| The Word for 2003 RESPOND and EXPAND Happy New Year! Many of us this year have made a new year�s resolution to exercise and �tone up�. Now that�s wonderful for our body but we also need to �tone up� our spirit. When we exercise, we take deep cleansing breaths (pushing out the old air and breathing in the new). The word for 2003 is �Expansion� � this word means to enlarge, multiply, add-on, increase, spread out, widen, broaden, lengthen and deepen. There are many things going on in the spirit right now and we don�t need to be too discerning because the same is happening in the natural � for example the things happening in the Middle East, attacks against the church and attacks against faith, but we need to know that there�s one message that God has for the world and another message that God has for his people, the church. The world is in great fear since 911, but as a church we don�t go through that, we have the peace of God on us (hopefully), that�s His plan and His purpose for us. Notice the two messages here: When the children of Israel were in Goshen, the Bible says that in every Egyptian household there was darkness but in every Israeli house there was light and both were in the same place. It�s the same with the church, we and the world co-exist in the same place but one is in darkness and the other light. Our responses should be different from those living in darkness. As Israel trekked across the desert toward the land that God had promised them, God was good to them � He provided everything they needed there - protection (pillar of cloud & fire), food and water. The walk we are walking with the Lord right now is too restricted, too confining for us because God wants to do so much more for His people and that�s why He wants us to �e x p a n d� for the new year. Remember that part of that word is to broaden, widen and to deepen. How many of us know that we need a deeper, wider, broader relationship with God than we are in right now? Notice in Eph.3:16 that Paul, while praying for the church (not the world) �that God would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit, in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Spiritual expansion is always going to show up in the natural. If you�ve expanded in the spirit there�s going to be a demonstration of that in the natural. For example, if you�ve received a revelation of healing in the spirit, there�s going to be a manifestation of healing in the natural realm in your life. As people of God, we need to �press in� to that word if we�re going to come up a level. The Word says �seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you� God wants the whole church to understand this because it�s one thing to get a word for yourself, but it�s another thing to get a word for the whole congregation. So, what does God want us to understand? �the length, the width, the depth & the height and to know the love of Christ. Those words in Eph. 3:16 (above) fit the description of the word �expand�. Verse 20 says � Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen. That power that works in us, is the power of expansion and it is working by the Holy Ghost. It�s not us that works the Power, but the Holy Spirit in us to bring expansion. Many of you have been frustrated by some kind of limitation in your life, maybe doors are shut and that�s why the Lord is bringing that word because the place where you are is too limited, too confining, too restricting in your life and you�ve been expecting God to move and to do the impossible or miraculous in your life or situation, but the Lord and you, along with the word expansion, will have to move out of that �natural realm� and into the supernatural where impossible things become possible. Nothing will get accomplished in the 5-sense realm or natural realm, with your mind, or with how much scripture your can quote, or how educated your are, because you are only going to accomplish spiritual things in the realm of the spirit because that�s where impossible things become possible. You are going to have to rise up in your level of faith to a new level, if you are going to walk in it in the year of expansion. To walk in expansion, you need to know that the further you go in God, the more of God you need � the more you need to trust Him. Yes, the church is coming to that new level but in order to �expand�, we first need to �respond� to what the Holy Spirit is saying. What does this expansion mean? it means God wants to bring us to an expansion of souls, an expansion of health, an expansion of finances, an expansion of getting along with one another. The more the body of Christ grows, the more room you need for each new member to welcome them in and to get along with them as well. God also wants us to expand in our unity, that we would come into that covenant unity in relationship with one another. God wants us to expand in our faith and unless faith expands we won�t be able to receive what He has for us. All these things are going to take some �pressing�. God doesn�t want for us to believe for the things we believed for last year, He wants us to �up� the believing. God wants us to not only believe for things for ourselves but to start to believe for things for our street, our community, our city, our nation and not just for me and my household, that in itself is good, but we need to expand beyond that if we�re going to accomplish what God wants us to do. God wants an expansion of joy because the �joy of the Lord is our strength� Last year�s joy won�t make it this year, or carry you through because joy is your strength. God wants an expansion of Peace, we need to stop worrying and wondering if it�s going to happen, or is this God, or did I really hear etc. God wants expansion in Peace so we can rest in Him. The Word says �once we have believed, we enter into rest� (Heb. 4:3), we don�t have to struggle anymore. That Peace, is the peace that passes understanding, God�s peace, supernatural peace. In the world there is peace if everything is going well but how many of us can be peaceful if things are not going well? We need a peace that nothing can take away no matter the circumstances, no matter what people are saying about me, I can still have a peace. God wants us to expand in self-control (that hurts sometimes) but He wants to have the ability to control our emotions and that self-control only comes by the Holy Ghost. Self-control is not just a �steely will� where we set our mind on something, but we have to yield to the Holy Ghost and let Him work that control in us. We need to get to that place where we�re not quick to pick up offenses or to give offenses (this goes both ways). God wants us to come to an expansion in the Word, to get into the Word and receive from Him. God wants us to expand in dreams, visions, discernment and revelation in our lives, not of just what we know, but of what we live. How is all of this going to happen? To experience this expansion, we will have to respond to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. It�s the Holy Ghost who gives us dreams - He�s the dream giver, the vision giver, the power giver, the comfort giver, our helper. We can only receive this as we are �in the spirit�. To receive in the spirit we need to expand in our prayer language with the Lord and in the amount of time praying in the spirit. When you pray in the spirit, if you will wait in God�s presence, very often God will give you direction or instruction in a particular area of need. The Holy Spirit is the yeast and we�re the loaf (the body of Christ) and it�s only the Holy Spirit that can expand us after the spirit, not carnal people, but Spirit-led people. We are a spiritual house built together so we can show forth the praises of Him that has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. God is always moving and speaking by His Spirit and if we are going to follow Him we are going to have to respond to His voice, His Word and His Holy Spirit. The Scripture in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 tells us that when we respond to the Word of God and when we receive it, not as a word from men, but as a word from God, as truth, that that word will then work effectually in us who believe. Therefore if we will receive a word from the Holy Spirit and respond to it, that word produces in you, if you respond to it. God has promised us that 2003 is a year of expansion and that�s a promise that things are going to change - if you respond (there are conditions to all of God�s promises). Don�t let God�s word pass you by because you didn�t respond. Think about being pregnant and the tremendous change you go through, your priorities change, your hormones change, your balance changes as you get heavy with child, your body is making changes for the birth � there�s a birth coming in the natural realm, now think about that spiritually. People that speak of being pregnant with the word of God, or pregnant with a dream or vision from God but what does a pregnant mother need most? Rest! It�s the same in the realm of the spirit. If you�re pregnant with something God has given you, you need to rest in what Jesus has already done. You may notice that when this �spiritual pregnancy� occurs that God allows just enough time to pass before that promise is fulfilled, so that it can challenge everything that you know about Him. Just as Abraham received a word from God that he would have a nation, he responded to that word, but there were a serious delay between the time that he responded to the word to the day that Isaac was born � 25 years of delay. How many of us would have waited 25 years and would still have said �yes, I know I heard from God, I know the circumstances are contrary, but I am going to hold on to this word from God until it comes to pass�? We can all learn important lessons from Abraham and his belief in God. Just as we get near to delivering our baby, the doctor tells us to �push� (not rest) � spiritually when persecution, or trial or testing comes, we sometimes want to run but it�s not time to run but �push�, because it�s time for the birth (the time of labor � time of work) of what God has impregnated you with, therefore for the 2003 expansion you�re going to have to press or push into what God has for you. Remember as with Abraham, persecution followed the word. Warning! If you have received a word from God, persecution will follow. There is always opposition to the word. Mark 4:17 says �persecution comes for the word�s sake and remember it�s always too soon to quit. When you get to the place of transition or birthing, you may want to call it off, but you can�t call it off now, it�s time for the baby. It�s the same in our Christian walk, too late to call it off now, the baby is on the way. Sure you can backslide, but you won�t be content in the natural world if you�ve tasted the things of God, but labor is �work� and be ready for persecution to follow if God has given you a word. We really don�t have the option of letting go because God says �once you�ve put your hand to the plough, don�t turn back (Luke 9:62) � press forward. The ground where the gospel is preached is always hard and it must be ploughed. One of the ways the ground is ploughed is by praise �Judah must plough�. Instead of telling people your problems, or complaining about how hard it is, raise your hands and start praising God � He inhabits the praises of His people. Sometimes it�s a sacrifice to praise, sometimes you don�t feel like praising, it is a sacrifice, and praise will plough that hard ground. God will continue to place this word in front of you this year, because it is His Word. He not only wants us to hear the word but to respond to His word. Unless we respond to His word, nothing will happen. Things were the same with Jesus, He was healing and some just let him pass by � Jesus was the word. We can either reach out and touch the hem of His garment or sit there and let Jesus pass by. In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah was barren and desperately wanted a son, she sorrowed and wept from bitterness of heart as she went into the temple of the Lord and there cried to the Lord saying that if He would give her a male child then she would give him back to God. Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, her voice was not heard and Eli thought she was drunk � the Holy Spirit had that same effect on the day of Pentecost. When she explained to Eli her dilemma he told her to go in peace and stop wailing and complaining and her reply was that out of her grief she was complaining. The priest Eli was admonishing her to stop complaining because God would grant her request, simply because she asked. Hannah left the temple in a different frame of mind than when she came in. It�s the same with us, if we come into the temple of God and we�re depressed or sick we should not be leaving the same way we came in but we should leave in peace. Hannah and her husband rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord and He remembered her petition and in the process of time she born a son. What happened from the time Eli spoke to her from the time she worshipped God, nothing in the natural happened � did she have her request yet? No! Was she pregnant yet? No! She�s was in the same situation, still barren, still childless but she left with her countenance uplifted because she responded to the word and now there was time for her to expand. Faith was her evidence because faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Pregnancy is expansion and she had a son. As soon as she received that word of revelation, she worshipped God even before she conceived � there�s a key there that we need to get hold of church, �praise and worship�. Hannah�s answer came first in the spirit and then in the natural. She received her son by faith and it was the same with Mary (Jesus� mother) she said �be it unto me according to your word. Mary had no evidence of a son, she was a virgin, it was impossible for her to have a son in the natural but she received the word in the spirit and then the response of her faith became evident in the natural, she had a child � Jesus Christ our Savior. Every bible story tells us how faith works and every bible story is about expansion and it involves a response. The story of Jesus feeding the multitudes, a miracle of expansion � the people were hungry and a little boy came and responded with five loaves and two fish and gave it to Jesus and Jesus took what he had and expansion came. We tend to say we don�t have money, talents or things to give to Jesus to work with but He will use whatever you have and expand it, you respond with what you have and there will be an expansion. In our natural mindset we could not possibly believe that all those thousands of people could be fed with two small fish but God is a multiplier, it�s not about what we give him � He just needs some thing to work with. Jesus met that need for over 5,000 men, plus the women and children that were there. Any time that we get a revelation we need to remember that revelation has in it the power of expansion. but only if we respond. Every word from God has the power to expand us but only if we respond to that word. Remember Gideon, it�s the story of how Father�s heart wants all of us to be a part of all that He is doing. If you�re in the kingdom of God, He wants you to be part of it. In the story of Gideon, Israel is in danger of being overcome by a far larger (godless) army and God gives 4 distinct calls. First he calls all the people and 32,000 respond. The second call, only 10,000 respond (22,00 are sent home). Notice in this story that with each �test�, it gets less and less logical or makes less and less sense to their natural mind (candles, shout, blow a trumpet). Because it was less and less logical, each call required a new level of faith for expansion. God wants to expand us in faith, and maybe even requires us to look foolish to do what He asks of us. In the final test of Gideon�s army, the lapping of the water was too much for 9,700 people. We people like crowds, but where the crowd is, is not always where Jesus is. Jesus gave his �bread� his manna was to his 12, He met the need of humanity but He shared His heart with the 12. Gideon�s army now had dwindled from 32,000 to 300 � not too successful looking, but with each call and test, fewer people would respond, so when we�re in a hard situation, a tight squeeze, a difficult place, if we will listen, God is calling us to himself, He�s calling us to prayer, He�s calling us up in the faith. Jesus himself said, �when I return to the earth, will I find faith?�(Luke 18:8) He didn�t say will I find a big church, or a happy bunch of people? but will I find �Faith� � He�s a faith God and that�s what He�s looking for. When you get in that difficult situation, glue your eyes on Him and not on your circumstances. Maybe you�ve been accused of something, maybe your finances are in trouble, maybe you are wrestling with a difficult person in your life, maybe there�s a sickness that you�re wrestling with, maybe it�s your job or a relationship, if we will respond to the Lord and not to the circumstance, expansion will come. God says �don�t grow weary with well doing, but stay in it for the long haul and you will reap the harvest� (Gal. 6:9). God expanded every man of Gideon�s 300 that responded to His call. God is no respecter of persons � if you�ll respond, He�ll expand. That small army of 300 men were able to overcome an enemy that was far bigger than they were with the word of the Lord. Remember Elijah, he was in a difficult situation, he responded to the Lord by digging a ditch and when he did, God brought expansion and filled it (1 Kings 18). Also, remember the widow woman (who was starving) she responded to the word of the prophet and gave what little she had and made a cake and God expanded her and met all her needs. Joseph was in a hard place, he was confined in a prison and responded to the word of the Lord through a dream and none of Pharaoh�s wise people could interpret his dream and God spoke to Joseph in a prison cell (a most unlikely place) and Joseph responded to it, interpreted the dream and God expanded him out of the prison into the palace. Peter was in a tight spot, he didn�t have money to pay his taxes but Jesus didn�t worry about that (because He knew who His supplier was), he told Peter to go fishing for it, Peter responded and God brought the expansion, as the money was in the fish to meet their need. (Matt 17:27). Whatever needs expansion in your life today, maybe it�s your relationship with the Lord, maybe you need expansion in your prayer life, maybe it�s a relationship with a husband or wife, maybe it�s your health, or your job, maybe it�s your ministry, or an expansion of liberty in your life, we all have potential to expand. The greatest room in all the world is room for improvement. Expansion only comes by response. Change is inevitable but your response is optional. Response is your decision! If you have been crying out to the Lord for a manifestation of His Glory, you need to know that every time a soul is saved that�s a manifestation of God�s Glory and every time someone repents and turns and goes in the other direction that�s a manifestation of His Glory, and every time someone is healed that�s a manifestation of His Glory, every time someone is delivered that�s a manifestation of His Glory, every time someone comes into peace with God that�s a manifestation of His Glory, every time someone comes into the joy of the Lord, that�s a manifestation of His Glory. The manifestation of God�s Glory is all around us and in us and if we�ll open our eyes, we will see it. Every time we receive a revelation in His word that�s a manifestation of His Glory. In closing, there was a famine in Samaria (2 Kings) and four lepers were sitting at the city gate and discussing why they were sitting there because if they stayed there, they would die, they knew they had to do something about their situation, they knew they had to respond or die so they made a decision to go down to the enemy camp and surrender because they reasoned that if the enemy killed them they were going to die anyway (by the sword, or by starvation) but they hoped that their lives would be spared, so it was worth a try. They went to the enemy camp and the enemy was gone � why? � because they responded and did something and God caused the enemy to hear the noise of chariots and horses (that were not there) and caused the enemy to hear the sound of a great army marching on them (that wasn�t there) and they ran, terrified and left everything behind to the delight of the lepers. They left their horses, donkeys, tents, food, water, silver and gold, and the lepers walked out of that hard place right into expansion. If the Spirit of God has spoken to you today then enter in and respond to that word � God is waiting on you. |
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