Day 33 (2011)

0:50 - Opening prayer

➡ 2:00 - We were in Matt. 17 yesterday. Then we got on to the whole thing - “However, this kind doesn’t come out but by prayer and fasting.” We talked about a brand new view in fasting in the new covenant. You are not fasting to please God or as a righteous work. The Bible says, your righteousness is a filthy rag. Your ability to measure up is a zero. I appreciate grace and that God makes me who I am. Now you can just wake up and be accepted.

Motives in Fasting

3:35 - Isaiah 58 - Even God in the OT was addressing the frivolous accomplishment of their fasting. Story of the Pharisee who fasted twice a week. You don’t fast to be right with God. Fasting is to suppress any carnal tendency - any flesh appetite - to suppress the voice of the flesh - the power of the flesh. It elevates the things of the Spirit and pushes down the cry of the flesh.

4:45 - We talked about eating and today’s society. We nurture and pamper ourselves. Always comfort.

5:00 - Pastors on mission to Haiti - complaining about the heat.

6:30 - v.1 and reading - Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. -

6:55 - v.3 - Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. - Why have we fasted and you not seen? - You don’t fast for God to see you. You are not fasting to please God. God is pleased to love you - to send His Son - to redeem you. You don’t fast to find favor with God. You already have favor with God.

7:00 - Your motive in fasting is to suppress the cry of the flesh - rise above unbelief - Your motive in fasting has to be real clear - simply to get out of a place of unbelief that is derived by (arising from) flesh, self-consciousness and release you into a spiritual mindset - a spiritual place where faith thrives.

7:30 - Fasting is not about afflicting yourself - You are suppressing the cry of the flesh - Why have we afflicted our souls - God is not interested in you afflicting your soul. Fasting has nothing to do with that. If you are thinking, “Oh, man look what they are eating,” just go eat. You’ve got to adjust that attitude, you are not suffering your body - you are not abstaining. You are suppressing the carnal cry. It’s a real clear perspective.

8:10 - If you can, sit with your family and drink your water - fellowship and be family.

8:20 - Family picnic - concern of family. It didn’t bother me to fix a plate for another because I am not suffering my body - I have a different purpose.

9:50 - Suppress the voice of the flesh - addiction - Fasting has to do with suppressing the cry of the flesh. Our flesh has a voice. You want that thing to hush.

10:10 - Addictive behaviors and compulsions smashed with a 3,4,5 day fast. Little habits. Ask God for grace. If you have trouble with the flesh side of your life, fast.

11:00 - v.4 - Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. - In the day of your fast you find pleasure, exploit laborers, only to quarrel and fight. Comparisons, it’s not about competing - length - You are not even to let others know that you are fasting. God is calling them to change what they are doing.

11:40 - v.5 - Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? -

12:10 - v.6,7 - Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? -

Live outside of yourSELF - Don't hide yourself from people - Correcting what man does and is thinking. Then God says, this is what is really in my heart and then He puts forth a whole list that describes a life of selflessness - a life of living outside yourself - considering others more highly than yourself - of giving and loving. Undo the heavy burdens - get involved in someone’s life and take some of the load off - help out.

13:35 - Basically, that you don’t hide yourself from people. You can go to church your whole life and hide yourself from people. And think that going to church is what makes you a Christian. No, it’s giving yourself to people that reveals the heart of God.

14:00 - v.8-11 - Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. -

When you live for others you line up with the heart of God (love) - He can answer your prayers - Watch what happens when you live this way. The Lord will answer your prayer - Why? Because you are not asking for yourself but for others in agreement with the heart of God. There is something about getting in agreement with the heart of God releases glory.

15:00 - He is talking about walking in love. Amazing promises.

15:45 - Do you see these promises. God is saying, “Look, what good does it do to do religious practices to get my attention and impress me when I want you to embrace my heart and be embraced by my heart and impress the world with my love. That is a fast to me. Not afflicting yourself. Giving yourself.” And yet He still talks about fasting in the NT... but the motivation is changed.

16:30 - Change the motive behind your fast - You fast to see clear and know Him more - Patch and garment - Wine and wineskins - I am changing the “why” behind what you do - your motivation. All you know is fasting as a religious work. This is going to be fasting to see clear and know Him more.

17:20 - v.12-13 - And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: -

17:40 - Give yourself to Him - Jesus said that the sabbath was made for man not man made for the sabbath. You have to understand that He is talking about giving your heart to Him - your attention - your ways to Him. It’s not about honoring a day. It’s about giving your life. It’s about coming into agreement with the reason you are alive. You can make everyday a sabbath that way - because you are living from the right heart.

18:25 - Honor Him - Manifest His heart - Love as you go - How do you honor Him? By not living for yourself - self-serving stuff. This doesn’t mean you can’t go bowling with your friends. Just when you go bowling, go in His image and don’t miss the opportunity to love someone that might be right beside you. Everything you do, do in the nature of God.

19:15 - Rail trail with granddaughter - praying for people.

20:00 - Is it wrong to ride a bike and have fun and enjoy the day? No, you just don’t forget who you are in the midst of it. You are not doing it to just have pleasure. You are not just breaking away - just doing things for pleasure, losing sight of who you are.

20:25 - v.14 - Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

- It’s a pretty amazing chapter.

20:45 - So a fast is not to afflict your soul. It has to do with seeing yourself in Him and not seeing yourself in your own flesh.

➡ 21:15 - We talked about healing. We just kind of ended up there. I want to wrap that up and show you God’s scriptural view of fasting. You are fasting yourSELF.

21:45 - Live in temperance - Fasting technology - Fasting certain things - Technology. I encourage you to live in temperance. Computers - finding a balance. You can sit for eight hours and really do nothing. At some point you have to question the productivity of that - even if you are on Christian stuff. It’s not that it is bad but that it is consuming your whole life without productivity. It’s just entertaining your soul. No different than watching TV for eight hours. Get balance in your life. The Bible says all things are lawful but not all things are profitable but you shouldn’t come under the power of any. - 1 Cor 10:23 So you have liberty to do things. Just don’t come under the power of what you are doing. And don’t get in denial.

23:30 - People give themselves to things and they can’t break away. So they come up with reasons to justify. While down in their conscience they are violated because what they are doing is excessive. There are times to just turn the computer off. Take a walk and look for someone to love on.

24:50 - Story from Franklin Hall’s book - fireproof.

27:00 - Franklin Hall’s book - link - Don’t read it in the law - Hall writes: every Christian should be doing this now. It has a works tone to it. Hear it with an ear of grace v. ear of condemnation - regret. God doesn’t want you hearing that way. He wants you encouraged.

Healing - Jesus is Our Model

➡ 29:20 - So we have been talking about healing - about being empowered by God.

29:30 - Jesus life is our model - He is the second Adam - Jesus came and modeled a life we were created to live. He’s the second Adam. The whole gospel is about 1st Adam / 2nd Adam. The first Adam failed. The second Adam fulfilled. We were born into the first Adam and his fall. In the second Adam we are born again. It’s a real simple way to see the gospel.

30:00 - Jesus was born through a woman, was water baptized, the Spirit of God came upon Him just like He comes on us.

30:10 - Jesus came as a man - He said, "Follow Me." One of the biggest mistakes we have made is that all we see Him as is God. But He came as a man. He called Himself the Son of man constantly.

30:30 - He told us to follow Him. If He came as God it would be impossible to follow Him. If He came as a man anointed by God, we could follow Him. He said, the things I do you’ll do also. Why? Because the same Spirit of God that was in Him has come upon us.

30:50 - We were taught a false identity for ourselves by the world - But that's not who we were created to be - Satan is strategic. We have (falsely) learned who we are through life and the world. And when the good new of the gospel comes, it seems to smack into the wall that we have built of how bad we are and messed up and how much help we need. We don’t see clearly to say, “Wait, none of that is the real me. None of that is who I am. That’s not who I was created to be. What life has taught me is a lie. Who I THINK I am needs to change because Christ sends a whole new message. I need to see myself differently - the way that God sees me. I am a child of God - a son. The Spirit of God wants to live in me. I can follow Jesus.”

31:30 - Jesus made some amazing promises and said some amazing things about us.

31:40 - We were created to look like our Father - And He has made that possible again - Matt 17:20 - I say to YOU. You will say to the mountain, “Move.” And the mountain will move and NOTHING will be impossible for you. We are called to manifest the kingdom - truth - the glory of God. It’s our created value. It’s why the Spirit of God lives in you - so that we can do the same things - Christ in us, the hope of glory - the body of Christ. No matter what I am experiencing I am going after this because it has to be possible.

33:10 - “Well, you can’t just take the Bible literally brother.” Life’s experiences. No God is calling this the word of God.

Cast Out Demons

34:20 - We are in a demon war against the kingdom. You have the privilege of carrying the kingdom. So the war is trying to stop your ability to manifest that kingdom.

34:40 - Cast out demons - the first sign of believers - Mark 16:17 - And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; - Isn’t it amazing that the first sign of believers is that they cast out devils. Most of the church is clueless that they are real. And a lot of the church is afraid of them. And yet the first sign is casting out a devil when most Christians live as if they are here but not here.

35:05 - The kingdom of darkness tries to defend against the kingdom of God - When Adam fell they set up camps and kingdoms all over the earth to defend against the kingdom of God. Jesus took the fall - His death… but rose again and through that we are justified. And He gave us authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). So the whole thing has shifted and now everything is back in its rightful place. The first sign being the casting out of devils tells you that everything is back in its right place.

Preach the True Gospel - Gospel of the Kingdom

36:00 - Mark 16 - v.15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. -

Jesus came and set the record straight - We are sons! - We’ve turned it into a prayer to go to heaven. That is limited and deceived. The gospel is the finished work of Christ - setting the record straight. You are really created to be sons. The Spirit of God lives in you. We can walk in love. We can walk in victory. We can walk in authority for His name sake - not because we are on some power trip - but because Jesus is Lord.

36:50 - We were born into the lie of living for SELF - We are under the rule of self, sin and the lie. Everything God set up and gave was lost. We were all born into that.

37:10 - A prayer to go to heaven doesn't really change us from living for SELF - Now we preach a prayer to go to heaven - but all that self-centered stuff can stay the same. You are still run over - driven by fear, lies, demons. What has really changed? “Well, at least when He comes, I’ll be saved.” No, He is the salvation of your life now.

37:40 - Kingdom of God v. prayer to go to heaven - the finished work of Christ - it’s His kingdom and His righteousness. We’ve turned “the kingdom of God is at hand” into pray a prayer to go to heaven.

38:05 - Is a prayer to go to heaven wrong? - It is just a tiny piece of the story. You can pray a prayer to go to heaven and not have any mind renewal - any change of motivation - same fears - same self-consciousness - the same selfish drive - same hurts, offenses and vulnerabilities. Now you can’t wait to get out of this life.

38:30 - People who don’t have a greater picture are willing to give up a whole lot quicker - throw in the towel - just ride out the wave of adversity - look for an escape. “I just can’t wait until He comes.” No you are a desperate person looking for an out.

39:00 - This kind of teaching gave me a limited mentality to where I didn’t care if I went to church again. And now the gospel is passionate in me. It’s because I was lied to my whole life. It was just about praying a prayer and going to heaven. No, it’s about the kingdom of God on the inside of you and coming out of you and changing the world around you. It’s about Jesus and love and selflessness and laying down your life. It’s about being empowered to do that very thing. It’s about following your King. It’s about denying yourself, picking up your cross and following Him.

40:00 - You can pray that prayer and not even believe - just do it in case the preacher is right.

Discouragement in Healing

40:20 - What can you do to encourage those who are not seeing healing when they pray for the sick and are getting discouraged?

If you are discouraged because of a lack of "results" in healing, your motive is still for SELF instead of love alone - If I have denied myself, where is all of the discouragement coming from? Get away from living by how it seems to you. You are not out testing God’s word. (Your prayers for healing are) Not done through love.

41:30 - Discouraged pastor in Denver - took God at His word - discouraged - not pastoring any more.

41:50 - Discouragement is not normal. Heaven does not understand discouragement because heaven doesn’t think for itself. It thinks for others, so you can’t get discouraged. Jesus wasn’t discourage when He had earthly reasons to be discouraged.

43:00 - Consider Jesus - so that you don't get discouraged.

44:30 - Just listen long enough and you will hear a person's heart - Out of the heart the mouth speaks. If I let you talk long enough, I’ll know exactly how to minister to you.

45:00 - Discouraged pastor (continued) - took healing to the streets militantly - Subway

47:40 - Counseling - Expose the lie behind how they are feeling - You expose the lie, the weakness that is allowing them to feel the way they feel. You are merciful to the person but not merciful to the lie. Expose the lie so that it looks hideous to them so that they don’t want to be in that place again. “Where do reserve the right to feel that way?”

48:00 - Discouraged pastor (continued) - Subway sandwich shop - healing encounters - just being me

53:00 - Faith isn’t a method. It’s a lifestyle. Faith is not try it and see if it works. Faith is the position of your heart to receive what Jesus accomplished. Faith is where you live. And even if you are not receiving what you say you are believing for you continue to stay in that place of faith. Medical procedures - It's not one or the other. Faith or no faith. Even as you are having something done medically, be in faith. Thank God for restoration and wholeness.

53:30 - Thank you for restoration - God, I appreciate just the working of my nerves and muscles and how everything is coming into alignment. Thank You for wholeness.

53:50 - It’s not one or the other. Faith or having medical stuff done. Just live in faith. Enjoy the ride. Thanks for your love for me.

54:20 - How you can tell when people aren’t in faith at all - When they are frustrated.

54:35 - Pastor (continued)

55:00 - Stay in thankfulness - God, thanks for the day. Thanks for Your faithfulness. You are amazing. I am so looking forward to tomorrow because You are going to be just as amazing. And thanks for living inside of me. It's going to be so cool going to sleep and getting up in You....

55:25 - Pastor (continued) - It’s all about love - I was missing love - I was taking Him at His word and I forgot to take His heart. Girls came and sat. Fish jumping into the boat, Tell me about Jesus.

These Signs Follow those Who Believe

58:20 - Mark 16 - v.16 - He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. - "Saved" means more than going to heaven one day - The key is believing not just confessing. Believe with your heart, say with your mouth. Saved - healed, restored, delivered, protected, preserved, made whole, kept safe and sound. (Sozo) - It doesn’t mean taken to heaven. More of an emphasis on life now than the life to come. We grew up thinking “saved” meant going to heaven.

100:50 - Believes and is baptized - tied together. Jesus connects the two, why do we split them. Baptism must have amazing benefit.

101:35 - v.17 - And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; - And these signs will follow those who believe - not just the apostles. How do we get that miracles stopped when the last apostle died? These signs will follow those that believe through your preaching and are baptized.

103:00 - In my name - cast out demons - speak with new tongues

103:30 - Tongues - It is amazing how all of this stuff got scrambled up. I bet we are in a war.

104:00 - Saved June 9, 1995 - Woke up speaking in tongues next day. It was just there. Manhood revealed. At the expense of another.

107:00 - Horror stories on these subjects spread like wildfire while truth gets swept to the corner. I wonder who is behind all that?

Vulnerability & Fear

107:20 - v.18 - They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. - These signs WILL follow - rattlesnakes - not going to live in fear. Deadly things. No fear. Vulnerability is fear. Does that mean that you purposely put God to the test? No.

108:50 - Drinking the water from streams growing up - and it doesn’t mean a thing - Daniel and Boone.

110:20 - Don't submit to feelings of vulnerability due to something you have read - Flip it and thank God that you are fine - Vulnerability - Fear. You read an article in a magazine. Natural knowledge speaks to you. When you pray about it you are saying that you are vulnerable. Instead of being vulnerable to God’s word. God can keep us despite the natural knowledge. Flip it and thank God that you are absolutely fine. In the world and not of it.

112:20 - [Example of flipping this in prayer]

* * *

113:45 - Lay hands on the sick - the first sign of a believer - He is talking about us - those who believe through their word. They will recover. The evidence of believing - first sign of a believer - laying hands on the sick in love. The fact that we don't lay hands on the sick shows that we are believing a lot of other things.

115:35 - There is a mentality / mindset trying to subvert the gospel - contrary to what Jesus said. Protect yourself from these.

116:15 - Participant’s thought on blessing food.

117:15 - Authority and power to speak forth the will of God - the heart of God. The key with eating is thanksgiving.

118:00 - Complaining v. thanksgiving. Complaining - thinking of yourself. Grumbling and complaining - still living for me, myself and I. It’s a dead give away. Israelites in the wilderness.

119:30 - v.19-20 - So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. - They went out and preached everywhere. Confirmed the message with signs. Now if you want to back up...

120:50 - v.9 - Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. - We have this stuff written so that we don't make the same mistakes. They are mourning and weeping and Jesus is alive. They didn’t believe.

122:40 - v.12 - After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. - They still didn’t believe. They are living by what they SEE and what they FEEL.

123:20 - v.14 - Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. - Jesus appears. Rebuked them for their unbelief and their hardness of heart. They didn’t believe His messengers.

124:15 - Give me a pliable heart - no hardness - By grace let my heart be soft and pliable. God, so flexible, so shapeable, conformed to You. God, that I would retain, reproduce and multiply. Let my heart be so fresh and alive in You. Good soil in me God. I don't want the hardness of heart, the deceitfulness of sin. God, my heart is a good place receiving the good seed of Your word, retaining it and reproducing it - a crop 60 or 100 fold - thank You...

126:30 - He’s rebuking them for their hardness of heart and in the same breath releasing them to go preach the gospel. No sabbatical - no 13 week Kingdom Living School. “Now get out there and preach.” The greatest expression of believing is expressing and revealing. It’s not about what you haven’t been doing but what you are called to do.

128:50 - BREAK