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.

Watch this video on YouTube: 

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”

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