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”

The Cure For Discouragement

There are times in life when circumstances seem beyond my control. Problems can arise that look impossible to solve, situations can continue longer than I expected, and discouragement can begin to take hold of my heart. But I have learned that I cannot allow what I see in the natural to become the focus of my life.

Hebrews 12:2 gives me the answer: “Looking away from all that will distract us and focusing our eyes on Jesus,” who is the author and the perfecter of my faith. That is easier said than done when I am facing circumstances that appear overwhelming, but this is exactly where I have to begin.

I have experienced many moments during the course of my life and ministry when obstacles seemed like they might be the last straw. There have even been moments when I became so discouraged that I thought I might have to quit. But then I felt the stirring of the Spirit of God inside me. He reminded me of His promise and of the Word that was hidden in my heart. That Scripture arose in my spirit, faith came, and when I looked again, God had brought me through the circumstance.

I have learned that God does not see my problems the same way I see them. He sees them from a heavenly perspective. He sees them from an eternal perspective. He is Almighty God, and the things that are impossible with man are possible with God.

When I focus continually on what looks impossible, discouragement can take hold of me and distract me from what God has called me to do. That is why Hebrews 12:2 tells me to look away from everything that distracts me and focus my eyes upon Jesus.

Jesus is the author and the perfecter of my faith. He is the One who begins the work, and He is the One who brings my faith to maturity. This means God is continually working in me. Things that once overwhelmed me do not have to overwhelm me forever. As my faith matures, I learn how to trust God in areas where I once struggled.

The important thing is that I continue. I cannot stop.

I remember running cross-country races when I was in high school. They were compulsory, and if they had been optional, I definitely would not have volunteered. There were times during those races when I wanted to quit. I would reach the halfway point and think that I could simply stop. But I would tell myself, “No, I just can’t quit. I’ve got to finish this race.” Even if I came in last, I was going to finish.

Then, during the final two or three hundred yards, it often seemed as though a second wind would come. Suddenly I had energy I did not think I had. I would press ahead and cross the finish line.

That is an analogy of my walk with the Lord. I am running a race with patience and enduring unto the end. God gives me the energy. God gives me the strength. God gives me the ability to continue. Giving up is never the answer.

Hebrews 12:2 also tells me that Jesus, “for the joy” set before Him, endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus saw what was beyond the suffering. There was a goal before Him.

In the same way, there is joy in fulfilling what God has called me to do. There is peace and satisfaction in fulfilling His call. When I sit back, lick my wounds, and feel that I cannot go on, there is no real joy in that. But there is joy in fulfilling the call of God.

I also have to remember that I am not accomplishing this in my own strength. Jesus said that His burden is light and His yoke is easy. When I try to do everything my way and depend upon my own ability, life becomes difficult. I have to lean upon the Spirit of God who dwells inside me. I depend upon God’s ability, God’s efficiency, and God’s might.

The Holy Spirit is my helper, my comforter, my strength, and my guide. I have to learn to trust the anointing on the inside instead of continually looking at circumstances on the outside.

My flesh wants to grab hold of every negative thing it sees. My flesh wants to panic, and my natural mind can imagine the worst possible scenario. But my heart is in tune with the Holy Spirit. He tells me to be at peace. He tells me not to look at the circumstances but to look to Jesus, because Jesus is the author and the perfecter of my faith.

Mark chapter 5 gives me a powerful picture of this truth. Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, came to Jesus because his little daughter was at the point of death. Mark 5:23 records his desperate request: “My little daughter lieth at the point of death.” He believed that if Jesus would come and lay His hands upon her, she would be healed and live.

Jesus went with him.

But while Jesus was on His way, there was a woman who had suffered with a flow of blood for twelve years. Mark 5 tells me that she had endured much suffering at the hands of many physicians. She had spent everything she had, yet instead of getting better, she had grown worse.

I can imagine the discouragement. Twelve years is a long time to deal with a problem. Sometimes I can deal with something physically, emotionally, financially, in my family, or in another area of life for so long that I wonder whether I will ever see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But this woman heard about Jesus.

Mark 5 says that she kept saying to herself, “If I could only touch his garment, I shall be restored to health.”

That is important to me. She kept saying it. Instead of continually speaking the problem, she began speaking what she believed. Faith was arising in her heart.

This teaches me that I need to find God’s promise concerning my condition and keep saying it. I need to keep speaking the Word of God instead of continually speaking my defeat. Faith does not arise when I speak the opposite of what God’s Word says. Faith arises when I speak what God’s Word says.

If I am believing God for healing, I can declare, “By your stripes, Lord, I am healed.” I can thank Him that He provided healing for me. Romans 8:11 also tells me that if the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me, He will quicken my mortal body. So I can thank God that His Spirit dwelling within me is quickening my mortal body.

My natural mind may argue with me because it is moved by what it sees and feels. But I must continue speaking God’s promise. If necessary, I can say it ten, fifteen, or twenty times a day because sometimes my head is so convinced otherwise. My head is moved by what it sees, but when I trust God and walk by faith, I begin seeing the situation the way God sees it.

I also receive the joy that comes from the presence of the Lord. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Sometimes I am looking for myself to feel better on the outside when what I need to do is start feeling better on the inside. When the glory begins to rise and the joy begins to rise on the inside, there will be an overflow on the outside.

This principle applies to every area of my life. If I have a stressful job, I need the help of heaven on the inside to help me succeed on the outside. I do not have to wait for everything around me to change before I can have peace. I can look to the Spirit of God within me. He supplies the joy, peace, and strength of heaven that I need to cope with life.

The woman in Mark 5 kept saying that if she could touch Jesus’ garment, she would be restored to health. Then she acted upon what she believed. She pressed through the crowd and touched Him.

Immediately, the flow of blood dried up at its source, and she felt in her body that she had been healed. Jesus also recognized that power had gone out from Him. Many people were touching Him because the crowd was pressing around Him from every direction, but this touch was different. This woman touched Him with faith.

Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith,” her trust and confidence in Him springing forth from faith in God, “has restored you to health.”

That brings everything back to trust. I am not trusting in what I see or what I feel. I am not trusting in my lack or what I can see in my bank balance. I am trusting in the Lord who made heaven and earth. My trust is in the Lord because He is surely able to deliver me and set me free.

Ephesians 3:20 reminds me that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all I can ask, think, or even imagine, according to the power of God that is at work in me. Therefore, I cannot allow my thoughts to run wild and continually imagine the worst possible outcome. I have to cast down those imaginations, speak the Word of God, and allow faith to arise.

The woman with the issue of blood had every natural reason to be discouraged, but she kept saying what she believed. She kept moving toward Jesus, and she reached out with the touch of faith.

That is what I must remember when discouragement tries to take hold of me. I cannot stop because of what I see. I must keep speaking His Word, keep trusting His promise, and keep looking unto Jesus.

He is the author and the perfecter of my faith.

Source: Thurs. 10-02-2025 “The Cure For Discouragement” BC# 1,170 — YouTube

The Cure For Discouragement   Part Two

The Cure For Discouragement continues with the words Jesus spoke to the woman who had suffered for twelve years. After telling her that her faith had restored her to health, Jesus told her, “Go in peace,” and to be continually healed.

That speaks to me about living continually in what God has provided rather than waiting until a problem overwhelms me before I begin trusting Him. I do not want to wait until I am sick and then run to the Lord for healing. I want to believe God for divine health and thank Him every day for the life of God flowing in me.

The same principle applies to finances. I can get up every day and say, “Lord, thank You that You provide all my needs.” Philippians 4:19 declares that God supplies all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I do not have to know from month to month where everything is coming from. I know that God is my source.

I can say, “Lord, You are providing everything that I need. I don’t have to trust in my own strength. I don’t have to lean upon my own strength and my own understanding. I can trust You because You said You would never leave me nor forsake me.”

Proverbs 3:5 tells me to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean upon my own understanding. Psalm 37:25 also declares, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” These are promises I can hold onto when circumstances try to tell me something different.

The same applies when I am facing danger or uncertainty. Instead of allowing my thoughts to run wild and believing the worst possible scenario, I can trust God for His protection. Jesus said in John 16:33 that He has overcome the world. Even when everything around me appears to be falling apart, I can trust Him to be my source, my provider, and my protector.

I am not going to allow discouragement to distract me and take me away from the things of God. I am going to look unto Jesus because He is the author and the perfecter of my faith.

Hebrews 12:2 brings me right back to the foundation of this message: I am to look away from all that distracts me and look unto Jesus. Circumstances in the natural can be overwhelming, but I do not have to give them my continual attention. Jesus is more than able to deliver me, set me free, and keep me from falling.

Jesus told the woman in Mark 5, “Go in peace.” That peace is what I need in the middle of turmoil, stress, and the pressures of life. Philippians 4:7 speaks of the peace of God that passes understanding. It has nothing to do with what my natural mind understands. It is a peace that comes from within. The Holy Spirit is the dispenser of that peace, and when His peace rises up and overflows, it brings peace to my mind.

Sometimes it may look as though I am not getting ahead. It may even appear that I am going backward. But whenever I am trusting God, I am not going backward. I am going forward.

I may look at a circumstance I have been believing God to change and think, “Nothing seems to change.” But I cannot believe that report. Isaiah 43:18–19 says, “Remember ye not the former things,” and then God declares, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth.”

God is the God of change. I cannot become so occupied with everything that distracts me that I fail to recognize the new thing when it begins to spring forth.

So I can get up every morning and declare Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I refuse to allow circumstances to overwhelm me. I trust the Lord because He is the author of my faith.

Then Mark 5 takes Jairus into what appears to be an even more impossible situation. While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from Jairus’ house and told him that his daughter had died. Jairus had been waiting for Jesus to come and heal her, and now he received the news that she was dead.

In the natural, that looked final.

But just because something looks dead does not mean God cannot resurrect it. Something I have been believing for may appear dead. The call of God upon my life may seem as though it has disappeared. A situation may look completely impossible in the natural, but that does not mean God is unable to resurrect it.

Matthew 10:8 records Jesus saying, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead.” God does not look at death and conclude that nothing more can be done. He is still God.

Jesus heard the report concerning Jairus’ daughter, but Mark 5:36 says that He ignored what they said. Then He told Jairus, “Be not afraid, only believe.”

That is what I must do when a bad report comes. I cannot allow myself to be seized with alarm and struck with fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear will try to arise in the natural, but I cannot give fear a foothold.

I will not let fear become my slave driver. I will not let fear drive me. I will let faith arise and drive fear out.

Jesus’ instruction to Jairus was to keep on believing. That same principle runs throughout this entire account. The woman kept on saying. Jesus told her to be continually healed. Jairus was told to keep on believing. God is showing me that I have to continue.

Psalm 3:3 says, “But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” Hebrews 12:12 tells me, “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees.”

Discouragement wants my hands to hang down and my head to fall, but God is the lifter of my head. Instead of surrendering to discouragement, I can lift my hands, strengthen my knees, stand upon His Word, thank Him for His promises, and keep on believing.

When Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house, people were already weeping and mourning. Jesus asked why they were making such an uproar and told them that the little girl was not dead but sleeping.

They laughed at Him.

They saw death, but Jesus saw something completely different. He saw her as sleeping because He was about to wake her up. Their unbelief did not change what Jesus knew He was going to do.

This also teaches me to be careful about sharing everything God has placed in my heart with people who do not have faith to believe. There will always be people who can give me all the reasons why something will not work. Jesus put the unbelieving people out and took the girl’s father and mother and those who were with Him into the room.

Then Jesus took the child firmly by the hand. There was no shadow of doubt in Him concerning what was about to happen.

The girl arose.

That reminds me that I cannot judge the final outcome of my life by what I see at this moment. God is able to provide for me. He is able to bring healing, change, and victory. He watches over His Word to perform it.

I therefore refuse to be distracted by every negative thing I see. I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but God does. Matthew 6:34 teaches me not to take anxious thought for tomorrow. I am not going to allow tomorrow to worry me. I am going to trust Him today.

Tomorrow I can get up and trust Him again because Lamentations 3:22–23 reminds me that His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.

The cure for discouragement is not found in staring harder at my circumstances. My answer is to look away from everything that distracts me and look unto Jesus. I will keep speaking His Word, believing His promises, running the race, trusting Him, receiving His peace and joy, and depending upon the Holy Spirit who lives inside me.

Isaiah 61 declares that the Spirit of the Lord brings good news, binds up the brokenhearted, and brings liberty to the captives. It speaks of “the oil of joy for mourning” and “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

If my heart has been broken, He can bind it up. If I have been captive to discouragement, He can set me free. If I have been mourning, He can give me the oil of joy. If my spirit has been burdened and heavy, I can put on the garment of praise.

I will not allow discouragement to determine my future. I will not allow fear to drive me, and I will not allow what I see today to convince me that God has stopped working. I am looking unto Jesus because He is the author and the perfecter of my faith, and because He is still working in me, I will keep on believing.

Source: Thurs. 10-02-2025 “The Cure For Discouragement” BC# 1,170 — YouTube

Trusting God's Promises

I have learned that trusting God is not something I do for a minute or two and then carry on with my life. This is something I have to live in every day. I walk in it every day. I trust the anointing every day, and I lean upon the anointing every day.

Today may be great. The anointing may lift a burden off me, but tomorrow something else may happen that tries to put another burden upon my shoulders. I have learned that I don't need to keep running to God and asking Him to remove the burden. I can trust the anointing within me to prevent that burden from coming upon me again.

The promise in Isaiah says, “The anointing will lift the burden from off my shoulders and destroy the yoke of bondage that's around my neck.” As I explained in the message, the Amplified says, “And prevent it from returning.”

That means I don't only look to God to remove what is weighing me down. I trust the anointing to keep it from returning. It is like God's immune system. The anointing on the inside of me becomes a permanent shield against those things that try to overwhelm me.

I have learned how to keep trusting the Lord every day. If I begin to feel something overwhelming me, I know what to do. I immediately begin to worship God. I immediately begin to praise God. I immediately begin to thank Him for the anointing that is bringing life on the inside of me, not death.

God says in Deuteronomy that He has placed before us life and death, blessing and cursing, and then He says to choose life that we may live. I recognize that this means I have a choice. So I choose life.

Even when the evidence in my circumstances seems to point toward death and cursing, I refuse to receive that as the final word because God's Word says I can choose life. I say, “Lord, I choose life today, not death. I choose blessing, not cursing.”

I remind myself that I have been redeemed from the curse of the law and that Jesus became the sacrifice for me so that I could inherit the blessings promised to Abraham. Therefore, I make a determination every day to choose the life of God rather than the death and cursing that are in the world.

That life is already residing on the inside of me. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling in me and making alive my mortal body. I choose that life, and I choose to live in it.

That also means I choose not to surrender to the negative thoughts that enter my mind because of what I see happening around me. Problems can look so big in the natural that my mind begins to dwell on them. If I allow that to continue, I can find myself panicking, worrying, and becoming full of anxiety. I refuse to do that. I choose life.

I identify myself with the promises of God, the life of God, the peace of God, and the joy of the Lord. I trust the anointing already on the inside of me to set me free from the yoke and the burden, lift it from my shoulders, and prevent it from coming back again.

This is something I choose to acknowledge every day. I can get up every morning and say, “Lord, thank you for the anointing.”

You may look at what you're facing and think that this sounds too simple. You may say that you don't want to hide your head in the sand because your circumstances are real. I understand that those circumstances are what you're facing. But I want to direct your attention to what the promise of God says and what God's Word says we can have.

We can walk a victorious life. We can walk in victory. We can walk in the peace, joy, love, and blessing of God. These things are part of the nature of God. The peace of God, the joy of the Lord, and the love of God are part of His nature and the fruit of the Spirit.

When I choose the anointing and choose life in the Spirit, those are the things that begin to manifest in my life.

If I don't have joy in my life, I need to focus on the Scriptures and the promises concerning joy. One of those promises is, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

That is not simply a cliché. In Nehemiah 8:10, the people were crying and weeping, but Nehemiah told them not to be full of sorrow. He told them, “For the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

I can cast off sorrow. I don't have to continue walking in sorrow or living in sorrow. I can receive the joy of the Lord because His joy is my strength. Nehemiah also told the people, “Eat the fat and drink the sweet and send portions for those for whom nothing has been prepared.”

As I explained in the message, the fat and oil speak of the anointing. I receive the anointing. I receive the sweetness of Jesus, the sweetness of the Word, the presence of God, and the good things of God.  But this isn't only about what I receive for myself.

There are people who are desperate, and as believers we have something to give them. If I spend my entire life focused on my own problems and difficulties, continually asking people to pray for me while never receiving what God has promised me, how can I take the blessing of God and spread it around? How can I become the witness Jesus said I would become?

Jesus said, “You shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” But before He said that, He said, “You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.”

That power is the anointing. It is God's ability, God's efficiency, and God's might operating within me. That is what enables me to become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

I don't have to be blown about by every circumstance that comes my way. I don't have to be moved by everything I see. I can become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

This is something every one of us has to walk in every day. I have to trust God every day. And the more I do it, the easier it becomes. When I see God moving in my life and moving on my behalf, it brings change. I begin to feast at the table of the Lord every single day.

The promise says, “Thou prepareest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

God has prepared a table for me right in the middle of my problems. In the midst of whatever I am going through, God's table is there. It is filled with His blessings and His goodness, and He tells me to come and eat.

He doesn't wait for me to become perfect. He doesn't wait until I have arrived or until every problem has disappeared. He puts the table before me in the presence of my enemies and says, “Come and eat.”

That is what I need in order for change to take place. Even when I walk through what looks like the valley of the shadow of death, I can say, “I will fear no evil.”

The shadow may look overwhelming. It may look like the big one, but it is still a shadow. I refuse to allow what I see to determine what I believe. Why can I refuse fear? Because the perfect love of God casts out fear.

So I claim that promise. I thank God for His perfect love that is set abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost and casts out fear. Even though I may be walking through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because God is with me. And He is not only with me. He is in me. He has also sent His angels to take charge of me and watch over me.

This is why I choose life today. I choose blessing instead of cursing. I choose the peace of God instead of anxiety. I choose the joy of the Lord instead of sorrow. I choose to trust the anointing instead of allowing burdens to control me.

I choose to trust God's promises every day.

God bless you richly

Gil Howard-Browne

Source: Pt3 Trusting God's Promises TMM — [www.revivaltimes.com](http://www.revivaltimes.com)

Following God’s Purposes - Pt1

I want to speak about being diligent concerning God’s purpose. In 2 Peter 1:10, from the Amplified Bible, we are told, “Therefore, believers, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you.”

There is something about that word diligent that makes us realize how important this is to God. This is not about laboring in vain, trying to get God to move on my behalf. It is about paying attention every day to what the Holy Spirit is doing in me. I need to pay attention to the Holy Spirit on the inside of me—the Teacher, the Comforter, the Guide, the One who is developing in us the very nature and purpose of God.

It is the Holy Spirit who is going to make the purposes of God real in our lives and make the call of God on our lives work. That is why we are told to “be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you.”

The Amplified goes on to say, “Be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your relationship with God.” There is a difference between simply knowing what the Word says and actually walking in relationship with the Lord. A person can have a legalistic approach to God, know what the Word says, and even quote it. But when we are truly walking with God, our lives should begin to reflect His very nature.

I have talked about this many times: the fruit of the Spirit is the nature of God. That is who He is. The fruit of the Spirit is developed in us through the Holy Spirit. The more we yield to Him, the more the fruit of the Spirit begins to manifest in our lives.

That is why we need to give diligent attention to God’s calling and choosing and make sure our behavior reflects and confirms our relationship with Him. When the world looks at us, there ought to be something different that they can recognize. We carry with us peace, joy, and life.

The world needs to experience the love, life, peace, and joy of the Lord, and they can experience those things when you and I carry them. We become evidence of what a relationship with God looks like.

Second Peter tells us that by actively developing these virtues, we will not stumble in our spiritual growth, and we will live lives that lead others away from sin. What a wonderful ministry that is. It is the ministry of reconciliation—bringing other people into harmony with Christ.

But it is difficult to bring other people into harmony with Christ when I am not walking in harmony with Him myself. How can I bring other people into fellowship with the Lord unless I am in fellowship with Him?

That means I have to pay diligent attention to my own relationship with God. Throughout every day, I need to give God attention. I need to give Him room to move in me and allow Him to change me on the inside. Give Him room to move every day.

To understand what Peter is talking about, we can go back to 2 Peter 1:5. We are told to apply our diligence to the divine promises and “make every effort in exercising your faith to develop moral excellence and in moral excellence, knowledge, insight, and understanding.”

These are things that come by the Spirit of God. Without that work of the Spirit, what we can end up with is man-made righteousness. The Bible says our good works are like filthy rags in the sight of God. Man-made righteousness can become filled with pride and self-importance.

But when godly character comes through a relationship with God, He develops that character within us. We are to apply diligence to the divine promises and make every effort in exercising our faith. I need to use my faith every day to receive more of what God is trying to do in me and through me.

If I find myself lacking, I need to make sure my relationship with Him is good. I need to be attentive to what the Spirit of God is saying. I need to let Him deal with my heart and let Him deal with my issues.

I want Him to do that. When I step out of line, when I do something that is not good, or when I say something that is not Christlike or that is not anointed or appointed by God, I want the Spirit of God to deal with my heart. That is important because this is how moral excellence is developed within us. It is heavenly morality, not earthly morality. When God develops it within us, it is not man-made.

Then 2 Peter continues with knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and Christian love. Christian love means learning “to unselfishly seek the best for others” and doing things for their benefit.

Think about what could happen if the Church lived according to these principles. The body of Christ would become a powerhouse. We would see things happening in this world that would be totally astounding. We would see God move in such a supernatural way that it would be amazing.

God is telling us to pay attention to these things.

Second Peter 1:8 says, “For these qualities are yours and are increasing in you as you grow towards spiritual maturity.” I do not have to worry about the level where I am. I can let God determine that. My responsibility is to walk with the Spirit, let Him develop these things within me, and pay attention to them.

These qualities will keep us from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not something that is interpreted merely through earthly or fleshly means.

I love the Scripture where Paul says, “when I came unto you, I came not with excellency of speech with human philosophy and words of man’s wisdom, but I came in the demonstration of the spirit and of power, a proof by the spirit stirring in the minds of the hearers the most holy emotions.”

That is the response the Church should have to the world. We should come in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, with these qualities being perfected in our lives so that we show the world something different.

We show the world that there is life to be found in Jesus. We show the world that there is hope to be found in the presence and the glory of God.

Source: Pt 1 "Following God's Purposes" Ten Minute Messages #53 — Channel name not identified in the provided transcript

https://www.youtube.com/live/sOZlq3t5EPU?si=4OhrA-DbAafEn8aj

The Blessed Hope of Jesus Returning.

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”  Titus 2:12–13 KJV

Paul calls the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ “that blessed hope.” What a wonderful description. Our hope is not based on what is happening in the world around us. It is not based on the economy, politics, circumstances, or even how we feel today. Our hope rests in what God has said in His Word, and God’s Word is His will. Jesus Christ is coming again!

But notice that before Paul tells us to look for the blessed hope, he tells us how to live while we are waiting. We are to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” God is not just interested in getting us ready for heaven. He wants to change the way we live right here and right now. The presence and power of God working within us will bring a change in our desires, our direction, our attitudes, and our obedience to His purpose.

Grace Does More Than Forgive

The grace of God is amazing. Grace brought salvation to us through Jesus Christ, but grace does not leave us where it found us. Grace teaches us. When we open our hearts to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, something begins to change. Our desires change and our focus changes from us to Him. God and His presence become our focus, and His plan and purpose become our desire. This is not simply an outward religious exercise. God works from the inside out.

I have seen people profoundly touched by the power and presence of God, but the touch itself was never the final purpose. God touches us to CHANGE us. The evidence of a true encounter with God is a new level of obedience to His will and purpose.  

It is about God getting hold of the heart of man and man yielding to what God wants to do. That is why we must allow the Holy Spirit to correct us. When He puts His finger on something in our lives, we have a choice. We can resist Him, analyze what He is doing, or yield to Him. I have learned that yielding is always the better choice!

Grace for This Present World

Paul makes it very clear that we are to live godly “in this present world.” We do not have to wait for circumstances to become perfect before we can walk with God. We live in a world filled with fear, anxiety, unbelief, compromise, and uncertainty. But the believer does not have to be controlled by any of those things. God has given us something the world cannot give us, His presence living on the inside.

Paul prayed that we would be “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16 KJV). That speaks of God making strong that which is weak. We are not expected to walk through this present world in our own strength. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Teacher, and Guide. He lives within us to strengthen us and lead us.

God wants us filled throughout our being, body, soul, and spirit, so that every part of our life is affected by His presence. This is why a relationship with the Holy Spirit is so important. The Christian life was never intended to be lived by human effort alone. When we yield to the Holy Spirit, He changes us from within and gives us the strength to walk in obedience to God.

Keep Your Focus on Jesus

Paul says we are to be “Looking for that blessed hope.” There is something about our focus that determines the direction of our lives. If our attention is continually on the darkness, we will become overwhelmed by the darkness. If our attention is continually on what is wrong with the world, fear and anxiety will try to take over.

Our focus must be on the awesomeness of God, His presence, His power, His Word, and His plan and purpose for our lives. I have often said, if you want more light, do not hang around in the darkness.

Jesus is coming again. Until He comes, we have something to do. We have a Gospel to preach. We need to reach the people who need Jesus. We have captives who need to be set free. We have a generation that needs to experience the reality of Almighty God.

The disciples in the upper room were not filled with the Holy Spirit so they could stay in the upper room and enjoy the experience. They came out filled with the power of God and began fulfilling the Great Commission. The touch of God gave ordinary people boldness to do extraordinary things for His Kingdom. The same is true today.

Live Filled, Live Ready

Paul prayed:

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV

That Scripture connects our daily walk directly to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God wants our whole being, spirit, soul, and body, to be affected by His presence. His purpose is not for us to have an occasional spiritual experience and then return to life as normal. He wants us to walk in relationship with Him every day.

We do not prepare for the coming of Jesus by living in fear. Paul did not call His coming the “terrifying expectation.” He called it the BLESSED HOPE! So live ready, but live joyfully. Stay hungry for God. Stay thirsty for His presence. Stay in His Word. Worship Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, correct you, strengthen you, and lead you.

If there is something that needs to change, let Him change it. If there is something you need to lay down, lay it down. If God is telling you to move forward, then move forward. The touch of God always brings change in attitude, direction, and a new level of obedience to His will and purpose.

 We Have a Blessed Hope

There is enough happening in this world to make people fearful, anxious, and hopeless. But the child of God should never be without hope. If we know Jesus and we know His Word and daily recognize the Holy Spirit living within us, we will not fail, and we have His promise that Jesus is coming again.

Until that glorious day, we have a responsibility to allow God to work in us and through us. We must be willing to go where He wants us to go, to do what He wants us to do. We must be ready to speak what He wants us to say, and to be what He wants us to be.  

Do not allow the circumstances of this present world to rob you of your expectation of what God has promised. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your heart open to the Holy Spirit. Keep yourself filled with His presence. Keep sharing the Gospel. Keep allowing God to use you to touch somebody else's life.

One day the trumpet will sound, and our blessed hope will become glorious reality. Until then, let us live “soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,” looking expectantly for “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

God bless you all richly,

By Evangelist Gil Howard-Browne

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

End Time Predictions helping or hurting?

For decades, Christians have been confronted with predictions about the end times. Dates have been suggested for the return of Jesus, political leaders identified as possible candidates for the Antichrist, and new technologies connected with the mark of the beast. 

Wars, planetary alignments, computer systems, blood moons, digital currencies, artificial intelligence, and countless other developments have been presented as evidence that prophetic events are about to take place. Many predictions have come and gone, yet the words of Jesus have not changed: “So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34

I have watched this pattern personally for almost six decades of ministry. When I was eighteen years old in 1967, my pastor taught that the Antichrist would be revealed in 1975 and that the rapture would occur three and a half years later, followed by the Great Tribulation. I believed it. 

I married in 1970, but because I thought we had only about five years of freedom remaining, I did not want to have a family or buy a house. Why prepare for a future that, according to what I had been taught, was about to disappear? Thankfully, within about a year, the Holy Spirit began correcting my thinking, and I eventually began publicly opposing this kind of teaching.

Over the following decades, I watched the pattern repeat itself. There were warnings about the 1982 alignment of the planets, then 1984 - Big Brother - Computers taking over the world, followed by 1988 and 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. When 1988 passed, another prediction followed for 1989. 

Then came Y2K, when fear caused many believers, Churches and Ministries, to store food and supplies and make major financial and lifestyle decisions. I had people mad at me when I told them it was going to be a non-event.  Then on Jan 1st 2000 everything continued as normal and many had to donate the excess food they had stored up to food banks. 

In the mid 2000's, blood moon rapture predictions and other supposed signs, and today we still hear new rapture predictions and attempts to connect current events and technology with Revelation.

The dates change, the technology changes, and the predictions change, but the pattern remains remarkably familiar. Jesus warned about deception, but our protection against deception was never supposed to be our ability to become better predictors of tomorrow. 

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit. He said, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things.” John 14:26. He also said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13.

Notice who Jesus identifies as our guide. Not a prophecy expert, bestselling author, television preacher, theologian with an elaborate end-times chart, or someone claiming to understand the latest world event. He said specifically and with authority that it was The Holy Spirit who would guide us.  

This does not mean teachers/preachers have no place in the Body of Christ. God has given the five fold ministries to His Church to help people in their walk with God. But no teacher replaces the indwelling Holy Spirit, and believers should never surrender spiritual discernment simply because someone is educated, respected, sincere, famous, or persuasive. 

A preacher can be sincere and still be wrong. A scholar can be brilliant and still be wrong. Millions of people can believe something and still be wrong.

Recently, I listened to a Professor discussing Revelation and the end times. I respect his sincerity and intellect, and I agree strongly with something he said about Revelation: “The book is about Jesus Christ. It's a revelation of Him. That is if we understand it correctly when we finished reading it, we should know more about Him than we did at the start.” That is an excellent standard by which to judge our study of Revelation.

The Prophessor also said, “We are now in an age where AI is making us capable of the greatest and most subtle kind of deception the world has ever seen.”  There could be truth in that but it is at this point in time, a suspicion and an opinion.   

What he said is certainly a possibility,   But I see AI very differently.     I believe artificial intelligence represents one of the greatest opportunities the Church has ever been given. At 77 years old, I am now able to accomplish things in ministry that I simply could not have accomplished before. Since I began using ChatGPT in January 2023, after sensing a strong urging from the Holy Spirit to explore it, I have been able to accomplish in minutes, for $20 per month, work that previously would have required thousands of dollars and weeks or months of effort.

AI does not prepare my messages.  I preach and teach what God by His Spirit give me to preach.  I have done that for 58 years of my ministry and have no intention of changing that.  But I use it for so many things that save me many hundreds of hours of work.  (More of that in another blog/video) 

Can AI be used deceptively? Of course. So can television, radio, books, pulpits, and human beings. Christians were being seriously deceived long before generative AI existed. Deception does not require artificial intelligence. It requires people who fail to exercise spiritual discernment and allow someone else's interpretation to replace their own dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

This is why Hebrews 12:2 AMPC is so important: “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

“Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus.” 

• What if some of our obsession with end-times prophecy has itself become a distraction? 
• What happens when Christians spend more time looking for the Antichrist than looking to Christ? 
• What happens when believers know the latest theory about 666 but are filled with anxiety about tomorrow? 
• What happens when every new technology becomes another possible fulfillment of Revelation? 
• Yesterday it was barcodes, computer databases and microchips. 
• Today it is artificial intelligence. What will it be tomorrow?

This does not mean we ignore Revelation. It means we return Revelation to its rightful center: Jesus Christ. When after studying Revelation, we become frightened of AI, world government, the Mark of the Beast, the Antichrist, economic systems, and what might happen tomorrow, but we have not come to know Jesus more deeply, something has gone wrong with our study. The Professor himself gives us the test: “If we understand it correctly when we finished reading it, we should know more about Jesus than we did at the start.” He also said, 

• So perhaps we should ask different questions about end-times teaching. 
• After listening to it, do I know Jesus better? 
• Has my faith increased? 
• Do I have greater peace? 
• Am I more conscious of the Holy Spirit dwelling within me? 
• Am I more effective in sharing the Gospel and serving people? 
• Or have I become anxious about tomorrow, 
• Constantly watching world events and depending upon prophecy teachers to explain what supposedly happens next?

For nearly sixty years, 

• I have watched end-times predictions come and go. 
• Dates have passed, supposedly prophetic interpretations have become obsolete, 
• and yesterday's terrifying new technology has become today's ordinary technology. 
• But Jesus has remained the same. 
• The Holy Spirit has remained faithful. 
• The Gospel has not changed, 
• and our calling has not changed.

I am seventy-seven years old now. I have no desire to spend whatever years remain to me trying to calculate when Jesus will return or identifying every possible fulfillment of Revelation. I want to live today, listen to the Holy Spirit today, serve people today, and use every legitimate tool God places within my reach, including artificial intelligence, to communicate the Gospel and build up the Body of Christ. Above everything else, I want to keep looking to Jesus.

The world will always give us something new to fear, and predictions will continue to be made. But Jesus already told us what to do about tomorrow: do not be anxious about it. Scripture tells us where to look today: “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus.”

Perhaps one of the greatest protections against end-times deception is much simpler than we have made it. 

• Stop looking for everything that might happen tomorrow. 
• Listen to and yield to the Holy Spirit who lives within you. 
• Keep your eyes on Jesus. 
• And stay grounded in His word.  

God bless you all'

Gil Howard-Browne  www.revivaltimes.com

Beauty and Delightfulness of Jesus

The Beauty and Delightfulness of Jesus

I want to speak about the beauty and delightfulness of the Lord. The more I fellowship with Him, the more I come to enjoy who He is and what He does. There is something beautiful about spending time with someone whose company you truly enjoy. Hours can pass without anyone wanting to leave because the fellowship itself is delightful. That is how I have come to see fellowship with the Lord. He is full of beauty and delightfulness.

Psalm 90:16–17 speaks of the work of God's power being revealed to His servants and His glorious majesty being shown to their children. It goes on to say, "And let the beauty and delightfulness and the favor of the Lord our God be upon us." I believe God wants His beauty, His delightfulness, and His favor to rest upon us. His glorious majesty includes everything Jesus paid for on the cross. God wants the signs of His power to be revealed in our lives, and He wants that work to extend to our families and our children.

I may not be able to tell you exactly how God is going to work in your circumstances or when the answer will come. What I can say is that when I wait upon the Lord, trust Him, refuse to lean upon my own understanding, and look to His Word and His promises, something good comes from it. There have been times when I have felt weary and helpless. There have been times when circumstances seemed overwhelming. Yet I have learned that those are the very times when I need to recognize and receive the beauty and delightfulness of the Lord.

I have seen this in revival meetings over many years. When we give the Holy Spirit room to move, He knows exactly what every person needs. It does not matter what church or denomination we are in, what ethnic group is represented, or whether there are language barriers. The Holy Spirit knows the heart. I have watched people enter meetings burdened and miserable and leave completely different. When people experience the presence of God, there is something transforming about it. "You cannot ever be the same when you've had a taste and a touch from the glory of God. You can never be the same again."

The favor of God is not something I can earn. It is undeserved and unmerited. God does not give it to me because there is something special about me. He gives it because there is something special about what Jesus accomplished on the cross and because of the power of the Holy Spirit whom He sent to dwell within us. Psalm 90 says that His beauty, delightfulness, and favor can "confirm and establish the work of our hands." Without the help of heaven, the work becomes hard. Without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, people become weary and burn out. I need Him to establish what I do so that my hands can become the hands of Jesus extended to others.

I have never been to Bible school. What I share is what the Lord has taught me through many years of walking with Him and in ministry. I have met brilliant people with tremendous knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, theology, and Scripture. Knowledge has value, but knowledge alone is not enough. I desperately need to hear from the Spirit of the Lord. I need Him to establish the truth of His Word inside me rather than allowing myself to become confused by fragments of different doctrines.

Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that we would receive power after the Holy Ghost came upon us. I understand that power as God's ability, God's efficiency, and God's might. This relationship with the Holy Spirit is not something I reserve for a special meeting once a month. I want every meeting and every day of my life to give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to move.

Ephesians 1:18 speaks about "having the eyes of your heart flooded with light." I want the light of God to flood my innermost being because when His light fills the inside, there will eventually be evidence on the outside. I have watched that happen in people's lives. I have watched sadness turn to joy and resistance turn into surrender when people gave God room to move.

There is also a difference between knowing something and understanding it. I can know many things without truly understanding them. A person can know Bible promises, quote them, and pray them while that knowledge remains primarily in the mind. But when the Holy Spirit gives understanding, revelation comes on the inside. That is what I want. I want Him to change my knowledge of God into an understanding of God and give me a deeper revelation of His plan and purpose for my life.

That is why I believe daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit matters so much. I can simply say, "Holy Spirit, speak to me today. I want to hear what you have to say to me." He may show me something that day, or He may simply make the love of God more real to me. Sometimes what I need most is not another word or even a prophetic word. What I need is a baptism of the love of God.

The answer I am waiting for may not come today. It may not come tomorrow. It may not even come next month. I have learned that I do not have to become frustrated because I cannot see everything God is doing. My focus can remain upon Him. I can get up each day, fellowship with Him, and trust Him.

Ephesians 1:19 speaks of "the immeasurable, unlimited and surpassing greatness of his power in and for us who believe." Those words are important to me: immeasurable, unlimited, and surpassing greatness. Too often I can be tempted to measure God's ability according to my circumstances or my own shortcomings. I can look at a situation and wonder how there could possibly be a way out. I have been there.

There were things in my own life that once seemed insurmountable. I experienced the loss of my business and the loss of everything I had. At the time, it seemed like the worst thing that could happen. Yet God was faithful. Some answers took six months or even a year before I saw the result of what I had been believing Him for. When the answer finally came, I could look back and say, "Lord, it came at the right moment. It came at the right time."

That experience taught me not to let my present circumstances dictate what God can or cannot do. I do not want my physical condition, financial circumstances, lack of knowledge, or any other limitation to become the measurement I use for God's power. His power is immeasurable.

The woman with the issue of blood is a powerful picture of this. She had spent everything she had and had been treated by many physicians, yet instead of improving she became worse. Then she heard about Jesus. She said, "If I could just touch the hem of his garment, that's all I need to do." She pressed through the crowd, reached out, touched His garment, and was made whole. Her circumstances said there was no answer, but she put her faith in Jesus.

I believe I need to become involved with the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit become involved in my problems, my issues, and my life. As I do that, the things that once seemed overwhelming can lose their power over me. God can heal the hurts of the past and transform what once appeared impossible.

Ephesians 3:20 is one of my favorite scriptures because it declares that God "is able to carry out his purpose and to do super abundantly more than all that we dare ask or even think." His purpose for my life may be completely different from His purpose for someone else's life, but whatever that purpose is, God is able to carry it out.

I have given God plenty of excuses. I have thought about my shortcomings, what I did not have, the money I lacked, and the knowledge I did not possess. None of those things changed His attitude toward me. He waited for the moment when I would allow Him to fill me with His glory and simply say yes to Him.

His ability goes "infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams." When I look back over my life, I can see stages where the Lord changed my attitudes, blessed me, and confirmed His Word inside me. I can look back at where I once was and recognize how much He has done. But I have not arrived. If His promise is infinitely beyond my greatest prayers, hopes, and dreams, then there is still much more that God has for me.

And it all comes back to His power working within us. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. God wants me to focus my attention upon Him because He wants to reveal His beauty, His delightfulness, and His favor.

I want to see the beauty of Jesus. I want to experience the delightfulness of Jesus. I want to recognize the favor of God surrounding me like a shield. I did not earn that favor, but I can receive it. Wherever I go, I can trust that God's favor goes before me, surrounds me, and remains with me.

So my prayer is simple: Lord, I want to be different. I want to change. I do not want to remain the same. Come and change me. Come and mold me. Come and make me into the vessel that You want me to be.

God bless you richly

Gil Howard-Browne  www.revivaltimes.com 

View this broadcast on YouTube.  

Thurs. 04-16-2026 "Beauty And Delightfulness Of Jesus" BC #1251

Joyful and Confident Hope Pt2.

 

Joyful and Confident Hope

Learning to Trust God in Every Circumstance

There comes a place in our walk with God where we begin to look at the circumstances of life very differently. Things that may have got you down, overcome you, or overwhelmed you two or three years ago suddenly don't affect you in the same way anymore. It is not necessarily because the circumstances have become easier. It is because something has become established in your heart and you have become strengthened within. You have learned to trust God. You have seen Him move, answer prayer, and do things for you that nobody else could do, and your confidence in Him has become stronger.

Psalm 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my impenetrable shield. My heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.”

I want you to see yourself surrounded by that impenetrable shield. It is around you like a cloak. Wherever you go, God is with you. He is not only with you, but by the Holy Spirit He lives on the inside of you.

Now, that does not mean difficult things will never happen. We receive news we did not want to receive. We face circumstances we do not understand. Things happen that can hurt us emotionally and put tremendous pressure on us. But that does not make God's Word untrue. God's Word is constant. It is yea and amen. It is the truth, and it will never falter.

As you walk with God and learn to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you begin to see Him move in your life. Your faith grows and your confidence grows. Eventually, you begin facing life from an inward knowledge of an outward outcome. It's almost like you have inside information concerning the situation you are facing. You may not know exactly how or when God is going to do it, but you know He is faithful.

Second Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.”

That changes the way you look at things. Instead of seeing everything only through your natural circumstances, you begin seeing things the way God sees them.

This is also why rejoicing cannot be something we do only when everything is going well. Psalm 28:7 says, “Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.” That has to become a lifestyle. We have to learn to worship God in every circumstance, and particularly during difficult times.

Paul and Silas demonstrated this in prison. They had been beaten, imprisoned, and fastened in stocks. They had every reason in the natural to complain, but instead they prayed and sang praises to God.

Acts 16:25–26 says that while they were praying and singing hymns of praise, “suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.”

They worshiped until the prison shook.

There are times when we have to make the same decision. Instead of allowing doubt and unbelief to determine our response, we choose to trust God and praise Him.

Get up in the morning and say, “Lord, I thank You for that impenetrable shield that is surrounding me. I don't know what's going to take place today, but I'm expecting good things because I'm covered with the shield of God's favor. My heart trusts in You. I rely upon You. I'm confidently leaning upon You, and You are helping me.”

That is how we learn to live from a position of trust instead of fear.

There will also be times when worry or anxiety tries to overwhelm you. My wife Loraine experienced that when something began weighing on her mind. Suddenly she heard her spirit singing, “And I will run to You.” Instead of running from God, we run to Him. She continued singing and rejoicing in her heart, and the burden lifted.

That is the Holy Spirit working on the inside. We need to become aware of what He is saying to us and how He is directing us to respond.

Psalm 28:8 says, “The Lord is their unyielding strength; He is the stronghold of salvation to His anointed.”

There is a strength that flows from within that is far greater than anything coming against you from the outside. I am not necessarily talking about something demonic. I'm talking about life. Ordinary circumstances can emotionally drain and strain us, but there is an inner strength that God is teaching us how to lean upon.

First John 2:27 says, “The anointing that you have received of Him abides in you.”

God wants His Word to become real in our hearts, not merely something we quote. A Scripture may be completely true, but we have to believe it personally and walk in its truth. The answer may not manifest immediately, but that does not change what God has said.

Whatever life produces, God is equal to it and greater than it. Whatever bad news you receive in the natural, God is greater than that news.

Ephesians 3:20 says that He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

That is the God we serve. He is great, awesome, omnipotent, and almighty. But we have to learn simple trust. We do not have to understand everything before we believe God. Sometimes we try to reason everything out and ask, “How is God going to do this?” But faith says, “God said it. I believe it. I receive it.”

Isaiah 60:1 gives us a powerful picture of this: “Arise from the depression and frustration in which circumstances have kept you. Rise to new life. Shine. Be radiant with the glory of the Lord. For your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”

God is telling us to arise.

You may have experienced a painful loss, a financial setback, or difficult news. Those circumstances are real, and dealing with them can be difficult. But God is telling us that we do not have to remain under the depression and frustration those circumstances have tried to put upon us.

The danger comes when the circumstance becomes our final focus. One negative thought produces another, and before long our minds begin imagining the worst possible outcome. Second Corinthians 10:5 tells us to cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

This is especially important when everything becomes quiet and your mind begins working overtime. We are surrounded by negative information, and if we continually feed on it we can begin feeling as though everything is hopeless.

But God is able.

Isaiah 55:8–9 reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. Your mind may be imagining the worst possible scenario, but God sees something you cannot see.

That is why He says, “Rise to new life.”

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,” and Ephesians 6:10 tells us, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

You are a new creation. God has placed His life within you. So recognize that new life and learn to live from what God has placed on the inside rather than allowing circumstances on the outside to determine your inward condition.

Then Isaiah says, “Shine.”

You may not have a reason in the natural to shine, but you have every reason in the spirit. The circumstances may still look difficult. The news may still look bad. But God has not changed. His Word has not changed. His promises have not changed.

So when tomorrow comes, don't fear it. Don't believe the voice of doubt.

The Lord is your strength. The Lord is your impenetrable shield. Trust in Him. Rely upon Him. Confidently lean upon Him.

Whatever you are facing today, God is greater.  Arise. Rise to new life. Shine. And live every day with joyful and confident hope.

Scriptures and Key Thoughts

• Psalm 28:7 — “The Lord is my strength and my impenetrable shield.” God is our strength and protection. As we trust, rely upon, and confidently lean upon Him, He helps us and our response becomes rejoicing and praise.

• 2 Corinthians 2:14 — “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” We can face circumstances with an inward confidence because God has promised that He always causes us to triumph in Christ.

• Acts 16:25–26 — Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises while they were imprisoned, and suddenly the prison was shaken, the doors opened, and their shackles were released. Their circumstances did not determine their worship; they praised God in the middle of the difficulty.

• Psalm 28:8 — “The Lord is their unyielding strength; He is the stronghold of salvation to His anointed.” God's strength within us is greater than the pressures and circumstances that come against us from the outside.

• 1 John 2:27 — “The anointing that you have received of Him abides in you.” The anointing of God is not something distant from the believer. It abides within us, and we can learn to depend upon that inward working of the Holy Spirit.

• Ephesians 3:20 — He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Whatever circumstance we face, God's ability is greater than what we can see, ask, think, or imagine.

• Isaiah 60:1 — “Arise from the depression and frustration in which circumstances have kept you. Rise to new life. Shine.” God does not tell us to deny difficult circumstances; He tells us that we do not have to remain under their emotional weight. We can arise and live from the new life He has placed within us.

• 2 Corinthians 10:5 — “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” Negative thoughts and imaginations must not be allowed to become greater in our thinking than what God has said.

• Isaiah 55:8–9 — “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Our minds may imagine the worst possible outcome, but God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours.

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” We are new creations in Christ. Our identity is not determined by outward circumstances but by the new life God has placed within us.

• Ephesians 6:10 — “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Our strength is not found merely in our own ability to cope. We learn to draw our strength from the Lord and from the power of His might.

Whatever the circumstance looks like, God is able. Let His Word become more real to you than the circumstance, and continue to live with joyful and confident hope.

Taken from : Pt 2 “Joyful And Confident Hope” #27 TMM  (YouTube)

View the teaching on YouTube  

God bless you richly,

Gil Howard-Browne

www.revivaltimes.com

Your Sure Foundation - The River of Life

Watch the full teaching on YouTube 

Have you ever found yourself trying harder to receive something that God has already given you? Perhaps you've spent extra time praying, fasting, or waiting for God to move, hoping that one more act of faith would finally unlock His blessing. Yet Scripture presents a different picture. God extends a simple invitation: "Come."     

Isaiah records God's invitation:

"Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters..." (Isaiah 55:1).

Likewise, Revelation declares:

"And let him who is thirsty come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17).

Notice that the invitation is to receive freely. There is no price because Jesus has already paid it all. The book of Revelation gives us a beautiful picture of the source of that life:

"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life... and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22:1-2).

Listen to the Song on YouTube

Everything mankind needs flows from that river. Healing flows from it. Peace flows from it. Joy flows from it. Life itself flows from it.

The wonderful truth is that this river is not distant or unreachable. Through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, that same life now flows within every believer.

Jesus made this promise Himself:

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38).

The river that begins at the throne of God now flows into your life through the indwelling Holy Spirit. That means God's life is already available to you. His peace is available. His strength is available. His healing is available. His joy is available.

Not only does that river minister to you, but it is meant to overflow into the lives of those around you. Imagine believers becoming so full of God's life that everywhere they go His love, peace, and hope naturally touch those they meet.

The world is desperately looking for help and hope. As believers, we carry that hope because Christ lives within us.

There are times when we face sickness or physical weakness. Sometimes healing comes immediately, while at other times we continue trusting God as we walk through the process. During those moments we are encouraged to keep drawing from the life that already dwells within us.

Romans 8:11 reminds us:

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

The Amplified Bible expands this by saying He will "quicken and bring to life your short-lived and perishable body."

That means God's life is continually working within you.

Think about the electrical system in your home. The power is already there. The wiring has already been installed. When you need electricity, you simply plug into the outlet and flip the switch.

God's life works much the same way. The Holy Spirit already lives within you. His power is already present. Every day you can draw upon the river of life through faith, thanksgiving, and dependence upon Him.

Instead of beginning your day focused on your weakness, begin by thanking God that His life is flowing through you. Thank Him that His Spirit is strengthening you. Thank Him that His life is bringing healing, restoration, peace, and joy.

Revelation 22:17 gives another beautiful invitation:

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely."

The Holy Spirit is still extending that invitation today. As believers, we are also called to invite others to come and experience the life only Christ can give.

Throughout Scripture, God continually calls those who are thirsty to Himself.

Isaiah prophesied:

"For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground." (Isaiah 44:3).

If your life feels like dry ground today, God has promised to bring refreshing. If your circumstances resemble a desert, He has promised to provide a river where there appears to be none.

The Amplified Bible describes those who are thirsty as those who are "painfully conscious of [their] need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported and strengthened."

God knows exactly what your soul needs, and He has already made provision for it through the water of life.

Notice that Revelation repeatedly says the water is given "without cost."

Why? Because Jesus has already paid the price.

Galatians 3:13-14 declares:

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us... that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, every believer has become a son or daughter of God and an heir of His promises.

Even Abraham, though called and anointed by God, never experienced what believers experience today. He did not have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. Today, however, every born-again believer has the Spirit of God living within them.

Each day, you have a choice. You can ignore the river that is flowing within you, or you can intentionally draw from it. You can recognize God's presence, thank Him for His life, and receive from Him continually.

Life will still bring challenges, but those difficult days become even greater opportunities to rely upon the river of life flowing within you. As you continue to come to Him, drink freely, and trust the Holy Spirit, His life will continually refresh your soul, strengthen your spirit, and bring His peace into every area of your life.

Watch the full video on YouTube

Pt2 Sure Foundation-TMM #57 — Revival Times Ministries.

God bless you richly 

Gil Howard-Browne

www.revivaltimes.com