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Top Ten Reasons Why No Fire?
10. Lack of understanding about what it means to be born again, the plan of salvation, and the new covenant.
People are saved by receiving the Word of God. Not by asking God to do something. Not by trying to change something about yourself. Not by focusing real hard on the words or repeating them over and over. Human beings are at the mercy of the overwhelming integrity of the word of God. The truth breaking upon the consciousness saves:
God has made Jesus Lord and Christ (Acts 2:38) We do not do this and we could not if we wanted to. We do not have the power or authority to make Jesus Lord or Christ. He is Lord and Christ of regardless of what we do or do not do.
Jesus is Lord of all. (Rom 10:13, Acts 10:36)
Jesus is merciful to all who call on His name. (Rom 10:13) Once the reality of who is Lord is revealed to a man, all that remains for the man to do is call on the name of the Lord. This is all. You are simply exposed to the truth about who the Lord is are helpless to do anything but submit to His mercy.
No long nights at the alter repenting. No personal projects to try and get good enough to be saved.
Just raw naked subjecting yourself to the overwhelming power of the truth of His word.
You are saved because He said you are.
09. Lack of understanding about what it means to be righteous, sanctified, and redeemed.
Once saved, the believer is to understand himself to be as righteous and holy as he can ever be. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. There is nothing we can do to add to the righteousness of God. No works, dedication, or spiritual exercise can improve our standing with God one itoa. Not sickness. Not poverty. Not fasting. Not giving away all you have. Not good works, certainly not evil ones. Nothing will make you any more righteous than you were the instant your were saved. Resolve this in your heart and mind. Settle it once and for all. You are the righteousness of God in Christ.
08. Lack of knowledge about what it means to prophesy, pray in tongues, and intercede in the spirit.
The manifestations of the (Holy) Spirit have been given to each and every member of the Body of Christ. We are not talking about these gifts now. We are talking about the prophesying and praying that all believers can perform. We do not all have the Holy Spirit enabled tongues and prophecy... but we can all pray in tongues and prophesy out of the spirit of Christ in us. The spirit of Christ in you is that spirit that was born again into you when you got saved. That spirit is not mute. He can speak - and wants to! When your spirit speaks, it is not you that is speaking, it is Christ that is speaking in you. You no longer exist. Believers have missed an important truth here. The spirit of Christ in you has the ability to speak forth in the same way Jesus did. The words you (not you, Christ in you) are spirit and life just as His were. Your spirit (not you, the spirit of Christ in you) is a fountain of living words that can edify, comfort and exhort the body. Learn to speak forth from the compassion, assurance, and joy of your spirit (not you, the spirit of Christ in you) and you will be releasing the power and life of God into the world around you.
07. Lack of understanding about the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit.
They have been given to profit the body of Christ. Failure to discover and allow these to manifest means the body is not profiting! You have manifestations within you today... NOW! Learn what your manifestation(s) are, what "utterances" proceed their manifestation, and what triggers these ,manifestations. Realize that the "prophecy and tongues" mentioned in the former point (#8) are the vehicle by which these gifts are delivered! You will speak forth from the spirit of Christ in you to manifest gifts of healing, miracles, and faith. Learn that, like Jesus, we can trigger these manifestations by "troubling ourselves" and empathizing with the needs and pains of those around us. See the need. Empathize with it. Speak forth from you inner man (which is not you, but the spirit of Christ in you) and watch the power of God work in your midst.
06. Misconceptions about love and faith and how they work in the body ministry.
Faith the works by love avails much. Love believes all things. There is nothing that was not believed by love. If you believe something... it was love that believed it. Love sees needs and the bowels of your compassion are opened. The Hebrew word for "bowels" is womb. Ministry, love, compassion, and intercession all proceed from the womb of our spirit. We give birth to the works and ministries of God by entering into intercessory prayer. No love means no birth. No love means faith is not being energized. The individual ministry parts are driven by love. Love is driven by seeing needs and addressing them. Find the needs and empathize with them. Speak and act toward them. Don't know where to go or where you are supposed to be? Follow the love. Where is your love looking? What is your heart touched by? Go there. The love of God in you is the light that guides you. More than that, it drives you. Put up your sails and be driven by the winds of His love.
05. Division in the local assembly caused by social, racial, and class differences.
Go out of your way to make every man, women, and child in your assembly not only feel welcome.. but special. Not with phoney soulical love.. but with the genuine love that exists in you. Look across your assembly. Make yourself become aware of the differences and rejoice in them! Celebrate the glory that is the universal acceptance of God toward all men (and women!). If you are rich, take care that you do not treat any man different. If you are poor, take care that you do not enter into envy, strife, and bitterness. Teach your children that God has accepted all races and classes. This really needs work in some area.
04. Gossip, backbiting, strife, resentment, envy and pride in the local assembly.
One of the worst. Nothing will short circuit the fire in a chruch more than gossip and backbiting. Stop it at all costs. Start a group of gossip police. Wear a badge that says "No Gossip Zone"! Let it be know from the pulpit on down that gossip is not acceptable behavior for the children of God. Pastors and teachers are often the victims of this evil. The authority and integrity of a man of God can be destroyed by lies and slander. Make it a point to always speak love, goodness, and compassion.
03. Lack of understanding about the difference between faith and doctrine.
Faith is spiritual assurance. Doctrine is the mere outer garment that we attempt to cloth our faith with. We try to flesh out the faith of our inner man with doctrine. It is merely the shadow of the truth that is glowing within. Doctrinal differences while important on a certain level should never allow us to be separated at a spiritual level. Consider these things:
1. All faith comes from God.
2. The content of my faith cannot be different from the content of your faith.
3. God is not going to reveal one thing to me an another to you.
4. Therefore all differences exist on a mental - soulical level.
Let all who call upon and confess the name of Jesus resolve to understand that we are already one in the faith. We have no differences in the spirit. The differences exist merely on the soulical level. The soulical level differences will vanish once we all allow our doctrine to conform to the contents of our inner man.
02. Lack of understanding about the current will and posture of God
What is God doing today? What is His "posture"?
God is dealing with us from within the precepts and tenets of the gospel. He is not dealing with according to theology, mere theism, or pop-Christianity. His posture today is SITTING, and Jesus is SITTING there next to Him. In the plan of God this is what is happening on the earth:
1. God the Father initiates operations, or movements of the Spirit on earth.
2. Jesus the Son sends ministers to accomplish that operations that God has set forth.
3. The Holy Spirit enables those ministers with the manifestations (gifts) to fulfill those ministries.
When I say He is sitting... I mean He is not making any new Word or taking any actions that are not within the will and word established by Jesus. Everything that we can have has been given. Everything He is going to do has been established. It is now up to us to believe His word and act in accordance with it. Failure to realize and act in accordance with His established plans results in dead churches. Attempts to work outside of the gopsel He has established results in dead churches. Find out what His plan and purpose is and get in with it.
01. Acting, Speaking, and Thinking contrary to the Word of God.
Closely akin to #2. You cannot pray, speak, act, and think in outright contradiction to the word of God and expect to get results. This is the #1 problem in the prophetic, charismatic, and Pentecostal churches today. Get within the precepts of His word and you will bare the fruit of that Word. Act outside and against the word... you will fall flat!
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