HAVE YOU RECEIVED SINCE YOU BELIEVED? by Linda

Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in Me (Jesus).

Many of the teachings provided helps you to see the stuff within yourself that could be preventing you from receiving what God has for you, but the truth of the matter is, all that stuff you are seeing has been forgiven! You are righteous right now, there is nothing you can add or do to change that, "it is finished" as Jesus spoke in his dying breath on the cross. I find that most of the individuals I minister to are stuck because they haven't "received" since they believed. Received what? complete and full pardon for their sins.

Those living in guilt and fear have not received the fullness of God's love into their lives because the Bible says that perfect love casts out ALL fear and torment - that covers everything that ails you physically or mentally. So this ministry is to help you find your peace with God by settling once and for all that you will have sins to contend with all your life BUT they are covered by the blood of the lamb.

Isaiah 1:18 says "Come now and let us reason together says the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." This scripture clearly shows that we have sins BUT no matter how many we have they are white as snow. Many have asked me how long it takes to be set free? What they are really asking is how long will it take to be perfect? Well you know the answer to that because as long as we are on this planet we will have sin - perhaps not as much as when we started because as you apply the principles taught from the Word, you will see changes in your attitude and action and you will obtain more peace and love. But the fact remains, sins are still there to some degree.

Recently the Lord gave me a real insight into this because I minister to so many people with so many hurts and pain that God took me to a scripture that exposed to me what could be going on.

Acts 19:2 says "have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" Many use this to minister the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I'm going to say something that may alarm some of you, I believe they are in error. After studying this passage and other passages on the Spirit, I discovered there are three spirits that appear. Spirit of God, Spirit of Man, and the Holy Spirit.

According to scriptures, many believed on Jesus while He was on the planet through the leading of the "Spirit of God" because the Holy Spirit wasn't available yet. The Spirit of God is who has led us to believe, He has drawn us by His Spirit - He woos us by His Spirit. But that is NOT the Holy Spirit that lives in us today. Because the scriptures clearly say that the Holy Spirit was given AFTER Jesus rose from the dead, not sooner (John 7:39). So those who believed before Jesus was risen didn't have the Holy Spirit. That is why the 12 disciples waited in the upperroom for the Holy Spirit to come, as Jesus promised (Acts 4:4) and so the question then was "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?"

Many say they believe Jesus is the son of God, that he died and rose again, but even the devils believe that. The difference is we can "receive" they cannot. We have to not only "believe" but also "receive" the Holy Ghost for complete salvation. The spirit then seals us and there is no doubt again in our heart of that. He cannot be taken away nor can anyone pluck you out of God's hand. We are His forever, and our name is written in the book of life.

Just the other day I was ministering to a fella who has been not able to receive God's love. He didn't even know what it was nor was he in peace at all. He questioned God's methods and couldn't understand how a loving God could send peole to hell. You know, the regular questions we get when talking to someone with problems. They see other people getting blessed but they aren't. They have dis-eases that they cannot shake, even tried many methods offered today, yet to no avail, but the truth always comes out, they know that only God can help them. So they find this ministry and others like it for help. So one day as I was talking with Him, I was getting a bit frustrated because whatever I said, and believe me we talked a lot, just wasn't getting through to him. I knew it and I almost pulled the plug from our ministry time when the Holy Spirit brought something to mind. "Ask him WHEN he received Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior."

So I stopped him and asked, "When did you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior?" He replied, "I've always been a Christian." Then I said again, "But when did you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior?" He replied with, "I was baptized not long ago." I again asked, "When did you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior?" He said, I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe He rose from the grave to save me from my sins. I know He's the answer. I watch people on TV and see how they trust God and I want to be like them too." Then I asked, "Have you received since you believed?" I shared with him that even the devils believe, many people believe the "stories" told in the Bible, but have you RECEIVED the Holy Spirit since you believed? He immediately responded with, "No."

So right then I prayed with him the sinners prayer and He "received" the Holy Spirit into his life unto salvation. Immediately he saw things differently and now I'm discipling him. What I was doing before was trying to disciple him but he wasn't in the Kingdom of God yet to be discipled that was why I was getting frustrated. I was trying to do what only God could do... so now this is a trigger for me that when people are having great difficulty in certain areas, we need to go back to the main question, "Have you received since you believed?"

So after this insight, ask yourself "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" And I'm not talking about any evidences of speaking in tongues, but the assurance that your name is written in the book of life.

If you want help in this area, you can contact this ministry and we'll be happy to guide you in a prayer of salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit of promise and adoption.

TOM's TIDBITS by Linda

Guiding vs. Leading

One day Tom and I were talking about the ministry God has called us to. As our conversation continued Tom said something that just run true in my spirit that I never realized. I was saying how I want to help people, lead them into the truth of the Gospel, etc. Tom piped in at that moment and said, "You aren't supposed to lead you are to guide." I was a bit stunned for a minute and began to think on that statement then he continued by saying, "You want to know why?" I then said, "Yes." He said, "Because when you lead they want to follow you, but when you guide, you lead them to Jesus who they are supposed to follow." This made so much sense to me and now I see why so many people fall when churches split up. Because they had their eyes on a "man" to follow and not on the Lord because when we have our eyes on the Lord, no matter what happenes we don't cease to follow!

THE POWER OF MONEY - by Pete Plitt

In Mark 10:17-27, the story of the rich young ruler is told. In all three Gospels where this is recorded, the disciples were "astonished" at the words of Jesus, "It is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." The disciples declared, "Then how can anyone be saved?" Now why would a bunch of broke followers of the Messiah make such a statement? If they were really scraping bottom, their correct reaction should have been, "All right, we've got nothing to worry about if the rich folks are the ones with this heaven obstacle thing called riches." Their concern was valid. Some had backgrounds with fishing franchises, one was a tax collector, their treasurer who carried the "bag" stole from it [John 12:6], and they still considered that bag a source for feeding 5000 hungry people. [Mark 6:37 "He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?"]. Apparently they had enough. Jesus further clarified in the 24th verse of Mark 10 that it was those who put their TRUST in riches that were in trouble, not just those having great wealth. God doesn't care if you have money, He cares if money has you. I Timothy 6:10 says it this way, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

When one truly understands prosperity, seeking great wealth will never be an issue. But living in the opulence that God has always wanted for us has become as foreign to us as living in Divine health or having peace of mind. The Word says, "Let the weak say, I am strong," [Joel 3:10]. From the promises in our Covenant, we should take our cue and the sick say, "I am healed," the poor say, "I am prosperous," the fearful say, "I am full of power, love and a sound mind." To walk in God's basics has become a point of contention among believers. Scriptures are used to "prove" that one can get "out there" with this money thing. Believe me, if someone gets goofy after becoming wealthy, it simply means that they had "goofy" locked up inside of them and the money simply gave their creature of greed some legs to run on. It's not the money that ever was the problem, and we can be just as vile in our hearts while flat broke. It is, after all, the heart at which God looks.

There are two amazing stories in the Gospels that Jesus shares that touch on both arenas of the rich factor. The first deals with the power that misappropriation of His wealth has on even a covenant man. Just before He tells this one story about the rich man and Lazarus, He says in Luke 16:13-15 "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." To be covetous is an abomination before God. Why? Jesus tells in Luke 16:19-31 about how a wealthy son of Abraham stepped over a sickly beggar named Lazarus until one day, the Angels of God carried him to Abraham's bosom. Some time later, the rich man also died, only his abode was not a good experience. As Abraham explains the rich man's offence, the rich man realizes that he is stuck there without reprieve. Now his thoughts turn to his brother's who, apparently, were living on earth in the same gross violation of the laws of God, so he requests that Lazarus be allowed to go back to his brothers and tell them to get their acts together, voicing that surely they would listen to one returning from the grave. Here's the kicker. So powerful and blinding is the love of money that Abraham explains that if the rich man's brother's won't listen to the teachings of the prophets, then they wouldn't be convinced by someone coming back from the dead. You don't have to fear wealth, you have to know who the king of your heart is.

For those of us whose King is Jesus, there is another story that Jesus told concerning wealth and how it is to be used. In Luke 16:1-12, Jesus tells of a steward that got caught mismanaging his master's money. His boss gave him the boot, but told him to balance the books before he hit the road. Like most anyone in his predicament, I'm sure he was pacing the floor and rubbing his hands together as he thought to himself, "What am I going to do, I can't dig because I'm not real strong and to beg would just be too embarrassing." Then he had an idea. He decided to call all of his employer's debtors in and, in his office as steward, cancel portions of their debts. He figured, "If I scratch their backs now, they will owe me once I'm bounced out of here and I'll have several places to stay until I can get back on my feet." Jesus then says in verses 8 & 9, "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, MAKE TO YOURSELVES FRIENDS OF THE MAMMON OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS; THAT, WHEN YE FAIL, THEY MAY RECEIVE YOU INTO EVERLASTING HABITATIONS. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?"

What a sad statement, that the children of the world are wiser in their ways then the children of Light. But Jesus didn't stop there. He went on to say, take the hint on how to be wise in the Light. Look at how the steward used his power to handle and control wealth, wealth that wasn't even his, to cancel the debts of other. The point in the next verse is for us to do the same. Make to yourselves "friends" through the use of this same worldly wealth, but the kind of friends that will welcome and thank you for having sown your wealth into a place that touched their soul for eternity. It is the cancelling of their debt of sin's grip by the funding of evangelism that causes them to be a friend in heaven. Can you imagine that person whom you have never met racing across the golden path to hug your neck because you were the one who used your great wealth to pull them out of the flames of hell. THAT'S what wealth is all about, so let's get over the poor me thing and use wealth wisely.

There is power in money, and the good or evil of that power rests on how it is used and the heart behind it. If you are convinced that money would ruin you, then stay away from it. But if your heart breaks every time you see a rent that needs some help, or a meal that needs to be provided, and you're barely staying afloat and can't help, then begin to learn about the Jesus Who became poor, so that through His poverty we might be made rich, [II Corinthians 8:9]. No, it doesn't have to be money, but that is the teaching, thus the emphasis. Ephesians 4:28 "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." Isn't it interesting that along with verses that tell us that if we don't work, we don't eat, that this one takes it a step further and says to labor with your hands to provide for others, inferring that our needs are already met.

To understand wealth begins in realizing that we are no longer under the curse of poverty or greed. When the ME factor is no longer your concern and seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is, great wealth will become your tool to make "friends" as fast as you can, while the unrighteous mammon lasts. The curtain will eventually fall and what we are now doing will come to an end. Let us all look back now from a future point as if we have stepped over into Glory. Any regrets? As is well said in Luke 18, "when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith [faithfulness] on the earth?" The hall is rented and we are well empowered. Let's make it a great last act.

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