still theoretical? I don’t consider those questions anti-science. I consider them common sense.

At the same time, there are real AI problems that deserve our attention right now. AI can be used for fraud, misinformation, cybercrime, surveillance and manipulation. Increasingly autonomous systems need appropriate safeguards. Companies need accountability, and governments also need accountability in how they use AI. Those concerns are real enough without frightening people with predictions about the extinction of humanity.

Personally, when I think about AI, fear isn’t what comes to mind first. I think about what it has already enabled me to do. I was introduced to ChatGPT in January 2023, and the difference it has made in my life has been remarkable. In just a few years, I have been able to accomplish things I previously could only dream about doing. Media and music production are good examples. Not many years ago, producing certain kinds of professional-quality media could require specialists, expensive equipment, studios and enormous amounts of money. For someone without those resources, many creative ideas simply remained ideas.

AI is changing that. Today, one person with imagination and determination can accomplish things that once required an entire team and a substantial budget. I can work with music, media, writing and creative production in ways that would previously have been financially beyond my reach. At my age, I find that exciting. Technology hasn’t arrived late in my life merely to make things a little more convenient; it has actually expanded what I am able to create and accomplish.

And I’m certainly not alone. Think about what this means for an independent creator, a small ministry, a student, an entrepreneur, a researcher or simply someone with a wonderful idea but very little money. Capabilities that once belonged primarily to wealthy organizations are increasingly becoming available to ordinary people. That is why I believe AI could become one of the greatest technological blessings humanity has ever experienced.

Will there be problems? Absolutely. There were problems with automobiles, electricity, aviation, computers and the internet. Every major technology creates challenges alongside its benefits. Humanity has had to learn how to manage those challenges while continuing to enjoy what those technologies made possible. I believe we can approach AI the same way. We don’t have to choose between pretending AI has no risks and believing AI is going to destroy us. There is plenty of room between those two extremes for wisdom and common sense.

Let’s develop AI responsibly. Let’s put sensible safeguards in place. Let’s hold companies accountable and question sensational claims. When someone predicts catastrophe, let’s calmly ask for the evidence. But let’s also recognize the extraordinary opportunity before us. Having watched many predictions and technological changes come and go over the years, I have learned that I don’t need to allow the latest frightening headline to determine how I see tomorrow.

I would rather choose evidence over hype, wisdom over fear, and responsible progress over panic. When I look at artificial intelligence today, I don’t primarily see something that is going to destroy humanity. I see an extraordinary tool that is already helping people do things they never thought possible. I know, because I am one of them. And I am genuinely excited to see what we will be able to accomplish with it next.

By Gil Howard-Browne

[www.revivaltimes.com](http://www.revivaltimes.com)

Living In The Supernatural Power of God

 Over the last 30 years of traveling and conducting revival meetings, I have ministered in many different churches and denominations. They certainly have not all agreed doctrinally, but I have watched God move supernaturally in the lives of people again and again. God loves people, and He understands that as human beings we do not always have everything figured out. We may differ in our understanding and revelation of the Word, but there is a common denominator that we desperately need: the Holy Spirit.

First John 2:27 tells us that the anointing we have received from Him abides in us, teaches us all things, and teaches us how to abide in Christ. We have a resident Teacher on the inside of us. The Holy Spirit is there to teach us, show us, guide us, and lead us. The purpose and will of God come from the Father through the Son, and the Holy Spirit works within us to bring us into what God has for our lives.

Through the years, I have seen people from many different denominations and circumstances come into revival and have a life-changing encounter with God. I have seen marriages healed, people set free, drug addictions broken, bad habits overcome, and people in desperate emotional need touched by the power of God. The early church was a supernatural church. Wherever the disciples went, supernatural things happened, and people were touched in remarkable ways.

We see this when Paul was preaching and encountered a man who had been lame from birth. As the man listened to Paul preach, faith began to arise in his heart for healing. Paul looked intently at him and perceived that he had faith to be healed. Then Paul said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet,” and the man was immediately healed. Paul did not stop and intellectually calculate what spiritual gift he should use. He simply flowed with the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit prompted him, he spoke, and the power of God brought the miracle.

That is important because there is nothing I can do in my own human strength to work a miracle. The power is the power of the Holy Spirit operating upon me and through me to touch the lives of others. God knows who needs what in every meeting. I do not have to determine everything from what I can see or understand naturally. I minister with love and compassion, trust the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and give God room to do whatever He needs to do.

That is what happened in the early church. The disciples went out, and the Lord worked with them, confirming His Word with signs and wonders. Consider Philip ministering in Samaria. Mighty signs and wonders were happening, and great joy filled the city. Then, in the middle of that successful ministry, the Spirit of God directed Philip into the desert. Philip obeyed and encountered an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading from Isaiah. Philip shared Christ with him, explaining what Jesus had done, and the man asked to be baptized.

After Philip baptized him, Philip was supernaturally transported away to continue with what God had for him. What a mighty sign and wonder! Could God still do supernatural things today? Absolutely. God is supernatural. We should never limit what He can do simply because something goes beyond our natural understanding.

One of the problems I have witnessed, however, is that Christians can become far more focused on what the enemy is doing than on what God is doing. There is no commandment in the Word telling us to spend every day paying attention to the devil. Yes, we deal with him when necessary, but we do not make him the focus of our lives. The Bible says he goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is not omnipresent. He is not God.

Our focus needs to be on what Jesus accomplished for us and on the Holy Spirit who lives within us. We need to recognize that the enemy has been defeated and put under our feet. When I walk somewhere, I do not spend all my time wondering what is underneath my feet. I simply walk confidently toward where I am going. That is how we need to live as believers.

Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. When our attention begins to center on the greater One living within us, we will begin to see things change around us. We will begin to recognize God moving supernaturally in us and through us.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That is where our attention belongs. Seek the kingdom. Focus on Jesus. Focus on the anointing. Focus on the joy and peace that come from God.

When you feel sad, discouraged, or depressed, do not immediately decide that you are experiencing a demonic attack. Not everything that happens to us is demonic. Sometimes we are tired. Sometimes we have not slept enough. Sometimes we have eaten the wrong things or have not taken proper care of our physical bodies. There can be natural factors affecting how we feel. The enemy may try to take advantage of weakness, but we should not automatically label every human difficulty as a demonic attack.

The same is true in our relationships. Sometimes people say their family is under attack when what has actually happened is that emotions have gotten out of control and an argument has developed. Instead of escalating the situation, allow the peace of God to rule in your heart. We all have moments when our emotions get the better of us, but we need to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and redirect us into His peace.

Many of the calamities people face are connected to their own decisions. Do not spend your life looking for demons under every bush. Sometimes your greatest enemy is what is happening in your own mind. The Bible tells us to cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Do not allow wrong thoughts to capture your attention and establish themselves within you.

The moment a thought comes that contradicts the Word of God, cast it down. Reject it. If a thought of failure comes, do not sit there dwelling on failure. Find the promise of God that pertains to your problem. Find the promise that speaks directly to your situation and stand upon it. Renew your mind with that promise until the truth of God becomes the foundation upon which you stand.

Seeking God is not complicated. Some people think that seeking God means they must spend hours and hours struggling in prayer before God will respond. But He is already here. He lives within us. I do not have to pray hard enough to open heaven so God can finally come down and bless me when the Holy Spirit already lives on the inside of me.

Think of having money in the bank. You do not walk into the bank and beg the manager to please give you your money. It already belongs to you. You access what is yours. Through Jesus, God has accomplished tremendous blessings for us. Scripture speaks of being blessed in the city, blessed in the field, blessed coming in, and blessed going out. Jesus became the curse for us so that we could inherit the blessings promised to Abraham.

Believe God. Trust Him. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Seek the things that have been made available because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. He will give you joy unspeakable and full of glory and peace that passes understanding. This is not something human beings can manufacture. The peace of God is supernatural.

The early church was supernatural, and God wants the modern church to be supernatural. We need to walk in the power and demonstration of the Spirit of God every day and experience the hand of God moving on our behalf.

The next time you are confronted with a problem, do not allow your first reaction to be fear and despair. Go immediately to God. Go immediately to His Word. Take His promise and believe it for yourself. Worship God and praise Him in the middle of whatever you are facing. Do not allow gloom, despair, fear, or depression to dictate the direction of your life. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength. Let the peace of God rule in your heart so you can walk in the supernatural power of God.

Jesus asked in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” What is Jesus going to find when He comes? Will He find a body of believers living by faith and trusting Him every day? Will He find a church on fire and living an anointed life? Or will He find people focused on all the wrong things and arguing about doctrines that do not produce life-changing results?

Our attention needs to return to the life-giving and life-changing presence of God. We need His power that heals, changes, sets free, and delivers.

Isaiah speaks about the oil of joy instead of mourning. There is an anointing of joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. It is something we can experience every day. That does not mean we have to walk around laughing every moment, but there can be a joy living on the inside of us that eventually begins to bubble out. People can recognize when the joy of God is present in someone's life.

Scripture also speaks of a garment expressive of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit. When the presence and power of God touch us, praise begins to flow. It does not have to be forced.

That is one of the things I love about revival. When revival meetings first begin, people may arrive tired, burdened, weary, or simply not ready to respond. But as the Word is preached and the presence of God begins touching people, something changes. After the second or third meeting, people begin worshiping God freely. Nobody has to force it out of them. Worship simply begins to flow because they have been refreshed by the presence of God. The heavy burden has been lifted, and the garment of praise begins to manifest.

This is especially important for people in ministry. Ministry can be difficult. Pastors deal with the burdens and problems of other people while also dealing with challenges within their own families. Every family has issues that need the touch of heaven. Ministers need more than human ability to carry these responsibilities. We need the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

We need to return to our roots. We need to return to the church God established on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon and filled ordinary men and women. They were simple people, yet they were transformed by the power of God. They went out and did the greater works Jesus said they would do.

God wants that for His church today. He wants it for every individual believer. Whether you are in full-time ministry or simply attend a local church, God wants you anointed so that your life can make a difference in the lives of others.

If you have never asked Jesus to come into your life, you can receive Him today. Thank Him that He died for you and shed His blood for your sins. Receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Ask Him to come into your life and make you a new creation in Christ, where old things pass away and all things become new. Ask Him to change you by the power of the Holy Spirit as you serve Him and live for Him.

If you are born again but have never been filled with the Holy Spirit, invite Him to fill you. If you are already filled with the Spirit, then seek a fresh encounter with God. We need fresh oil from heaven.

Jesus said that if anyone is thirsty, let him come to Him and drink, and out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. He did not say merely to come and think about it. He said to come and drink. When you drink of the living water, something happens within you. Living water brings life. Living water brings peace. It brings the blessings Jesus accomplished for you at the cross.

Ask the Lord for that fresh oil. Drink of the living waters He promised. Thank Him for the river flowing out of you to bring change into your life, your family, your church, and everything you set your hand to do.

Get alone with the Lord. Find a quiet place where you will not be distracted. Put aside your phone, close your eyes, lift your hands to heaven, and receive the glory and presence of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to refresh you. God wants to bring change, freedom, healing, joy, and peace into your life.

Revival is not supposed to end with us simply enjoying revival. Revival produces something beyond itself: the harvest. When people are revived, refreshed, filled, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the gospel can go outward and touch the lives of others. That is what revival is meant to produce. We are revived so that the life and power of God flowing through us can reach people who desperately need Him.

Source: Episode 0150 Revival at Cape Henry with Host Pastor Larry Reece and Guest Gil Howard-Browne — Revival at Cape Henry

www.revivaltimes.com 

The Secret Place

I want to set my affection on the things above rather than the things of this earth. The things around me can pass away and change, but the things of heaven are permanent and eternal. As I focus on the things of heaven, those eternal things begin to affect me. They bring change, strengthen my heart, lift my spirit, and give me new vision, new purpose, and new zeal. I want the presence of God to fill me until I overflow, because when I overflow with His anointing and presence, there is more than enough for what I need personally and there is also something for me to give to others. I want to overflow with the goodness, glory, presence, love, mercy, and grace of God so that those I come in contact with can get a taste of heaven.

There are times when I face real difficulties physically, emotionally, financially, or in other areas of life, but none of those circumstances change the fact that God loves me with an everlasting love and has His best in mind for me. His answer does not necessarily come when I think it should. If I could see the entire picture and everything God is putting into place, I would understand why some things do not happen when I expect them to happen. While I am waiting for the blessing, I have to maintain my faith and trust in God because He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask, think, or even dare to imagine.

I can place limitations on what God can do when I judge everything by what I see in the natural. I can look at my circumstances and say that I do not have the means, the finances, or what appears necessary for something to happen. Those things can become obstacles in my mind and cause me to think that what I am believing for is impossible. But God can make a way where there appears to be no way. He can put a river in the desert. My desert is not a problem to God. He can bring life where there seems to be death and blessing where there seems to be drought. Therefore, I will seek His heart, refuse to give up, and not allow my circumstances to dictate how I serve God. Regardless of what happens, I will continue loving Him and pressing through.

Psalm 91 shows me what it means to live in the secret place. Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain under the shadow of the Almighty.” The secret place can sound as though it is something hidden and difficult to reach, but God never made His presence difficult. Another rendering speaks of dwelling “in the shelter of the Most High.” A shelter is a place of protection. I can come under the presence, provision, and glory of God and remain there.

The key word for me is dwell. Dwelling means staying. I do not enter the shelter for a few moments and then leave. I remain there. This does not mean that I must pray, speak in tongues, or worship physically twenty-four hours a day. It means that as I go through my day, I walk knowing and recognizing that the presence of God is with me. I may be busy working, shopping, doing chores, or handling the responsibilities of everyday life, but I can remain aware of the Spirit and presence of God. My heart can remain attuned to Him so that when the Holy Spirit speaks, directs, or reminds me of something, I am available to listen and obey.

When I dwell in the shelter of the Most High, I can remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty. That is especially important when there is uncertainty around me. I do not have to allow everything happening in the world to fill me with frustration, anxiety, and fear. I know that God has all things under control, and I am governed by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is working in me so that instead of being filled with fear and anxiety, I can be filled with peace and joy.

I do not want the circumstances of life to rob me of my peace and joy. I want to remain stable regardless of what comes. No matter how difficult something looks or how violently the storms of life seem to rage, I can remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty. He is my protection, my guide, and my source of peace, joy, and life. I want my focus to remain on the greatness and awesomeness of God rather than becoming consumed with what the enemy may be doing.

Psalm 91:2 says, “I will say of the Lord.” What I say is important. I do not want to speak myself into defeat; I want to speak myself into victory by saying what God says about me. His Word says that He always causes me to triumph in Christ. Therefore, regardless of what my circumstances look like, I will say what God says rather than allowing what I see, hear, feel, or experience through my physical senses to determine my confession.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress.” When things are going badly around me, when difficulties arise, and when I do not know how to cope with what is happening, He is still my fortress. That has not changed. I will continue saying what His Word says until I see the victory and the blessing He has for me. Ephesians 3:20 declares that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask, think, or even dare to imagine. I believe His Word, and I trust Him to bring His promise to pass in His time and according to His purpose.

Whatever circumstances I face, I need to find the promise of God that speaks to my situation and hold on to it. I do not want to continually speak the problem because speaking the problem will not change it. I want to take the promise concerning the problem and say what God says. Whether the answer comes in a month, a year, or at another time, I will continue walking in joy, peace, and the love of God. I refuse to be moved. I want to remain stable and fixed.

I must also learn to lean on and rely upon God every day. Trust is learned as I see God move and experience His faithfulness. When we first stepped into full-time ministry, we had very little except the call of God, the direction of the Spirit, and the mandate to carry revival. As we went forward, God opened door after door. We could not focus on what we did not have; we had to focus on the call of God. I learned that when God calls, He makes provision. Through those experiences, I learned to lean on Him, rely upon Him, and confidently trust Him.

Instead of waking up focused on how difficult tomorrow might be, I want to focus on what the Word of God says. His mercies are new every morning. I want the Holy Spirit to remind me of the Word I have hidden in my heart. When I put His Word inside me, the Spirit of God can bring it back to my remembrance at the moment I need it and show me what to do.

Psalm 91:3 says that He will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. I could focus on the dangers around me and become consumed with fear, but that is not where my attention belongs. If I dwell in the shelter of the Most High, remain stable and fixed under His shadow, say that He is my refuge, and lean upon and confidently trust Him, I am placing myself where I can walk in His protection and deliverance. I do not need to spend my life trying to determine everything the enemy might be planning. I need to remain in the presence of God and trust His Word.

I want to walk in victory rather than defeat. Even when circumstances in the natural do not appear to be going the way I think they should, I will continue believing that God causes me to triumph. The things of the Spirit do not always make sense to the natural mind because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. I refuse to allow the natural circumstances surrounding me to determine the condition of my heart. I will say of the Lord that He is my refuge and fortress.

I also want to walk in freedom rather than repeatedly returning to bondage. The anointing destroys yokes of bondage, whether they involve depression, fear, anxiety, or something else that tries to hold me. I do not want to experience freedom today and return to bondage tomorrow. I want to stay free by continuing to dwell in God's presence.

That means I must pay attention to what I allow into my mind. I should not continually read or watch things that depress me or feed fear. Instead, I can worship, enter into the presence of God, and fill my mind with His Word. I do not want rumors, reports, or the confusion around me to govern the way I think. I want to remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.

I must cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. If I continually think on negative things, those thoughts can become rooted in my mind. Instead, I want to think on things that are good, pure, wholesome, and of a good report. I do not want my mind continually creating the worst possible scenarios from what I receive through my physical senses. I want to fill my mind with the promises of God until His Word becomes an anchor to my soul.

I stay free by dwelling in His presence, spending time with Him, listening to the voice of the Spirit, speaking to Him, and putting His Word into my mind and heart. The more His Word fills me, the more the Holy Spirit has within me to bring back to my remembrance when I need it.

Psalm 91:4 gives me another picture of the secret place: “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings shall you trust and find refuge.” Just as a young bird finds shelter beneath the strong feathers of its mother’s wings, I can remain sheltered under God’s protection. No matter what is happening outside that shelter, there is a place of refuge under His wings.

His truth and His faithfulness become my shield and buckler. I cannot remain stable and fixed if I do not understand the faithfulness of God or know the truth of His Word. Therefore, I need to find the promise of God that speaks to my circumstances and stay with it. I will say with my mouth what His Word says and believe it in my heart. I do not have to determine exactly when or how God will fulfill His promise. It may happen suddenly, or it may take a season. God knows the reason, and I do not have to understand everything.

What I need to know is His truth and His faithfulness. He is a faithful God. He loves me with an everlasting love and cares for me with an everlasting care. Circumstances may try to make me question His love, but God's love is not fickle. His truth does not change because my circumstances change.

I choose to dwell in the secret place. I choose to remain under the shelter of the Most High. I will stay stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty. I will fill my heart and mind with His Word, listen to the Holy Spirit, speak His promises instead of my problems, and trust His faithfulness while I wait for His answer.

My circumstances may change, but His Word never changes. His Word never changes. His Word never changes.

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Thurs. 09-04-2025 “The Secret Place” BC #1,158 

Living in the Peace of God

By : Gil Howard-Browne 

The awesome peace of God is something the body of Christ needs to learn how to walk in. In fact, it is a learned behavior. We are all subject to what is going on in the world around us, and in the natural, the future can sometimes look bleak. We listen to reports and watch the news, and so often it is doom and gloom, issues, problems, and difficulties that look as though they will never be sorted out.

But no matter what takes place in this world, God is still on the throne. His Word is still yea and amen. His promises are still true, and He still watches over His Word to perform it. If we can learn to focus on the Lord and allow His anointing and His presence to permeate us every day, then when panic tries to come upon us, we can immediately look to the source of our supply.

David spoke about walking through the valley of the shadow of death. It may have the appearance of death and look threatening, but David also said, “Thou anointest my head with oil.” The anointing is crucial for us to walk in this day and time and remain free from the things that try to come upon us. Our faith needs to be in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the power of God. We put our trust in Him because He is the source of our supply.

Isaiah 26:3 in the Amplified Bible says, “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast, that is, committed and focused on You.” This reveals the heart of God. His desire is to keep us in perfect and constant peace, but there is a condition: our minds must be steadfast, committed, and focused on Him.

That gives us our first clue about how to receive this perfect and constant peace. Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look away from all that will distract us and focus our eyes upon Jesus. There are many distractions around us. The news can stir our emotions and fear. Our personal lives also contain responsibilities, problems, and stressful circumstances that can grab our attention until we become so focused on the issue that we forget where the source of our supply is.

We have to learn to recognize when that is happening. If we listen to the Spirit of God, He will speak to our hearts. When we recognize that we are becoming distracted, we can rein that thought in and refocus upon the Lord.

Think about taking a picture with your phone. You tap the screen on the object you want to photograph, and the camera focuses on it. In the same way, we need to tap this mindset of ours and refocus it upon the Lord.

Isaiah speaks of the mind being focused upon God in both inclination and character. Inclination is a person's natural tendency or urge to act or feel in a particular way. Perhaps difficult things have happened in your life. Maybe you came through a difficult marriage, a painful childhood, or circumstances that created emotional responses within you. Your automatic tendency may now be to panic or become afraid.

I remember a man who came forward for prayer during a meeting. He told me that he thought he needed deliverance. About a year earlier, he had been involved in a major accident in a construction zone. He totaled his car, nearly lost his life, and spent several weeks in the hospital. After that, every time he drove through a construction zone, he experienced a panic attack. He believed the devil was attacking him.

I explained that the memory and emotion connected to that accident had become deeply associated with construction zones. Whenever he saw another construction zone, his mind connected it with what had happened before, and the panic returned as though the event were happening all over again.

We prayed for him, and as we ministered to him, God filled him with joy and the peace of God came upon him. I believed God had set him free, although I never saw him again, so I do not know what happened afterward. But I told him that the next time he drove through a construction zone, he should immediately begin praising and worshiping God. Instead of allowing fear to control the moment, he could thank God that he was alive, full of His blessing, and full of His joy.

We can do the same thing when circumstances cause panic, fear, or anxiety to rise inside our emotions. If the urge is to panic, do the opposite. Immediately begin to rejoice and praise God. Let the joy of the Lord begin to rise within you.

If there is a bad memory that keeps going around and around in your mind, turn your attention toward Jesus and the power of God. Train your mind to go in the opposite direction so that you are no longer focused upon the negative thing but upon the Lord.

Perhaps something happened during childhood or even in your adult life that caused embarrassment, intimidation, or fear. Then, when a particular circumstance occurs or someone says something, those old emotions return. When that happens, immediately change your focus. Refuse to remain in embarrassment and fear. Begin to rejoice in the Lord and praise God.

Jesus has already done everything for us, but we have to step into what He has provided. This is how we step into His peace.

We can change the way we respond by focusing on what God has promised for our lives. I say this often: find the promise that is pertinent to your problem and focus on the promise. Focus on the promise of God rather than the problem. All of our worrying and focusing upon the problem will never change anything and may actually make it worse.

That does not mean we hide our heads in the sand or refuse to take responsibility. We still do whatever needs to be done to rectify an issue. But if we approach it under panic, fear, and anxiety, we are likely to go in the wrong direction.

The Holy Spirit is alive and well and dwelling inside of you. Recognize His presence every day. According to the power that is working within us, God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask, think, or even dare to imagine.

We have to change the way we react to life's circumstances. Instead of immediately moving into fear, panic, and anxiety about the future, remember the promises of God. The economy may become difficult. The stock market may crash. But God is always able to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Jesus said that in this life we would have persecution and tribulation, but He also told us to fear not and be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. That promise belongs to us as believers. We belong to the family of God. We have given our lives to Jesus, received Him as Lord and Savior, and been translated out of darkness into the glorious light of Christ.

So we train ourselves. We refuse to continually move in the direction of fear.

Character is also important. Character involves the mental and moral qualities that distinguish an individual. As we keep pressing into God, this way of living becomes easier. It is learned behavior. Things that used to get me down do not get me down anymore. And when they do, I recognize that I allowed them to affect me.

We should not blame everything on the devil. The devil is not omnipresent, but God is. The devil is not omniscient; he does not know all things, but God does. The devil is not omnipotent, but God is. You belong to God, and the greater One dwells on the inside of you.

God's Word says He will keep us in perfect and constant peace. If He says constant peace, He means it. He does not mean peace today and misery tomorrow. God intends for us to walk in peace continually. When I recognize that I am losing my peace, it is incumbent upon me not to allow the source of that distress to continue robbing me. I deliberately change my mind and my focus and turn my eyes upon Jesus.

Isaiah 26:3 concludes by speaking of the one who trusts in God and takes refuge in Him with hope and confident expectation. That is where we need to be. We take refuge in the presence of the Lord because in His presence there is fullness of joy, and the joy of the Lord is our strength. When we focus upon Him and take refuge in His presence, His joy manifests and we become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

This is not simply step one, step two, and step three. It is learned behavior that we practice every day. When stress and anxiety begin rising, immediately come back to the presence and the promise. Go back to the Scripture. Read it again. Let the Holy Spirit show you the little attitudes and issues that are stealing your peace.

When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. That Rock is the place of refuge. It is the presence and glory of the Lord.

Jesus gives us another wonderful promise in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My perfect peace I give to you.” His peace is not the peace the world gives. Jesus has given us His own perfect peace.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of peace. Love, joy, and peace are part of the nature of God. When we focus on the Lord and spend time with Him, these are the things we begin to experience. When you spend time around a joyful person, you often begin to feel joyful yourself. In the same way, when you spend time in God's presence and allow the Holy Spirit to rise up big on the inside of you, you begin to experience the peace, love, and joy of God because that is His nature.

God wants us full and overflowing with His glory and blessing. I do not want to experience God only on Sunday. The same Holy Spirit is with me Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. When believers assemble together, we should come to worship God together and rejoice in Him.

Even through this broadcast, we are gathering together. Some may be in Michigan, Texas, California, Minnesota, Florida, Australia, South Africa, or Europe, but we are coming together in the unity of the Spirit. The joy of the Lord is flowing, and the peace of God is flowing.

There may be those who have gone through mental torment, anxiety, frustration, depression, or fear. God's perfect peace can come upon you. His glory and peace can rest upon you. Those old inclinations and responses do not have to control your life.

The next time you feel that old panic or fear, rein it in immediately. Put your attention upon Him and draw upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit inside of you.

Jesus continued in John 14:27 by saying, “Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.” Notice what He said. He did not say, “I will not let your heart be troubled.” He instructed us, “Do not let your heart be troubled.”

That means there is something we must refuse to allow.

When we drive on a highway, we do not deliberately cause an accident. We watch the traffic. If we recognize danger, we take whatever action is necessary to avoid it. We apply the brakes, move to the right or left, or slow down.

We need to respond the same way spiritually and emotionally. The moment you recognize that your heart is becoming troubled, immediately run to the source of your strength, the Holy Spirit. Begin to worship God, praise Him, glorify Him, and thank Him for His peace, joy, life, and victory.

This can happen instantaneously. When you stop allowing the negative emotion to control you and immediately focus upon the Lord, opening your heart to Him, His glory can flow within you and His peace can flood your heart.

There are times when I allow myself to become frustrated or irritated. Sometimes when we have not slept properly, our fuse becomes short and the smallest thing can trigger our emotions. But if we love the Lord, love His Word, and have asked the Holy Spirit to correct us, we will recognize it. When that happens, we can say, “Father, forgive me. I made a mistake.” If necessary, we can apologize to the person we treated wrongly and ask the Holy Spirit to help us overcome that emotion.

You cannot be full of joy and angry at the same time. You cannot be full of joy and miserable at the same time. When the joy of the Lord fills you, depression, fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and discouragement cannot dominate you.

Do not allow fear to rule your life. Put your trust in God. Perfect love casts out fear, so walk in His love and thank Him that His love fills you. We are protected by the power of Almighty God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The anointing destroys the yoke of bondage.

Go out rejoicing. Thank God that you are alive. Thank Him that you can walk, praise Him, and bless His holy name. Then watch what happens. God may lead you to someone who needs encouragement. Someone else may be fearful, and the Holy Spirit may tell you to go and encourage that person.

Carry the blessing of God wherever you go.

Jesus said, “Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance.” Again, notice that word “let.” We are not to let our hearts become troubled or afraid, but we are to let His perfect peace calm us.

Ordinarily, when people encounter stressful circumstances, their first reaction may be panic and fear. Jesus is teaching us that we can learn another response. We can learn to allow God's peace to bring calm in every circumstance.

Maybe people in your family panic easily. You can become the one who brings calm. You can become the one who brings peace into the middle of whatever is happening. Become a dispenser of peace. Become a carrier of the peace of God.

Jesus demonstrated this when He entered the boat with His disciples and told them they were going to the other side. Jesus went to the back of the boat and went to sleep. Then a tremendous storm arose. The wind howled, the waves became massive, and water came into the boat.

The disciples were fishermen. They understood the danger. They awakened Jesus because they were afraid they were going to perish. Yet Jesus had already told them they were going to the other side. He did not say they were going underwater to the other side!

Jesus arose and commanded the storm, “Peace, be still.” He told the storm to hush, to be still and quiet, and immediately it subsided.

What a tremendous picture of peace. Jesus was sleeping in the middle of the storm.

God wants us to develop that same frame of mind. When the next calamity tries to come upon you, when another issue tries to overwhelm you, allow the perfect peace of Jesus to calm you in that circumstance. He will give you courage and strength for every challenge.

Then you can become a source of blessing to a lost and dying world. There are people in our families who are living in fear and panic. We can become a source of peace and blessing to them. If they are not born again, lead them to Jesus. Tell them about the peace Jesus has for them if they will commit their lives to Him.

Become a dispenser of peace. Carry the glory with you wherever you go. Carry the life of God. Be the one who encourages others rather than allowing yourself to become discouraged by others.

There may be a heavy burden you have been carrying because you are convinced something terrible is going to happen. That expected outcome may simply be something your mind has imagined. Cast down that mindset. Let your mind be clothed with new thoughts and new attitudes that come from the Spirit of God. Let the Holy Spirit rise up big within you. Let His glory fill you and His fire burn within you.

Cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Look unto Jesus and away from everything that distracts you. He is the author and perfecter of your faith.

Do not lean upon your own understanding. Stand upon God's Word. Find the promise that is pertinent to your problem and stand upon that promise because God is faithful to watch over His Word.

Perhaps you are deeply concerned about a family member who does not know the Lord and is going through major difficulties. Do not allow your heart to become fearful concerning that person. Let your heart rejoice. Become expectant for a miracle. Pray that what they are going through will become a defining moment that brings them to the reality of the knowledge of Christ. Speak life, salvation, joy, and peace.

There is also healing for painful memories and emotions. God's presence and glory can work within you to bring life, peace, and hope.

Living in the peace of God is something we learn. When fear rises, change your focus. When panic comes, turn your attention to Jesus. When circumstances shout at you, find the promise that is pertinent to the problem. When your heart becomes overwhelmed, run to the Rock that is higher than you.

Let His perfect peace calm you in every circumstance.

Become a carrier of that peace.

Become a dispenser of that peace.

And wherever you go, carry the glory, the joy, the love, and the life of God with you.

Watch the full message on YouTube:  “Living in the Peace of God”