BROKENESS AND FORGIVENESS, Don't let the pass hinder your future.

People need to see God's love in action working through believers as they work with God to accomplish His will on earth.

We are a part of the church. We must repent if we are going to see this happen.

People are headed to a christless eternity while the Church sits in the pews going through the motions. This will continue to be the case unless we repent.

Perhaps you are surprised when I tell you that we need to repent. You may say, "I repented of my sin when I came to Christ, why do I need to repent now?

Many people have the wrong idea about repentance. They feel repentance has taken place because they cry a little bit around the alter during the after service. But it is possible for a person to feel great emotion and to shed a great number of tears and yet never repent. Judas was like that.

When true repentance takes place you make a decision. You decide to change your mind. It literally means to turn around and go the other way. If you are gossiping you stop; if you are backbiting you stop; if you are guilty of prayerlessness you pray; if you are harboring unforgiveness you forgive; if you are guilty of unbelief you begin to believe; if your praising, worshiping, giving is not done in faith you begin to do it in faith because anything that is not done in faith is sin. Are you beginning to see why Christians need to repent?

If true repentance has taken place and a genuine relationship is established with God, not only will we stop doing what is wrong and start doing what is right but, we will continue to do what is right. Repentance means that you turn around and go in the opposite direction.

IN ORDER TO HAVE GREAT FAITH WE MUST REPENT!

We are so used to tolerating sin in our lives that we fail to see it as sin that needs to be repented of. But if we desire to go all out for Christ there comes a time when the Word of God through the Holy Spirit searches us and reveals the sin. Then we must repent. So many believers have resentment built up inside of them against people who has wronged them. You cannot have great faith until you repent.

We have to make up our mind that it is finished. We have to quit tolerating sin. We have to repent. No longer will prayerlessness be a part of my life, I am going to pray. No longer will unforgiveness hinder God from moving through me, I am going to forgive.

GOD IS CALLING THE CHURCH TO REPENT AND RAISE UP A STANDARD OF HOLINESS ACROSS THE LAND WHERE THE DIVINE MANIFESTATION OF THE POWER OF GOD IS DEMONSTRATED THROUGH HIS PEOPLE.

We need a broken heart, we need a contrite heart. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart--these, O God you will not despise" (Ps. 51:17).

Do we have a broken heart over the way some Christians act toward someone who has failed?

Do we have a broken heart over the way some Christians and churches treat people that does not believe exactly the way they do?

Do we have a broken heart over the lack of spiritual vitality in us and in the institutional church.

Do we have a broken heart over the fact that there is not enough of the manifestation of the power of God working through us to get the job done?

Do we have a broken heart over sinners on there way to a Christless eternity?

Do we have a broken heart over the fact that we are not producing the proof that Jesus is who the Word says He is? The resurrected Son of God.

Do we have a broken heart over the fact that we are not truly witnesses of Jesus.

A true witness is a witness to the fact that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us enabling us to do the works that He did. When people see us living as Jesus lived, 100% controlled by the Holy Spirit; living a holy life; putting the importance on prayer that he did; healing the sick as He did; setting the captives free as He did; casting out demons as he did; being faithful and submitted to the Father as He was; preaching the acceptable year of the Lord as He did; treating people the way He did; committed to the task the way He was; and in obedience to the Word the way He was, then they will see, for then we will be true witnesses of Christ.

A broken and a contrite heart is nothing less than a repentant heart. Brokenness means more than sorrow and weeping, more than a crushed spirit, more than humility. Indeed many who weep are not broken in heart. Many who lay before God and groan are not broken in spirit. True brokenness releases in the life of a believer the greatest power God can entrust to man--greater than the power to raise the dead or heal sickness and disease. When we are truly broken before God, we are given a power that restores ruins, a power that brings a special kind of glory and honor to our Lord. If we will but reach that place the manifestations of God's power will be an out growth of the power of God within us.

You see brokenness has to do with walls--broken-down crumbling walls. Walls that were once high and strong in the church but has crumbled in a heap of dust. The crumbled wall of holiness, faith, obedience, forgiveness, love, healing, deliverance, worship, praise, prayer, giving, and sacrifice must be restored

In its place are erected the walls of denominationalism, tradition and man-made constitutions. These walls are so firm and strong that God has been unable to break in upon His people with blessings. The activities that take place is not of faith, therefore it is sin and a stench in the nostrils of God. These walls have given Satan a foothold in the Church and has rendered the people incapable of living the Christ life and doing Christ's works. These walls need to be torn down and the biblical walls replaced so the Church can get on with the work of God.

Nehemiah was truly a brokenhearted men, and his example has to do with the broken walls of Jerusalem.

Listen to what the Word says, "Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. ...So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned" (Neh. 2:12,15).

In the dark of the night, Nehemiah "viewed the wall." The Hebrew word SHABAR is used here. It is the same word used in Psalm 51:17 for "broken heart." Some might think Nehemiah's brokenness was when he "sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven" (Neh. 1:4), when he first heard about the destruction of the walls back in Shushan. Yet his weeping and confessing were only the beginning of the breaking. Nehemiah could have stayed in the king's court at the palace, weeping, mourning, fasting for days, confessing and praying. Yet he still would not have had a broken heart. His heart was not fully broken until he came to Jerusalem, saw the ruin and decided to do something about it.

In the fullest Hebrew meaning, Nehemiah's heart was broken in two ways. It broke first with anguish for the ruin (sharing God's grief), and second, with a hope of rebuilding (bursting with hope).

Brokenness is more than the weeping and bawling that takes place before the alters in churches. This may be the beginning of brokenness and in most Christians lives brokenness stops at the beginning. A truly broken heart is: one that sees the walls broken down, sees the Church and families in ruin and feels the Lord's anguish. Such a heart grieves over the reproach Christians cast on the Lord's name. It also looks deep inside and sees, as David did, its own shame and failure. It cries out, "Lord I have made a breach in the wall! I have disregarded the truth of Your Word for the doctrines of men, I am not a true witness of you. I am crushed by my sin. This cannot go on." But there is a second important element to this brokenness, and that is faith. The truly broken heart has heard from God: "I will heal, restore and build. Get rid of the rubbish, and get to work rebuilding the breaches!" A truly broken heart will rise in faith and do what needs to be done to rebuild the walls.

We must be broken before we can minister to a broken world. If we aren't broken we are probably creating a log jam in God's will somewhere, because if we are not broken we are endeavoring to do what God wants done through our carnal endeavors.

Brokenness is a total shattering of all human strength and ability. It is the recognition of the full reality of sin and the reproach it brings on Christ. Yet brokenness also means recognizing the next step: Stand upright with the full assurance that things are going to change, that healing and rebuilding will happen--that what the devil has stolen will be reclaimed for God and then start doing something about it. A God like faith says, "God is at work in me, Satan cannot hold me in bondage. I am not going to be defeated or destroyed. My sin has grieved me but I have repented, God loves me. Now it is time to rise and rebuild." Until we take hold of that hope, zeal and determination with faith, we will not move past our tears.

Is the church that you attend allowing this to take place? It is time to come together with people of like brokenness and begin to rebuild the walls.

With the walls rebuilt comes an ever increasing revelation of Jesus Christ. We will care nothing for success, ambition, worldly fame. We will not pray for things or for blessings because the fullness of Christ will dwell in us and everything we need is in Him. We will not have to pray to be used of God or for the spectacular, nor for anything of self. But rather only for a fuller revelation of the glory and vastness of our Lord. Then the blessings will come, the spectacular will be in our midst and we will be the blessing to others that God requires of us.

In the various churches across our land a few people are ready to move on in the Lord. They are hungry for more of Jesus and tired of all the lightness and foolishness being preached in the pulpit. They are tired of form and fashion. They are tired of having a form of godliness with out the demonstration of the power. And right now they are hearing the voice of God to come out from among the foolish and lighthearted. A holy, weeping, praying remnant is arising out of Laodicea. And I wonder if there will be enough servants of God in our midst with sufficient anointing and fresh revelation to sustain the sheep? Or will the sheep outgrow the shepherds. Will there be nourishment for all those who are going deeper with the Lord?

Nothing will get us in the flow of the revelation knowledge of Jesus Christ until we study Christ alone in the secret closet of prayer. We must hunger enough to become a part of His Word in order to get our own touch of God.

If we had that red-hot, all-consuming, intense and joyous love for Christ, we would not need outlines, diagrams and instructions telling us how to pray; we would pray because our hearts would be on fire with love for him. We would not grow bored trying to fill up an hour in a prayer service praying ambiguously for needs all over the world; Christ would be the object of our prayers, and our prayer time would be precious. We would spend time behind closed doors, expressing the overflowing admiration and sweet love that flood our hearts for Him. Studying His Word would never be a burden; we would not need formulas on how to finish the bible in a year. If we loved Jesus passionately we would be drawn magnetically to His Word to learn more about Him. We would want to know Him better so we could become more like Him.

True repentance builds CHARACTER. We will not think of ourselves as somebody great because of our education, degrees, or position in a denomination. Paul was not great because of his education, his writings, or because he was an apostle. His greatness was in a total dedication and passion for the Lord Jesus Christ.

True repentance will result in a RELATIONSHIP with God. Do you have a relationship with God in prayer or do you have a relationship with your own thoughts? When repentance takes place, prayer becomes a relationship with God and with people.

Can you see now, the need for REPENTANCE?

If there is anyone who needs repentance it is religious people. Many Christians struggle with problems all their lives because of not understanding what repentance really is. We have to repent from man-made tradition and turn to the Bible as the sole source of faith and healing.

Repentance is exciting and liberating. It sets you free to become all that the Word says you are. It will give you joy in serving God. True repentance will bring diligence to God's word resulting in a disciplined life.

Hebrews tells us that one of the foundational doctrines is "repentance from dead works." If we skip this foundational doctrine while emphasizing others we will run into problems.

The reformers of four and a half centuries ago preached a strong message of repentance from dead works. The dead works were the buying and selling of indulgences, the unscriptural religious traditions which had developed, and reliance on the church as an institution rather than on each individual's personal relationship with Jesus. These reformers proclaimed repentance from man-made traditions.

Repentance is not to simply to say a prayer. It is not a casual faith in God's grace. Rather it is a surrender of one's will and selfish ambition. True repentance will result in making Jesus the Lord of our lives, allowing Him to do what He wants with our lives.

Another decision that we must make to go deeper in God is to practice FORGIVENESS.

If you do not practice forgiveness you will not reap the benefits of forgiveness. Mark 11:25-26, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

One basic thing that you must understand about forgiveness is that forgiveness is a decision and not an emotion or a feeling. There does not have to be any emotion in forgiveness at all. In fact, you probably won't feel like it when you make the decision to forgive someone. This may be do to the fact that the person may not deserve forgiveness. But that has no bearing on the fact that we must practice the art of forgiveness to everybody, no mater what they have done to us.

This area is one of the primary areas where Satan has robbed the believer and thus, the church of its power! Forgiveness of the debt of sin means freedom from the bondage of sin.

If we walk around with unforgiveness in our hearts towards someone who has wronged us. The result will be, we will be in bondage, we won't be in a position to apply the Word of God to our lives. We cannot be a doer of the Word. God cannot use us for His glory. This is the primary area of bondage for the people of God.

If someone told you there was something you could do right now that would set you on the path to freedom and increase joy in your life, would you do it? One thing you must do for this to happen is forgive.

It sounds simple. but many of us aren't willing to let go of the past.

Rather than being empowered by faith for today and hope for tomorrow, to many of us are controlled by events that occurred in the past--things for which we do not forgive ourselves or others. We go through this Christian life looking into the rear view mirror rather than keeping ours eyes on Jesus who is on the road ahead.

Are these familiar words? "I'll never forgive my father for what he did!" "Can you believe what she did to me? I will never forget how much that hurt me!" "I have done such a horrible thing. I could never forgive myself!"

These statements illustrate the two mind-sets that prevent us from living an overcoming Christian life:

(1) The failure to receive forgiveness for ourselves.

(2) The failure to extend forgiveness to others.

The decision to forgive is a vote to live in the present instead of in the past. If we refuse to forgive, we are really saying, "I prefer to live in the past, and I blame myself--or somebody else--for it. Stacks of unforgiveness, like a heavy burden, add up and weigh us down. They become like prison walls that separate us from God and others, while giving Satan the foothold to steal our freedom to live the abundant life today.

These walls of unforgiveness that we harbor up can even make us sick. Medical research has confirmed that chronic feelings of hopelessness or unforgivness can affect the immune system. Holding unto bitterness and resentment actually releases a hormone that suppresses the activity of immune system cells, making us more susceptible to disease.

No wonder the Bible encourages us to forgive. If we don't we can't remain healthy and happy.

Forgiveness, however does not come freely or naturally. Releasing bitterness, especially when it seems justifiable and is attached to painful experiences, requires a choice. You must choose to allow the grace of God to give you the gratefulness to forgive.

Rather than blaming our past for our present condition, we must acknowledge that the past is the past. To move on we have to get our eyes and mind of the problem, and who or what caused it, and focus on living the life of freedom, peace and joy in the Lord.

As we look to God for the gift of forgiveness, there are real feelings that each of us must lift up to him so He can heal them. Our responsibility, through prayer, is to be totally honest. We must share our hurts--all of them-- with our heavenly father.

By acknowledging the hurt and pain we feel over what was--or was not--in our past, and by releasing that pain with its grief, we can gain a sense of closure on that part of our lives.

Then, as we choose to forgive and release the power of negative emotions that have filled our hearts, the vacuum that this creates begins to fill up with the love God has for us. From that point on we can stop blaming God and others for allowing things to happen the way they have. We can start embracing His perspective of who we are in Christ.

Only by letting go of the past can we fully embrace faith for the present and hope for the future. Yesterday ended yesterday. Today let's choose to forgive--and live.

Jesus teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12). In that same prayer He teaches that an attitude of unforgiveness is a reason for unanswered prayer. If we want our prayers answered, if we want to be forgiven by God, we must forgive those that has done something to us or against us.

The message to us is simple, if God has forgiven us the great debt, then we must forgive our fellow man. We are to forgive on the same level that we are forgiven by God. We can't really forgive our fellowman until we realize the magnitude of God's forgiveness for us personally. We need a vision of Calvary and of the price Jesus paid for the forgiveness of our sin. When we see and understand that, we will want to reach out to our fellowman in forgiveness.

We have to forgive those closest to us, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and other family members. We have to forgive friends, enemies, neighbors, church leaders and church members.

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REMEMBER FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN EMOTION, FORGIVENESS IS A DECISION.

FORGIVING IS REALISM.

Forgiving comes with the toughness of realism. To be able to forgive we must have the guts to look hard at the wrongness, the horridness, the sheer wickedness of what somebody did to us. We cannot sugarcoat it, we cannot excuse it, we cannot ignore it. We eye the evil face to face and we call it what it is. Only realists can be forgivers.

In order to forgive we must begin with the power to shake of deception and deal with reality.

FORGIVING IS CONFRONTATION.

The strength of forgiving is seen most clearly whenever it is born of confrontation. We cannot completely forgive anyone whom we do not--one way or the other--face up to and say: "I did you wrong and I know you were hurt because of it, will you please forgive me?"

FORGIVING IS FREEDOM

Nobody can make you forgive. Only a free person can choose to live with an uneven score. Only free people can choose to start over with someone who has hurt them. Only a free person can live with accounts unsettled. Only a free person will receive healing for the memory of hurt and hate.

When you forgive another person you are surprised at your own freedom to do what you did. All the kings armies could not have forced you to do it. You forgive in freedom and then you move into greater freedom. Freedom is strength, freedom is health, freedom gives you the ability to do God's will; you know you have freedom when you have the power to forgive.

FREEDOM IS LOVE'S ULTIMATE POWER

Love is the power behind forgiveness. But it does not work in the way people suppose.

Love is not a soft and fuzzy sentiment that lets people get away with almost everything, no matter what they do to us. Love does not make us pushovers for people who treat us unfairly.

Love forgives, but only because love is powerful.

Love has two ingredients that make us strong. One is respect, the other is commitment.

On the one hand, these two qualities make us vulnerable enough to need to forgive. On the other hand, they give us power to do the forgiving we need to do.

Love respects people as genuine human beings, even after they have treated you like dirt. People who hurt you badly are not just lumps of degenerate corruption; they are complex people who may be used by the enemy, but there is more to them than meanness and craziness. They have the potential to become better people, truer people than they were when they stung you. Respect for them will help you see the real enemy, the rat behind the person. And this respect can stimulate you to move in the direction of forgiveness. Our fight is not with flesh and blood, but with spiritual wickedness in high places.

True love dares to commit itself to someone, and therein lies both its vulnerability and its power.

The very love that dares to be vulnerable by making a commitment allows God's power to heal you of the pain that commitment brings.

Committed love gives us strength to tough out the bad times in the hope of better times. Committed love does not throw in the towel before the fight is really over. It holds on. And while it holds, it energizes, it gives you strength to keep the door open for the day when a new beginning may be possible.

It is forgiveness that supplies the healing and restores a right relationship with God.

We have to make up our mind to forgive those who have wronged us and we have to do it now!

It is amazing the number of Christians walking around with unforgiveness in their heart. It does not matter what was done to you, you may have been abused by your father or another family member and you may feel that you have the right to hate that person, but the only right you have has a Christian (a Christ like person) is to forgive them.

Maybe you have been offended by the one you love. Have you forgiven them? You may say:

"Well I pray for them."

"That is not the question, have you forgiven them?

"Well I love them."

"That is not the Question, have you forgiven them."

"Well I know he couldn't help himself."

"Again, have you forgiven Him."

"Well I don't really know."

It is obvious that you have not forgiven that person, because if you had forgiven that person you would know it. When you forgive you will know because it will restore the joy of your relationship with, not only that person, but also with God.

When you don't forgive you not only hold that other person in bondage you keep yourself in greater bondage and open yourself to the fiery darts of the devil and give him a foothold in your life. By not forgiving you hinder your spiritual contact with God. That person may have ruined the last ten years of your life, don't let it ruin the rest of your life. To do that you must forgive.

Another person you need to forgive is yourself. You may have been guilty of something and the devil has put a guilt trip on you that has you in bondage just as much as if you had not forgiven the person who did something to you. Forgiving yourself is accepting God's cleansing and forgiveness. If you have asked for forgiveness of God but you have not forgiven yourself you refused to accept the forgiveness that God offered you. Forgive yourself.

When you make the decision to forgive, then you also make the decision to forget. You do not allow the thing to arise in your thoughts. Whenever the devil brings it to mind, you consciously refuse to think upon it and put it out of your mind. You put it under the Blood and accept the cleansing of the Blood. Then you can pray to God, "Forgive us our debts against you as we forgive our debtors."

Again let me say it, forgiveness is not an emotion, it is an act of the will. The spirit of anger, resentment and unforgiveness that has ruled and ruined your life, will be broken as soon as you make the decision to forgive. When you set your will to forgive and to pray for those who have offended you, immediately there is an explosion of the grace of God within you.

Then you are in a position to apply the Word of God to every circumstance that may come your way.

Forgiveness is a choice, an act of the will. Since God requires us to forgive, it is something we can do. But forgiveness is difficult for us because it pulls against our concept of justice. We want revenge for the offenses suffered, but Rom. 12:19 tells us never to take our own revenge. You say, "Why should I let them of the hook?" That is precisely the problem. If you don't forgive you are still hooked to them, you are still bound by your past.

You say, "You don't understand how much this person hurt me!" But don't you see, they are still hurting you. If you don't forgive the pain won't stop. You don't only forgive someone for their sake, you also do it for your sake, so you can be free. Your need to forgive isn't an issue between you and the offender, it is between you and God.

Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. Forgiveness is costly. You are going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not, your only choice is whether you will do it in the bitterness of unforgiveness or the freedom of forgiveness. Jesus took the consequences of your sin upon Himself. All true forgiveness is substitutionary, because no one really forgives without bearing the consequences of the other person's sin.

Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving, you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made and Satan has lost his place (Eph. 4:26,27). Freedom is what will be gained not a feeling.

THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE IS FORGIVENESS!

God is holy and the essence of His holiness is love, the essence of love is grace, the essence of grace is mercy, and the essence of mercy is forgiveness, then forgiveness is the visible expression of true holiness. If you dress like holiness, talk like holiness and boast about holiness but don't forgive, you are not holy, whether you are an individual or a church.

FORGIVENESS IS THE TRUE ACT OF HOLINESS.

WHEN WE FORGIVE WE RIDE THE CREST OF GOD'S COSMIC WAVE OF LOVE; WE WALK IN STRIDE WITH GOD! AND WE WILL HEAL THE HURT THAT HAS BEEN KEEPING US IN BONDAGE.

I want to give you some propositions concerning the greatest gift you can give...THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS, which is the act of true holiness. Forgiveness is a principle of releasing the bondage that we find ourselves in.

There is only one reason why there is so much divorce. What is it? Hardness of heart. What is hardness of heart? It is the refusal to either humble yourself to ask for forgiveness or to give forgiveness. Where a husband and wife will forgive each other, they can live in unity and in agreement.

TRUE FORGIVENESS IS RELEASED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKING WITHIN US.

Forgiveness is the visible expression or manifestation of true holiness.

Forgiveness is always by grace.

Listen, some of you have not forgiven because you are waiting until the person needing forgiveness has earned it. Forgiveness can never be earned. When you came to God and asked Him to forgive you, what did you have to do to be forgiven. Absolutely nothing!

Forgiveness is always a voluntary expression in the subjective experience of the person giving it. How many of you have lived perfect since you have been saved? How many of you have blown it, or made mistakes, or done some stupid, asinine thing? And what did you have to do to earn forgiveness? Nothing. All you had to do was ask. The moment we ask God's forgiveness he gives it to us.

The gift of forgiveness was freely received by you, therefore it must be freely given by you.

You cannot demand payment from someone before you forgive them.

Forgiveness must always be consummated.

In other words, God forgave us 2,000 years ago in Christ; but He can't give us that forgiveness until we ask for it. Once you ask, your forgiveness is consummated and you can be saved. If I ask you to forgive me and you wouldn't do it, and you refuse to do it, or say "oh that is all right, forget it. You are responsible for forgiveness not being consummated. You are refusing to release me, keeping me and you in bondage. If forgiveness is asked, give it because it will set you and the person asking free.

UNFORGIVENESS ALWAYS BINDS, FORGIVENESS ALWAYS RELEASES.

UNFORGIVENESS ALWAYS CLOSES, FORGIVENESS ALWAYS OPENS.

IT IS TIME THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD AND THE CHURCH OF GOD STIR UP THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS.

What about the forgetting part of forgiving? You hear people say that you must forgive and forget what the wrong was that was done to you. But how can you forget, the awfull things that was done to you?

Again FORGETTING is a decision not an emotion or feeling. It may be impossible to erase from your computer bank the person, and what the person did to you. This forgetting is not a natural forgetting where it is erased from your mind and you do not know that it ever happened. The enemy of your soul will bring the wrongs that have been done to you to your mind. But you have to decide by an act of your will, to take authority over these thoughts, tear them down and say to Satan: "Satan, yes that person did hurt me, but I have forgiven him, and I will not allow my thoughts to dwell on that wrong, I command you to leave me alone, no matter how many times you bring it to my mind, I refuse to dwell on it. I will treat that person as though he never did me any wrong. God has forgiven me, and has given me the grace to forgive him, now in the name of Jesus it is over and done with." Forget by refusing to think about the wrong, or allowing it to dictate to you how you will treat that person. Freedom is then yours.

So it is futile for you to think that you can develop a correct relationship with God and be dynamically used by God by applying the Word of God to your life, if you don't repent or forgive.

IF YOU REPENT AND FORGIVE YOU WILL BE IN A POSITION TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD. YOU CAN BE A DOER OF GOD'S WORD.

We like George Mueller should say, "There was a day when I died, utterly died to my opinions, preferences, tastes, and will--died to the world, its approval or censure- -died to approval or blame even of my brethren and friends, and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.

God intended for the Church (the body of believers) to be the most powerful force upon the earth. Christ destroyed the works of Satan and placed within our lives the power to break down Satan's strongholds and declare Salvation, healing and deliverance in His Name. This will not happen if we do not repent and forgive.

ARE YOU WILLING TO LOOSE YOUR LIFE, ABANDON IT TOTALLY TO GOD? If so then get ready because God will surely use you.

My cry to you now, is "FORWARD MARCH." You are a supernatural people; born again by a supernatural birth; you wage a supernatural war and taught by a supernatural Instructor; led by a supernatural Captain, and assured of a supernatural victory.

"Forward March!" Our Commander has cleared the way. That means the power is there, the anointing is there, the authority is there, the ability is there, the answer is there. Not only is final victory assured but victory is also assured in the here and now. But we must arise and act. God's enablement is on those who do the Word.

Now is the time to ACT! He fights for those who march by faith, heeding only the divine command.

"Disciples, I've given my authority to you!" (Matt. 10:1). "Now you go preach; you heal the sick; you set the captives free; you raise the dead; you cast out demons; you submit yourself to God; you resist the devil and he will flee from you.

So don't sit back and complain about the condition of the church; about the worldliness of believers; about the lack of Holy Spirit power; about the lack of healings; about believers adhering to denominations and traditions instead of the Word of God. Don't whimper and wail, murmur and groan.

REPENT, FORGIVE, SUBMIT TO GOD, GET UP, BELIEVE, MARCH, AND ACT.

March forth with clean hands and an honest heart. March forth with steadfast faith and a will of steel. March forth with compassion and kindness, clothed with the mercy of the Lord. March forth with Jesus in your heart, his name on your lips and His praises alive in your soul. March forth and conquer for Him!

Conquer the lies of darkness and the deceptions of the enemy. Conquer the demons and disease. Conquer sin. Conquer hopelessness and despair. Conquer fear and dismay. Conquer by the Spirit of God. Do it for His glory, for the one you love. Do it for the weak, anemic church. Do it for the sin-smitten race for whom Jesus died. Do it out of honor for Him.

REPENT and FORGIVE and go all the way with God.