“The Mind Of Christ”

Many times waking up in the morning can be like a car crossing an intersection and suddenly getting broadsided by a semi truck loaded full of negative thoughts, accusations, and worries.  If we are not careful these thoughts can consume our active mind and give us a day of depression that results in a troubled night of fitful sleep resulting from the worst day you could ever experience.
 
But to take you back to the beginning of the situation I just described to you, you must understand that putting on the mind of Christ gives you the most incredible protection from this deluge of negative thoughts.  The mind of Christ is literally putting on the helmet of salvation. This helmet protects you from all mental interruptions.
 
The way the helmet of salvation works is similar to the technology of noise cancellation, which is used in modern headphones to silence outside noise (such as the roar of airplane engines while flying). Of course, God’s helmet of salvation is much more sophisticated because it is a firewall that melts the fiery darts of distractions, causing them to drop into your lower stomach, so then you can literally flush them out in the toilet.
 
But this only works if you are disciplined and do not let any of the garbage to come out of your mouth. Remember that Jesus said, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” So speaking respectfully in simple language ~ if you happen to listen to garbage, shut up, don’t speak or repeat ~ just go to the bathroom. 
 
Now that we have settled the crude part of this understanding, let us go to the more refined, delicate, and creative portions of what God wants to release in you. What I mean here is “thought preservation.” It is a type of thought “scaffolding” ~ a temporary structure that allows previously unbelievable thoughts that are so good and wonderful, to remain in your mind until the actual miracle occurs and is manifested in your life!
 
And the larger your adventure becomes, the longer you will need to preserve the thought scaffolding. For example, Abraham had to believe God would give him and Sarah a son ~ and to keep trusting in God’s promise for 25 years. That was a long time for the scaffolding of faith to stay erected in his mind. But there are good reasons for this long period of patience, for James tells us, “to let patience have its perfect work that you may be entire lacking nothing.”
 
This truth is very important because it speaks about perfect completion and perfect fulfillment of everything that God has promised you. Think about it! Every dream, every vision that God has given you since you were a little child He is willing to fulfill ~ if you will let patience have its perfect work. But this also means that you’ll let the structure of the scaffolding of faith in your mind to be renewed daily ~ and also protected by the helmet of salvation from any semi truck, loaded full of bad thoughts, that comes by trying to crash into your mind.
 
[In next week’s blog I’m going to talk more about advancing this thought process. I also would like to take a moment to invite any of you who read my blog to download the application called Periscope, and then follow Richard Gazowsky so you can join me in prayer.]

The Breath Of God

Early this morning, before the break of dawn, I suddenly was awake. The bedroom was dark and I hadn’t yet opened my eyes. All I could hear was the familiar steady breathe of my wife Sandy. The sound was so familiar to me that I didn’t need to open my eyes to confirm that she was asleep. So do I also long for the breath of God to be this recognizable to me.
 
It’s amazing at how young an age this “bonding by sound waves” can occur. This last Wednesday morning I was privileged to dedicate the baby Odehe Zelman Tettey Ayernor (the English translation for “Solomon”) who was just seven days old to the Lord. The women in the family told me the story of how well-behaved the little baby was, and was perfectly quiet for nearly 4 hours ~ until it heard the sound of his mother’s voice. I was amazed with wonder that a baby that young could recognize its mother’s voice from out of a crowd of women relatives. Yes, he could indeed distinguish his mother’s sound.
 
It is this level of recognition that I desire with the breath of God. Moses and the people of Israel experienced the breath of God in a whole new dimensional experience: “And with the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.” In this cool experience we see the power of the breath of God displayed openly before the people of God (and also the enemies of God).
 
Jesus shared the importance of this personal mystery and search when He said, “My sheep know My voice.” I have discovered the voice of God can be much gentler than any human language, and as soft as the wind: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof.” It is this sound that resonates so much through every fiber of my body, and I desire to hear it every single day of my life.
 
C. M. Ward, the international radio speaker for the Assemblies of God, once came to preach a special message to my ministerial staff. I was much younger and was just beginning my journey. He spoke with intensity, much like the king of England did when he addressed the young British Olympians in the movie, Chariots Of Fire: “What motivates you for success,” he proclaimed, “is what will determine how important your existence on earth will be. There are four possibilities:
 
“1. Money, but this can leave you as dark and lonely as a bank vault; 2. Power, but this can leave you like a king surrounded by security with no one to love; 3. Fame, but like the other two, it leaves you with walls created by appearances, that when penetrated they deflate everything you stood for; 4. Obedience. This word doesn’t even fit into the same category as the other three motivational powers. Over the last 30 years of life in leadership, I have meditated on these motivational powers constantly. I have found undeniably that obedience to the still small voice of God is exclusively the only way to God’s gold medal in the race of life.”
 
From observing President George Bush Sr. heeding a warning by God to suspend the Iraqi War, to me personally hearing the breath of God tell me to immediately go home so I could witness the passing of my own mother ~ such visits from God’s breath are not lone monuments to be carved in stone and remembered and spoken about because of their rarity ~ but instead should be as common as a daily to-do list.
 
The sound of Sandy’s breathing is so common in my life, which it resonates with heartwarming familiar reality. So must it be in every Christian’s heart ~ the resident voice of God whispering to us by the breath of His wind and instructing us in our daily life that is filled full of success. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” As you go towards the direction of God’s perfect will, His breath is always at your back propelling you forward.

“The Board Is Set! Let The Games Begin”

This week the Lord has been calling me to extensive times of patience and solitude. From this overview in the Spirit I saw the playing fields of life’s experiences that are about ready to be filled with engagement. These fields encompass more than presidential politics, the Supreme Court, North Korea, and ISIS. It also includes your church and your family being completely debt-free. It is the time of genuine Jubilee, and finally it is for you to enter into your God-given purpose for your life and excel in it for the next 40 years!
Before us is an epic scene, above us are the dark foreboding clouds of apocalyptic doom, and beneath the storm is a soft light of hope that reveals to us ~ as small fragile humble farmers planting seeds and expecting a fresh bountiful crop. But how could such wonderful and ecstatic good news come out of such a dark situation and scenario?
The Lord once gave me a sermon called, “God’s Roller Coaster.” In the message I described my experience of riding with someone down the crookedest street in the hills of San Francisco and being afraid for my life. Then I described what it was like going to Disneyland and riding down even more dangerous curves at even faster speeds. Yet all the time I was having fun and throwing up my hands while enjoying the journey!
The difference between the two rides was that in Disneyland I was in a controlled environment. When you are walking in the perfect will of God, you and our nation area also in a controlled environment! Through prayer and intercession we have placed our nation, our family, and our future totally 100% in the hands of Jesus Christ and His angelic army. Now, all we have to do is sit back, relax, trust God, and enjoy the battle that goes on before us!
Years ago I was very ill and I saw the battle that is going on right now in the news through a vision that God gave me. At the end of the vision I saw leviathan rise out of the sea and try to consume our nation, but he was defeated by the presence of God. I asked the Lord, “What should I do?” The Lord spoke, “Richard, do nothing. For the battle belongs to the Lord!”
I then asked the Lord, “Can I have an opinion?” The Lord said, “No!” I then asked the Lord even further, “Can I explain to people what is good and what is bad?” The Lord said, “No!” In my frustration I even questioned the Lord further (remember I was very ill when all this happened): “Lord, then what am I supposed to do?” The Lord’s word was very clear to me: “You are to bring healing to the nation. Do not take part in any aggressive action that is going on in the battlefield.”
I am now seeing that vision coming to pass right before my eyes ~ as a reality. It’s occurring all over the earth and I realize that it is God that has placed us in this unique position.  As I sat in my place of solitude prayer, I heard the Lord say, “The board is set! Let the games begin!” The battle that you are about to witness in the news, in the world, maybe even in some of your neighborhoods, is the battle between Light and darkness. Do not engage in this battle, do not take part in it, and do not even have an opinion about it. Instead, stand back and realize you are here for the healing.
Everything I just said is just an introduction to this game. But if we are to ultimately win this game, whom do we root for? There are good and bad people on both sides of this conflict. It reminds me of the ancient story in the Bible about Joshua, when he went to pray in solitude preparing for the great battle of Jericho. When an angel appeared before him, Joshua did not know who it was and asked him, “Are you with us? Or are you with them?” The angel replied, “Neither. But as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.”
You see, angels do not choose sides, they just execute the judgment of the Lord. This is what you and I need to do. We should not take sides, but instead should cheer for Jesus and whomever His divine favor is upon.
Those of you, who are aware of the ways of God, know that sometimes God anoints even those that might offend us to do His purpose.  So the quicker you and I can get over our personal offenses, the sooner we will be able to cheer on the perfect will of God in the earth, the quicker you and I will be able to plant the seeds of prosperity in the ground that God is bequeathing to us as our inheritance. Wow! While the world is at war it is time for you to plant vineyards so you and your family will receive the fruits of inheritance that God has promised you.
I must tell you that I stayed up until 3 AM in solitude writing this previous sentence. I knew this message was not complete because the most important battle the world is about to face is ready to begin before our eyes. There is a secret message that God has for you and I, and its revelation is found in the statement, “The board is set! Let the games begin!”
When I woke up this morning I had been given a dream in the night. I was standing on a mountaintop and I was lifting up my hands and releasing prayers for you to begin your God-given career. At the end of 2015 the Lord gave me a dream that I was to go to Asia for an anointing to do a particular task. Brother Timothy Snodgrass met my family and me in Asia, where we poured out water before the Lord. At the same moment there was a 5.0 earthquake released by heaven around us!
Upon leaving Asia, as our plane landed in Hiroto airport in Japan there was an earthquake in that nation! Brother Timothy said it corroborated the importance of God’s release. But to be honest, I was not sure what God was anointing us for. In other words, exactly what was God going to release? My dream this morning made it very clear that God is going to release your God-given calling and career.
The war that is going on in the heavenlies is breaking the chains and yolks that have been placed upon your weary shoulders by family, society, even religious, educational, and man-conceived machines that were designed to make you prosper ~ but ended up leaving you in bondage. This battle is setting you free from all of this, so it might get bloody. We must be careful to only go where He says, speak what He tells us, and plant what He wants planted.
All of you are invited to join me in these prayers of releasing your careers. You can do it by simply putting the App Periscope on your smart phone and follow “Richard Gazowsky”. The application will announce to you when and where prayer is going on and you can join me by video. So, instead of taking part in the war outside, let’s join together in planting the prosperity of our futures! Together we will be fulfilling this divine instruction: “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”

“God’s Parking Lot”

My daughter Rocki Star awoke this morning with an incredible dream. “There was a parking lot with classic and new cars,” she said, “and everyone was revamped up to be worth six figures apiece. My dad was walking through the lot with an angel-like figure and was able to pick out any car he wanted. Then my dad told me, ‘You can go and pick any car for yourself.’ I picked out a updated classic car that was seriously gorgeous!”
 
At this same time, in our families informal sharing and prayer this morning, Sandy shared a Scripture that the Lord had given to her, about Israel first receiving the manna from heaven that was like coriander seed. Sandy and Rocki then rushed to the kitchen spice cabinet and handed me some coriander seed to taste.  It was so refreshing and enlightening.
 
Just the previous night, during our family’s discussions, I had shared how God had given very specific instructions to Israel when He passed out the blessings of the manna: “Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons…he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack…they gathered every man according to his eating…but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank”. Those instructions were very unique. Recently Brother Gershom explained it to me at a much richer level of understanding.
 
He said, “When God is promoting you He lets your actions determine the quality of blessing He’s going to give to you over the next process of time. I know ministers that when they were blessed with a large sum of money to go to the conference, instead of staying in a nice five-star for which they had plenty of money to afford, they chose to save money and stay in a cheap motel.
 
“Years later their supply of funds diminished till every time they had to stay in a motel it was one of low quality. At the same time God blessed me with the same large provision that the ministers I just mentioned had. I stayed in a five-star hotel and had nothing extra left over. Years later I was still staying in five-star hotels because that was the provision that God kept providing for me.”
 
When I heard these words of wisdom coming from Gershom’s mouth, I realized that God had been doing the same type of testing in my own life. As God blessed me with prosperity today, did I use the amount that He had given me to its full use, or did I try to be a little smarter than God and save a little extra for a rainy day, by collecting the extra money that I’d gotten to be put into my savings so I would be protected from any future trouble that comes?
 
The second course of action I just described is what the world calls fiscal responsibility. But it seems that God is introducing me to a new type of safety. And that is being singularly dependent upon divine responsibility and the vulnerability of totally relying upon Him. If you think about it, this is a pretty scary price to pay for promotion into God’s wealth. But don’t forget the Scripture says, “For the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it.”
 
So back to Rocki’s dream and God’s parking lot. God is giving us a chance to choose to feel as cool as we want. A vehicle in the dream represents the systems or processes to keep you and your group together. Would you like to travel first class, or are you just looking for a small little budget sedan that will just barely get you to heaven?
 
“I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.” This verse of Scripture has woken me up. It is time for you and I to get up on the horse that a true prince and princess would. It is time for all of America to rise up and take their rightful place and lead the nations of the world.
 
I must also give you pastoral warning: none of what I am teaching will work unless you are daily listening to the active voice of God in your spirit!

“Through The Fog Of Confusion ~ It’s Day-By-Day”

By Richard Gazowsky
 
I had just walked into a fast food restaurant to get a soda, when a demon-possessed man was screaming trying to cause confrontation with everyone in the room. As I stood in line he got closer and closer to me, to where his evil loud yelling confusion literally hurt my ears. But the Lord told me to keep on towards my goal ~ which was to get a drink.
 
Finally, when I blessed the cashier with a happy and pleasant, “God bless you, and may today be your most wonderful day,” the demon-possessed man looked at me and screamed a blasphemy. I just went to the soda machine, got my drink, ignoring him completely, and then headed towards the door. As soon as I reached the door the demon-possessed man fell into a seat and went to sleep.
 
At the time I was preparing to write this blog, and such a physical visual example occurred right before my eyes. Satan is around you trying to create confusion and noise, but just be still and quiet, and rest in the guidance of the Lord to see you through to your completion.
 
A short time ago Sunny and I went together to the top of Mount Tamalpais to pray. When we got to the mountaintop it was covered in a deep fog from the clouds that were preparing to send rain upon the Bay Area. Sunny walked over to me in the midst of the thick fog. 
 
“Dad,” he said, “beyond this fog there is a huge vista of San Francisco and the Bay Area laid out before us. But He doesn’t want us to plan because we cannot see. What God is saying to us now is that we must take it one day’s action at a time and only let God determine the future.”
 
When Sunny spoke those words to me, I knew it was truly an instruction for not only me, but also for all of us. There is much noise and confusion happening in every realm of authority: in the church world, the political world, the business world, and even in our own personal family life.
 
In the midst of this ball of confusion it is so important that each one of us hear the daily instructions from the voice of God that speaks in our heart. Remember that Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice and another they will not hear.”
 
The prophet Isaiah saw a day like the one we’re living in, when there would be much trouble. He said these words, “For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” At the same time this prophecy is about a battle, it is also about the coming Messiah Jesus.
 
Everyone of us must realize that in the fog of war we can only take our steps one day at a time, for God does not show us His long term or even short-term plans. Instead, He gives us the plan each day at a time. Jesus told us, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
 
A few days ago I was talking with a business owner who just signed a contract for distribution to an entire nation. But at the same time there was much confusion and doubt that was trying to cancel the contract. This faithful Christian had to be strong to ensure that the only part of the deal they had to worry about ~ was their signature on the bottom of the page.
 
Today, in the fog of war, you will take one small step that may lead to the conquering of a nation. But that step must be a step of faith!
 

“Lest You Say, ‘I Made Abraham Rich'”

This week I saw Donald Trump celebrating his Nevada primary caucus win. He did something that quite amazed me. He held his victory celebration in a Las Vegas hotel that was not his own Trump hotel. In his victory speech he turned to the owner of the hotel who was in the audience, and said, “Didn’t you offer me $12 million to help my campaign and I refused it?” The owner nodded his head, “Yes, that is true.”
I realized that what I was seeing was the same scenario that is painted for us in the Scripture, when the king of Sodom and Gomorrah offered Abraham the spoils of warfare. Abraham said, “I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abraham rich.” Abraham was one of the wealthiest men in the known world, but he also realized that his wealth was completely dependent on his relationship with God.
There is a point that a person can come to where their wealth is sufficient for their own needs, and they realize their decisions (such as Trump’s decision to run for President) is not in the hands of the money people. It’s in the hands of the American people and their votes in the voting boxes. Let me make the point that I have no opinion on who should be our next President ~ only that the American people will decide.
I do know that this is a dynamic that you and I are going to have to come to grips with. Over the last few years our church in San Francisco has been facing a serious crisis regarding the city of San Francisco and our building on Ocean Avenue. Like Abraham, who is the father of the Jewish nation and the father of the faithful, it is extremely important who you say made you rich. I repeat: “I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine lest thou shouldest say, ‘I have made Abram rich.'” This accolade is so precious that I believe the Lord has reserved it for Himself in San Francisco.
This message is not just for me as pastor of the church, but it is also for all of you that are members of A Place To Meet Jesus. God’s blessings are coming to you because everything is coming to pass. But it’s important that you don’t receive a premature look-alike blessing that can trick you into a long period of bondage.

Are You Considering The Leeks Of Egypt?

This morning I sat in a small quaint historical restaurant and ordered a cup of potato leek soup. When I tasted this savory soup I was amazed at how delicious the flavor of the leeks were as it fell upon my palate. I thought in my mind as I smiled, “No wonder the children of Israel desired to have once again the Egyptian leeks.” It also revealed to me how classy and discerning God is in helping us to achieve the proper decision if we are to follow the perfect will of God.
The leek soup that I was eating was so delicious that it must’ve been a high point and memory of an Israeli slave’s life when he got to eat this savory soup. I wonder why God allows us to have questions in the midst of our breakthrough, that many times makes us consider going back instead of forward. And even a more stunning realization is that the rewards that God has waiting for us are so great and so phenomenal, that if we ever saw them in reality we would drop all of the leeks and run like maniacs across our obstacles to enter into our future.
Here is an understanding that God has given to me concerning God’s discerning and considerate thoughts about the choices you and I make. He wants us to decide to follow His wonderful future with no shadow of a doubt in our minds, so He allows us to make choices based upon the best possible moment in our past before we lock into His promised future. This is where the leeks of the Egypt and the soup that is front of me comes into the picture. It’s our choice ~ the leeks or His future.
I cannot even count the number of people famous (and infamous) who made the decision to settle for the leeks of Egypt instead of following Jesus into His glorious promises. The Bible clearly states that there is a perfect will of God. This is God’s will that brings us into: “The Lord maketh rich and added no sorrow with it”. We are on the verge of having this blessing come upon all of us. This means that the church will be completely paid in full, and as a congregation all of us will enter into our Jubilee year.
God set over the nation of Israel the celebration of the 50th year, which was the year of Jubilee. At this time every Israeli citizen had all of their debts completely erased and they became debt-free! Next week,February 27, 2016, will be exactly 50 years since our founding pastor, Marilynn Gazowsky, held the first church service at the Voice of Pentecost Church, which is now called A Place To Meet Jesus (I was eleven years old at that service in 1966.) This is what I mean about God being so classy. He’s timed everything so that it is done at the perfect moment, at the perfect time, at the perfect place. Praise the name of Jesus Christ!  Wow! What a wonderful celebration we are going to have very soon.
(Oh, and by the way, I didn’t finish the leek soup. It tasted just great but I thought, “I’m gonna leave it behind because I’m going to the Promised Land!”)

“Faith Wrapped In Patience Is The Vein Of Gold For Your Life”

The promise that is made in this title is much more elusive and difficult to obtain than would be thought by the casual observer. But at the same time the gold that is discovered is much richer than the same observer could ever imagine.
 
Faith: it is much more than positive thinking. It is receiving an independent word from the Lord that is confirmed out of the mouth of two or three witnesses. It becomes established in your Spirit that it is going to happen as promised by God Himself! God is so careful about the quality of this faith that He tests even the thoughts and intents of your heart to make sure that what you’re thinking is pure and aligned with your faith.
 
The test that God gives you is so soul-searching that nobody, not even the closest member of your family (or even more shocking, your mate) will know you’re in the test. Moses gave us this warning about this test: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them’; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
 
Listen to what the Scripture is saying. God is testing you, not the prophet, to see if you hear God’s voice. What happens here, is that after you receive the word of faith from God that the miracle is going to happen in your life, then God allows somebody that looks like they’re from the Lord (or maybe were from the Lord at one time) to test you and see if you’ll waiver concerning God’s promise.
 
For many of you this may be hard to believe, but this is where maturity in your Christian life must be established. When I was a child I spake as a child, Paul said, then I became a man. This is your time to grow up and stay firm on your thoughts and intents that God spoke to you ~ and never waiver.
 
Patience: Now that we’ve got the word of God that established our faith, and we are sure it is a word from God, we must wrap that word in patience. Hebrews, the third and fourth chapters, gives us the key to understanding the importance of patience. It is resting in God, literally relaxing, that He is going to provide the miracle that is going to cause the project, event, or promise to come to pass. When Jesus was prophesying about the end times, He literally said this phrase: “In patience possess ye your soul.” This may be a small little phrase that was given to us who are living at the end of days, but it is so important.
 
Its importance shows you why the enemy is constantly pounding us with the spirit of anxiousness: “It’s gotta be done now!” Anyone who tells you to hurry up you’ve got to do it now ~ you had better stop and question. Patience is literally the covering and protection of your very soul. As a pastor I have dealt with literally hundreds of people who have missed their perfect miracle because they got anxious and had to have whatever it was they were believing God for now, instead of waiting for the Lord to let them rest and receive it.
 
The gold: This is the best part! After years of experiences with many people making major decisions, I can honestly say I am pastoring a church that is full of people who have patiently waited for the gold. This is the year that your promises are going to start coming to pass! By 2017 the American economy will begin to explode and all of you will ride this massive tidal wave of prosperity into your success. The inventions you have envisioned are going to become business realities, the mate you dreamed about will become your long-awaited satisfying love. God has not forgotton one detail of His promises to you. Let me close by telling you a true story.
 
Years ago it was prophesied to me by a prophet that I would put words into the mouths of kings. I thought this word was actually funny because it seemed so impossible for it to happen. But I did not forget it, even though it seemed a little ridiculous at the time. Then last week I was meeting with a friend of mine, who asked me to draft a letter that he was sending to a friend of his in a small country. I prayed about it and God gave me a clever thing to write in his letter, and we sent it to his friend.
 
The next day we received pictures from his friend and we saw that the letter had been given to the president of the country, and he had presented it to the pope in the Vatican! I started laughing as I realized it was exactly the prophecy that was given to me years ago. God doesn’t forget one small jot or tittle of anything He has promised you. He will keep His side of the bargain. It’s only up to you and I to rest and relax until He does so.
Pastor Richard Gazowsky

“The Steadfast Confidence Of God’s Promises”

Last summer the Lord spoke to me that I was coming to my Red Sea experience, similar to the test that Moses and the people of Israel faced. What the Lord was referring to ended up being an epic trial that would become a cornerstone of my life. Each one of you who are united with us in the Spirit, at “A Place To Meet Jesus,” may also be encountering your own Red Sea.

Daunting situations, and obstacles that seem insurmountable give us a chance to be cleansed. Or, as John said in the book of Revelation to the Laodicean Church, purified by fire. The fire is the situation that you are facing, along with the countless questions that are constantly coming to your mind.

The purpose of the fire is to remove dross, or pollution, from your spirit. This dross is to be discarded and never to be used again. At the same time, if you seek the presence of Jesus constantly throughout the day, this trial will actually draw you closer and more intimate with Him ~ which is your ultimate life’s goal.

One of the mysteries of this experience is learning the ways of God. Remember, His ways are not like your ways. The inventiveness and creativity of God is beyond your human understanding. The only way you can begin to comprehend it is to observe His previous actions and miracles that you have individually experienced.

I have personally learned that you’ve got to turn your reasoning mind off! I know this will be hard for many of you who are intelligent to even consider, because you have become so dependent on your vast knowledge and education.

Look at the situation of Moses. He was educated in the finest college of the greatest ruling nation on earth. Now here he was leading an army of one million slaves to what seemed to be a dead end journey ~ for in front of them was the uncrossable Red Sea. No one could even calculate the possibility of building ships large enough to transport such a massive population. And that’s not taking in account the task of what to do with the majority of helpless slaves while the ships were being constructed.

To make matters worse, pharaoh and his entire elite army blocked any way of escape for the people of Israel. So how do you think an intelligent man like Moses dealt with the mental torment that must’ve been going on in his mind? This was the kind of question I was asking myself.

Then God revealed to me the answer. “Don’t be afraid,” He said. “Remember, yes, remember in detail what God, your God, did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.” This is the key. Instead of filling your mind with worries, fill your mind with memories about what God has already done ~ and proved to you His steadfast faithfulness.

When I began personally filling my thoughts with only what God has already done in my life, suddenly my spirit, mind, thoughts, and intents were filled with rock-solid faith that He will continue to be my faithful guide through this troubling sea that I’m facing! Do you realize that when Moses began crossing the Red Sea he looked up at walls of frozen water that were nearly 600 feet tall (according to the depths of the Red Sea where Moses crossed)!

As a matter of fact, recent archaeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian chariot wheels at the bottom of that part of the Red Sea! So not only did Moses and all of the people have to believe the miracle as it happened before them, but they had to keep believing the miracle would continue long enough for them to be able to cross safely all the way to the other side!

Not only do I believe that the miracle of remodeling our church and the launching of the movie industry is going to begin, but I believe that miracles will continue to happen to all of us as we cross through our own personal Red Seas. Every promise that God has given you is not only going to come to pass, but it’s going to be fulfilled in its entirety and completeness. Because our God is steady and He is a guarantor of His promises!

The Church’s New Roof ~ The Sign Of God’s Covering

Brother Vello Vaim, the prophet from Sweden, prophesied that first the roof must be fixed ~ then pay off the church.  He said when the leaking roof is fixed it will be a sign in the Spirit that you have a covering.  This miracle is now happening before all of our eyes! 
 
Couple this prophecy with a dream my wife Sandy recently had.  She saw an angel hand a note to her and said, “God loves a show.” Today we all have front row seats as we watch God put on His performance!
 
Many times in the Bible God caused all of the people to see a physical sign whenever God moved. That way everybody knew, down to the littlest child, that it was indeed the day the Lord had chosen. Everyone of you should know this is the day that the Lord has chosen for San Francisco to have incredible signs from God.
 
Last Sunday the Lord told me to ask all of you a question: “Do you believe in God’s miracles, healing, bringing youth and financial prosperity to you, and causing a revival to happen in the city of San Francisco?” As you know, I then asked you all to stand up as a sign of your confession of your belief ~ and 100% of you did so. I was amazed when I saw such unity by everyone in the building.
 
If you remember, the week before last Sunday I said in my message that the building would now get a new roof. But at the time I had no clue that the contractors had already started working on the roof. And now it is happening! What an incredible sign from the Lord this is! Everything He has promised you in the past is now being released. It’s time for you to stand up in your best clothes and receive your miracle today!