Dream A Little Dream

How are you this morning, O dreamer of dreams? Has God revealed something to you in your slumber? Maybe He has and you're not quite sure what it means.

You dreamer you. You have been accused, haven't you? To the dull minded, dreams are just dreams. It's the pepporoni pizza at bedtime, not a move of God over your life.

I don't care if I ever know what they mean. Just to blessed as a dreamer is an indicator. The Hand of God has touched your soul.

He said it would.  Some would dream dreams, some would see visions, which are dreams while awake ("Pay attention! What? Are you daydreaming again!"). Your Day is coming my old friend.

It's almost as if the world tries to beat that out of us early in life. They don't understand. They haven't heard.

Joel 2:28-29 - 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit."

Peter said in Acts 2 that this was being fulfilled during the great day of Pentecost. The Spirit was being poured out!

It is poured out upon you. You know that right? It's "AFTERWARD".

We are living "in those days".

Dreamer. Seer. Prophesier.

Ladies, have the menfolk told you to be quiet and just sit there? They are wrong. 

Men, do you think it unmanly to share your dreams and visions? Man up and be what a real man is.

Too many chickenhearts across the board. The boat gets a little filled with water and you stop baling and bail OUT! Sometimes more than once. For some of you it is your modus operandi. It's what you do. You have become a career bailer. Step aside! The Church has always needed stickers, not bailers.

Thank God He brings those dreams, no matter how far off they are in the past, to fruition in His time. Good things come to the dreamer who has never abandoned hope in Christ!

Here is what I see within reach. An army. An army of young men and women who are discovering their call and purpose. Young people who are not willing to sit in the pews and grow into old pew sitters!  Young people who believe they have heard form God and are willing to roll up their sleeves and get to doing God's work! No reward other than the joy of knowing it is all being done for Him!

I just revealed my dream AND my vision. God has showed me this. I have moved from the visions to the dreams. Yes, I am now the old man dreaming dreams of the young men and women having visions and prophesying. I however, have the heart of a much younger man, and the soul of determination to see God's work completed.

It is close. Are you in or out? Are you just playing the game called Churchopoly? Go ahead, work your little plan driven more by purpose than of God. Scheme your schemes. Go to rally's. They will all fail. All of them. Today's plan in the flesh is tomorrow's failure in the flesh. 

Me? I want to be in the stream of the Spirit of God being poured out. 

Come on dreamers. Visionaries. Prophesiers. Seers. Don't be shy. Work it out. Hammer it out. Bale that boat and make it float.

It's coming. All eyes will witness it. Set the barn on fire! They will come from miles just to watch it burn!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

Fear

Fear. At various times, we have all been struck by it. Some more than others. Some even living completely and totally in fear of everything. 

The polar opposite of that is the admonition from God.

Isaiah 41:10 (Amplified Bible) - "Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice."

This is not some fluff to be taken lightly. He is actually demanding that we fear not. Why? Because there is no actuality or reality of something to fear? No. He is saying that because of His Presence it is really as if there is nothing to fear.

The term used by people who are not convinced themselves to other people who are not convinced is always, "Hey come on, go ahead. There's nothing to be afraid of!"

That is simply an ignorant statement. There is plenty to be afraid of. Some of the biggies: Flying, Heights, Death, Life, Outdoors, Indoors, Sickness, Germs. Each one fits the bill as a "phobia" of some sort. Phobia means fear out of control. Fear that rules your life. Abnormal fear. Try to fix people at that level of fear, and tell them that there is "nothing to be afraid of".

Modify the statement to say, "There is nothing to fear because I Am with you", and we are onto something.

The elements that cause fear remain intact. Planes. Dying. High places. They just become of no effect upon the individual who trusts God.

Isaiah makes an interesting statement in the verse. God actually says, "I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties."

I will temper you like steel. You will become so strong that you will never bend to fear again. It will be as if there is actually nothing to be fearful of!

I try to never use the words "FEAR", "SCARED", and "AFRAID" in a sentence. Ever. I never even say "I'm afraid so".  Are there situations that I prefer not to be exposed to? Indeed. But I will never say I am afraid or scared of it. There is only fear if I go without God.

I never go into any situation without God. He makes the difference of whether I would be afraid or not.

He is your difference as well.

Got fear?

Listen to Paul's words to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)  - For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. 

Note that He has already given to us what we need to counteract fear. Just thank Him for it and enter in!

It can go away. Even right now. Submit yourself to God fully. Thank Him for His Holy Spirit to you in His fullness. Be filled with the Spirit. It is the answer to all things that have ruled you instead of the other way around. Be subject only to God.

He will temper you. He will strengthen you. He will make you the Head and not the Tail.

Step out from the shadows of fear and into the Light of Victorious Living!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

Today

Today. You can't live on your yesterdays. Your tomorrows are impacted by your todays. 

Today. This moment. Right now. It's all you really have.

What will you do with it?

Hebrews 3:7 - "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice..."

Verse 8 says, "Do not harden your hearts."

All sorts of opportunities are available to you right now, oops! Another one just went by! It's a "yesterday" now. Never to be recaptured.

Jesus speaks to you everyday. Every moment. Do you hear Him? And if you even hear Him, what do you do with what he says?

Do you harden your heart?

What is a hardened heart anyway? It's a heart that turns sour and bitter. It's a heart that in spite of everything being done for it, still remains bitter and angry and reacts to the bitterness rather than the voice of Jesus. People with hardened hearts make life tough on themselves. They make poor life choices for themselves, their families, and essentially everyone they come in contact with pays a negative price for it.  

All because of a catastrophic failure of obedience to the Word.

Hear Him today, and do not harden your heart. That is the instruction. We are hardpressed to blame God for making it too tough to understand.

Yet, another person has somewhere just crippled their walk with God, and put themselves and their family at risk, by another self-inflicted bullet to the foot.

Hear Him today, and do not harden your heart. It's downright remedial. 

Conversely, ignore Him today and build up self-destructive barriers around your heart.

I don't think people purposely set out to do that, but they just sort of arrive there after jealousy, frustration, pent up rage and anger, bitterness, self-hatred, and a host of negative emotions build up that stronghold of deafness to God.

The phenomenal thing is that one can actually think everything is just fine with God, and that all of their woe is because of other people!

Oh, the devil is an artisan of well crafted scenarios designed purposely to sneak you away from God.

See, that's why the verse says "Hear HIS voice".

If you hear the voice of Jesus you will not listen to the other competing voices, and your heart will not be hardened.

Today.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

Love Is Power

Abounding love. The Spirit of Christ is abounding love. Love that transcends all situations and conquers the negative in Him.  Love that extends beyond the shortsightedness of our own anger and disappointments. Abounding love is unconditional and never tainted by narrow minded self effacing dogma. If one has the abounding love of Christ they will never turn away in frustration and fear, but will allow that love to strike out ahead and in advance of every step they take. Paul said in 1 Cor. 13, that if we have not this abounding love of Christ, this "agape" love (Greek for the God kind of love), then we are just clanging, banging, noisemakers.

Paul expounded further.

Philippians 1:9-10 - "And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment], 10) So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].

It's my prayer as well. 

Learn what is vital, and understand it through the love of Christ. Do not be found in error especially where there is much at stake.

Be conscious of the fact that your stumbling and bumbling retributive knee jerk responses to issues you disagree with in life will not only cause others to start to take on your poor example, but will destroy the foundation of love for you and all around you.

Love must display itself, or bitterness will replace it. There is no gray area. There is love or absence of love. No middle ground. Either/or. A little love in the midst of much hatred is no love at all.

This is why Paul prayed that it would be revealed to us. He knew the consequences. He was wrong once himself when he misunderstood his participation in the stoning of Stephen as being the result of his love for God.  In reality? God HATED what Paul (as Saul) had done.

Terrible atrocities are committed in the name of religion.

I am glad (true) Christianity is not a religion, but rather a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus never fails. Never. Place Him first and foremost smack in the middle of EVERYTHING!

Love is Power!

 Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

They Hung Him On A Cross

"They hung him on a cross, They hung him on a cross, They hung him on a cross For me

 One day when I was lost, They hung him on a cross, They hung him on a cross for me"

That's the words to an old blues song. Simple. Succinct. To the point.

It's also great theology.  How so much truth could be contained in two repetitive lines to me is amazing.

Think about it. All but one sentence continuously repeats over and over that Jesus died on a Cross for us.

But then it briefly goes deeper. "One day when I was lost."

Deep spirituality from a man whose nickname was "Leadbelly". A violent repeat offender who was in and out of the worst Southern prisons and work camps. A man who stabbed a man to death. A man who consistently got into violent drunken altercations and stabbed several men over his short life. He was dead from Lou Gehrig's Disease by age 62. He was also inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008. 

In spite of all his shortcomings, Leadbelly seemed to understand what Jesus did for him.

Leadbelly knew one of the deepest truths of Scripture.

Romans 5:8 (Amplified Bible) - "But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us."

"While we were still sinners", or, "One day when I was lost", and,  "Christ died for us", or, "They hung Him on a cross for me".

Any way you cut it. It's the gospel truth.

Is it that simple for you? When you were deep in your sin, even perhaps in your gutter, that's when Jesus died for you.

How is that possible to have had Jesus die for me 2,000 years before I was even born?

It's possible because Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! (Rev. 13:8).

He didn't die for all the world, even far into the future, with a guarantee that everyone would accept and receive Him. He didn't die for the fine, upstanding Christian man or woman you would become. He died for you when you were the worthless sinner no one in their right mind would touch with a ten foot pole!

Maybe you haven't come to that realization yet. Maybe you think there is some inherent goodness in you that God will focus on while ignoring your self righteous, selfish, and worthless nature you were born with.

Let me remind, or perhaps even inform you for the first time.  It's not true. You are not good enough. Any goodness you can ever hope to acquire can only come through the Spotless Lamb of God who died for you on a cross.

Even a broken down, old drunken convicted murderer finally realized that.

I remember when I did. 

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

The Always Faith

This is a bit long this morning, but I promise you will be blessed if you stick with it. This devotional today has the potential to change your life completely.

There are some passages in the Word of God that some find tough to deal with. Many are tougher for some more than others. From what I can gather after almost 25 years of teaching and preaching the Word, is that the level of one's faith is the determining factor. Sorry, I know some folks don't like to consider the "faith factor", but that's what I have personally found. 

I have further found that most bible passages are pretty straightforward and not too difficult to understand particularly in the gospels when dealing with the words of Jesus directly. So, the issue must rest soley upon the receiver and not the Author. Jesus IS the WORD so He knows what He is talking about.

Let's take one of the most simplest of Jesus statements. It's easy to read, and appears to be intended to be simple to obey.

Mark 11:22-24 (Amplified Bible) - "(22) And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. (23) Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. (24) For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]."

Let's tear into it a bit.

The first thing Jesus says is "Have faith in God."  Easy right? Well, easy to read. Easy to understand. Apparently not so easy to do.

Many, many, many people fail at the starting gate, and this is why they fail to appropriate the rest of the passage. They fall down and skin their nose at "Have faith in God."

Note that it is intended to be understood as to have faith in God "constantly".  All of the time. Never ending. Always. It's not meant to be understood as have faith in God only when you need to. This attitude will break down eventually. You may have enough faith in God one moment for His ability to find you a new job, but not enough the next moment to cure your disease.

Now let's look at the next verse. Jesus is trying to further establish the criteria for faith. He takes an absolute impossible situation and uses it as a teaching method. Is He suggesting that you actually try to take a mountain and throw it into the sea? Not at all. But He is comparing your present problem and difficulty as being like a mountain, and if you erase all doubt and establish great belief, and trust in Christ, you can SPEAK to your difficulty (mountain) and dismiss all of your troubles in a moment of faith.

Then Jesus explains that He said all of that to say this...He puts it as "For this reason I tell you.", or "Therefore I say to you."...

...WHATEVER you ask for in prayer, BELIEVE that it has been granted, and YOU SHALL HAVE IT!

It doesn't get more simple than that. But if it is so simple, why have so many failed to receive? I betcha there are more than a few reading this right now who are beginning to squirm under the mere mention of it, and will decide against the Word by interjecting their own philosophy or inherited bad theology. Yes, there are many who will just not believe the Words of Jesus simply for what they say as written! They will feel the need to qualify them somehow or defer to some "learned scholar".  These types of folks will never get what they are praying for because they violate the very first order of Jesus which is "to have faith in God constantly".

Are there conditions to receive? Absolutely. However, they are all contained in the Word. We must understand that this criteria is for the BELIEVER. And that the BELIEVER must PRAY. And that the BELIEVER must PRAY with unlimited FAITH. And that the BELIEVER must REFUSE to DOUBT in his HEART.  And that the BELIEVER MUST BELIEVE that WHATEVER it is they need has ALREADY BEEN GRANTED!

By the way, "asking" is essentially believing and thanking God for what He has already given you in Christ Jesus. I suggest a thorough reading of Ephesians Chapter 1 to see exactly what I am saying here.

In other words, whatever it is you need today, right now, at this moment, YOU SHALL HAVE IT, and you must believe BEFORE you see it that you ALREADY HAVE IT!  God has done much more stranger things than that in the Word, so frankly I am always a bit surprised when this is met with so much neglect and ignorance. 

Hey, John had to believe it and he did...

1 John 5:14-15 (Amplified Bible) - "(14) And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. (15) And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him."

I believed it 27 years ago and Jesus has NEVER failed me yet. Have I received everything I ever wanted? No, because sometimes what I have wanted did not line up with the will of God for me. However, as I became more acclimated and familiar with the Word, His will for my life became more clear (His will is His Word), and I was able to appropriate the blessings and riches that Jesus established for me.

If John believed it you can believe it!  Stop making excuses and arguing with God. Simply believe.

Keep telling yourself that today. You don't have to convince God, you need to convince yourself.

Be blessed, and live in expectation.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

Heaven Now

I want to focus upon the Kingdom of Heaven as it pertains to us now.

Particularly that it is within our grasp.

Jesus said it is essentially right at our fingertips. We don't have to wait.

Matthew 4:17 (Amplified Bible) - "From that time Jesus began to
preach, crying out, Repent (change your mind for the better, heartily
amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand."

Within reach. Touch it. Even if you only manage to brush your
fingertips against it. Touch it. Hold it. Draw it in upon you.

I'm going to revisit this during the week. There are many reasons why
Jesus has informed us how close it really is.

I have become a violent seeker of the Kingdom of God. I understand
what Jesus meant when He said the "violent take the Kingdom of Heaven
by force". It's a desperate "pressing in", an urgent and demanding
need to pull Heaven into our reality. Yes, I am increasingly more
violent in my approach that I must have the Kingdom here and now!

If it's within our grasp, truly "at hand" then we need to be reaching,
even groping as if in the dark. Apprehending. Embracing. Like grasping
for the life preserver in choppy waters, and we are violently pulling it to
ourselves as if our lives depend on it. 

Because it does. Your life depends on it. Spiritually. Physically. Everything is on the line.

We must be willing to even leave places of comfort and familiarity to
apprehend it. We must be willing to BECOME uncomfortable right where
we are.

We must be willing to have our minds rewired by the Holy
Spirit.

The Father is there. His Kingdom comes. His perfect will for us is
wrapped up in it. He wants it to be here as it is there (Matt.
6:9-10).

I had a vision which I shared with many. I didn't have
closure on it as I did not understand what God meant when He forced me
to my knees in a public park and spoke to me the words, "Believe it!"

He revealed its meaning later. It was to prepare me for what is coming. There is a great pressing in
ahead. The ceiling is either made of glass or brass. We are either going to shatter it with our violent and aggressive upward surge, or we are going to break our fingers against it in frustration.

Those who believe will shatter the glass. They can see through it.
They know it's "at hand". They will not be denied.

"On earth as it is in heaven."

I will not be denied. I want you to join me. I want you to come with
me. I can show you exactly where it is. Stick with me. There are
glorious days ahead.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com