Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!

In recent weeks I have been communicating the basic idea that the WORD of God is the most powerful FORCE on the planet. After all, it was the WORD that created the universe: God spoke words to that purpose (Genesis 1:3-31) and ALL words together coming from Him are called THE WORD. As a matter of fact, we find out in the Gospel of John, verses 1-3 that God IS the WORD, that the WORD has existed for eternity and that ALL things that exist have come into being by (or through or because of) the WORD. So I say confidently that the WORD of God is the most powerful FORCE on the planet. And, it manifests ALWAYS as a living and creative FORCE.

Now for anyone who wants to have fellowship with THE WORD, it's required that each such person first become a BELIEVER in God. How could you have fellowship with an invisible, spirit being if you didn't BELIEVE in His existence? It's the WORD that offers and then causes us to become Believers (1 Peter 1:23); but each of us must choose to RECEIVE what the WORD offers in order for the fellowship to begin. By the SEED of the WORD we become born again because of the regeneration, the rebirth of our inner spirit-man.

Then, once we've become BELIEVERS and have entered into fellowship, it's expected by Him that through the teaching of the Holy Spirit we'll mature and grow ever closer in our relationship with Him over the remainder of our mortal lives. The Holy Spirit teaches us from the WORD and at any moment, the condition of our relationship with God is dependent upon how much and how seriously we've made ourselves available for instruction. That condition is really important because the closer the relationship, the more we UNDERSTAND the WORD. And the more we UNDERSTAND, the more successful we'll be at OVERCOMING sin, the enemy, the world, tribulations, persecutions, circumstances and anything else that tries to come against us. It's the FORCE of the WORD in each of us and the degree to which that FORCE has developed that determine how things work out for us as we deal with life's challenges.

Now, the Bible describes spiritual maturing as a "washing" process that initiates a "transformation." The fact is most of us bring a lot of "baggage" into our new relationship that God would like to help us get rid of. For example, we bring in unrighteous habits, lusts, worldly ways of thinking, wrong ways of thinking, man made traditions, anxieties, fears, flawed emotions, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, broken relationships, defeat, sickness, insufficiency, etc. So, the Holy Spirit uses the WORD to carry out the removal all those things from our MINDS in exchange for righteous conduct, beliefs and ways of thinking from the WORD. All of that is referred to in Scripture as the "washing" of our MINDS. Another way to say it is that the Holy Spirit is RENEWING our minds through a process of maturing in the WORD so that: 1) we can know what the will of God is, and then 2) we can have the ability to MANIFEST in our lives "that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2) instead of all those other things we were used to doing and thinking.

In sum, becoming a victorious Christian is about maturing IN the Word so that BY the WORD we come increasingly more fully into the image of Christ. God wants us to AGGRESSIVELY study, meditate, understand and PERCEIVE what the WORD says. Let the one who has ears to hear tonight PERCEIVE that the SOURCE OF POWER in the Kingdom of God is the WORD! God is not making any exceptions: this is His process.

Addressing Potential Power Outages

Now about this time you may be saying, "Bill, all this sounds too complicated." Well, it is sort of complicated, but it's not my process. I didn't come up with it, God did! And the truth is all we have to do to tap into His process is read and study the WORD. We don't need to understand how the process works nearly as much as we need to just read. The more we study and meditate on the Word of God, the more successful we'll be in life AND the more we'll come to UNDERSTAND about how the process is working. Yes, the process sounds complicated but the implementation of it is rather simple: study the Word and try to understand it. Said another way, set your priorities like they ought to be and then just follow your priorities.

Along with that implementation, it's helpful to be aware of certain things we all have to deal with that HINDER (obstruct, hold back) the power of the WORD in our lives keeping in mind that the devil is trying his best to see to it that we never learn anything and that our minds stay as close as possible to the condition they were in on the day we got born again. If he's successful, our FAITH never develops any POWER which is the condition of most Christians. We have to watch for HINDRANCES from the enemy and resist/deal with them if we want to help the Holy Spirit keep the "washing" process moving. Following is a brief review of some of the main HINDRANCES I've experienced in my own life and come across in Scripture as I've studied this subject:

1. Sin - chronic sin that's not been "acknowledged" will certainly HINDER our transformation. God's not asking us to be perfect because Jesus already took care of that part. In fact, He's not even holding us accountable for our sins (Romans 5:13) because He's decided to not remember them (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17). The problem with sin is that it opens a door to Satan to come into our thinking with accusation and condemnation that we have to deal with. Our sins have ALREADY been forgiven. All we have to do is admit to ourselves that certain things we're doing or saying are sin and then ask the Holy Spirit to help us REPENT. The act of REPENTING does NOT mean to apologize for them; it means to turn around and GO in the opposite direction, AWAY from them.

2. Doubt and Unbelief - we have to BELIEVE that we're going through a transformation process and that the transformation leads to victory and success in our lives. Yes, God wants us to go through transformation and for that reason alone we should be willing to go through it. But as an additional incentive, it is for our own good because successful transformation leads to success in the Body of Christ (Joshua 1:8).

3. Lack of attention to the Word - the whole process of transformation depends on our dedication and commitment to the study of the Word. If we look for ways to get out of it or to shortcut it, or if we go through periods of not studying, it's assured by the nature of the process that we will be HINDERED in arriving at the place of blessing.

4. False Teaching - we have to be on guard for false teaching. No teacher is perfect but there are some who depart too much from the message of the Gospel even unintentionally or inadvertently. If we automatically take it into our belief structure, we get bogged down in our transformation process, distracted from the things we ought to be learning and we wind up taking on new baggage. The key here is to closely examine every single idea we are taught so that we can come to our own UNDERSTANDING. Too many ideas in the Body of Christ are accepted without examination, without thinking. No matter who the teacher is, we're responsible for accepting or rejecting their teaching. Study what they say until you reach your own UNDERSTANDING as to whether you should embrace it. And if it doesn't SEEM right, do NOT take it into your belief structure. Wait until you have a clear witness that what you've heard is correct. And by the way, the Holy Spirit wants to help you make those determinations.

5. Wrong Priorities - you can also be HINDERED by mixing up your priorities. The WORD says to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) so if we don't make it a point to carry out our lives with that priority, we're going to experience trouble. Most of us are quick to put our own priorities ahead of the Kingdom of God and the result of that is always going to be transformation slowdown. You need to come to the point in life where study of the WORD is your first priority, if possible the first thing you do every day so you learn to make the Kingdom of God your first priority. That's when you start learning, and transforming, and understanding, and perceiving so that the WORD can make you an overcomer, full of God's favor, grace and success.

6. Wrong Traditions - In Mark 7:13 Jesus scolded the Pharisees and the scribes about their TRADITIONS: "(you) invalidate the Word of God by your TRADITIONS which you have handed down." What traditions was He talking about? He was speaking to the fact that people often conduct themselves and put value on things out of habit and routine and human, flesh ways of thinking that aren't in agreement with the Word of God. The result is that when we get over into tradition, there's going to be a DIMINISHING of the POWER that the Word could have generated.

7. Wrong Speaking - most people overlook the effects that their speaking has on what happens in their lives. Once you are born again and recreated in the image of God, your speech has the power of life and death just like He has. You can choose life or you can choose death, the blessing or the curse, victory or defeat, abundance or insufficiency. You are who you say you are (Proverbs 23:7 and Mark 11:22-24). If you're speaking the wrong kind of words all the time, you will HINDER your transformation and be way slower to achieve the results you're hoping for.

8. Hardness of Heart - finally, the Bible speaks about a condition called Hardness of Heart, also called Dullness of Heart and according to Scripture it will render the one who has it with increasing inability to PERCEIVE. As we've discussed perception is a key aspect of learning and UNDERSTANDING and in coming weeks we will take a closer look at this particular HINDRANCE called by Jesus HARDNESS OF HEART. 

These are the major things that HINDER our transformation and it is, and should be, a constant battle to continually overcome them so that your progress moves ahead without delay. None of us are perfect at this, no not one except Jesus. But I am convinced from events in my own life that my job is to insure that I get into the Word aggressively every day, usually first thing in the morning. FAITH comes by hearing the WORD with understanding (Romans 10:17) which means to hear the WORD with spiritual ears (Matthew 13:14). By pumping up the power of my FAITH at the start of the day, it carries me through so I'll be able to live by FAITH for the rest of the day. God wants the full POWER of the WORD operating in our lives because He is glorified when His children do really well!

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on February 22. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), compelling you to PROSPER in every area of life!

Sinners' Prayer

If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:

Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

Prayer Requests

If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/prayer-request.aspx 

Donations

If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, you may want to consider making a SEED FAITH offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). God has instructed us to simply provide folks with an opportunity to sow seed into good ground so in due season you'll be eligible to reap a harvest and the rest is up to you as the Spirit leads. For your information PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial offerings will usually be tax deductible (consult your tax advisor). Just go to the secure Shopping Cart on the Cornerstone web site by connecting through the following link. We appreciate your support and generosity.

http://www.creditcounseling.net/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1 

About Prosperous Life Newsletter

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