Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Our thoughts are what determine our success.  It is our thoughts which determine our behaviors, but more than that, it is our thoughts which determine how we feel, and our values.

Beyond the natural, it is also in the realm of our thoughts in which our faith is founded.  We have faith in God’s Word.  Faith in His promise to heal.  And, it is in keeping the realm of our thoughts rooted and grounded in God’s Word that we are able to keep our hearts from doubting what He has told us.  So important are our thoughts that they are, indeed, the realm of our salvation, as it is written, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romanbs 10:9).  Our thoughts are what make our lives.

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Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Matthew 10:34-36

That sword, that gleaming, shining sword, comes to divide.  Sharper, faster, more active.  When His sword comes, we cannot remain the same.

Until faith comes, a man’s thoughts are only opinion.  Until faith comes, we only have theories, speculations, and hypotheses.  But, when faith comes, it is the proof, it is the substance of the thing hoped for (Hebrews 11:1).

Do not suppose that you can remain neutral, for you must, eventually, love one and hate the other.  Surely, the flesh wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, so that you do not do what you want, but those that are led by the Spirit are not under the law!
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Man was created to rule.  He was made a judge.

Yet, he was also made as a servant, to serve and to worship and adore.

Man has been created in a unique position in all of creation. Surely, the psalmist spoke well when he said, What is man that thou are mindful of Him? (Psalm 8:4).

This creation, this creature, was fashioned from clay, yet is destined to judge the world.

This figure, as the scripture says, is placed a little lower than Elohim, often translated as “angels” but also used of God Himself,  and yet, man, who will judge the angels, will be judged by God Himself.  Some to everlasting salvation, and some to everlasting contempt.

This man, who was created to do something, was given a place and purpose to fulfill and way to serve in the Earth, yet he was eternally designed for connection with another.

In the Old Testament, we see men and women judging on the Earth, not through kingship, but by God’s providing.  We see that God desired to govern His nation through a judge, and not a human king.  We see that when Israel needed something, He raised up what they cried out for, and delivered them.  Yet, He was always their head.

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Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

John 12:26

There is no other Truth than Jesus.  Paul didn’t surpass Jesus’ truth.  Peter didn’t understand more.  John, in his great revelation as the last book of the Bible wasn’t in possession of a greater revelation than that which Jesus is.

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

1 John 1:1-4

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A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Matthew 7:18

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6).  The physical body and the physical soul are not evil creations.  In the beginning, God created them, and He called them good (Genesis 1:31).  Yet, fallen man is completely incapable of pleasing God on his own (Romans 3:11).  It takes Faith to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and this is given (Romans 12:3).

The life of the Christian is marked by ‘baptisms’ (plural, see Hebrews 6:1).  We are baptized (immersion, you go down into it) into Christ, and we are baptized (immersion, you come underneath it) into the Holy Spirit.  This was depicted in the wilderness by the Israelites being baptized into the Red sea (water baptism) and the cloud (the Holy Spirit) (1 Corinthians 10:2).

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“This message will introduce Jesus Christ to the world.”

William Marion Branham

For all his failures, William Marion Branham was a prophet from God, accredited with signs, wonders, and mighty miracles.  His simple faith and demonstration of Jesus Christ the same, Yesterday, Today, and Forever through God’s healing power is still looked at today as one of the greatest, most powerful displays of God’s supernatural power in the modern world.  While it is still my belief that he was taken home early because he had forsaken his primary call of praying for the sick and that he was spreading doctrinal confusion by his teaching, the message of Mr. Branham still rings clear.

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But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Romans 13:14

Every step forward in the gospel is important.  Every lesson learned, every difficulty overcome.  Peter referenced this proverb in his first epistle.

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

1 Peter 4:18 (portion)

The higher we go in the Gospel, the deeper in His love, the more opportunities we could have to step off the narrow road.

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For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

In waves of revival, manifestations come and go.  Many opinions are formed, shared, and contested with.  But, one thing remains, and that is the Eternal Kingdom of God, the mystery of the Holy Spirit, Christ within, “God With Us”, Emmanuel.

That which we see is not always what it is, and that which we cannot see often goes unnoticed, undiscerned, and hence, under  addressed.

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Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.

1 Peter 1:22

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).  This is what we are aiming for.

We are called to love.  The verse at the beginning indicates our problem.  We cannot love without God (1 John 4:7).  Why?  Because our souls are corrupt without Christ.

We are called to love from a pure heart, because it is only out of pure, sincere motives, that we can truly open up and be open to others, without being hurt.  It is in the place of His perfect love, with no fear, that we are able to truly be brothers.  This is the mark of the authentic gospel.

And, this cannot happen without sincere, gospel faith.  It simply can’t.  When you walk by the Spirit you do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16).  It is by faith that we come to know and believe in God’s great love for us (1 John 4:16).  It is in the secret place of Him that we are able to live.

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