Shift Gears

On April 18, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 30: 2      GW

O Lord my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me.

What do you hear when you read this? I can hear emotion and waves of relief. David’s anguish turned into relief. You almost want to take a deep breath for him.

This verse reminds me of 2 Kings 20: 5, “I’ve heard your prayer. I’ve seen your tears. Now I’m going to heal you.” Oh, I love that one. Of course, I believe we should speak words of faith. I think we should be strong in our belief. There is a time, though, to cry out to God. However, one of the things I have learned by reading David’s psalms is that although he may begin with the most forlorn language you have ever heard, he always ends his song in praise and thanksgiving. There is something powerful to be gleaned from that. Cry with all your heart. Bare your soul to the Lord (not to others), but when you are ready, when your grief and despondency have waned, shift into affirmative language about the greatness of God. What does that look like?

You may begin by telling God how sick you are, how bad you feel and how desperate you are. Keep it up, tell him everything. Just pour out until you have emptied yourself. Then, shift gears. “Father, though I feel sick, alone and like I will never fully heal, I know that you are the healer. I know that you sent your word and healed me. Father, the Word tells me that I was healed by Jesus’ stripes and Father, I thank you. Thank you for sending your beloved to earth to take all my sin, sickness and pain. Thank you, Jesus, that you bore, on your body, the stripes by which I am healed. Father, I confess before you that I am healed. Jesus has made me whole. I am not cursed but rather blessed. I am blessed coming in and blessed going out. I am blessed when I lie down and blessed when I arise. I am blessed, Father, when I inhale and when I exhale. You promised your healing power and Jesus has fulfilled every one of your promises. I may look sick, but I am healed. Father, I claim this healing blessing which you have provided for me. I declare, in Jesus’ name and by his precious blood, that the healing power of the Ezekiel river is running through every vein, capillary and vessel in my body. Every cell of my body is saturated with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and I declare and decree, in the name of Jesus, that I am whole. I am healed from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. And I thank you Father. Thank you for your love and for your faithfulness. Amen.”

Copy that down. Print it out. Read it out loud when you aren’t feeling your best and speak loudly. Say it until you feel the belief rising up within you and then say what you wish to see manifested. “My knee is healed, praise God.” “I shall live and not die and will proclaim the goodness of the Lord.”

Cry out to the Lord with a loud voice. Complain, moan, groan and whine, but then shift gears. Get in sync with that power which is within you and proclaim the healing in your body. End with thanksgiving and praise. You are going to feel better. I promise.

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Calling All Believers!

On March 30, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 9: 28, 21: 22

And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this? If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Yesterday I sent you an unusual Word of the Day, unusual because I have never before asked you to give to this ministry. That wasn’t easy for me but there was a specific reason I made that suggestion and request. First, if you are being fed by this ministry, you should support it, but that is not why I wrote you as I did yesterday. I wrote to you trying to get you blessed.

Why am I anointed to teach the gospel? And for whom? Why did God give me that anointing of increase Sunday? All the anointing that is on me was given for you. I don’t benefit from the anointing on me. I benefit from the anointing that is on Jesse. However, no matter what gifts God sends, it up to each one of us to receive them. So, I want to tell you another story.

A couple of years ago, I decided to test God on this finances thing. You see, we all have trouble believing. As you can see from today’s verse, Jesus couldn’t always get around people’s doubt. Anyway, I took one dollar and sowed it. I prayed over it, I declared, and I put God on notice that I was going to see what He would do. Well, very shortly thereafter I received a check for fifty dollars. Okay, I was expecting one hundred but, where else do you get that kind of return on your money. So, being quite serious about sowing, I sowed the entire fifty dollars. Guess what ministry I sent it to. Jesse Duplantis Ministries. I sent that fifty dollars as soon as I got it. I was working on something. So, then I sat and waited. I was expecting the hundredfold return. And I waited and waited. I began to tell Father, “Hey, you owe me some money here.” Still nothing. Then one day I heard the Father’s voice say to me, “I will make it up to you on your truck.” Well, the thing there was that I wanted a new Tahoe, but I couldn’t afford it. So, I waited some more. Then I reminded Father, “You owe me money!” Again, I heard Him say, “I will make it up to you on your truck.” Okay, fine, but didn’t He understand that I couldn’t afford a Tahoe? How was He going to make it up to me? This went on and I held on though I couldn’t see anything coming in. Some days I was despondent. Other days I was full of faith. Through it all, though, He gave me the strength and tenacity to hold on. Now you see why I titled yesterday’s Word of the Day as I did. I understand. Anyway, time went on and I could see no way I would be able to afford a new Tahoe, but that is the vehicle my heart was set on. Well, long story short . . . you would like the looks of my pretty new Tahoe. I got it in December, and I still don’t know how it happened. What’s more, I got a new stationary bike for indoor training and sold my old Tahoe for the amount that I was going to donate it for. All of this happened within a week and it was purely the blessing of the Lord. Dad isn’t a liar!

Now, what are you going to do? “Do you believe that I (Jesus) am able to do this?” “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” So, who are my believers? Do you believe God is able to do something for you? Some of you sowed yesterday as soon as you read the Word of the Day. God bless you! I am going to pray a prayer over those donations that will rock the walls of hell. Some of you didn’t sow a gift to Ivey Ministries. Why? Why didn’t you? Do you not believe that Jesus is able to bless you? Are you having a battle with doubt? What do you think? You are not the only one to doubt. If you read Monday’s Word of the Day you know that the Lord said to each of us, “Those speculations, wonderings, worries, all those mental gymnastics, must be brought to kneel at Jesus’ feet.” See, all that matters is what Jesus says.

But here is the hard part. Do you believe him? I mean really believe him? Are you willing to risk something on his word? Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is,” as the saying goes. Don’t think I don’t know how hard it is to do, but sooner or later we have to decide where we are going to stand. Are you a believer or are you not? Are you going to let Jesus bless you with this special blessing he has for you? Who wins in your heart faith or doubt?

God is able to make all grace abound to you, but you’ve got to get in the game. You have to choose to be a part of this. I am screaming with my outdoor voice that God is doing something here. Let Him include you. Be a part of the blessing. Do you believe?

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Hold On Brother!!!

On March 29, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 9: 6 – 8

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

Guys, we’ve got to pause the Healing Words of the Day because God has something to say. God, your Father, wants to get money to you. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Word of the Lord is saying. God wants to talk about money, so get ready to shout. If you have a problem with money and church, repent quick, before you get to the next paragraph because Father God wants to speak to you and bless you. Please do not reject the Blessing of the Lord.

Now hear this!!!! I got back from my sabbatical Saturday. I had a GREAT time with the Lord, and He ministered many things. Interestingly enough, a bunch of it was about finances. It was a definite surprise but a welcome one. I got home in time to go see Jesse Duplantis at Agape Faith Church in Clemmons, NC on Sunday. Whoa! It was good. It was anointed and brother, you would have to be dead not to have felt the anointing in there as Jesse spoke. Glory to God! What do you suppose he spoke on? Finances. God kept right on with the theme of the whole week.

Jesse Duplantis has an anointing of increase on him. People have talked about it for years. He gives away so much, but God just keeps blessing him. This man tries to out give God. Well, guess who’s winning. But I have not gotten to the good part yet. Hold on!!

Now I’ve already told you that Jesse is a giver. He told us he was going to give the offering back to the host church. He wasn’t going to take the gift offering back with him. Nice. However, before he let us give our offering, he wanted to pray over it and bless that ministry and its leaders. What happened next is important to you!

Jesse asked us all to raise our offering envelopes. Then he walked up to me and asked me if he could borrow my offering. He just wanted a point of contact to pray over that offering. Of course, I said, “Yes,” and extended my envelope towards him. He reached out, but he didn’t take my envelope. He took my hand and laid the envelope in my hand. I scooted forward in my chair a little and he said, “Yeah, stand up.” So, I stood up! He took my hand with the envelope in it and covered it with his own hand and started ministering to me. He started praying about the hundredfold return (Matthew 13: 8), bless God!

But wait. I had a problem right there. I had just returned from the mountains and had burned through most of my cash. I forgot to get more money, so when I opened my wallet to get out my offering I just groaned. “Well,” I thought to myself, “I will just give all I have.” I didn’t think of it then, but God has brought it my attention since that in giving all I had, I was like the widow with the widow’s mite (Mark 12: 41) and she blessed Jesus with her giving.

But, back to the story, when Jesse started ministering the hundredfold return my insides roiled and I thought about that measly amount of money in the envelope. Aargghh! In that split second, I was intensely remorseful that there wasn’t a big bill in that envelope and mad at myself for not thinking ahead. You know what? No sooner did I think, “Oh darn” than Jesse, looking right at me said, “I didn’t say a hundred times. I said a hundredfold! This isn’t math. It just keeps folding and folding and folding.” WHOA! Father totally heard my thought and my regret and answered it immediately!

Here’s what I want you to know, Jesse wasn’t just praying over my offering. If you had been there, you would have seen that. It was clear that something was happening. Jesse was praying over my money and ministry. Now, here is the part that is important to you. His anointing of increase got shared to me and this ministry. Let that sink in. God has anointed this ministry for increase. That isn’t just about increasing the ministry. Read the passage above. This is about increasing you. I am to share this increase. That is why the anointing was shared with me. This is how God is going to get blessing to you, through Ivey Ministries. Now isn’t that exciting?!

Read today’s passage again. It is powerful. In fact, it is what Jesse spoke on Sunday. It went off in me then and I hope it is going off in you now. And, I understand how this works. So, you better believe that I sent off a big check to Jesse today! I am getting in on the increase. I want to reap bountifully so I am giving bountifully.

I have never asked any of you for money, but I am going to say today, “Give, so it can be given back to you.” Don’t give grudgingly. If you can’t be happy in it, don’t send money. I want cheerful givers just the same as God, but, if this ministry is ministering to you, sow into it. When we receive your donation, we will pray over it with this anointing present on us for the increase back to you. Maybe you don’t need money, but maybe you have an unsaved family member. Maybe you need healing in your body. Whatever your need is, or your want, let us know and we will lay hands on your offering and petition the Lord, our God, for the hundredfold increase.

God wants to bless you. Listen to me. This is how God is getting the blessing to you. Believe and receive. Let the Lord do all He wants to do. Cooperate with Him. One other thing. Do not delay. Do it now!

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Healthy Blessing

On February 9, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 28: 2,3, 5, 14 – 17, 61

2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God.
3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
14 And do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.
17 Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.
61 Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed.

Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy is where you find the blessing. It also shows what the curse holds. You would be well served to at least read verses 1 – 14 for yourself so that you understand what the blessing means in your life. I have chosen a few select verses to talk about sickness and health.

We already saw in yesterday’s verse that there were diseases in Egypt but that those are not for us. Today we will see that the blessing protects us from the diseases that are in the curse.

First, there is a condition which must be fulfilled, namely that we listen to the commandments of the Lord and obey them. When we do, our lives are ruled by the blessing. However, if we do not obey the words of the Lord, we subject ourselves to the curse. Obedience means we are blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Disobedience means the curse will impact us in the city and in the country, everywhere, in other words. Following God’s instructions brings blessing to our basket and kneading bowl while obstinance curses our food supply.

It is obvious that when we obey God and follow His guidance, we receive the exact opposite benefit of the impact of the curse. Do you agree? This is important when we get to verse 61 because it tells us the result rebellion has on health. The cost of rebellion is all the sickness and disease of Egypt. Therefore, I conclude the prize of obedience is avoidance of Egypt’s curse.

There is sickness in Egypt (the world) because the world does not listen to the counsel of the Lord. If we act like the world and follow the advice of the world, then we are going to reap the results of the world. We need to inquire of the Lord and listen to His wisdom. Then, importantly, we must do as He says. Sometimes what the Lord tells you to do will not make sense to you. Sometimes it may not even sound like faith. None the less, His wisdom will always lead to good results.

Here is one small example that you can relate to. We know that exercising is good for our health. Let’s suppose you have a goal to exercise every weekday and rest on the weekends. What if you get to Friday and there is a nagging thought about not working out? Perhaps your body feels tired. If you have faith, shouldn’t you be able to press on and meet your goals? Or maybe, that voice is God telling you that your body is ready for a rest day now. If you press on maybe you injure yourself. We need to be able to listen to Father’s daily guidance in our work, diet, exercise and even rest. You know, maybe He wants to make some changes in your schedule for better results. We’ve got to listen to Him and OBEY if we are going to live in the blessing. And, that is the Word of the Day for today – obey. So far that gives us an equation of inquire, listen and obey. Maybe it is, instead, a recipe, a recipe for the blessing.

Here is the point, God is your healer. That is what we shouldn’t lose sight of. He can, and does, heal supernaturally, but He also wants to help you avoid feeling bad in the first place. I am thinking of the 23rd Psalm and the picture it paints of the Great Shepherd’s care. Rest in His love and trust Him. There is the curse in the earth but, praise God, there is the blessing. Our beloved has provided blessing for every element of our lives including health. Let’s follow Him to the green pastures and fresh water of the blessing. Amen?

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Good Year

On January 5, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Habakkuk 2:2

Then the Lord answered me and said, “Write down the vision and inscribe it clearly on tablets, so that one who reads it may run.”

I cannot resist writing just one more New Year’s message. This passage always resonates with me at this time of the year. Now, I know something about you guys. Quite a few of you have already made your goals and plans for this new year. A few of you have written them down. Those who have written down their goals are the most likely to achieve them. Why is that? God told us above, write it down so you can run with it. You can’t run towards a goal you cannot see.

There are many of us who don’t have goals yet for the year. We often have the best intentions, but don’t get them written. Let’s make that the first thing we do this year, our first accomplishment, if you will. Let’s set out some goals and write them down. Okay, so here is the deal, just write it down. The goal you are thinking of right now might seem too big. Write it down anyway. Another goal you inscribe may change over the year. Actually, writing it down helps you to revise your goals. When we don’t have a written record of our desires, everything gets muddled. Write down what you are thinking now and if in a week, if it needs revision, so be it. Revise it.

The passage says to write it clearly or plainly. Besides legibility I think this means to give the goal specificity. Let’s take this example. Let’s say my goal is to read more this year. Okay, what does “more” mean? Is that more than last year? Well, how many books did I read last year. Maybe my goal would be better stated as, “Read 5 books this year.” Good. Now, let’s say it’s May and I have already read five books. No worries, I get out my little journal and revise it to 8. It is also okay to revise a goal down. Maybe some opportunity arises that makes reading 5 books hard. Review your goal and make a reasoned decision about what adds the most value to your life. Is the opportunity stealing from you or adding value? Is the book reading goal more important to you than what the opportunity brings? If it’s really a great opportunity, then revise your reading goal down. That’s okay, but also record in your journal what you are hoping to gain from the opportunity.

Second, what am I going to have to do in order to reach my goal. If I work until 5:00 each day; cook dinner, eat and clean-up until 6:30 and plan to go to bed at 10:00 that leaves me 3 ½ hours to get some reading in. So, what needs to happen so that I can read for 30 minutes? Well, perhaps I decide to go to bed at 9:30 and read before I go to sleep. Or, maybe after the kitchen is clean, I need to take my 30 minutes right then before they get lost in a whirlwind of other activities. You get the point. Goals are not achieved without intentionality and a plan. Writing down a clear concise recitation of the goal is key but then develop a plan around that and write it down.

When I say that I want you to have a fabulous 2022, I mean it. I do not write these things lightly. All of the words I send to you come from within me. So, saying, Happy New Year means something. As wonderful as the sentiment is, I also feel a responsibility to help you have that good year. That’s why we do a Word of the Day. When I read today’s verse, I know that Yahweh is teaching us something important. Every word which proceeds from His lips has life in it. Therefore, I hope you will take this seriously and begin, today, to write down what you would like to achieve or see come to fruition in this year. Attach some dates too.

Write it down and review it regularly, at least weekly if not daily. If daily is too much, sit down Sunday night and remind yourself what you are believing for. Then start your week with determined purpose. You will find God leading you in amazing ways if you do this.

I pray you have a great year, full of new beginnings, accomplishments, and blessings!

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Beneficiaries

On December 9, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 3: 6      NLT

And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.

The third chapter of Ephesians is one of the hardest chapters in the Bible to read. Why? Because it is so rich that first, you can’t read a full sentence before you are stopped by the awe of what you just read so you keep re-reading the same sentence. Second, because there is so much to highlight or scribble notes about, you cannot read it easily from the comfort of a chair or couch. Truthfully, you need to go back and read it again in a new Bible or a different translation because your everyday Bible probably has so many notations and highlights that it is almost difficult to read it with fresh eyes. That is what I am doing. I am reading from a Bible a friend of mine loaned me and I am very much enjoying the new and fresh revelation I am receiving. Today’s verse is taken from that Bible, the New Living Translation. Reading Ephesians 3 today from a version other than my normal New American Standard jogged a few cobwebs loose. I am only going to pick up on one little idea from the passage. It is almost an afterthought rather than the main topic of the verse, but intriguing none the less.

I was taken by the words “the promise of blessings.” This passage was written by Paul who was a Jew among Jews. He had the very best rabbinical teaching available and was steeped in the law. For him to write that God revealed to him His hidden plan is not so much a surprise, but that the plan was to incorporate Gentiles into the family of God was a radical idea. So, it is funny to me that God’s secret plan was the inclusion of non-Jews and that a well-trained Jew was given this revelation. Still, that is not what grabbed my attention today. What struck me is the Jewishness with which Paul wrote this verse.

Modern Christians think of the inclusion of Gentiles in terms of salvation. Yea salvation! That’s great news. It is, however, only part of the good news and Paul knew it. If you notice, he did not write that both Jews and Gentiles enjoy salvation together. He said we all join in the blessings of the Christ. See, Paul understood Deuteronomy. Many Christians don’t even read it, but it is a GREAT book full of the promise and the blessing. That is exactly what Paul was thinking about when he wrote this passage. He didn’t think of the “Great Plan” as merely a golden ticket for the heaven train. He understood that we now stand in the same blessing as the Jews. That means day in and day out here on earth we can, and should, see the blessing of God working for our benefit. We should be living in the blessing every day and in everything we do. We are inheritors of the promise of blessings. Let that one sink in. While Christians mostly think about being the beneficiaries of salvation, Jews know that God is a here and now advocate and friend. They understand that the blessing is supposed to touch all of life.

Some people are going to wait until their physical bodies die to begin to live in the grace and blessing of God because they don’t know any better. I’ve got news, you are now Jewish, and you have inherited all of the promises of the Old Testament. You are entitled to that land flowing with milk and honey and that was not a after-life dream. The Israelites crossed the river and walked in the land and now you can too.

What do you want? Maybe you want salvation for a wayward child. Maybe you want a new goal and new mission for your life. Dig deep and ask yourself what you truly want. Maybe you want to know Jesus better and better each day so that he becomes as real to you as any living person. You can have all this and more. You have the promise of God’s blessings. Now, what will you do with that promise?

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Happy Thanksgiving

On November 25, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 5: 20

 Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My prayer this year is that you have much to be thankful for.  According to Paul, we are to learn to be thankful in all things. Thankfulness is a healing balm.  Do you know that your digestion is actually better when a meal is consumed with a heaping serving of gratitude.

Our forefathers halted their labors to thank the Father of the Harvest for provision.  Although these last two years have been remarkably challenging, I find there is still much for which to be grateful.  I pray you have that same sense in your spirit.

May you be blessed with joy, merriment and every good thing.  God bless you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

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