What happened to the anointing in Acts?

Why does the modern church fail to operate in the anointing as in the book of Acts?

Is it because in the last days people will be lovers of themselves and deny the power of God?

2 Timothy 3:1-9(NKJ) – 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Is it because we don't truly know Jesus or spend time with Him?

Acts 4:13(NKJ) – “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

Psalm 103:7(NKJ) – “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” Israel witnessed His acts & works and continued to rebel against Him but Moses knew Him and never left Him.

Is it because we don't truly believe with our hearts?

Mark 16:17-18 (NKJ) - "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; theywill take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Is it because we don't need the power of God?

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NKJ) - "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

Mark 16:20 (NKJ) - "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen."

Is it because it was only for the early church?

Joel 2:28 (NKJ) - "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."

Is it because we have not stirred up the gift we were given?

2 Timothy 1:6 (NKJ) - Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Is it because we didn't use well what we were given?

Matthew 25:29-30 (NLT) - “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”

Is it because of fear?

2 Timothy 7 (NKJ) - “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”So why does the church fail to operate in the anointing we see in Acts, especially after Jesus said in the Book of John that we would do greater works because is going to the Father?

7 Keys to Fulfilling Your Prophecy

7 Keys to Fulfilling Your Prophecy

All things that came to pass in the Bible did so first according to what was spoken (Romans 4:18). Like our spiritual mothers and fathers did in numerous Biblical accounts, many Christians today have received prophetic words through prophets, angels, or even the Lord Himself but are not sure of their role in the fulfilling of that prophetic word. The objective of this lesson is to take a look at a few of these accounts in order to illustrate the following keys to fulfilling your prophecy:

Believe what was spoken – Romans 4:18 says “who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be (NKJ).” We can do nothing if we first do not have faith in what the Lord has said. Bill Johnson teaches one of two main strategies the enemy commonly uses is to question what the Lord has said. We must not question but have faith in what the Lord has spoken to us.

Proclaim the word – After Gabriel gave Mary the prophetic word that the savior would be conceived through her she replied and proclaimed, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38 NKJ).” Once we are given a word from the Lord we need to proclaim it according to what was spoken and pray for the Lord to make it happen.

Walk by faith not by sight – Romans 4:19 says, “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb (NKJ).” The second main strategy used by the enemy taught by Bill Johnson is that he will question who you are in Christ. Many times we limit God by our own limitations or inadequacies, Abraham, however, had such great faith that he did not consider his old age nor the barrenness of his wife Sarah.

Give glory to God - Speaking again of Abraham, Romans 4:20 says “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God (NKJ).”

Be fully convinced – “And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness (Romans 4:21-22 NKJ).”

Ask the Lord to answer any questions or concerns – In Judges 6:15-16 Gideon asks the Lord for assurance, “So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man (NKJ).”
Don’t let any questions or concerns turn into doubt or disbelief.

Be obedient – Noah was given specific instructions on how to build the arc and Hebrews 11:7 says “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith (NKJ).”

Cleaning Your Soul Closet - Part 1

Cleaning Your Soul Closet - Part 1

As we continue to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, we must continually lose more of ourselves. We can’t continually go glory to glory without making room. This process can be compared to a drink. The more of our drink we want in our cup, the more ice we have to remove, the same goes for His glory. The more glory we want to reflect, the more darkness has to come out.

This is simple enough and most of us would agree but we seem to miss a crucial step in this cleansing process. Many times during my spiritual walk I was surprised to find that at times I had to deal with issues I thought I have already dealt with. It was during one of these times I thought I did something wrong or committed a sin I wasn’t aware of when I cried out to Jesus and the Holy Spirit gave me this revelation in which I am about to share.

When we are born again we are made a new creature by receiving the Holy Spirit but our souls are still corrupt. The battleground is the mind, this is where our daily battles are either won or lost. Paul said our minds are transformed day by day which is why we must take up our cross and crucify our flesh everyday.

Everyday, the Holy Spirit works with us to remove darkness we may not even realize we have. It’s a continual process until we are perfected in Christ. Once we overcome one aspect in our lives the Holy Spirit will convicts us or work with us in another aspect, allowing us to be transformed one step at a time. It was this process deep in our souls that the Holy Spirit revealed to me using the illustration of a closet.

Our souls are like messy closets that we threw a bunch of junk in. When we are saved, the cleaning process begins. We open the closet door and start in the front because it is so cluttered we can’t even get to the back if we wanted to. As we go through the junk we decide what to keep and what to throw away. Once one section is done, we start cleaning in another part of the closet. Each piece we take a look at and decide what we are going to do with it. Are we going to let it go and throw it away? Are we going to keep it or are we going to shove it in the back and hope it will go away on its own?

Each time we grab something in our closet, we look to see what it is before we decide what to do with it. Each time we pick up an item we once again experience and relive that part of our past. This may be a good experience such as picking up an old baseball glove and relive that moment we won the varsity championship. This could also be a painful experience such as picking up a picture of an ex from a bad breakup and reliving the heartache of being betrayed. This part of the process is often overlooked but is inevitable if we want to overcome. The key here isn’t if the experience is either good or bad but rather understanding the process and what to do when the experience comes.

To illustrate this further, the example of finding the picture of the ex from a bad breakup may be best. When we pick up this picture we have three options: 1. We can let it go and throw the picture away (get over it). 2. We can do nothing and leave it where it is at (Let it stay on our minds). 3. We can put off dealing with it by burying it behind all the other junk we need cleaned out (storing it deep down to deal with later). It is obvious that option 1 is the best option. Option 2 and 3 are equally bad but if I had to pick the worst I would have to say it would have to be option 3.

When we choose to bury the issue we will still have to deal with it later. This is a huge roadblock to spiritual development that many Christians seem to struggle with. We think we have properly dealt with an issue in our life but then it comes back to the surface and we experience it all over again and will continue to do so until we overcome it and let it go. Jesus taught us that these corrupt things come up from within, it is crucial that we overcome them through the power of the Holy Spirit.

While we cannot escape dealing with them, we can prevent them from putting us back into bondage according to the power that works in us through Christ Jesus! Whenever you face an issue during this cleansing process, nail it to the cross and plead the blood of Jesus, because He overcame we to can overcome through Him!

Jesus saves church from fire in Africa

Muslims come to burn down church and school operated by missionary Chris Okumu in Kenya. When they came, they saw it burning so they left but it was not burning, the Holy Spirit made it look like it so it would not be harmed.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGxdrUxM1Nc

For more Lions of Christ videos on You tube check out http://www.youtube.com/lionsofchrist Take care and God bless!!!