MAN’S FIRST DIMENTION – THE SPIRIT

Kenneth E. Hagin

Man is a spirit who possesses a soul and lives in a body. Man’s spirit is that part of him that knows God. He is in the same class with God because God is a Spirit and God made man to fellowship with him. God made man for His own pleasure. Man is not an animal. In order to fellowship with God, man must be in the same category with God. Therefore, just as God is a Spirit, so man is a spirit.

We can’t fellowship with animals because they are in a different kingdom , a different class than we are. But we can fellowship with one another, and we can fellowship with God because we are the same type of being.

Jesus told the woman at the well in Samaria,

• “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth,” John 4:24. We cannot know God or touch Him physically. He is not a man. He is a Spirit. We cannot communicate with Him mentally, for He is not a mind. He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our spirit, and it is through our spirit that we come to know God.

So we know that God is a Spirit. And yet God, who is a Spirit, took upon Himself a man’s body. Jesus was God manifested in the flesh.

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…,” John 1:1-3, 14.

When God took upon Himself human form, He was no less God than when He didn’t have a body. Man, at physical death, leaves his body. Yet he is no less man than when he had a body. We see this in Christ’s account of Lazarus and the rich man at death,

• Luke 16:19-31, There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

In Paul’s epistle to the church at Thessalonica we see a glimpse of man’s three-fold nature.

• “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” I Thessalonians 5:23.

Another version translates this verse, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This three-fold man is to be preserved “entire,” without blame at the coming of the Lord. That will be a great day, for when the Lord comes, this whole man – spirit, soul and body – salvation, new birth,  will be preserved “entire.”

We have a new spirit now, for our spirits are born of God. But we will have a new body “at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” We have a new life now, but we will have a new body then.

• The Bible talks about salvation in the past, present and future tense. When it talks about salvation in the past tense, its connected to the “new birth.” When it speaks of salvation in the present tense, its connected to the “renewed mind” Romans 12:2. When it speaks of salvation in the future tense, its connected to the redemption of our bodies.

More than one Old Testament prophet prophesied concerning Israel that God would establish a new covenant with the house of Israel. This new covenant is the New Testament as we know it. Through the prophet Ezekiel God said,

• “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and you shall keep My judgments, and do them” Ezekiel 36:26-27.

Ezekiel was prophesying the new birth. When a man is born again, the spirit (which is the real man) is born again and the old man is gone. The old hard, stony heart is gone. He is a new creature, as Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17,

• “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The words “heart” and “spirit” are used interchangeably in the scriptures. Your heart is your spirit. When the Word of God speaks about the heart of man, it is speaking of the spirit of man.

Peter talked about the “hidden man of the heart.” He was telling us not merely to be concerned with outward adorning,

• “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price,”   I Peter 3:4. This is the real man. It is not the outward man, the man of flesh and bones; it is not the body. It is the inward man.

Paul referred to the “hidden man of the heart” – man’s spirit – as the inward man.

• “…Though our outward man perish (another version says ‘is decaying’), yet the inward man is renewed day by day,” II Corinthians 4:16. The outward man, or the body, is growing older and “is decaying,” just as the house you live in is decaying and needs constant upkeep and repairs. But the real you is not getting older, for Paul said, “…yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

You will never be any older than what you are right now. You are no older now than you were a few years ago. You know more now than you did then, but you are not any older. Your hair may become grayer and you may get a few more wrinkles, but the real you will never become old. For the inward man is renewed day by day.

Then Paul went on to say,

• “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal,” II Corinthians 4:17-18. You may be going through some kind of trial which is making your life miserable from the natural standpoint. But remember, it is just for a moment. For we look forward to something far more wonderful which will last, not for a moment, but for eternity.

“While we look not at the things which are see, but at the things which are not seen…” The outward man is seen, but the inward man is that hidden, unseen man. Too many people are defeated in life because they are looking at the wrong things. All they ever see is physical. Smith Wigglesworth once said “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved only by what I believe.” The only way we can look at the unseen is by faith.

The first verse of the next chapter is a continuation of what Paul was saying here. When Paul wrote this epistle it was all one long letter to the church at Corinth. Man has divided it into chapters for easier reference. Talking about things that are not seen and about the inward man, Paul said,

• “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” II Corinthians 5:1.

The “earthly house” that Paul talks about here is, of course our physical body. He says that if our body is “dissolved…” if it dies and is placed in a grave, decays and goes back to dust, that is not the end. “…We have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…” He is referring to the spirit of man, the inward man, that is eternal.

Paul continues on this subject further in this same chapter.

• “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord,” II Corinthians 5:6-8. In v.6 Paul said, “we are always confident;” then again in v.8 he said, “we are confident…” Paul knew what he was talking about. He was confident that while “we (the inward man) are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” But when we (the inward man, the real man) are “absent from the body,” we are “present with the Lord.”

Living in the natural, physical world as we do, it is difficult to realize that the spirit world is far more real than this natural world. We think of people as existing only in their physical bodies, and when they are dead as no longer existing. However, the scriptures tell us that the real man is the inward man, the hidden man of the heart, that he is an eternal being. He will live on long after his “earthly house” has returned to dust.

Death in the scriptures does not mean the cessation of life as we understand it. It means separation from God.

Courageous Worship Leads to Breakthrough for Our Cities

Caleb Klinge

When we think of Gideon’s story, we often think of fleeces and the less-is-more army of 300 trumpet-blowing warriors that defeated an innumerable host of Midianites because of God’s Presence with them. But this powerful story has an important background. Before Gideon could lead Israel to victory he had to experience victory in his own city.

Personal Surrender

Gideon had a response of true worship when he was first encountered by the Angel of the Lord. He presented his personal offering to the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6:21, and the fire of God consumed the offering. After this encounter, Gideon built an altar to the Lord. An offering represents a moment of worship, but an altar represents a lifestyle of ongoing worship and surrender. This altar became a foundation for every other breakthrough that Gideon experienced.

Divine Assignments

God has already pre-ordained the good works that we are to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). Altars align our hearts with Heaven and position us to receive these assignments from the Father and fulfill them with authority.

Once his personal altar was built, Gideon received his first assignment from the Lord. It wasn’t to rally an army. It wasn’t to form a strategy to lead the nation back to God. Rather, his first assignment was to build a furnace of worship in his home-town, the village of Ophrah. His personal altar of worship was the first level. Now his personal breakthrough would expand to influence the entire city.

In Judges 6:25-27, the Lord instructed Gideon: “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”

This assignment required incredible courage. Most of the city worshipped baal, and his own father was the biggest baal-worshipper of them all! The altar to baal was at his house, in his backyard – and people don’t enjoy having their “idols” messed with.

Light was about to collide with darkness. This act of obedience would cause conviction to fall on a community that desperately needed repentance.

A Burning Company

So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. Judges 6:27

Gideon was in a growth process. He was overcoming fear. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the faith to act in obedience in the face of fear, trusting that God will back you up. Even though Gideon struggled with fear, he still obeyed.

So he gathered 10 men, a burning company to give a burnt offering (an offering that is 100% for God). In the middle of the night, these 10 men ignited a bonfire of worship in the center of their city that broke it through the status quo of idol-worship and into the purpose and Presence of God.

Never underestimate the power of praying and worshipping in the middle of the night with a band of brothers and sisters in your city! The wood of the idol they chopped down became the fuel for the fire of the true worship of God!

A Corporate Furnace

A personal altar (lifestyle) of worship is so vital, but it’s the corporate altars (2-3+ individuals) of worship that transform a city.

Gideon didn’t take 10 men with him to complete this assignment because of fear. He took this 10-man squad with him because the assignment was larger than him. It was an assignment that required a unified effort of a community, not just the passion of one individual.

Not only was the demolition of the altar of baal and the building of the altar of the Lord required, they were to offer a bull as a burnt offering. A full-grown bull weighs a ton, literally – up to 2,000 pounds. This expression of worship was more than an individual could give on their own. It would take a group to lift this offering onto the altar. It would require a community that made a covenant to worship the Lord doing it together!

Embers From the Fire

Authentic worship always creates a reaction. From David’s undignified worship to Mary’s alabaster box, we see that people either reacted by following suit or criticizing the one worshipping.

When Gideon’s village awoke in the morning, they saw their altar and idol destroyed, and 2,000 pounds of tri-tip smoldering on the newly built altar of the Lord. It created a reaction.

When the men of the city discovered that Gideon had done it, they went to his father in a full-blown mob mentality and demanded that he hand Gideon over so they could put him to death. But Gideon’s father had an unexpected response: “If baal is a god, let him plead for himself!”

Not only was Gideon’s life spared, but a major shift had taken place in his father’s heart. Gideon’s courageous, passionate worship broke the spirit of idolatry that gripped his father’s life. The embers from the altar of true worship will ignite a fire in the hearts of those who have lost their passion, and call them back to their first love.

Before Gideon ever led an army, he led a group of 10 worshippers to burn for the Lord in their own city. And this was the foundation of all the victory that followed!

As it was with Gideon, may it be in your city as you worship the King of kings!

Caleb Klinge
New Life Christian Center
Email: office@nlcci.org

About Caleb Klinge: Caleb is the lead pastor at New Life Christian Center in Novato, California, together with his wife Rachel. Located in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate in the San Francisco Bay Area, they are passionate for an invasion of God’s Presence and Kingdom that brings regional transformation. His ministry is used by the Lord to release faith, encouragement, and breakthrough. Caleb and Rachel have been married for 14 years, and have two children, Benjamin and Phebe.

A Season of Redefining – From Doubter to Proclaimer

Garris Elkins

Each life is like a photo album that contains snapshots of individual moments in time. No life is fully defined by a single image. We are made up of a composite of our experiences. One snapshot of time does not define our identity. Our identity is in a Person, not in a label created from a single experience.

We all have moments in our lives when, if you caught us in that moment and took a single picture, we would all appear faithless. God never intended our lives to be held hostage to a single moment of failure or unbelief. God invites us to peel off those labels of failure and brokenness that do not reflect His heart and begin, once again, to move forward towards our true destiny.

The Doubting Thomas

In the Scripture Thomas is one of those people who was defined by a single moment in his life when he become universally known as the “Doubting Thomas.” The sad part of this label is that the Church continues to refer to Thomas as a doubter and not the man who interacted with Jesus eight days after His resurrection and trumped his initial unbelief with one of the greatest statements of faith in all of Scripture.

John 20:24-29 describes that interaction:

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” He said. Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Put your hand into the wound in My side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and My God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen Me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.”

When the disciples were first gathered in that locked room and the Lord appeared to them on the evening of Resurrection Sunday, only ten of the twelve disciples were present. Judas had killed himself. We are not told why Thomas was not present. To these ten disciples Jesus showed His wounds. They did not need to touch the evidence because the evidence was standing before them.

The disciples who were present when Jesus appeared excitedly said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas did not share their joy because he had missed the occasion of their joy. If I were Thomas I would have felt left out because I would have just missed the most significant event of my lifetime. I would have felt isolated from the joy the other disciples were experiencing. Their words, “We have seen the Lord!” would have produced a sorrow in my heart, like salt in a wound, since there would have been no expectation of ever seeing Jesus again.

Thomas did what many of us have done – he made a vow in his pain. “I won’t believe unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.” Thomas made a vow out of his pain that aligned him with faithlessness. Jesus said to Thomas, “Don’t be faithless any longer.”

What followed this command was a single word sentence with an exclamation mark – “Believe!” In the Greek language the word “believe” can be translated, “to entrust.” When Jesus commanded Thomas to believe, He was not asking Thomas to comprehend a full package of doctrine or somehow attain a complete understanding of the workings of God’s Kingdom. Jesus was asking Thomas to entrust himself to Him. Believing is entrusting ourselves to the Lord as a Person.

The Proclaiming Thomas

In the moment Thomas was commanded to believe something supernatural took place. Trust rose up in Thomas. As he saw the Lord standing before him without anger and condemnation, fully displaying the evidence of His resurrection, Thomas redefined his life with words that followed the revelation he was experiencing, “My Lord and my God!” The doubt Thomas was living under was now displaced by words of belief. The “Doubting Thomas” had now become the “Proclaiming Thomas.”

“My Lord and my God!” are powerful words. When Thomas declared that Jesus was Lord it meant he understood that someone was now leading his life who could be trusted. God would be faithful to move Thomas forward into the goodness He had planned. Thomas was professing belief in the trustworthy nature of the Leader-Lord.

The “God” part of what Thomas declared meant that Thomas was following Someone who lives in absolute resurrection power. The declaration of Thomas was the acknowledgement that there would be resurrection power available to raise Thomas above the limiting restraints of whatever he encountered as Jesus led him forward in life.

The text in John continues in verses 30-31:

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.

The evidence of Jesus’ life and miracles are given so that you and I would continue to believe. The continuance of belief infers that we can stop believing. In his pain, Thomas had discontinued his belief. Thomas declared that he would stop believing until his demands were met. Jesus doesn’t meet demands – He meets people.

As powerful as Thomas’ experience was that day, our belief on this side of Pentecost has a greater potential. Jesus said there was a blessing for those of us who would believe (entrust) in the future without seeing the object of our belief.

Faith is an Action Word

In Hebrews 11:1 we read, Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Like Thomas we can lose our ability to believe if we tie ourselves to demands and vows birthed in painful circumstances when life does not work out like we thought it would. We can miss the promised confidence and assurance of faith if we tie ourselves to the sorrow of feeling left out of from whatever God is doing.

When we come to realize that God is good, and has good thoughts and intentions for us in all circumstances, we can then step into that place where true transformation is possible. In the moment I choose to lay down my demands, judgments, and vows and declare, “My Lord and my God!”, something supernatural is released into my life.

Faith is an action word. We can think faith is an action word that only has implications on this side of eternity based on what we do for God in faith. Faith is much more – it activates something in Heaven. When faith is displayed in the earth it draws on Heaven to assure us that what we just believed for will actually happen.

Hebrews 11:1 says that faith gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Faith gives us something. Every act of our faith contains the gift of assurance that is given when we exercise faith. These gifts of faith come to us carrying the residue of the environment of glory because they come from Heaven. The day Jesus commanded Thomas to believe, this incoming faith-evidence produced in Thomas the words, “My Lord and my God!” The language of Heaven was heard upon the earth and in a moment a man was redefined from doubter to proclaimer.

A Season of Redefining

Today, the Church needs to rethink its image of Thomas. The man who was once a doubter should now be evaluated based on his final words and redefined as a proclaimer of faith. We need to do this because there are many of us, who like Thomas, need to be viewed as a life-album, not a single snapshot. We need to make this adjustment because Thomas is not viewed from Heaven’s perspective as a doubter. Thomas became the very voice of Heaven upon the earth when he made his declaration about Jesus.

God does not want us living in the results of faithless words that do not define His full intent for our lives. Jesus has plans to visit our lives with the evidence of His resurrection power and this visitation will change the way we speak and live.

Where are you living and speaking words of unbelief? Go to that faithless place and begin to believe for His appearing. Let your belief become words of faith declaring the goodness of God. In faith, begin to craft words that reflect God’s heart for you and your circumstance. God has already made up His mind about you and He has nothing but goodness in mind when He thinks of you.

This is a season of redefining. You and I are the ones responsible to speak the redefining words. God is ready to turn Doubters into Proclaimers and He will use the very words of our mouths to redefine our lives.

Garris Elkins, Senior Leader
Living Waters Church – Medford, Oregon
Email: prophetichorizons@gmail.com

Love and Respect: A Royal Marriage

Marriage is a lot like royalty. A wife wants to be first in the heart of her prince. A husband wants to be the hero that his princess admires and respects.

from Emerson and Sarah Eggerichs, Susan Mathis

There is something intriguing about royalty – and a royal marriage. It’s as if something within all of us longs to be royal.  Did you know that God says we are royalty? “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

God has put in the heart of every little girl to be a princess. She dresses up, talks about it, even dreams about it. As a woman, she wants to be first in the heart of her prince. She wants to be loved and treasured like a princess.

A little boy wants to be the hero, defending the fort and saving others from danger. As a man, he wants to be the prince, the hero that his princess admires and respects. He is designed by God to be a man of honor, one who is responsible to provide and care for his princess.

The wedding ceremony is a great picture of the prince and the princess dynamic – the love and respect is evident, and it is beautiful. But what often happens in that first year is that he isn’t as loving as she expected or needed him to be. And she often stops treating her prince with the respect that he needs. She needs to be loved, to be his princess; he needs to be respected, to be her prince. When this dynamic breaks down, the relationship gets crazy.

In my book, The Language of Love and Respect, I talk about the concept of wanting to be treated as a prince and a princess. “The man with basic goodwill wants to serve his wife, and he would even die for her. When his wife shows him unconditional respect, in most cases he will feel like a prince and be motivated to show her the kind of unconditional love she desires. She is a princess who is loved.” (p. 18)

Benevolent Goodwill

In a safe and secure kingdom (even when that kingdom is a home), its people thrive. Effective kingdom leaders demonstrate benevolent goodwill to the people. In marriage, the importance of goodwill is just as important.

One key to making your relationship safe and secure is to demonstrate benevolent goodwill toward your mate – to believe he or she has good intentions, to expect the best of the other person. Even when your mate messes up, you can choose to believe in the goodwill of your spouse.

Unfortunately, what often happens when you feel unloved or disrespected is that you start predicting and judging the other person’s motives. Research shows that successful couples don’t make condemning judgments about the other; they choose to trust their mate’s intentions.

Once a couple decides to see each other as good-willed people, it changes their perspective and the filter through which they view their relationship. “Good-willed” doesn’t mean we’ll do good all the time; it just means that the intentions are good.

Matthew 26:41 says it well: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. Since a man and a woman naturally view conflict differently, they too often judge each other. During those times when your spouse is frustrating you, you can still believe in your mate’s goodwill, respond accordingly and treat each other as teammates, partners, even allies.

Royal differences

Though the differences between men and women are part of the relationship challenge, God intended it to be this way. Women and men simply have different filters through which they experience life. She sees through pink sunglasses, hears with pink hearing aids and speaks through a pink megaphone. He sees through blue sunglasses, hears with blue hearing aids and speaks through a blue megaphone.

Yet, when blue blends with pink, it becomes purple, God’s color – the color of royalty. He made us male and female to reflect His image, and as we love and respect each other, we create that purple, blending together as one to reflect the very image of God. When we understand this, we can begin to value our prince and our princess as God does, and we can trust that this is a truly magnificent design.

Even as allies you’ll have moments of conflict. But whether it’s a disagreement over sex or taking out the trash, each of you can rehearse what you know to be true: He’s a good-willed man; she’s seeing the situation through princess-pink glasses. He’s not wrong; she’s just different. We are friends; we are allies. Then, by going to God during conflict, we can discern His answer, what His royal purple, is. When we do this, we find the heart of God.

A Peace-filled Kingdom

Though the prince and princess of the movies tend to be perfect, you’re married to an imperfect person. So how do you show unconditional love and respect when your spouse is so obviously imperfect? Unconditional means there is no condition or circumstance or situation that would cause him to be hostile (the opposite of love) or cause her to show contempt (the opposite of respect). It is choosing to show your princess a loving attitude, or your prince a respectful attitude, regardless of the weaknesses of the flesh.

It’s not always easy, but we must avoid passing condemning judgment on our spouse. Judas and Peter both denied Jesus. Jesus saw Peter as having a willing spirit but weak flesh, so He never passed judgment on Peter. If you’re married to a man like Peter, don’t see him as a Judas. How does the Lord see your husband or wife? He’s a prince, a co-heir with Christ. As a child of God, he is royalty. As a child of God, she is royalty.

Seeing each other as God sees us, as His prince and princess, will cause us to treat each other differently. God has an unconditional commitment to loving us, and so should we. That’s part of maintaining a peace-filled, good-willed kingdom – and a royal marriage.

Copyright © 2011 by Susan Mathis and Emerson Eggerichs. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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Decision Time

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The Crazy Cycle

Easter’s Message for the Entire World

James Robison

I realize that Easter is considered a “religious holiday.” I appreciate the fact that Christians come together inside their churches to celebrate in various manners. But the reality is the Easter message is as much for the non-believer as the believer; perhaps even more so.

The concept of a supernatural Savior conquering the anguish of this world offers so much for so many. It’s a message that needs to be heard outside of the church walls.

For the one who’s experiencing loneliness, Easter offers a message of comfort.

For the one who’s battling addiction, Easter offers a message of liberty.

For the one who’s suffering in pain, Easter offers a message of healing.

For the one who’s weak and weary, Easter offers a message of strength and rest.

For the single mother struggling to cope, the promise of Easter gives hope.

For children without a home, the promise of Easter gives joy.

For the marriage that’s crumbling day by day, the promise of Easter gives restoration.

For the family that’s mourning the loss of a loved one, the promise of Easter gives peace.

What the world lacks, Easter can provide: mercy, forgiveness, grace and love. Like a little child scouring the yard for hidden eggs, we can find the true gifts of Easter if we will just look for them. They may be found in a prayer, in a passage of scripture or in another person who has experienced the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

If you or someone you know has had enough of what this world too often offers in all of its cruelty, hatred, selfishness and pain, try something different this weekend. Jesus was beaten, killed and buried in a tomb. Easter commemorates the power that released him from the death and the grave.

Discover someone who has the power to lift you out of any pit on this earth. He is still alive today and ready to reveal His resurrection power to all who will believe in Him and receive His life. Find out what treasures await you when you experience the true celebration of Easter.

“Expand Your Circumference!”

by Robert Gonzales
“Expand Your Circumference!” 

For some time now, my heavenly Father has been relentless in teaching me how to become a more efficient “conduit” (pathway) so that He can more easily flow through me to reach down and bless His children on the Earth.

God gave us dominion over the planet, to subdue it and cause it to multiply, but His power must flow through us to get it done. That’s exactly what He did with Jesus, who flatly stated that He could do nothing without the Father’s power flowing through Him. Our Savior was indeed a “conduit” …a pipeline by which His Father could touch the Earth. We are no different today because Jesus is our example to follow.

I looked up the word “conduit” in the dictionary and it essentially says: conduit – a round tube or pipe for conveying electrical wires (from one place to another). Conduit comes in different sizes (diameters) from 1 inch on up.

In line with this, I’ve been hearing in my spirit the word “circumference” a lot. And this theme has become more persistent and amplified.

I know what the word “circumference” means but I looked it up anyway: circumference — the line around a circle. The larger the circumference, the larger the size of the round conduit…and the more of God’s electrifying power can flow to the needy.

This went on for a while and I sensed an urgency. Finally, a single word evolved into a sentence within me: “Son, I want you to expand your circumference!” With my lightning-fast Hispanic mind I deduced that perhaps God wanted me to expand my sphere of influence (circle of friends, business people)…or maybe He wanted me to expand my circle of distribution for BETTER NEWS…or perhaps He wanted me to expand my knowledge of the Word…or maybe He wanted
me to expand my relationship with Him.

In the final analysis, I missed completely what He was saying. Finally, inside of me I heard this: “I want you to expand the circumference (size) of the conduit that you are. It is difficult for Me to try to stuff 12 feet of blessing through a 1 inch conduit.” I got the picture in a hurry!

This may seem like a small revelation at best, but in fact it is huge. I believe that Heaven is “severely backed up” with answers to prayer, promises, blessings, and instruction that are destined to reach us. But that never gets here because there are so few of His children that He can effectively flow through to make these things manifest.

I’m one of these guys that believes that we’re not waiting on God…He’s waiting on us. He wants to do so much more through us than we could possibly think or imagine…but we hinder God because we don’t yet understand how the Kingdom of God operates. I like how Bill Winston puts it: “Jesus has legally restored us to our Father God and given us His authority, the authority of His name…However, we have to know how the kingdom of God operates in order to access what he has given us.”

One of the things that we can’t seem to grasp is that His grace can only flow through us when we are in inner peace. I’ll talk about that in just a minute.

On A Lighter Note… Those of you who have known me for a while understand that I am committed to convincing the world that the Kingdom of God in Heaven is composed of mostly Hispanics (except for Lucifer, Judas Iscariot and Mary’s sister Martha). This entire concept may sound ludicrous and perhaps even border on blasphemy to most…but hey, I’m sold. I’ll never quit because if I ever do, you won’t have anything to laugh about on this increasingly insane planet (count your blessings, folks).

I’ve reached most of my conclusions on this subject only after extensive empirical research, and on occasion I will update those who are interested in my progress. This is one of those times.

To begin with, the bedrock of my position has always been founded on Genesis 1:27:“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him…”

How much more plain can it be? If God created me in His own image and my skin is brown, and I speak Tex-Mex Spanish and I love enchiladas…then God must be the same as me. There’s no other way you can slice this pie, guys.

To attempt to repudiate this assertion is an exercise in utter futility and involves arrogance and self deception of the ugliest kind.

But let’s get down to the latest discovery that advances my latest theory. Recently, a cache of ancient Bible manuscripts was discovered in South Texas, ten miles west of Laredo in a cave behind Luby’s Cafeteria. The historic find has been labeled “The Rio Grande Scrolls,” and the information gained is not only exciting but invaluable.

We’ve all heard the joke about the existence of automobiles in Biblical times, right? This silly theory is based on Acts 1:14, which states that at one time “all the disciples were in one Accord.” Well, since Honda makes a car named “Accord,” it naturally followed that there were indeed cars in Israel during Jesus’ ministry. Incredibly absurd, right? Wrong.

After careful study of “The Rio Grande Scrolls,” it was discovered that there really was an automobile factory in Egypt at precisely that point in time. It was located adjacent to the pyramids and close to the right rear leg of the Sphinx (stay with me guys, I’m going somewhere with all of this).

But here’s the real crux of the discovery: not only did this automobile factory produce cars while Jesus walked the earth…it also mass-produced a small pick-up truck called the Accord 150. This fits my hypothesis to a “T” bigtime!

I stubbornly maintain that there was no way Jesus’ disciples could follow the Savior on foot for 30 miles a day, virtually every day. Jesus was able to do it because He was God and possessed supernatural energy. But His disciples, on the other hand, were just guys. Please get this: the only way they could keep up with Jesus was in a pick-up truck: the Accord 150!

The obvious question from most of those who are reading this would be: “How in the world could they fit 12 grown-ups in a small pickup?” Well, there’s only one response that truly answers that question: the Disciples were of Mexican descent! Not only were they adept at making everybody fit in a pickup, but also in the truck were a couple of old fishing nets, assorted tax receipts that belonged to Matthew, and 12 basketfulls of bread and fish.

All of the above further supports my theory that Hispanics played a pivotal role in the history and success of Christianity in the earliest of times (with all due respect to my Jewish brothers and sisters).

P.S. Hey, lighten up folks. I’m only kiddin’. If you believe any of this stuff, I’ve got some property on the moon that I’d love to sell you…

Our Inner Peace is Key To Receiving God’s Manifold Grace

We have got to begin to understand how the kingdom of God operates in order to fully benefit from what God has already granted to us. In line with the Word and the finished work at the Cross, God’s many promises and blessings began to flow through us the minute we asked for them. But “God cannot get to us what cannot flow through us.”

I feel a caution in my spirit not to get real specific about a lot of this because there is not space or time to elaborate. But I will touch the most obvious things first, and then perhaps pursue this subject in detail in the next issue of BETTER NEWS.

The Bible is teeming with declaration, explanation, and instruction concerning inner peace and how crucial it is for us to walk in it and live by it. Because we live in this fallen world, we have a natural proclivity to lean toward strife and anxiety.

One of the last things Jesus said to us before his ascension to Heaven was John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”

The Savior knew how critical it is that we understand the role of internal peace in our success. Jesus immediately followed up with:“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” God’s grace (undeserved favor) for healing, prosperity, wisdom and understanding, intercession, spiritual warfare, raising the dead, etc. cannot flow through inner turmoil, unforgiveness, fear, and confusion. A troubled heart is a huge obstruction to the transition of God’s blessings from the spiritual realm within us to the natural physical realm outside of us. The heart is the “innermost part of man” (in the soulish realm) that appears to be the transfer point…the “outlet” from the inside of us to the outside world.

Proverbs 4:23 says that we should guard what’s in our heart, for out of it flow the issues of life. Proverbs 23:7 states that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The clear message here is that our heart should be “without spot or wrinkle” so that the power of God can flow through it without being “blocked” or compromised.

Can we ourselves keep our heart clean? Not according to Philippians 6:4: “Be anxious for nothing, but through prayer and supplication. let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus.”

It’s very plain: the peace of God will guard our hearts. How do we achieve this peace? We don’t. Jesus took care of that at the Cross: “…the chastisement of our peace was upon Him…” Peace is a gift that’s already paid for. Like our salvation, let’s just receive that marvelous inner peace and then hook up with the power of the Holy Spirit to clean up all the nasty stuff inside us that needs to go.

15 of the books in the New Testament begin with the phrase “Let grace and peace be multiplied to you…” If that doesn’t emphasize the utter importance of grace and peace in our daily walk, nothing does.

I heard someone say that “Peace keeps what grace gives.” That’s powerful! Jesus was always in total control of himself and His circumstances because He bathed himself with His Father’s peace always.

I also know from experience that the Devil cannot and will not manipulate a peaceful believer. That’s why he tries so hard to feed garbage into our minds. And he’s like a cockroach: he always keeps coming back. But that’s okay: “It is written, ‘Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions (and cockroaches) and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’” Luke 10:19

“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John:2

This is the same scripture, paraphrased: Beloved, no way will you always prosper and be in good health unless you first receive cleansing in your heart. Begin to walk today in inner peace, and all these other things will be added unto you.

About the Author: Robert & Linda Gonzalez are the founders and publishers of BETTER NEWS (along with Rudolph Sepulveda). Robert Gonzalez is also founder and former President and CEO of radio station KSBJ-FM in Houston…the #.1 Christian Radio Station in America. BETTER NEWS is celebrating 23 years of publishing in Texas: a monthly publication that is distributed FREE of charge. For more information go to =>> http://www.betternews.org/

How to be born again according to Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Thank You Father, for sending Jesus to taste death for me
Thank You Father, for destroying all evidence of sin that was held against me
Thank You Father, for removing the records and restoring me to total innocence.
I now commit my life to You, and receive Jesus into my heart
Thank You Father, for forgiving me.