Pastor Cheri
We continue our book study today with our book for the month, DON’T STOP HERE!
I hope you have gotten a copy and also sent in your sponsorship? Again, use the offering link if you are yet to. God bless you abundantly!
Let's begin now. Chapter 3
JERICHO: 3
Where You Meet The Holy Ghost!
"And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho" (2 Kings 2:4).
Jericho is the place where you meet the Holy Ghost. You'll find this in Joshua 5:13-15:
"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."
The man, Joshua, had not known the Holy Ghost. He was preparing to take Jericho when he saw a man with his sword drawn, ready for a fight. Joshua fearlessly approached him and asked, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"
"Neither of you," the Man replied, "I'm the Captain of the Lord's host."
Suddenly Joshua's eyes opened and he realized he was talking to the Holy Ghost. At this, he fell down and worshipped Him and asked, "What does my LORD have to say?"
When you come to Jericho, it means you've moved from Gilgal, where you started out, to Bethel, where you made your commitment to God. Since you didn't want to stop there, you took further steps to meet and know the Holy Ghost. Why? You have a greater work to do; there's a Jericho' for you to conquer and possess. There are walls that must come down, walls that must give way.
At Jericho, you meet the Holy Ghost and He changes your life as He did Joshua's. He said to Joshua, "Look, that sword you have in your hand is not going to work. You can't stand by the gates of Jericho and hope that someday they'll open up for you to rush in. You can't hope to climb the walls either. Let Me tell you what to do."
The importance of the Holy Spirit in the things we do cannot be over emphasized. No matter what you do in God's house, whether you clean the louvers or you're the pastor, God will not bless it except it is done by the power of the Holy Spirit. According to the Bible, if it's not done by the power of the Holy Spirit, it's nothing to God. But if it is, then it is recorded in Heaven. Even if you're cleaning the church floor, you must clean by the power of the Holy Spirit, for nothing is acceptable to God except it is presented to Him through the Holy Spirit. Jesus presented Himself as a sacrifice through the eternal Spirit,
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14).
You see, Jericho is the place where you leave your human strategies and take up the Holy Ghost's strategies. It's the place where you stop thinking carnally, where you stop using the calculator to tell how much you can have. jericho is the place where you stop using your bank account to determine how much you're able to do. Jericho is the place where you take the Holy Ghost's strategies and use them for His glory.
*When you have made a commitment to God at Bethel, you need the Holy Ghost to accomplish it. You need the Holy Ghost in your work in the house of God and in the Kingdom. God gave you an assignment and gave you provision for the assignment so you won't fail in it, so you can come out a success in it. This provision is the Holy Ghost.
We are so privileged to have this all-round gift, present in any area we need Him. Thank God for His salvation which made Him available to us.
We must take advantage of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in so doing, receive abilities and strategies to carry out our work in the Kingdom. Hallelujah!*
The Holy Ghost said to Joshua, "Here's what you're going to do: Go round the walls, once every day for seven days. On the seventh day, go around it seven times. Be quiet all the time until the last time of the seventh day. At the last time, shout, and the walls will come down! This is another revelation in Jericho.
*Move to page 51*
YOU BECOME A WARRIOR IN JERICHO!
You know, it's one thing to know how to read your Bible, pray everyday and go to church when you should, but it's another thing to live a victorious life. It's one thing to be militant in your spirit but another thing entirely to understand the battle and be victorious in it. When you say, "The battle is the Lord's," there's a lot more to it than that. It's the Lord's battle alright, but He calls you His battle axe and weapons of war (Jeremiah 51:20).
In Jericho, God doesn't command us to stand still. We don't stand still; the generation that stood still has died. Moses said to that generation, "Hey, stand still and see the salvation of God" (Exodus 14:13) - because they had the slave mentality - but remember, God's response was an urgent "Go forward !" Now, this is not the generation with the slave mentality; this new generation has the warrior mentality. We're God's gladiators, and He continually urges us to go forward and launch the offensive against the enemy.
In this new generation, not only are we militant in our spirits, we also never take 'No' for an answer or back down for the devil or give anything up to him. When you get to this point you, won't say, "The battle is the Lord's" and fold your hands. You are His battle-axe and weapons of war! He's carrying out His acts through you.
In Jericho, you pray with understanding. Now, there's a difference between praying with understanding and praying with THE understanding. Praying with the understanding means praying through your mind in a language that you understand. Praying with understanding, however, means that even though you may not be praying in the language you understand, you understand and are applying the principles of prayer; you know who you are and who God is. You understand that you're praying as a joint heir with Christ; that means you're praying with reverence and with faith, through the Word of God. That's what it means to pray with understanding. Some people pray without understanding, so when they talk to God, He doesn't hear them and they get no results.
You've got to manifestly understand who you are and who God is, and that without faith you cannot please Him. Without the principles of God's Word in operation, your prayers are empty, even when you're praying in other tongues. Pray with your spirit open for God to hear you, and you to hear Him. That's the fellowship of the Spirit - you're talking to God and He's talking to you. It's not a one-way communication. You're pouring your heart out to Him and He's pouring His heart to you. That's fellowship, and when you fellowship with God this way through His Spirit, you're filled with wisdom and with the Word of God and you become an effective soldier in the Kingdom of God.
*So for you to become effective in the Kingdom, you have to fellowship with God, fellowship with the Holy Spirit in prayer. Hallelujah!*
When you come to Jericho, you become a warrior. You see, at Gilgal, you're excited about being born again, and that's wonderful. At Bethel, you become committed to the things of God. That's great too. But when you arrive at Jericho, you become a fighter. You start talking differently. You start talking about taking cities, nations and the world. You're different now, your life has changed. You have arrived in Jericho - the place of warfare. Even your intercessory prayers have changed. Now you speak words of power; fire comes out of your mouth and you're conquering cities and nations for Jesus Christ.
I congratulate you if you're already in Jericho. If not, get out of Gilgal! Move on from Bethel! Come over to Jericho, and become a combatant for Christ. Glory to God!
*Hallelujah! Chapter 4*
JORDAN: 4
The Place of Confirmation
"And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on" (2 Kings 2:6).
At Jericho, Elijah said to Elisha again, "Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan."
Elisha said, "You mean we're not through yet? Well, I'm not through if you're not through. If the Lord has sent you to Jordan, that's where l'm going too!"
If you've been a Christian for some time - a few years, and your life hasn't caught the fire of the Spirit, then you still have a long way to go. By now your life should be on fire for God. By now there should be some fire inside you! If you're still being counselled or you still say things like, "The pastor offended me, so l'm not going to that church anymore;"if you still take offense and harbour bitterness, youre still at Gilgal, you've not even got to Bethel!
What are you waiting for when you should be winning cities and nations for Christ?
Don't stay at Gilgal; don't stop at Bethel; move on to Jericho! But something more happens when you get to Jericho. The Voice speaks and says to you, "Move from here! I've got something for you in Jordan. Get out of Jericho, move to Jordan!"
Jordan signifies the place of confirmation. By the time you get to Jordan, you will hear a Voice from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This is what happened to Jesus at Jordan as He was being baptized. God spoke out from heaven and declared openly that Jesus is His beloved Son; the One in whom He was well pleased, glory, Hallelujah! As a Christian, you must come to the point in your life where that Voice of God confirms you; this takes place when you get to Jordan.
*Move to page 67*
Conclusion
"(God) Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:" (2 Timothy1:10).
There's another life, and God has brought it to light, He has revealed it to us through the gospel. This is why He calls us a new breed of people,
"...a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises (the virtues and perfections) of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9).
It's our calling, that's why you must refuse to remain in Gilgal. Move on to Bethel, and when you get to Bethel, don't stay there, move on to Jericho! Don't stop at Jericho either; go on to Jordan, for Jordan is the place we have been called to in the New Testament, Hallelujah!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will," (Ephesians 1:3-5).
This is the adoption we've been talking about, when you are raised and trained by the Father to the stage of maturity, that's when He delivers the world into your hands; and it takes place in Jordan.
"Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father" (Galatians 4:1-20).
Notice the Scripture doesn't say until a time the heir appoints by himself, but until a time appointed by his Father. You're already an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ, but as long as you're a child, you will not be different from a servant. You'll find sometimes that the same things that happen to unbelievers happen to you also. Don't wonder where the problem is, it's because you're still a child! You need to grow.
Paul says the heir is placed under tutors and governors; that's the training process, that's how he is brought up. That's why the Bible lets us know,
"...he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
Iť's time for you to grow up in God; it's time to move forward in your walk with the Lord. Get up from Gilgal and move on to Bethel! Now, don't stop at Bethel, move from there to Jericho. But remember, there's a place beyond Jericho - there's a Jordan to get to! So, don't Stop here, move on to Jordan!
*Say This
I am an heir of God
I am a joint-heir with Christ
I am mature
I have moved
To my destined placevof operation
And with the Holy Spirit
I achieve much.
You shouldn’t find yourself in the position where you complain or find it hard to do the things of God, it should flow from you naturally. Hallelujah! This happens when you come to Jordan.
You should be willing and ready to give for the work of the Kingdom. You should not be reminded all the time, you should have planned your seeds before time. Hallelujah!
If you are not yet a partner, join now, let the Kingdom experience the impact and effect of your finances, let changes be made in the earth through your giving. Praise God!
Lift up your hands and worship, the Lord now!*