Janet and Craig Watson.

Today I received a Skype call from my dear friend, Craig Watson, the pastor of Eagle Christian Ministries in Durban, South Africa.  Cherie and I have a covenant relationship by divine appointment with Craig and his wife, Janet, and we are becoming closely knit together in the Spirit.  Craig and Janet have been in Athens and have ministered at Abundant Life Church.  Talking with Craig via Skype (a free computer to computer “telephone” call) with web cams was like being in the same room with him.

Craig shared with me that his greatest passion over the last many months has been to live in the presence of God.  For years he has enjoyed daily fellowship with the Lord.  Lately, though, he has been hungry for the Lord’s presence, and has begun to spend each Wednesday morning in prayer and fasting before God.  The result has been striking.  Craig has experienced wonderful times of fellowship and received extraordinary revelation and anointing from God.

To Craig’s flesh, taking Wednesday morning to seek God seemed like a big sacrifice.  In addition to pastoring, Craig and Janet operate an international logistics business that is thriving in famine.  Time is not something he possesses in excess.  But he made the quality decision to make time to seek God, and has reaped enormous rewards, both in the Spirit and in the natural.

Craig reflected, and I agree, that we’re not “professional preachers” delivering a joke, three points, and a story.  We shouldn’t preach just to preach.  Instead, we need to preach from a position squarely in the presence of God.  The presence of God and the anointing that accompanies His presence makes the difference between just a nice message and a rhema word from God that will change the lives of the hearers, open blind eyes, heal bodies, bring deliverance to the captives, and cause miracles to occur.  Like Moses, we should not preach or do anything unless the presence of the Lord goes with us.  (Exodus 33:15).

In your own life, seek the presence of God and let it transform you.  Make a quality decision to spend time in the Word of God, being quiet before the Lord, and hearing His voice.  In your marriage, your job, your health, and every other part of your life, seek first His kingdom – and His presence – and everything you need He will supply to you.  (Matthew 6:33).   And when He supplies it, it won’t be by small degrees.  It will be exceedingly above all you can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) and according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Seek His presence, and let Him transform you!

Why does it make a difference?  How your life goes will depend on your position with the Lord.  If you’re built up in the Word of God and prayer, your faith is maturing and developing, you have a vibrant life of worship, you’re spending time with God, you’re walking in love, you’re living right, and you’re surrounded by people who will love you and stand in faith with you, then you’re going to live an overcoming life.  It’s a spiritual fact.

If you barely give God the time of day, you’re not reading your Bible, if you think God’s making you sick, taking your money, breaking up your truck, leading you out of your marriage, and wreaking havoc in your life to teach you something, and you’re surrounded by people who look at life that same way, then your prayers will be powerless and your life will be a wreck.  It’s a spiritual fact.

It matters where you go to church.  Go where the Word of God is preached – and believed.  Go where faith is preached, and people will pray in faith, expecting their prayers to be answered.  Go where the pastor preaches that God is a good God, and that He wants you to prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers (3 John 2).  Go where love is practiced, and joy is abounding and not sorrow.  Go where God is lifted up, and worship is an integral part of church life.  Go where the life of God is manifest.

I’m honored to pastor Abundant Life Church.  Rev. Crouch is right.  We ARE the kind of church where you’ll find life and not death.  We’re a Spirit-filled, word of faith church, regional in scope, international in reach.  And we’d love to see you some Sunday morning at our 10:00 service and our 7:00 Wednesday evening Bible study.  You’ll find people who will love you and stand in faith for you.  You’ll find intense praise and worship, and you’ll find God present in the church.  I hope to see you soon!!

Isn’t that what Jesus called the “new commandment?”  In John 13:34-35 (NKJV), Jesus plainly told us how we and anyone looking at us will know if we’re His disciples:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

If we are really followers of Jesus, we will be moved to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and visit the prisoner – especially those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10) – knowing that when we do, we’ll be feeding, clothing, housing, and visiting Jesus.  If we refuse to do those things, we really need to do some serious soul searching and be honest with ourselves about whether we’re really followers of Jesus.  Read the passage from Matthew 25.  It’s true.

Abundant Life Church was just approved as a host site for Angel Food Ministries (www.angelfoodministries.com).  Soon, once we have been trained, we will begin ministering food to people in Southeastern Ohio.  As so many people are struggling in the current economy, we will be able to feed them (and by extension, Jesus) – and to share the good news of the gospel.

I’m excited.  This is just one more way that Abundant Life Church can be the feet, hands, and heart of Jesus in this area.  If you want to be involved, contact Jeff Dolman, who is the elder in charge.  If you leave a message on the church’s answering machine, he’ll call you back.  Or track him down at church.

Let’s all be sheep together, and not goats!  And with the Holy Spirit on us, He can use us to be ministers of His love and to change peoples’ lives!

When it comes to helping people be born again, we can fulfill one, two, or all three of the three roles involved:

1. We can be a pray-er (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2- pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers to the harvest).
2. We can be a sower of the word of salvation into the person’s heart.
3. We can be the reaper who leads the person to pray the prayer (or make the confession) of salvation.

During my time alone with the Lord this morning, he took me to Amos 9:13, and I got really excited:

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed. . . “  (NKJV)

What is a plowman?  He’s the guy who breaks up the ground to prepare it for the seed to be sown.  The person who is praying for the sowers and reapers is the plowman – preparing the way in the spirit realm for the Word of God to be sown and for the the person who is the object of the prayer to be reaped into the Kingdom.

The Lord is telling us through the prophet Amos that the whole process of praying, sowing the Word, and reaping souls will be tightly compressed.  Each person will be born again so fast that the reaper (the last one in the process) will catch up with the plowman (the pray-er) as the plowman is praying for the next person!  I believe this is that time!  These are those days!

That means the Body of Christ will be reaping souls left and right in 2009.  Figuratively speaking, the pray-er, the sower, and the reaper will be stumbling over one another trying to keep up with the pace of salvations.  Glory to God!

We’re already seeing it.  Riley Stephenson is the Minister of Evangelism at Eagle Mountain International Church on the grounds of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas.  Brother Riley leads teams of people into the malls, shops, and streets of Forth Worth and other cities where Brother and Sister Copeland have meetings.  The Lord used Brother Riley and his teams to pray, sow, and reap people into the Kingdom by the thousands last year, and the pace will pick up this year.

I expect to see the same thing at Abundant Life Church and throughout the Earth in 2009.  Plowmen, you’d better be praying, because the sowers and reapers are gaining on you!!

They’re weighing several job offers in different towns, including Athens.  Instead of jumping on the highest paying offer, or the one with the best benefits, or the one with the most impressive title, they’re looking for the  church God has called them to, and will take the job that’s in that town.

If they’re called to our church family, great!  If not, we’ve still been blessed with the opportunity to see how a job search is supposed to be conducted.  As Kenneth Copeland has taught for years, find the church God’s called you to, go there and roll your sleeves up, and the job of your dreams will follow.

My prayer for this family is that they be led by the wisdom of God to the church they’re called to.  Once they’re involved there, they can’t help but prosper!

We had a powerful Holy Spirit moment at church on Sunday.  A member of our worship team had gotten revelation as she was preparing to come to church that each time she takes a breath, the Lord is breathing life into her.  Isn’t that awesome?

So as you take a breath, say, “Thank you Lord for giving me breath.”  Feel your heartbeat, and say, “Thank you Lord for my heartbeat.”  Think of the hand that’s covering your heart, and say, “Thank you Lord for my hands.”  Remember the ears that are hearing what you say, and say, “Thank you Lord for my ears.”  Then be aware your mouth is speaking the words you hear, and say, “Thank you Lord for my mouth.”  Your brain is helping you form the words, so say, “Thank you Lord for my brain.”  Your eyes are taking in all around you, so say, “Thank you Lord for my eyes.”  You’re standing on your two feet, so say, “Thank you Lord for my feet.”  If you’re a born-again Spirit-filled believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, say, “Thank you Lord for saving me and for filling me with your Spirit.”

And remember that your breath, your heart, your hands, your ears, your eyes, your mouth, y our brain, and your feet are instruments of worship and of ministry.  So say, “Thank you Lord for letting me minister in Your Name.”

So rejoice – and be thankful!!

Many evangelical Christians are wary of the president-elect.  Some of his vocal supporters pushed an agenda of unrighteousness, and the positions Mr. Obama took during the campaign seemed to mirror that agenda.

I don’t want to minimize the apparent differences we have with his stated opinions on issues of life and righteousness.  We need to be vigilant.  Yet we must also be mindful that God is still on the throne, and His Word says that the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, and that He turns it (the king’s heart) wherever He wills.  (Proverbs 21:1).

We also must be mindful of this admonition:  “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”  (Acts 23:5 NKJV).  In that passage, the Apostle Paul had just spoken some strong words to Ananias, not knowing he was the high priest.  The words of Exodus 22:28 leapt to Paul’s lips, just as they should to ours.

Let’s also remember this.  During the years of his ministry, the Apostle Paul was living under the ungodly pagan authority of the Roman empire.  Wickedness in Roman society and among Roman leaders was no less prevalent than it is today.  Yet the Apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Rome, the seat of the empire’s authority:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  (Romans 13:1 NKJV).

We have marching orders straight from the Word of God:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV).

Let us pray that the Lord turn the president-elect’s heart to rule righteously in the fear of the Lord.  Let us pray that he selects godly counselors.  Let us pray that the Lord give the president-elect and his advisors the wisdom of God.  Let us pray that the Lord give this nation and the church peace, quiet, and prosperity, and that we may live godly and honestly without interference from our government.  Let us pray that in the next four years a revival of the gospel sweep this nation, and that many people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

At all times – first of all – let us pray!  And when we pray, let’s pray in faith, not doubting, but believing we receive.  Pray!

The podcast is known on iTunes as The Abundant Life Today.  In iTunes, you can search for “abundant life today,” and look for a little picture of me (you might have to click on “see all” to find it).  When you find it, click on “subscribe.”  When you sync your iPod with iTunes, the podcast will be loaded onto your iPod.  How cool is that?  God’s word in a portable audio format.

Wouldn’t it be great if God had a podcast?  Each time I’ve read the accounts of God’s giving the engineering instructions to Noah for building the ark, and of His giving the instructions for building the temple, I’ve thought how overwhelming that would have been to remember all the details.  Or think what it would have been like to be one of the prophets who had to deliver a precise word from the Lord.  In any of those accounts, wouldn’t it have been great to sync your iPod and be able to listen to the instructions or the word all over again?

Not surprisingly, he had a funny story.  While he was in the hospital, he was pretty well sedated.  Before he was discharged, he had to complete some paperwork.  A few days after being discharged, he had a visit from someone he thought was going to talk with him about home healthcare.  They talked for a bit, but she just stared at him.  Finally, she asked him, “Are you terminally ill?”  Surprised, he said, “Oh goodness no.  I just had knee replacement surgery.”  She shook her head because she was from hospice.  Apparently, as he filled out the paperwork under the sedation, he checked that he wanted to talk with someone about “hospice” instead of “home healthcare.”

Rev. Crouch’s rapid recovery is to the praise and glory of the Lord!