Fresh Anointing

Get Pentecost refilling


Pastor Nelson told a story of how his mother showed him one day several years ago that he needed to refresh his anointing oil.  He said he stopped by to see her that day and she told him she wasn't feeling well.  He carries a small container on his key chain of anointing oil.  So he took it and put some on his finger tip and touched his mother.  She said, "Oh, that oil stinks you need to get some new." He said he got that in his spirit and in meditating on it for about three years and then one day the Lord dealt with him about it.  He found his answer in Psalm 92:10, "But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil."


It is a good thing to give thanks and to sing to the Lord, but David begins to cry out of his spirit to be anointed afresh.  Oil represents the Holy Ghost to empower those who stand in a position of office for the Lord.  King Saul had backslidden and God told the prophet Samuel to go and anoint another.  Saul had been selected but he lost out because of his hardened heart.


God tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse and anoint a certain one there.  Look not on his countenance he told Samuel for it is his heart that has earned him the favor of God and the anointing.  Whenever God finds a holy, submitted vessel he will anoint that vessel, and make it holy, sanctified and consecrated unto him.


Samuel looked at all the sons of Jesse, but none of them was the one.  He asked Jesse if he had another son.  He tells Samuel that he had a young son but that he was out in the shepherd's field tending sheep. I can just see David now at 16 out there with those sheep singing up a storm on his lyre his heart full of praise.


He was rejoicing before the Lord.  David delighted himself in the Lord and he also encouraged himself in the Lord.  Yes, he was a man after God's own heart.  When David was come before the prophet, Samuel said, "Arise, for the anointing of the Lord."


God said, this is the one I have chosen.  David wasn't too much in his family but God loved him and his praise.  So praise can lift you above what others think of you.  God isn't looking for qualifications the way we do, but he's looking at your love for him and how you express that.


In the old testament the spirit of the Lord came upon certain people to operate in a certain office.  But today, God has poured his spirit upon all the sons and daughters.  Some do not know this spirit but those that know  this spirit can be sanctified and empowered.  This power comes through submission to the Lord and giving everything of yourself to him.  The world can not see the Holy Spirit.  God is trying to get his church ready through the Holy Spirit's pouring out. This pleases the Lord. 


God said of David, I have anointed you with gladness.  David pleased the Lord and God was with him and anointed him.  There is a place where we can be filled and refilled by the Holy Spirit.  There is a place of untold resources we can tap into.


There's nothing to hinder us.  God says you will find me if you search for me with all your heart.  It's a place full of God's glory and unlimited power.  One word from God can change your whole world.  There's a place in God where we have power over the devil.


God has a place for his people and he desires for you to experience a fresh anointing.  Think about when you were first saved.  You had excitement for the Lord.  You were ready and willing to work for him.  You had a praise on your lips.  Then after a while they backed off, because they didn't get refilled with fresh anointing.


You are anointed for ministry, the gift of the Holy Ghost to give to the people.  He has to be endued with power to reach into darkness and pull somebody into the light.  The Holy Ghost was a promise to us and he wants us to experience it.  


Lets look at Acts 2:2-4, and they began to preach Jesus after the anointing.  They were drunk with this power.  The natural man cannot know or understand this.  Those men looked like they had just left Joe's Place at about 2:28 a.m. and were drunk.


Let me tell you what the Holy Spirit did to these disciples.  They were anointed to preach the gospel with power.  Light had come into darkness.  This was their message; Christ was buried and was raced from that make shift alter in the tomb.  God manifested in the flesh.  Jesus was exalted to the name above all names, above all principalities and is seated on the throne.  Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of the Most High God.


In Revelation 1:14-18, John tells of the glory of his power and majesty.  John says, "His head and his hair were like wool, as white as snow; his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.  Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.  When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead.  He said unto me, "Fear not; I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death."


The purpose of Pentecost is to have power, to live in abundance. (John 10:10)  And signs and wonders followed them.  Peter said to the blind peddler in Acts 3:6,"  Silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give to you.  Fasten your eyes on me, and Peter raised that man up and said, "now be healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.


You cannot be healed without an encounter with God.  When you've been healed you've had a powerful encounter with the Master.  Search me oh God and see if there's anything unpleasing in me, and allow God to change you, and you will be filled."


These men who were filled with the Holy Ghost in the upper room.  That place was shaken and they spoke the word by the Holy Spirit.  We must have fresh oil! If you haven't received this power then you need it. 


 Paul went to Ephesus and found twelve followers of John the Baptist.  He laid hands on them and anointed them to preach.  Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?"  He's talking about the unction, the power on high.


How do you receive the power of the Holy Spirit?  Well, what do you do when you hear a knock at your door?  You go to see who it is and invite the guest in.  Jesus says, "Any man who hears my voice and opens the door receives my power."


The men told Paul, "We haven't received the Holy Ghost and the authority of Christ."  Paul laid hands on them and they spoke with unknown tongues.  


There is an initial filling of the Holy Ghost.  Just because you got filled twenty years ago doesn't mean you're still filled.  If you haven't been refilled then you are spiritually stagnate.  David sought refills, he said, "my horn I will exalt like the Unicorn and I will be filled with anointing."


Some people miss God in Pentecost.  The heavenly bakery is still open.  Now lets jump to Ephesians 5:19.  Paul is still talking to the same men, " Be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in spiritual songs and making melody in your heart to God."


The bible records Paul's instruction on how to be filled.  Paul is energizing them here, the same people that gets filled and refilled.  The early church was continuing to be filled. They were looking for Jesus to return and they kept praying and fasting in seeking refillings of the Holy Spirit.  A spirit filled person is prepared for honor, sanctification, to be prepared for good works.


Don't allow the things in this world to draw the anointing out of you.  Go to him and he will refill you!


This teaching is from my notes taken from a sermon by the Rev. Jerry Nelson, Westmoreland PHC, Wilson, NC.  To hear sermons of his on CD go to: westmorelandphc.org

The Virtuous Woman

Who can find a virtuous woman?  Rubies are what her worth is. Proverbs 31:10  A diamond only sparkles on the outside but rubies have a through and through sparkle.

We live in a politically correct world and the world's rules are bound to wreck our family roots.  Can the world tell us what is correct?  The world rejects biblical truths and their rules are subject to change without notice.

They speak for women, abortions, gay rights, and equal rights.  But a Godly woman has nothing in common with the worldly woman.  Lets look at the ideal, scriptural model of a great woman.

God's description of her says:

1. She has moral purity (Proverbs 31:10)

2. She has character. (Proverbs 31:11)

3. She will do her husband good and not evil all the days of her life. The heart of her husband doth safely trust her and she is committed to her husband. (Proverbs 31:12)

4. She works with her hands and is creative in making things and they are profitable to her. (Proverbs 31:13-14)

5. She rises early and her priorities are for her family and she gives to each of her household. (Proverbs 31:15)

6. With the fruit of her labor she plants a garden in her life and she is the strength of her children and husband. (Proverbs 31:17)

7. She has great compassion and helps the poor and those less fortunate than she. (Proverbs 31:20)
8. She is a woman of dignity. (Proverbs 31:21)

9. She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness. (Proverbs 31:26)

10. She keeps her focus on her home and family and does not eat the bread of idleness, gossip or partake of ungodly things. She has great honor. (Proverbs 31:31) And her children call her blessed! (Proverbs 31:27-28)

A Godly Mother doesn't have a problem getting her children to pick up their clothes or to wash to dishes, or take the trash out.  Her husband tells her she is the best.  Now if all women could get that, they would all become virtuous! Why wouldn't she, she's getting what she needs from her husband and her children.  If she had this she wouldn't want to run to the clubs. She would be a woman of dignity.

The virtuous woman is amazing indeed.  She's God's ideal woman.  She cooks and she uses her hands for the Lord.  She makes money. Her kids get up everyday and bless her.  They are obedient.  Dad's put some things in order for her, like discipline of the children.  He has put the board of education to the seat of understanding.  Men, you could have a virtuous woman if you take your place in your home and get order God's way.

80% of all the mothers on amphetimines wouldn't need them if their husbands would tell them, I love you and you're the best.  That's the power of love.  A part from the name of Jesus, the name mother is the sweetest name there is. Grown men on a battlefield when they're dying will want their mother.

Christians are the salt of the earth.  (Mathew 5:13)  Without this the home is corrupted.  Now you can see why a good woman's price is worth more than rubies.  The world is wrong to try to redefine the values of the home.  If the bible says its wrong, then its wrong.

When you tell this to people they say you are narrow minded.  Well, I've got something for them, Jesus said narrow is the road to heaven and wide is the gate to the world.  No, I won't change what the word has said about what a woman should be and a husband and discipline of the children.  What we need is an awakening of holiness, purity and righteousness in the home again.

My Mother taught me logic.  She said, if you fall off that swing you won't get to go shopping with me.  She challenged me too.  She would say, when that lawn mower cuts off your foot don't run to me. She gave me great anticipation too.  She would say, just wait till your Daddy gets home.  I'm thankful for my Christian upbringing.  My parents were people of faith and they honored the word of God.  And what Mother and Dad had in them got into me.  Your Christian influence will affect your children.

A good mother prays for her children when they are sick, and they remember that. Even if they walk away from that Christian upbringing, trust me there will come a time when they will say, oh I need my parent's Lord. Just because your parent was a Christian doesn't mean you are.  You must be born again.

If you have a woman of valor in your home, thank her many times over and show her appreciation, and thank her for her prayers.  Covenant that your Mother has with the Lord, you will need one day.  The Lord will remember it when he deals with you and calls you out by the Holy Spirit.

Who do you think taught the young Timothy. Eunice, his mother and his grandmother. (2Tim 3:15)
Can a mother make a difference? You bet she can.  We need to rectify family values in this nation and come back to the foundational truths.  Thank God for the Christian woman.

New Christian Dinner Theater

A Christian dinner theater will soon being opening in downtown Wilson in the old Heilig-Meyers building at 113 Barnes Street.  It is a two story building being renovated.  It is a two story building and the upper floor will be five loft apartments, and the ground floor will be the dinner theater using 16,851 square feet of space.

The owners are Allan and Safiyah Bell of Nashville, North Carolina.  "We love gospel music and we thought it would be great to have a place for Christian concerts, where Christians can gather," Bell said.

The first floor will have a resturant and entertainment is planned every Saturday night.  There will be ticket admissions which will cover the cost of dinner and performance.  The performances will range from choirs, to solo acts to quartets and other singing groups.  The performers will get a 10 percent proceed from the night.

"We want to form partnerships with our performers", Bell said. The Restaurant, Christian Connections, will be open throughout the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner and evening events will take place on different nights.

"We'll have gospel karaoke, family Bible trivia, open-mic poetry, live Jazz music and Wii fitness games for the retired," Bell said

The breakfast will be cafe style and will serve bagels, donuts, biscuits and drinks.  Lunch and dinner will be a full menu for all meals.  There will be no alcohol served at this business.  Other spaces in the building will be used for business conferences.  Hours of operation will be from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 11p.m.

"I'm excited," Safiya Bell said, "This is something that's been in the works for four years.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.  We're just ready to get it open. It's going to be a place of fun for Christians and non Christians as well."

Why you should honor your mother today

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Honor of a Mother gives you long life

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Honor of a Mother and Father

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 6:20-22

God tells us "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters." 2 Corinthians 6:18.
The word tells us quite a bit about what kind of heavenly Father we have as well as living principles with your earthly parents. The wisdom of Solomon says, Good friend, follow your father's good advice; don't wander off from your mother's teachings. Wrap yourself in them from head to foot; wear them like a scarf around your neck. Wherever you walk, they'll guard you; when you wake up, they'll tell you what's next.

Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God will give you. I was well into my thirties before this truth sunk in; that honor of my parents was contingent to me living long and my prosperity. That kind of lack of knowledge causes a lot of us to perish in the fulfillment of our lives.

So now, in the Kingdom family Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. Jesus also tells us that whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1. As the father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. That little bit of fear is what produces respect with the heavenly father as well as with the earthly parents.

The bible tells us to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. He says that when you left the womb he cradled you, since the moment of birth he has been your God and watched over you. For this reason, I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

For those who are without earthly parents or have parents who have fallen short of their duties as a parent the Lord has this to say to you: For my father and mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take you in and cradle and nurture you. Psalm 27:10 He says in his word; "I am the Father to the fatherless, defender of widows-this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. Psalm 68:5-6.

If you have a mother today tell her you love her and show God thankfulness for her today.  Those who honor their mother will give honor and not shame.   No one has a perfect family, but the thankfulness and respect for the one he has given you is dependent on the longevity of your own life!

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• A Tribute To A Praying Mother

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A Tribute To A Praying Mother

53

By djbraman

How many lives has your Mother given you!

A Tribute to a Praying Mother

It was the summer of 1964, and the Vietnam war film was just being seen for the first time on television. I often played with a friend that was 8 years old in my North Georgia mountain hometown of Dahlonega, Georgia. I had gone into her house that day searching for her, but she was not there that day. I found her Mother pacing the floor praying as I got a glimpse of the film shots of dead men on the ground without legs and arms.

My Grandmother was a woman that prayed every night after her bible reading, but I had never heard praying like was coming from the voice of this woman. She fell prostrate on the floor and with a loud pleading voice for her son who was a sergeant on a Vietnam battlefield. I will never forget the urgency of her prayer as she began to speak to the Lord, "I ask you Lord to spare my son. I'm not asking you to send him home to me whole at this point, but he is a first fruit of my womb and I ask you to just spare his life. I praise you Lord for the day that you gave him to me and I now put him in your hands and I trust you that my heart will be spared of losing my son to the enemy. I come before you humble and weeping without strength and ask you to go before me in this battle for my son's life."

I froze as I listened to the most heartfelt prayer of my young life, and suddenly this Mother began speaking in a language I had never heard. I slipped out the front door to leave this prayer of just a few moments but the impact of it has never left me. It affected me and influenced me and became recessed in my mind until I began my prayer life and became a prayer intercessor. She taught me more about the power of intercessory prayer than any preacher ever has.

I was sitting a barber shop in Dahlonega 5 years ago with my son and I heard the barber call out a customer's name sitting waiting, "Well how are you, Joe Patterson?" Joe Patterson, my mind raced and I realized it was the son that this woman was praying for that day so long ago. I got up and went and sat down beside him.

"You are Debbie Patterson's (my little friend's) brother aren't you.?'' "Yes," he said curious as to who I was.

I have a story I would like to tell you about your Mother when I was six years old. When I finished telling him he began to weep. I told him to take care of his Mother because she had given him life twice. He said, she still was a praying woman and was 75 years old, and he took her to lunch twice a week, and had bought her a house after coming home from Vietnam. He not only came back alive, but he came back whole. He became an antique broker and was a wealthy man. I was not surprised to hear that because I remember his little sister showing me his collectibles when I was little.

We played with his jar of silver dollars. He had grown up poor in North Georgia and he remembered how he used to go to the boy scouts at the Salvation Army with tattered tennis shoes with his uniform. He had contributed a significant amount of money to poor children in education benefits and several church buses for small churches. In high school I recall his sister was one of the most well dressed in the school. She became a model and work for an ad agency in Atlanta. I never knew it was him that had made her life better.

Praying Mothers do make a difference in their children's lives. If you have a praying Mother you have been blessed beyond measure for they stand in the gap for blessings that you may not have deserved but because of their covenant with the one on the throne you are blessed too.

I

The Prodigal Son And The Other Son

THE PRODIGAL SON AND THE OTHER SON

We've all heard the story of the prodigal son but we've heard very little about the other son.  There is a story about him as well that needs to be told.  In many ways he was as empty and lost as the prodigal son.  We see these two mentalities in the body of Christ everyday yet we have a hard time discerning what is really happening in the fathers house.


Now, the prodigal son ends up in the hog pen in the world and he says, "even the servants of my father's house lives better than this." Luke 15:15.  As he is coming home to his father's house the father said, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, a ring on his hand, scandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and let us eat and be merry." Luke 15:22-23.  This boy is fifty years old and he's been living with Harlot's but the father still loves him.


The brother was angry about this saying, and in Luke 15:29, he says, "These many years I have been serving you I have never transgressed your commandment at any time. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends."


In Luke 15:31 the fathers says, "Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours. Your brother was dead and lost and it is good that he has been found and alive again."


Now hold on to your seat because I'm going to get up in the mess of the Father's children in the church of today with this story.


The eldest son had always been with the father with the opportunity of unceasing fellowship with the Father, but in many ways he was worse off than the wayward son.  All of the joy and fellowship had been there waiting for him.  It was available to him but he never had to ask for it like the wayward son.


He never fellowshipped or ask the Father for anything.  He never fully enjoyed what was in the Father's house.  In the Father's house is a fellowship that's awesome when we delight ourselves in him and our thankful in our hearts for his gifts.


He who comes to the Father's house must believe that he is a rewarder of those who love him.  Here, we see the Father's compassion upon the wayward son.  God loves you like that too.  He loves you when you're right and he loves you when you're wrong.  He loves you when your strong and he loves you when you're weak.


In God's love encapsulated is healing, prosperity, love and restoration.  All that I have is yours!  God told the oldest son, all that I have is yours.  Yet he complains of what God is giving to the wayward brother.  He said, how could you give him a fine robe and a fatted calf after what he's done?  Then he makes matters worse by saying, all you gave me was a kid and you gave him the fatted calf.


We get so comfortable with our own images in the church and committed to the house instead of committed to the Lord.  The one day that lost sheep returns to the church and he's on fire for the Lord and Holy Spirit elevates him to blessings that look like are bigger than yours after serving for many years.


But really the oldest brother didn't believe he had everything from the Father and he didn't because of his mentality.  You will have to fellowship and ask God for your blessings. We are in a rare time in the Lord's house right now and some of us are running for our lives.  We need and want that abundant life.


You've got to believe something is coming to you to run for it.  You've got to run your race with everything you've got.  Everything doesn't run smooth all the time.  But you got to hold on because he will come through for you.  God wants you to make it, to enjoy your salvation and fellowship with him.  He wants us to enjoy all the treasures of heaven.  Don't be jealous of what another has in the Lord, the same thing is there for you if you'll get off the "what about me thing".


I love the faith that Paul had.  He says I know I'm not there yet.  I press toward the goal for the prize and I've laid aside sin. Philippians 3:13.  He finished his course and that lets us know that we can finish strong too.
Nothing moved Paul except living for the Lord. That's faith, that's stability in the Father's kingdom.


I love Peter too.  He had his faith tested.  He failed but like the prodigal son, he repented.  He knew what it was like to have your faith tested.  He knew what is like to have to fall down before the Lord in humility to regain what he had lost. Jesus restored him just like the father of the prodigal son did.


In 1 Peter 1:7 Peter said, you will be severely tested.  The way to the Father's house and to have the Father's treasures are those who are sold out to him, bold in their race and blood bought, not man bought.  You have to have the power of the resurrection in you. You got to be persuaded and committed.


Nobody likes a test, but sometimes God lets the hedge down and tests our faith.  Your faith will have to stand the eternal test of time.  We have evil at every side.  God wants us to be unshakable.  That's why he tests us to make us unshakable.  1Peter 5:8 says, The devil walks around seeking who he may devour.


How do you resist?  Stay steadfast in the faith.  You're not the only one being tested but they are common to all your brethren.  The God of all Grace who has called us to glory is there to strengthen us.  If you want to live a life of victory you've got to know that he will bring you through.


You have to trust him.  There comes a time when you will have to just stand while the storm surges or darts are flying at you. Commitment, commitment and commitment, there's your key.  It's during the trials that the devil comes to try to get you to doubt.


He'll say to you, where is your God now, your health is failing.  Your children are lost, where is your inheritance now?  Or you have lost a family member in a tragic death, and the devil will say, why did your God abandon you?  You say back to the devil. My God is where he has always been, right here with me through it all, and nothing will move me from my foundation.


Why not?  Because the Father says, all that I have is yours.  Luke 12:32 says, "do not fear little flock for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."  Let your spirit get a hold of this truth and revelation. When we fellowship with the Father and love him and attentive to him, he says, all that I have is yours.


This is attainable through constant fellowship with God.  Paul says, I'm pressing in to the goal.  It's the Father's  good pleasure that we will receive.  You can be in the Father's house and never receive all the gifts because of lack of fellowship, and not asking the Father to supply you with your desires.


You might be thinking, I'm so weak, I can't get it right.  No, you can't get it right but the Lord can get it right for you. It is our love for him that helps us get it right and then all that is his is ours.  Well, you say, I can't overcome this habit I have, but God says all the riches and treasures are there for you to help you overcome.


There are two sons in this story.  The prodigal son and the son out of fellowship.  They both were poor but could've had it all.  They both needed repentance, and both needed to claim their inheritance.  The real Christian spends time alone with God, in his word, and they use their faith.  But others don't understand how to get all that is theirs in the Father's house or all that is there to get.


Abandon yourself unto the Father and his love and hear him say to you now, all that I have is yours and I give it all to you in the Spirit of my Son.  I wish above all that ye prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers.  You are heirs and joint heirs to the Kingdom with great treasures that gives you life to its fullest while here on earth and an eternal home to fellowship with the Father for an eternity.

Sampson -The Strong Loser

THE STRONG LOSER

Forget not your covenant.

Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or join in with sinners,

 for they are like chaff that the wind blows away

 and they will not stand in the assembly of the righteous.

The Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

 but the way of the wicked will perish.

 Woe unto the man who once walked in covenant

 but soon forgets where his strength came from.

The people in the bible are what makes the bible and if you took the characters out of the bible it would be a skeleton.  God intended for us to learn about him through these characters.  Just like the church, we need people, because we learn from each other.  Sometimes its good lessons and sometimes its lessons that teach us our boundaries with God.   Sampson is one of those people in the bible that we can learn much through.

I'm going to teach you something about Sampson today. (Judges 13:24)  He was strong. He was educated.  He was a judge of Israel.  He was God's man, and he was anointed.   He was the strongest man that ever lived.  One day he went down to Timnath and a young lion came out to destroy him and he killed the lion. (Judges 14:6)  He should have been referred to as the greatest judge of Israel but sin cut him short of that destiny.

Sampson walked a perfect pattern of sin and God had blessed him.  What attracted him to sin?  The enticement of the world.  He went down into the town and he saw Delilah in Timnath.  He went back and told his parents of this beautiful woman.  His father said to him, "Is there not any other woman among our people that you have to go to these Philistines to get one?"


Here's a man who played with three women in his life time.  The three women represent the world, the flesh and the devil.  That's the way the devil seeks to destroy all of us.  First, he attracts you to the world with all its glitter.  Then he wants you to walk in the flesh and give yourself over to carnality.  Then he gives you the final touch, the devil and his bondages. We're going to see these three enticements of the devil and see clearly how in a slow process sin spirals us down into bondage.

Sampson was a strong man in God, but he forgot that and became bent on what was in the world.  He had been directly touched by God, yet it meant nothing to him after he met Delilah.  He said, "for she pleases me well."  Sampson took Delilah, stepping out of God's will.   

The Lord blessed Sampson but instead of protecting the anointing on his life, he began to visit the enemy's camp.  Delilah was beautiful and he wanted her.  Sampson was smart and he should have become the greatest leader and judge of Israel.   He didn't think about what his acts were going to do to the nation of Israel.  Delilah was a pagan, morals were nothing to her.  Sampson was about to fall into the abyss.  There's nothing more important than who you marry. Young people, you don't have to go to the devil's people to find a spouse.  The bible tells us not be unequally yoked.

Sampson had forgotten where his strength came from and the devil was setting a trap for him.  Sampson's strength became his problem.  Sometimes it's not your weakness that gets you in trouble, but your strength. Especially when you come to believe it is through your own power that you can operate.  You watch your weaknesses all the time but the devil can move in on your strength and cause you to miss God. Sampson had been attracted by the world and now the devil begins to lure him by the flesh.

Preachers, don't ever get up in the pulpit and think that your gift is of your own self. You must humbly pray for anointing every time you step behind the pulpit and depend on Him for your delivery to the people. Because I can tell you now that without anointing you can only touch the people's minds but if you preach with anointing you can pierce their soul and heart.  Never glory in yourself, because you are what you are because of Him.  Once you lose position with the Lord you will fall.

Look at Judges 15:15 and see Sampson's protection.  Sampson took a jaw bone of an ass and slew a thousand men. Do you use all your protection?  Some are great preachers that don't prepare.  We have great singers but uncommitted.  We have great writers but choose to write of their own knowledge.  We need to use our gifts God has given us and be committed and prepare when we use those gifts to serve Him. Most serve themselves and that is why we see gifted people still in lack and can't see the blessing upon them.  It is a dangerous thing to be once enlightened by God and then turn from Him.

Sampson fell because he didn't listen to his parents or God.  He went his own way.  He was anointed but he allowed the devil to cause him to fall.  He was moving in all the wrong directions led by his desire to partake of the world.  He went and slept with a harlot.  He killed the lion and the people said, "Oh here he comes the strong one", and they began to plan on how to kill him as he lay in his sin with the harlot. 

Sampson frequented places that could only cause him to fall one day. He climbed a mountain top to show the enemy his strength, but sin has a downward spiral.  How could Sampson still have this anointing and why?  Because God has a covenant with you.  And Satan is after that covenant you have with the Lord to get you to break it.  Sampson's covenant was hidden in his long hair.

If you're not living right, and have anointing, don't brag because you're on your way down.  Take some notes here because you'll see they won't stay in ministry long.  You see, the devil is a pusher.  You think a drug dealer is a pusher? They are nothing compared to the devil pushing on a called man by God that takes his eye off the Lord.

What takes us into sin like that?  One step at a time.  It doesn't happen over night.  This is what happens to God's people.  They think they can get away with it because after all, they are so gifted and too important to fall.  Take a look back into recent history at the famous ministers that have fallen.  But, to be sure, your sins will find you out.

Don't dance with the devil because soon you will lie down with him, and don't ever give him a ride because if you do, he'll take over the driving.  Let's take a closer look at how Sampson spiraled down in phases with sin.


The first woman in Sampson's life represented the world.  Sampson had married wrong.  With the first woman there was no sin involved.  She was just a foreigner, and unbeliever, and Sampson had married her because she was pretty.  So she represents the world; she was fascinating.


The second woman represents the flesh.  Sampson went to Gaza and there he slept with a harlot.  So it was told among the people, Sampson the strong one is here.  He obviously frequented these bad places. The Philistines planned to kill him the next morning.


Now some of you may be asking how could he sleep with a harlot and still be anointed?  It's very simple.  When God makes a covenant with you he keeps that covenant.  You can sin, and God will still use you, until you break your covenant.  And let me tell you, if you keep messing with the devil he will see to it that you break your covenant.  Sampson had a covenant of a Nazarite, and he had not broken the covenant yet.  God will use you but it doesn't mean you will enter into his gates with a crown of righteousness.


This second woman was unclean and she was a harlot.  She represents the flesh with its sinful desires.  Sampson had learned nothing from either one, yet they were not able to overcome him. They hadn't touched his covenant yet.

The third woman Delilah represented the tempter, the devil.  Delilah is a temptress and she was a very clever woman.  Sampson didn't commit just adultery with her but he began to hang around her quite a bit and too long.  While he was there the enemy, the Philistines got a hold of the woman.  They said, "Now listen, he's killed thousands of us and we're afraid of him."  He's not any bigger than us but he has strength that we don't have nor do we know where it comes from."


The enemy didn't know where Sampson's strength was.  That's the way the devil does us, he keeps on until he finds out where your strength comes from and he will attack that.  If you dabble with the devil he will get you.  Delilah was beautiful, voluptuous, and sensuous.  She starts to pick Sampson's mind, "If you really love me you would tell me where your strength comes from."


Delilah begins to make love to him and ask him, "Why are you so strong?"  She lied to him, and she duped him.  You would think Sampson had learned but he went back one more time.  She said again, "If you loved me, you would tell me all. Where does your strength come from?"  Each time he speaks to her she gets closer to his strength, his anointing, his hair and his covenant with God.

Make no mistake about it, the devil wants to destroy you.  Finally, Sampson told Delilah all, "It's my hair," and he went on to say, "and if I shaved it I would lose my strength."  He told the devil all of his heart.  That night she bound him while he slept, in the enemy's camp.  She called for a man to come and shave his head.

After she began to afflict him he lost his strength.  He cried out to God, "Oh God you are always with me."  But when you break your covenant God is no longer with you.  Sampson should have been a champion but he played.  He was a judge but the Philistine's reduced him to an animal.  They made him like a mule to grain their mill.  Around and around in a circle grinding and grinding.  He became a grinder at the devil's mills.

Sampson was well dressed man, and they took his image and his strength to become a nobody.  He asked God for forgiveness, "Give me one more chance. Remember me Lord."

God will forgive you.  Sampson said to God, "I don't ask for my eyesight back but just one more time to have my strength and anointing."

The devil dismembers you but God puts you back together.  That's what the criminal asked Jesus beside him on Calvary, "Jesus, remember me."  This mighty man, Sampson cries out, "Oh god remember me."

Sampson said to the lad that led him around and around, "lead me to the pillars in the city."  This event came fast and swift and destroyed the enemy's camp.  God's champion was blind now.  He calls upon God as he starts pushing the pillars.  There were 3,000 men that died that day when the pillars that Sampson pushed down collapsed the city. 

Sin's payday had come and Sampson died with them that day.  He will go to heaven but he stands before God with all his works burned up.  Is that the way you want to stand before God one day?  Sampson went down in history as the Strong Loser.