WALK, STAND AND SIT

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:1- 3 KJV
Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that when you put God’s word first place in your life, and when you receive only His counsel for your life (and no other), then His word will cause you to prosper and be blessed. In this passage of scripture we see the progression that takes place in a person’s life — from Walk to Stand to Sit. The Word says that if you start to walk in the council of the ungodly (listening to what they have to say) you will end up standing in the way of sinners (taking their advice) and that will result in you sitting in the seat of mockers (you will be just like them).

 

It is amazing how many of God’s people want all the best that God has for them, however they are running their lives according to the dictates of this world’s system and then they wonder why they end up in trouble. God created you – He knows what is best for you. Unless you do things His way  –always — you will have trouble.

Rodney Howard Browne shows us when God’s word becomes the final authority in your life — you will shut out the council of the ungodly and begin to delight yourself in the Lord. When you delight yourself in the word of God you will be like a tree planted by the rivers of living water and you will bring forth your fruit in season and your leaf shall not wither and whatever you do will prosper.

Rodney Howard Browne encourages you to take stock of your life — locate where YOU are by asking yourself these three questions: am I Walking, am I Standing or am I Sitting?1.       Am I patterning my life after the world’s standards — does the world dictate the standards I set for my life? If I am living according to the world’s standards, then I would have to conclude that I am walking in the counsel of the ungodly.2.     Do I fit in with sinners and feel at home with their company — is what they do and what they say — what I do and what I say? I can then conclude that I am now standing in the way of sinners.3.     Am I in a state of apathy in my walk with the Lord — am I critical of everything that God is doing – am I critical of spiritual leaders and the church in general? I can then conclude that I am now sitting in the seat of mockers.

This is a downhill progression. I don’t start off sitting in the seat of mockers. This deception takes place over a period of time. I slowly digress to the place where my life is totally open to poverty, lack and the attack of the enemy. This all happens because I have placed something else first in my life other than God and His counsel. In order to change and to begin to experience the blessing rather than the curse, I have to make some radical changes in my life and my habits.

 1.       I need to separate myself from those who are ungodly. I can minister to them, but I do not allow them to minister to me. I will pull them up to my level and not allow them to pull me down to their level.2.     I must not allow sin in any form to take hold in my life. I must guard my heart first because my heart attitude is central to every other aspect of my life. My thought life must be yielded to the Word and the Spirit of God.3.     I must keep myself free from a critical spirit and make sure that my heart stays pure. I must avoid becoming cynical and ending up a mocker.4.     I need to make sure that my life follows the pattern that God’s word has laid out for me and that I daily meditate in the Word of God. God’s Word must be my delight.

 

When these steps are a way of life then I know that according to God’s word I will be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of living water.  I am going to bring forth good fruit and whatever I do will prosper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALL SHALL KNOW ME

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  Hebrews 8:7-12 NKJ

 

Rodney Howard Browne shows us in this passage of scripture, Paul is quoting a prophetic word spoken by the prophet Jeremiah and recorded in Jeremiah 31:31-34. God is speaking to man and revealing the nature of the covenant that He is going to cut between Himself and us through the shed blood of Jesus. The old covenant did not change man’s basic problem. As far as God was concerned, the blood of bulls and goats covered their sin and they were counted as righteous, but their sin nature remained unchanged. This new covenant, when activated by believing in Jesus and receiving Him as Lord, would change the very nature of man. Something would take place on the inside of man – their spirit would be born-again and their sin nature would be transformed into the righteousness of God! Their sins would not just be covered – they would be removed and washed away.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJ 

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that man would no longer be simply counted righteous, but they would actually be righteous. They would have God’s Word engraved on their hearts. They would be motivated from the inside to serve God instead of from the outside. They would choose to serve God because they knew Him and they knew His voice. They did not need a prophet to tell them what God was saying, but God would reveal it to each one of them personally. Even our children can know God on a very personal level because He lives in them. 

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow

Me. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  John 10:27-28 NKJ

When you know the Lord, you know His voice. He writes His Word on your heart and then you need to allow Him to put His Word in your mind by meditating on the written Word of God. Meditating is more than just a passing glance or listening with half an ear, while you are thinking about something else. When you meditate on God’s word, you focus on it, you give it your full attention and you receive it as if He is speaking to you personally – because He is! When you know Him and His word, you will have no trouble distinguishing His voice from all the other voices that clamor for your attention. The devil, who masquerades as an angel of light, will not be able to fool you or deceive you because you know your good shepherd’s voice.

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  John 17:3 NKJ

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.    Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.  I John 3:23-24 NKJ

 

The Spirit of God lives on the inside of every believer, from the least to the greatest and every believer can know Him in a real way. God does not have favorites, but some people just press in to know Him better. Even if you have only been saved a very short time, you know Him better than a theologian who knows the Bible, but who has not been born again! If He lives in you – you know Him!

 

 

 

 

A LETTER TO THE CRITICS

Just because you can’t do it – doesn’t mean I can’t do it.Just because you can’t see it – doesn’t mean I can’t see it.Just because you won’t do it – doesn’t mean I won’t do it. Where you see hopelessness – I see hope.Where you see lack – I see supernatural provision.Where you see barriers – I see bridges.Where you see weakness – I see God’s strength.Where you see darkness – I see a light shining.Where you see hindrances – I see God’s favor.Where you see no way – I see a path.Where you see desert – I see a river of life.Where you see fear – I see faith in God.Where you see sickness – I see healing power.Where you see man’s limitations – I see God’s unlimited resources.Where you see the curse – I see God’s abundant blessing.Where you see sin – I see grace and mercy.Where you see pain – I see restoration. Where you see confusion – I see wisdom.  The critic says, “Don’t do anything. Just stand there.”God says, “Don’t just stand there. Do something.” God gives the grape.The critic makes vinegar. The believer makes wine. 2 Corinthians 4:18  (NKJ)18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Ephesians 3:20-21  (NKJ)20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

HEALING IS THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

Foundation Scripture: Mark 7:24-30  (NKJ)

24From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. 25For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”28And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” 29Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

Healing is the children’s bread. Bread is a basic food. Every country and every culture has its own kinds of bread. The bread may look different and taste different from culture to culture, but around the world, most people eat it every day. Even if people are quite poor and don’t have much to eat, bread is usually one of the few foods they do eat. 

Galatians 3:26-27  (KJV)
26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

We are children of God, because of Jesus, because we believe in His sacrifice, which He made on the cross of Calvary. Jesus paid the price on the cross for sins and for sickness and disease. He took them both into His own body and died, once and for all removing sin and sickness from those who believe.

Healing is as much part of God’s plan for us, as is salvation. Healing is a basic right of every child of God – just as it is a basic right of every person to have and eat bread.  So many times, people wait for God to decide, one day, in the sweet by and by, whether or not to heal them. The only problem with that is that it won’t get you anywhere. That is because God has not only already done His part, but He has communicated His will and His plan with us through His word. If we are ignorant of the fact that healing is ours now, it is because we have not read or received His word.

Acts 10:38  (NKJ)
38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Healing is part of your heritage – child of God. Sickness and disease are from the devil, but healing is the children’s bread.

Revelations 22:2  (NKJ)
2In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Healing and divine health is, and always was the normal state of anyone who belongs to God. Adam and Eve were not even able to get sick, before sin destroyed their and their children’s bodies. Because of Jesus, we once again have the right and the privilege to walk in divine health. Just as we received Jesus as our Savior, we must receive Him as our Healer. We are not waiting for some sovereign move of God to heal us, but God is waiting for us to receive the revelation that healing is the children’s bread!