After I went to Bible School, I began to receive invitations to minister. Speaking in front of people was a strong area of intimidation for me as a schoolgirl. Well, I started to preach. I shook, quivered, and trembled, but remained determined to overcome the intimidation of people and hold on tightly to God's hand.
I confessed over and over, "...I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isa. 41:13).
I was especially intimidated in certain meetings where other ministers were gathered. I remember praying, "Lord, deliver me from being intimidated around my peers, and help me to overcome fear and to be bold!" And then I confessed, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and I am as bold as a lion!"
Then I learned a very important lesson: we should be careful what we pray for!
Suddenly, well-known preachers and teachers were in almost every meeting I attended. When I prayed for God to deliver me, He sent me right into that situation! If I allowed the devil to get the best of me by taking over my thoughts, I would just fold up—and I couldn't do that!
Rev. Kenneth Hagin hosted a series of Holy Ghost meetings about that time, and I attended as many of those meetings as I could. One particular evening, after a day off that had turned into a entire day of shopping, I decided to slip into the meeting to hear some good preaching.
I hadn't spent a lot of time in prayer that day. I hadn't even washed my hair! I thought, "This is my day off. I'm not going to have to do anything there. I'm just going to go over there and receive the Word of the Lord."
I grabbed a Bible on my way out the door and found a seat in the auditorium just as Brother Hagin stepped to the podium. He said, "The Lord is using women in ministry today...." I praised the Lord and thought, "I'm glad he said that. That's good news for me!"
Brother Hagin continued, "As a matter of fact, we're going to have a woman preach tonight." I thought, "Wow! Cool! I wonder who it is. This is going to be good." He said, "Kate...." And my heart went...whomp!
Then I thought, "Maybe there's another Kate out hear somewhere. I sure hope so." But Brother Hagin said, "Kate McVeigh, come on up here and preach." Talk about intimidation trying to get a stronghold!
Once I recovered from the shock and finally stood to my feet, I started walking toward the front of the auditorium when someone reminded me that I didn't have my Bible, so I went back to my seat, grabbed my Bible, and took off.
You can imagine what went through my mind when I got to the podium and realized that the Bible I had picked up as I ran out of the house was one of those daily devotional Bibles laid out with selected passage of Scripture from the Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Proverbs. It isn't really designed as a reference book. It's a method of reading through the Bible in a year.
I knew I couldn't preach from that Bible! I wouldn't be able to locate scriptures quickly enough, so I didn't read them, I quoted them.
Praise the Lord! He moved powerfully that evening, and after the first few minutes of crippling fear, I became very bold. I learned that God can do anything...through anyone...in spite of all kinds of uncomfortable circumstances.
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Blessing vs. The Curse
One of the myths floating around the body of Christ is the myth concerning curses. There are those who believe that curses are so powerful that they can destroy the life of the believer; however one must remember that the devil uses fear to manipulate and control the life of anyone who will give place to it. How does a curse affect a believer? Should we be afraid of curses? What about generational curses?
When we are born again we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of light. When we are in the kingdom of light, the devil has no more authority over us other than the authority that we give him.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Col. 1:13)
We have been bought with a price and redeemed and no longer belong to the power of darkness; we belong to the kingdom of God. We are children of the living God. We are children of the light. There is not enough darkness to put out the smallest light.
Some might argue, "Well, the devil this and the devil that." However, the devil cannot touch us when we are walking in the light. The only time that he can touch us is when we open the door to him by not walking according to the Word of God.
The fact of the matter is that when God blessed you nothing can be done to reverse it.
In Christ we have these blessings and the curse cannot touch us. We have been blessed with all of heaven's blessings. This is not something that needs to happen, this is something that has already taken place. We need to walk as believers in the finished work of the cross.
When we as believers believe that the curse is powerful, we underestimate the power of the cross, the power of the Blood and the power of the resurrection, thus making weak the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus defeated the devil at Calvary and broke the power of the curse. (Col. 2:15)
The reasons why many believers are affected by curses I believe is:
1. Fear
2. The lack of knowledge of the Word of God
3. Not understanding the Father's love in relationship to the new covenant.
Fear is a terrible thing, gripping at the minds and hearts of anyone who will open the door. It is so in Africa and other parts of the world where people practice witchcraft and fear is a common factor that gives the witch doctor the power over them.
In Africa and Australia for example, if the witch doctor arrives in a village and sings and chants and throws bones, then everyone knows in that village that someone is going to die. The next morning...sure enough someone will have died. This is common. What killed those people? Simply this—Fear.
The reason that I say this is because if you are a child of God Almighty, then you have to realize that the devil has very limited power over you. The only power that he has over you is the power you give him.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6 KJV)
The reason they are destroyed is because of their lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
We must find out what God's Word says and then appropriate the promises in our lives. Remember this, the devil knows the scripture because he quoted it to Eve as well as Jesus.
He loves to twist the scripture and to get you as the believer to think that God is not for you and that He is against you. As a new believer, we must realize that we are new creations in Christ Jesus—old things have past away, all things are new.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15 KJV)
The reason why this verse is so important is because the scripture says to rightly divide the Word. That happen can only as we study God's Word. Rightly divide—what does that mean? You will be amazed how many of God's children don't know the difference between the Old and the New Testaments (covenants).
What happens is that they take a little of the old and mix it with the new and come up with their own covenant. One minute they are under the law, the next they are under grace and they become double-minded and have no clue—they remind me of a Canadian goose lost in a thunderstorm trying to find its way.
They end up going from bondage back to freedom and then back to bondage. They don't understand the heart of the Father God and His great Love for His children. Jesus came to pay the price for our complete redemption.
God loves us so much and wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed. He has made every provision for our blessing. This was made manifest at the cross of Calvary.
As children of the living God, we have absolutely nothing to fear from the curse because Jesus has come to bring us into the blessing.
The Curse is not Greater than the Blessing!
The choice is ours—what will it be? Blessing or cursing, it's up to you.
Things that you need to do to walk in God's blessings daily:
1. Realize that God is for you and not against you.
2. Walk in His Word and obey Him completely.
3. The choice is yours; blessing or cursing...it's up to you.
4. The curse will be far from you, because Christ hath redeemed you from the curse of the law. He has paid it in full.
5. The blessings are to a thousand generations of them who fear God.
6. The curse is to the third and forth generation of them who hate God.
When we are born again we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of light. When we are in the kingdom of light, the devil has no more authority over us other than the authority that we give him.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Col. 1:13)
We have been bought with a price and redeemed and no longer belong to the power of darkness; we belong to the kingdom of God. We are children of the living God. We are children of the light. There is not enough darkness to put out the smallest light.
Some might argue, "Well, the devil this and the devil that." However, the devil cannot touch us when we are walking in the light. The only time that he can touch us is when we open the door to him by not walking according to the Word of God.
The fact of the matter is that when God blessed you nothing can be done to reverse it.
In Christ we have these blessings and the curse cannot touch us. We have been blessed with all of heaven's blessings. This is not something that needs to happen, this is something that has already taken place. We need to walk as believers in the finished work of the cross.
When we as believers believe that the curse is powerful, we underestimate the power of the cross, the power of the Blood and the power of the resurrection, thus making weak the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus defeated the devil at Calvary and broke the power of the curse. (Col. 2:15)
The reasons why many believers are affected by curses I believe is:
1. Fear
2. The lack of knowledge of the Word of God
3. Not understanding the Father's love in relationship to the new covenant.
Fear is a terrible thing, gripping at the minds and hearts of anyone who will open the door. It is so in Africa and other parts of the world where people practice witchcraft and fear is a common factor that gives the witch doctor the power over them.
In Africa and Australia for example, if the witch doctor arrives in a village and sings and chants and throws bones, then everyone knows in that village that someone is going to die. The next morning...sure enough someone will have died. This is common. What killed those people? Simply this—Fear.
The reason that I say this is because if you are a child of God Almighty, then you have to realize that the devil has very limited power over you. The only power that he has over you is the power you give him.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6 KJV)
The reason they are destroyed is because of their lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
We must find out what God's Word says and then appropriate the promises in our lives. Remember this, the devil knows the scripture because he quoted it to Eve as well as Jesus.
He loves to twist the scripture and to get you as the believer to think that God is not for you and that He is against you. As a new believer, we must realize that we are new creations in Christ Jesus—old things have past away, all things are new.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15 KJV)
The reason why this verse is so important is because the scripture says to rightly divide the Word. That happen can only as we study God's Word. Rightly divide—what does that mean? You will be amazed how many of God's children don't know the difference between the Old and the New Testaments (covenants).
What happens is that they take a little of the old and mix it with the new and come up with their own covenant. One minute they are under the law, the next they are under grace and they become double-minded and have no clue—they remind me of a Canadian goose lost in a thunderstorm trying to find its way.
They end up going from bondage back to freedom and then back to bondage. They don't understand the heart of the Father God and His great Love for His children. Jesus came to pay the price for our complete redemption.
God loves us so much and wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed. He has made every provision for our blessing. This was made manifest at the cross of Calvary.
As children of the living God, we have absolutely nothing to fear from the curse because Jesus has come to bring us into the blessing.
The Curse is not Greater than the Blessing!
The choice is ours—what will it be? Blessing or cursing, it's up to you.
Things that you need to do to walk in God's blessings daily:
1. Realize that God is for you and not against you.
2. Walk in His Word and obey Him completely.
3. The choice is yours; blessing or cursing...it's up to you.
4. The curse will be far from you, because Christ hath redeemed you from the curse of the law. He has paid it in full.
5. The blessings are to a thousand generations of them who fear God.
6. The curse is to the third and forth generation of them who hate God.
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