Experience the Impossible: Simple Ways to Unleash Heaven's Power on Earth (7 page)

We are designed to invade the impossible.

I
t is a wonderful thing to see God use natural talents and resources to accomplish His purposes. Surrendering these areas of our lives to His use is both vital and refreshing. But it is tragic when the high point of the believer’s life is accomplishing something that is humanly possible. Building buildings, raising funds for projects, giving ourselves to meet basic needs of people all must be done! That is the practical side of our faith. But most accomplishments of this nature could also be done by any of the many human-interest clubs in our cities. All we need to reach those goals is people, talent and money. While these accomplishments are important, they must not be considered the ultimate examples of this life of faith. We must be known for practical service,
plus
. It is the
plus
that often gets forgotten. The
plus
is the impossible.

The Spirit of the resurrected Christ lives in every believer. Resurrection power from another world, which is far beyond reason, defines our nature as followers of Jesus. Invading the impossible is our birthright. It gives Him the chance to manifest His
heart for people, going beyond what can be done in the natural. This is another situation of Kingdom living that is not either/or. We must build the buildings, support missionaries, feed the poor and all the other things we do that effectively demonstrate the heart of God. But those things will never satisfy either the heart of the believer or the heart of the pre-believer longing for a relationship with almighty God. The liar, destroyer and thief must be stopped. For that to happen, we need more than money and time. We need power, the kind that Jesus carried into the darkness of His day.

Jesus illustrated these things a bit differently from the way the Church has learned to do them. He worked to destroy the works of the devil, which are death, loss and destruction. Wherever those three things exist, we see the devil’s fingerprints. And those fingerprints reveal our assignment. By nature that means our job is to bring resurrection as an answer to death, gain as an answer to loss, and restoration as an answer to destruction. Jesus was extremely practical. But being practical for Him is different from being practical for us. Our idea of practical is training seeing-eye dogs to help the blind. Jesus’ idea of practical was healing the blind. Practical in His world is impractical in ours, yet completely necessary. His assignment is our assignment.

Jesus’ commission was to invade the impossible. Our time and talents are important, but they are not going to get the Great Commission done.

Prayer

Father, I really need Your help with this one. I often reduce Your will to what I can do with or without You. Forgive me for that. Help me to see the surrounding situations the same way Jesus would see them. I want to illustrate Your heart for people with my money and time, but also with what You have given me from Your world—the power of heaven. I will embrace Your heart until Your heart becomes mine.

Confession

I was designed for the impossible. It is my inheritance to see the impossibilities of life bend their knees to the name of Jesus through my lips. I will continue to give and serve, but I will also believe until the power of God is seen in me. I long for this that God may receive glory in all the earth!

It takes courage to expect the best. Anyone without hope can expect the worst.

R
eading newspapers or watching the news on television exposes us to levels of bad news in proportions unheard of before this generation. This is the generation of instant information. We can know in moments of a tragedy or crisis from the other side of the planet. On top of that, bad news sells.

Following the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, most of us Americans were glued to our TV sets many hours a day to catch the latest possible explanation of what happened and why. I am not saying that was wrong. And I am not saying that news agencies never report good news. But their
business
cannot survive solely on positive reports. Many years ago one of the Christian publishers in the United States tried to create a newspaper with only good news. It went bankrupt. Good news does not sell, even to believers.

My wife is the best at
praying through the news
of anyone I know. She does so because she lives with an overriding hope, no matter what. It is a viable way of staying informed, yet living
proactively by bringing about God’s answers to a crazy, mixed-up world. Yet the problem remains—even for intercessors who pray over the news. If we are not careful, the steady stream of bad news will cloud our awareness of what God is saying and doing. Deception sets in that positions us to live and act defensively instead of continuing to respond to God’s leading.

Such an inundation of bad reports can create a strange situation for the believer: We learn to become encouraged through bad news. Since we seemingly cannot solve the enormity of crisis around the world, the only thing left is to look at it as a sign of the times. We say something like, “Well, it’s just another indication that we are in the last days.” Being encouraged from bad news is a perversion. The enemy chooses this strategy of bombarding our minds, wanting to dull our hope for the future. Hopelessness attracts the demonic.

When Jesus declared that there would be “wars and rumors of wars,” He was not giving us a promise; He was describing the conditions into which He was sending His last day’s army. We are here to make a difference.

When we recognize a spiritual climate that is different from that of the King and His Kingdom, we have to live intentionally in the opposite spirit to that prevailing climate. If we fail to do this, we will be influenced by that negative atmosphere. We are designed by God to be a people of extraordinary hope.

Learning how to maintain hope is one of the most important parts of the believer’s life—primarily because we attract what we are looking for. So look for good news. Look for reports of what God is doing in the world. The numbers of conversions in this hour are staggering. The sheer numbers of people being raised from the dead are beyond comprehension. Church planting is at an all-time high. The transformation of cities and nations is climbing rapidly. The leaders of nations and industries are turning to Jesus in record numbers. These things are true, absolutely true.

Examine Scripture for His promises for the last days. The Bible is filled with stunning promises for the time we live in. If they become part of your steady diet, you will never again be encouraged by bad news. Instead, you will be a fountain of hope to everyone around you. Hope is a magnet. You will attract into your life people who are looking for the answers you carry.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for making me a citizen of Your world, even though I am still alive on planet earth. Help me to live with the hope that is consistent with Your promises. I know that darkness has never intimidated You. I do not want ever again to fall for the lie that darkness is winning. I honor You for the fact that of the increase of Your government there will be no end! Your expression of rule is only increasing. Help me to see it and convey it well to the world around me.

Confession

I am an agent of hope—the undying, unending hope that my Father has given me. I will not react to the powers of darkness. Instead, I will respond to what God is saying and doing. This is my privileged position in life. And this I will do to the glory of God.

One of the great tragedies in life is for the Bible to be interpreted by people who are not in love.

W
hen my need to appear right is greater than my desire to display God’s love, I will inevitably treat people with judgment, disrespect and harshness. The Old Testament is filled with so many disasters that it is not hard to pick up an angry approach to life and ministry. That is, until you consider Jesus.

This is why I stress the importance of letting the Holy Spirit be our teacher when we read the Bible. Otherwise, it is much too easy to get angry. The Holy Spirit helps us read the Scriptures with the provision that Jesus is the answer. Without Him, we just see the rules.

Have you ever considered that much of the Church today is known for what we oppose—rather than for love? Take politics. Much of the Church raises protest banners, writes letters of criticism and publicly denounces politicians and other public figures for their sinful ways. Various Christian organizations have orchestrated boycotts to force people in power to yield to scriptural principles. There is a place for that, and it works in
measure. But it is often partnering with a political spirit to accomplish Kingdom purposes. The process will cost us eventually.

Jesus said, “If you live by the sword, you’ll die by the sword” (see Matthew 26:52). The way we choose to live is the way we choose to die. Whatever is gained through, in this case, a political spirit has to be maintained by a political spirit, which uses the fear of man as a tool of manipulation to obtain a desired outcome. In other words, the end justifies the means. The spirit that promotes us will ultimately be the one that takes us down. But Jesus functioned differently, completely differently.

Sinners sought the chance to be with Jesus. The thieving tax collector, Zacchaeus, climbed a tree just to get a glimpse of Him. Upon noticing this man in a tree, Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house for a meal. The prostitute broke all protocol to enter a religious leader’s home just to weep at Jesus’ feet and wash them with her tears. The list of such encounters is impressive throughout the gospels. Any harshness from Jesus was always aimed at religious leaders who defiled His message by keeping people away from the freedom He provided.

People who are not in love see things differently. History is filled with crazy people who used the Bible to justify their hatred. They considered any opposition to be persecution, which only confirmed for them the correctness of their approach to life.

Jesus, on the other hand, suffered persecution because of His love. The freedom He offered upset the power struggle of religious leaders who kept the nation in fear. It is interesting that Jesus did not intimidate the sinners and lowly people around Him; nor did they withdraw from Him because of His purity. He lived in perfect holiness without compromise, yet attracted those considered to be the greatest sinners of His day. True holiness is the essence of real beauty.

Love changes everything. It changes how we read the Bible, and what we see when we read the Bible. Without love, we see hopelessness. We lose sight of the promises and respond with
judgment. In the absence of love, we often move in anger, calling it righteous indignation. Yes, judgments are found in the Bible, but love looks for answers and solutions from our loving Father, who is more committed to our well-being than we are. Those who are not in love see only the requirements God has given and not His willingness to unleash heaven’s power on earth,
gracing
us into victory. Such enablement is His gift to all who receive Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Word, the Holy Scriptures. You continually give me life from what I read. Thank You for that. Please help me to read everything through the life of Jesus, with the Holy Spirit as my guide. I never want my desire for correctness to be greater than my love for You and for people. In fact, let my passion for truth come only as an expression of my love for You. I know these things are possible only through Your grace. Thank You in advance for enabling me to put love first.

Confession

By the grace of God freely given to me, I will display my love for God and His Word by my practical love for people. Even in my pursuit of truth, I will illustrate the heart of Jesus for others by caring for those who differ from me. And all these things I will do that God may be glorified.

You have authority over any storm you can sleep in.

J
esus set the standard for how we face life-threatening storms effectively—in rest. The storm mentioned in Mark 4:36–41 brought great fear to the disciples. They probably thought they were going to die. What made the moment even more confusing was that Jesus did not seem to care; instead, He chose to sleep in the stern of the boat on a cushion. When they finally woke Him, they asked Him why He did not care that they were perishing. He got up and rebuked the wind, and released peace over the sea. He then asked them why they had no faith. This moment illustrates how the Kingdom works, how faith works: It works from rest.

I have seen countless times when believers were tormented by great fear in a horrible situation and rebuked the devil accordingly. It usually involved yelling, tears and threats. But I have honestly never seen the devil yield to such tactics. Not that raising our voices is wrong. There is just a great difference between the loud voice of faith and the loud voice of fear. And believe me, the devil knows the difference. The voice of faith repels
him, while the voice of fear attracts him. The words spoken make little difference.

This place of rest can also be called abiding in Christ. Jesus taught of this in His story about the vine and the branches. In the same way that a branch is connected to the vine, so we are to be connected to Christ. Abiding in Christ must become practical again.
Abiding
means basically that we live with a profound connection to the heart, mind and presence of God, with His promises. Living conscious of God’s heart for us keeps us in a place of peace. And peace is more than the absence of something like war, noise or conflict. Our peace is the presence of Someone. It is the actual atmosphere of heaven.

When we begin to live out of fear, we must return to wherever we left our peace. Losing our peace usually involves making a mental agreement with a lie until our emotions become captive to that lie. The fiery darts of the enemy get past our shields of faith and penetrate our souls. The agreements made in those moments work against God’s purposes for our lives. Repentance is in order. Repentance is the deep sorrow for sin that provokes a change in thinking. It is not complete until our thought lives are affected. It is not complete until we see that His promises and purposes are within reach.

The easiest approach to this challenge in life is to maintain peace in the first place. Cultivate a supreme value for the presence of God upon your life. Always have God’s promises for your life within reach. Memorize them, sing them, write them out on pieces of paper—do anything you need to do to keep His mind in front of yours, until His thoughts become instinctively your thoughts.

Prayer

Father, please give me some kind of warning when I am about to leave the place of peace You have created for me to live in. I do not
want to do that anymore. It is too hard to recover. Remind me of the truth when I am about to consider a lie. And help me to anchor my soul in Your presence, in Your peace. Thank You for giving me the actual atmosphere of heaven to dwell in now.

Confession

His peace is my portion. It is my possession forever. I choose to live aware of the Holy Spirit upon me, and will not forget that His thoughts about me are all good.