Of Wolves and Sheep

On March 3, 2025   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 7: 14

The Jews therefore were marveling, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”

I was asked a very good question recently. It is one we all must consider at some time. And we should be well prepared. The question really goes to the problem of whom we should trust to deliver the Word of God to us. Television preachers seem to arise every day as well as others who wish us to believe they are called by God to preach. Even I. Why should you trust me or any preacher in a pulpit or on television?

Jesus warned us about deception in the last days. “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.” So, we are wise to use discernment in choosing to whom we will listen.

In the world, the first thing we do is to look at a person’s credentials. What degree do they have? Where did they go to school? What experience have they and with whom? This is not a bad question per se, but the problem is that first, it is the world’s way of thinking and judging, not God’s. Therefore, its effectiveness is going to be limited and possibly even skewed. Secondly, when a false prophet comes into the world, he is probably going to have very good credentials. If a deceiver is sent into your community, he is not going to have the obvious shortcomings. That would make him easily detectible.

Just because someone has good credentials, maybe attended the best seminary, doesn’t mean that he is anointed by God to bring the good news of the gospel. Conversely, just because someone does not have a seminary degree does not mean that God isn’t using them to set the captives free. The best examples of this are Jesus and Saul (later to be renamed Paul). Jesus was “uneducated” and without the first credential. Saul on the other hand, was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He studied with the master of the time. He had the very best education, degrees and credentials. And yet Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power and went about doing good (Acts 10: 38) while Saul persecuted Christians. Who was operating in the will of the Lord and speaking the Word from God? Fortunately, Saul got turned around, was renamed Paul and went about doing great things for the Kingdom of God. His great education and credentials did not save him from the Jewish leadership then though.

Jesus, knowing we would face these difficult times, offered advice as to how we are to discern his chosen from would be deceivers and false prophets. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?” (Matthew 7: 15 -16).

We are to recognize people by their fruit. If their fruit is good, then the tree is good. But don’t forget that you can pray and ask your Father for wisdom. He can guide you to those who are anointed by Him to teach the gospel.

Lastly, from experience I have noticed that those with a strong anointing on them rarely are those who only and always tickle your ears. In other words, they don’t always say what you want to hear. The people that God has called will often challenge you and challenge your thinking. They will inspire you to do something. The deceivers will attempt to lull you to sleep while the true apostles will call you to some action. If you look through the Bible, you will notice that God’s called were always shaking up the people. They were trying to awaken the people to God’s voice. So, if someone is shaking you up a bit, don’t turn him off right away. That may be the one God has sent. If that preacher is making you a little bit uncomfortable, before you shut them down, ask God about it. That is probably the very person God has sent into your life.

God wants you to grow, especially in these last days. Therefore, the people he is sending are going to challenge us. He has a whole nation of folks to stir up so don’t be surprised if the voices you hear begin to challenge the status quo just like Jesus did in His day. If there is going to be a great awakening, there are going to have to be some alarm clocks.

Most of all, remember to be a fruit inspector. There will be many people vying for your attention, but each must earn it through established fruit. Here is the test God gave us, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” (Galatians 5: 22). Only those who are kind, good, faithful, patient, etc. pass muster because Jesus told us that we should judge them by their fruit. He warned us to be wary. We needn’t be afraid, only aware and mindful.

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Be Healed

On April 28, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 10: 38

You know of Jesus of Nazareth . . . and how He went about . . . healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Today’s devotional is about Easter. Why do we celebrate Easter? Isn’t it because it is Resurrection Day? Our refrain is “He’s Alive!” So, if he is alive, is he still going about healing all who are oppressed or has he sat down on his laurels. I think both answers result in “I Am Healed,” or better still, “by His wounds [I was] healed,” (1 Peter 2: 24) because Jesus is either still going about doing good or he has sat down because “It is finished” (John 19: 30). Either way, you win!

You probably cannot appreciate how fervently I hope and pray that this series is impacting your life and health. The revelation that the Lord has provided has been astounding. We’ve seen that long before Jesus graced the earth, God declared Himself our healer. Then Jesus came and healed all who came to him. Even when they were not entitled, they pulled on that anointing within him and received. Some of them were just plain stubborn. Others, dared to hope.

God intended to spread His blessing across the earth. Initially, the blessing was sown in the Garden of Eden and that garden was supposed to expand until it covered the entire surface of the earth. Unfortunately, man’s insurrection allowed the curse to enter the earth. However, God had a plan. He sowed the blessing back into the soil of the earth when He buried His own son. Today’s verse capitalizes on that plan so perfectly in demonstrating God’s intent. Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were sick because “God was with Him.” Wow! That is remarkable. It seems, then, that “God with me” results in healing and the end of oppression and what is Jesus’ appointed name and title? Immanuel, which means God is with me.

Because Jesus is with us and because he and the Father have come to live within us, there is no good thing which is unavailable. They are good, they can only do good. When Christ is with us, there is health, healing, anointing, blessing, grace, mercy, peace and all other forms of goodness.

Jesus is still going about doing good and healing all who are oppressed. He is not dead. He is alive, praise God! The power and love which is reflected in today’s verse is still present and has no choice but to dwell in goodness. Jesus didn’t go about cursing people. He went around blessing them so if he is alive now, what is he doing? Is he without power now that he has been resurrected? I hardly think so.

Let this revelation cause joy to arise in your heart. Everywhere Jesus went, he healed. Where is Jesus right now? Is he not in your very own spirit? Have you not invited him to come live inside of you? I mean, let this truth go off in you like July 4th fireworks. This is the day of the Lord’s grace. This day he has healing in his hands. I pray you will be stubborn, confident, audacious and brave. If the Lord healed a Canaanite woman’s child and a Roman soldier’s servant, then why would he not heal you? It’s okay for you to demand your rights and stand on your promise. Be oppressed no longer. Be healed!

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Power

On September 13, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 1: 8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

We know something about God, and we know Jesus but who, really, is the Holy Spirit? The answer is that He is the power of God, the creative force of God. In the first chapter of Genesis we see that the earth was formless but the Holy Spirit was moving (or hovering) over the surface of the waters. Then God spoke the word and the Holy Spirit responded to that spoken word and created all that God spoke. So, by the Holy Spirit God created the earth.

Then we see in Luke 1: 35 that it was the Power of God through the Holy Spirit that caused Mary to conceive. There is the creative power of God at work. All three persons of the trinity have their place. They each have their own roles and characteristics. We are beginning to learn who the Holy Spirit is. When we do, we will be able to work with Him more effectively.

He is the one who is in the earth right now and who was promised to remain with us forever. He was sent to be our helper, guide and teacher so the more we can understand his role in our lives, the more we can learn and the more we can be led by Him. It is by His power, the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are able to positively affect our lives and the lives of others.

And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving (hovering) over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1: 2

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Luke 1: 35

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Luke 4: 14

And it came about one day that He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. Luke 5: 17

And you know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power. Acts 10: 38

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15: 13

“…in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit…” Romans 15: 19

And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. 1 Corinthians 2: 4

[T]o be strengthened with power through His Spirit. Ephesians 3: 16

[F]or our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 1: 5

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Ask

On August 17, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 4: 38 – 40

And He arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever; and they made request of Him on her behalf. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately arose and waited on them. And while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on every one of them, He was healing them.

We all know about Jesus who went about doing good (Acts 10: 38). What strikes me here is that Jesus wasn’t going around looking for someone to do good to. In these few verses there are two examples of people receiving healing. In neither case, though, did Jesus seek them out.

Jesus had been in the synagogue. When he and his disciples left there, they went to Peter’s house. “They,” whoever they may be, asked Jesus to minister to Peter’s sick mother-in-law. What would Jesus have done if no one had asked him to minister to her?

In the second scenario, Jesus may have been enjoying his after dinner cup of coffee when people began showing up at Peter’s front door. Again, Jesus didn’t go out looking for someone to pray for. People asked for prayer, for ministry. I am not suggesting that we should not initiate prayer or to be purposeful about praying for people. The point of this message is to observe Jesus and learn from him. Why didn’t he offer to pray for Peter’s mother-in-law? After dinner, why didn’t he go sit in the town square and call out to people? There may be something going on here.

In Matthew, chapter nine, we read about the woman who “had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak,” (Matthew 9: 20). She was instantly healed. Jesus didn’t seek her out either, but she had been “saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His garment, I will get well,’” (Matthew 9: 21). The woman initiated contact with Jesus. She pressed through the crowd to touch his garment believing that she would be healed with that touch. Jesus, realizing that power had gone out from him turned around and “seeing her said, ‘Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.’ At once the woman was made well,” (Matthew 9: 22).

What is going on here? I think there is an important lesson for us to learn. Jesus said it in John 16: 24, “Ask and you will receive.” From his brother we learn, “You do not have because you do not ask,” (James 4: 2). I have been amazed at the reluctance people have shown to asking for prayer. If Jesus came to town, would we shake of our lethargy and actually seek prayer? People will tell me the incredible challenges they have gone through and I will think, “We have a prayer line on our website, why don’t people ask for prayer?” What is going on in our cultures that was not present during Jesus’ time? Is our attitude the result of the protestant reformation? Since we each have a direct pipeline to God, have we determined that we do not need to ask other people for prayer? Even knowing that I am a pastor, few people come to me and ask me to pray for them. Almost none ask me to lay hands on them for healing? Is this simply because we have not taught people to ask?

Well, I am teaching today! Ask! Are you sick? Do you have need of any healing for your body, mind, emotions? Ask. In the examples above, the people brought their faith for healing in their request. The woman with the hemorrhage demonstrated her faith, actually used her faith, to reach out to Jesus. Others went to Jesus seeking healing because they had faith that they would receive. He didn’t seek them out. They sought him. That was the measure of faith. Perhaps we ask not because we have no faith for healing. Perhaps we don’t ask because we are arrogant, or maybe bashful. On the one hand one might feel he can pray as well as anyone else. On the other hand, one may be too shy to ask. Here I am saying today, “Ask.” You have not because you ask not.

Be persistent. Be tenacious. Be determined to receive everything Jesus promised. It is not always easy to receive your answer. I know that but, sitting in the recliner complaining is probably not the answer either. Get in front of every preacher you know and ask them to lay hands on you and pray. Get your friends to anoint you with oil and pray. Go to our prayer line at Ivey Ministries (https://iveyministries.org/prayer-request/). Do something. God wants you whole too. Reach out to others and ask them for prayer. If you have already prayed about something and have not received the answer then get out of your comfort zone and ask someone to pray for you. Slay apathy and be a doer of the Word. Tug on Jesus’ robe and demand the promises fulfilled in your life. His answer is yes, but first, you have to ask.

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Power Generator

On January 25, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 10: 38

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Let’s talk power! Power is what we all need for our lives. We need to overcome obstacles, defeat enemy attacks and we need to create. Jesus went about doing good, healing and delivering ALL who were oppressed by the devil. This verse reveals that it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that he was able to accomplish these things.

God has given you a vision. You need creative power to complete it. The Holy Spirit is that creative power. Let’s look at the creation of the earth in Genesis 1, “The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light,” (Genesis 1: 2 – 3). What is the purpose of disclosing that the Spirit was hovering over the formless earth before God spoke? Through it we learn that the Holy Spirit is the creative power of God. God had a vision, spoke The Word, who we know to be Jesus, and the Holy Spirit brought the vision into being.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God. Micah 3: 8 reads, “I am filled with power—With the Spirit of the Lord—And with justice and courage.” Micah understood that the power he exhibited to prophesy was the power from the Spirit of the Lord. Of course, Jesus was well aware of the source of his power. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you,” (Matthew 12: 28).

Paul described his ministry in 1 Corinthians 2: 4, when he wrote, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,” (NIV). His desire was that all believers would know this same power that is in the Holy Spirit. He prayed, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” (Romans 15: 13).

That which Jesus had, which Paul embraced is what we also need. That is the Holy Spirit and the power that comes with him. There are more scriptures in the New Testament that reveal the Holy Spirit as the source of power. Go to www.Biblegateway.com and search “power” in the New Testament for further study. More importantly though, make it a point to search out in your heart and with the Father what you can do to increase your daily fellowship with His Spirit. Seek the Lord and His Spirit.

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Practice Presence

On November 29, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 5: 16

But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

This passage is speaking of Jesus. Most of the scripture reveals His public ministry but this is a glimpse into Jesus’ personal habits. Ministry isn’t that different from sports. The success is in the preparation. For athletes we like to say it is what you do away from the cameras that really matters. We know from Acts 10: 38 that Jesus was anointed with Power and the Holy Spirit. That should be enough, one would think, to be anointed by God, but Jesus developed the gift in Him by spending time alone with his father and the Holy Spirit. It is that alone time that built Him up and prepared Him for the work of the Lord. It was necessary, vital time.

Not much has changed. We can have the same anointing as Jesus, many do. But we, like Jesus, need time to develop the gifts inside of us. We need time alone with God, quiet time that He can use to build us up and develop us. You and I are never going to develop spiritually by spending an hour in church once or twice a week. For that matter, no amount of time at church is going to replace the time that you need to spend alone with your father. Church serves a different function and was never meant to replace quiet time with the Lord. I wish for you all to have fulfilling intimacy with the Lord. I want you to be as close to Him personally as you want to be. That only comes by time with Him though. You have to sneak away from the bustle of life and find quiet time with him. For those of you with a lot of time on your hands, praise God. You have the time others have a hard time finding. Don’t let yourself be lonely. Use that time to get into God’s presence. The rewards are awesome.

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Anointed with Power

On September 25, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 10: 38

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.

God gave Jesus power through the person of the Holy Spirit so that He, Jesus, might be equipped to succeed in the matter for which God sent Him. In the same way, God has also anointed us with power so that we can perform our tasks as well. Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit for, he said, “you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Then he told them “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1: 5 & 8).

It was the anointing of the Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus so that He could go about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. He was able to do all this because “God was with Him.” In like manner, God has not called us to do anything in our own might. He has called us and empowered us by the Holy Spirit to accomplish our calling through the power of God’s might. There is plenty of good for you to do too but you need the power of the Holy Spirit just the same as Jesus did. Make sure that you have invited the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, to be a part of your life and your daily activities. Make sure that He knows He has an open invitation to be a part of all you do.

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