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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.

The Prophetic Preacher

     I had the opportunity to hear the Rev. Jeffrey Brown give a testimony and preach at a revival in Wilson, North Carolina in 2007.  He took his shoes off and stepped up into the pulpit.  He had my attention.  I walked away that day my mind forever changed about healing power and I knew I would never allow people, limitations or circumstances to stop me from reaching the potential God gives to all of us.

     He began by saying, “I have to tell you right from the start that people have planned my funeral six times.  I’ve had cancer and recurring cancer.  One morning after I was healed from all this I felt my throat and a big lump had formed.  Back I went to the surgical room again.”

     This preacher continued on coming down into the midst of the people in his sock feet with an unbelievable strength of voice while his frail lanky body showed the visible scars of the numerous battles for his life.

     “The devil thought he had shut me up with this last surgery,” he said twisting up his mouth in a determined, rebuking manner.

     “During the surgery my vocal cords were damaged and separated,” he said with finality.

     He thought about the surgeon for a second, smiled and said, “I had this Iraqi doctor and he came in my hospital room the next morning with his charts and notes to try to explain to me why I would never speak again.  But he didn’t know people had already prayed for my healing once again and I had spoken to my wife that morning.  I just let him talk on and after he was finished telling me I would never preach again, I looked at him and said, is that right?”

     Well if I was the devil I would shutter when this man got up on his feet to speak because when he pointed his finger at you a supernatural knowledge was released from him onto you in a prophetic affirmation.

     Now I’m here to tell you that this preacher did not know anybody that day with the exception of the pastor and one deacon, yet he spoke the truth over about eight people’s lives.  He looked at one man and said, “God has a protective shield over you, I don’t know what you do or if your job is dangerous but you got a hedge around you.”

     We all looked at each other because the man he was speaking to was in law enforcement.

     Then he looks at another and says, “You’re called to a ministry.”  That man had recently rededicated his life and is a gifted singer and pianist.

     He told one young lady that she would preach to thousands.  That young lady preached at our church a few weeks ago.  I sat stunned and remembering Jeff Brown's prophecy over her.  She said she was more stunned than anybody over that prophecy that day.

     He asks an elderly lady what her daughter’s name was and she says, Marie.  He said, “she’s got grace in her life.”  That daughter’s little six year old girl’s name is Grace.

     He points his finger at me on the second night of the revival and says, “You got power in your tongue.  I see a garment on you with bells on the hem.  I am now a speaker and minister of education.
  
     The first night he was in the middle of his sermon and suddenly he looks up in the choir loft and points at my husband and tells him to come down.  He looks at me in the congregation and said, "This is your husband isn't it?"  Well I was crying by then because my husband and I had just gotten married a month earlier.  Still crying and overwhelmed by this man's discernment he wrapped an anointed cloth around both of our wrists and said, "You have a covenant and you two are going to the promise land."

     What this preacher didn't know was that in this Jubilee Year that I was a Jubilee birth.  It was my season.  God had moved me geographically to Wilson, North Carolina.  I remember saying, Lord has anything good ever come out of Wilson?  God had changed my name, and my husband had nicknamed me Hepzabah.  Two months after this revival God opened a door for me to go back to school where I earned my degree in biblical studies.

     Prophecy is not complicated.  You are either anointed for it or you're not.  In bible times if your prophecy didn't come about you would be killed. If someone prophecies over you make sure it is confirmed by two or more.

     Rev. Brown has went on to be with the Lord, but he touched so many people's lives and his words still linger in our lives today. God had allowed a thorn in his side but then it was that weakness in him that made the glory of God so pronounced in him.

Guarding Your Home From Spiritual Termites

A Story of Spiritual Turmoil

All our lives we totter on a tightrope,

 stretched across a vast chasm

 without a net below to catch us and save us

 from the internal erosion that manifests

 generation after generation

Spiritual termites are destroying the family.  You labor in vain to build it but the termites come and eat away at it until your house comes tumbling down.  I'm going to tell you a story of one house that came tumbling down and how it was rebuilt and eventually put into divine order and became a solid foundation that God flowed his blessings onto.


Idols were the number one termite in the home thousands of years ago and it is so of today's family.  Genesis 35:2.  Put away strange God's.  Don't let anything take the Lord away from you.  Go back to your Bethel and remember your struggle with the Lord and how you reckoned with him and entered into a covenant.  We have forgotten our first love. Don't ever think that you're so strong you can ignore God's word and have a fine family. Work to build the bedrock of God's word into your home and you'll have harmony.


If the men of their families could ever get to their rightful place in the world, in the home and in the church and operate in the authority God has given them we would have a different family structure in this nation.  Be a daddy duck, and the momma duck will follow and then all the baby ducks will following right behind. What kind of duck is leading your home today?  Are all your baby ducks in a row behind you or are they scattered across the pond with the momma duck searching to see if the dangers lurking about in the waters have swallowed up her babies?


Let's look at one man's journey and see how termites overtook his family.  Genesis 25:7 tells us that Jacob's life is in a big mess.  He has no peace because he's been running from God.  This is the same Jacob that laid his head down on a rock, and that saw the ladder from heaven with angels descending and ascending.  He saw God do supernatural things in his life, and then he walked away from God.


Have you ever walked away from a sermon you heard after knowing that it was word for you?  Jacob wrestled all night with the Lord, and he was strong but the angel knocked his hip out of its socket.  Jacob said, I won't leave until you bless me.  Jacob got his blessing, but he was just plain uncommitted.  Aren't we like that?  We go from church to church.  We don't want the Pastor to get up in our mess.  We say, oh but we want it like Burger King, ordered to our liking.   When we don't get our way, we whine and say, why does the preacher shout and jump around?  Because he's got a fire in his bones to deliver the power of God's word to you.  Everybody gets offended!  I don't like the way they shook my hand, I'm just gonna find me another church.


Jacob is in trouble again after asking God to bless him!  His daughter had been seduced and defiled by going to an ungodly crowd.  Jacob's sons take revenge that shamed the family.  Those 12 son's become the leaders of the 12 tribes of God's people.  Because the blessing had come to Jacob.  Their daddy was a man of God, away from God.  The story of this family is complicated and makes you ponder why God chooses to bless who he does.  But that was God's chose because of Jacob's inheritance blessing from Abraham and Isaac.  You see a Godly man chosen by God gives a covering to his family and his children.  But you've got to get the family in divine order to stop the termites.


Your covering is at your Bethel, which means the House of God, where you come to a reckoning of who you are in God and enter into a covenant.  We need to keep our family in the house of the Lord.  That's where God has placed his anointed ministers to speak to you.  You need to hear what God is wanting to speak to you.  All you single mother's, God will give you a loving church.  God will give you a Pastor.  Jeremiah 3:15.


He will give you the word that will split soul and sunder and pierce through bone and marrow.  He says, I will give you Pastors to feed you the word of God.  God told Jacob, if you'll come back to where I appeared to you; the place I first revealed myself to you, he promises he will cover you.


How does a single mom get covered?  By Godly men in the church.  Sunday teachers, children's church teachers.  Never underestimate the power and influence over children from Christians.  If your church is not loving others and making provisions for their lack, then find one with the fruit of the spirit in it.  Because serving in the church is not about you.  It's about lifting other lives up.  You can make a difference in someone's life in your church.


Jesus made a difference, one man.  One man, one woman, can make a difference.  Have you ever looked at a church bus driver?  He's happy!  You don't have to be in the leadership to serve. The least of them all makes the biggest difference and makes the body one.  One drink of water in His name will get you a blessing.  Think about that the next time some single mother comes to you and says I'm having a problem with one of my children.  Are you too busy being in leadership to stop and say, hey I can give some of my time to help this mother get through this rough spot.


God came to Jacob and he had a defiled daughter, and shame from his sons.  Can this happen in your family? It happened in Jacob's family and it will happen in your family for you to come into your Bethel. Prov. 22:6.  Well, you say, I can't make my children listen, but you teach by example. You are affecting generations to come.  You say, I can't call my adult children in college or on their own all the time.  They don't want it.  Call them anyway!  It won't drive them away.  Stand up and let them know that Holy Ghost power in you.  They will reckon with it. It will save their soul down the road.


These tribes weren't sanctified, but they became leaders of the family of  God. Guard your home.  It's the little foxes, those little sins that rob the peace in a home and that cause arguments. I'm not talking about abuse and such, that totally destroys the home.


You see, God is a generational God.  He wants the family together.  Well, my children don't want to go to church.  Well try that plea with the school system.  Does the school have more control and power than you over your children?  Church is a given and should not be discussed as an option to not go from the child. They are supported by the parents, and the parents say, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.  The children will know this is a part of our family structure. Let it be you that influences your children, don't give it away to the school, friends, and well meaning family members.


Sooner or later the Lord will take what is in you as a parent and it will get into the children. Your passions will become theirs, your delights will be theirs. That seed will be planted in them and they will not depart from it when they are older. What is the passion in you that is getting into your children?  I guess I am like the preacher, 'cause I'm getting up in your mess here. I'm not talking about going to any old church.  I'm talking about a church were love is demonstrated, the presence of God and the word preached in truth and spirit that can set a strong foundation for the family.


Let us rise and go up to the house of the Lord.  Put away the strange god's among you.  Know what your children are worshipping with the books they read, with the music they listen to,  and the friends that are influencing them.  You say, oh but my kids don't have strange gods.  What posters are on their walls?  What music is on their IPODS, what pictures are they looking at on their phones?  What sights are they visiting on the internet?  Now tell me, do your kids have strange gods influencing them?  Some of the daddy's need to put away the strange gods too!


If you've got something that is drawing you away from God, then its a strange god.  One step at a time we ease ourselves into sin, but then he delivered you from it, don't keep going back to your Bethel.  Keep your heart fixed on him and never go back.  We can learn a lot from Jacob and how God gets us to come to our Bethel.  I'm like David, I was glad when they said, come let us go to the house of the Lord.


You may say, but my child is strong willed, well daddy better get strong willed back.  Put away all the idols and when trouble comes in your family you will be covered.


To order complete sermons on cd of Pastor Jerry Nelson's email me at: djbraman@gmail.com or westmorelandphc.org
To see more articles on Christian living by D.J. Braman go to calledtobeanintercessor.blogspot.com

The Power Of Forgiveness

Empty Hands Mean A Full Heart

Do you have  pent up bitterness or anger toward a family member?  Do you bring up a hurt from the past every time you and your spouse have an argument.  Do you have a hatred for people because they are different than you?  If you answered yes to any one of these questions then this message is for you. People say they have the love of Jesus in them but lets see if you can pass the 90/10 test.  If you fail this test you will lose all your battles!  If you pass it heaven's door will open up to you.


The greatest power in the universe is the power of forgiveness.  There could not be salvation or healing without it.  No Holy Spirit power could be ours without it.  Jesus hung on the cross and said, Father forgive them.  Three world's were affected by these words; a dispensation of grace opened up because of one word, FORGIVE.  Healing and forgiveness are tied together. 


James 5:15 says, "forget no all his benefits from the one who heals."  Many people cannot get healed because of unforgiveness in their heart.  Bondages are broken in the presence of forgiveness.  The same power that was released at Calvary is released in us with forgiveness.  He will forgive anyone who calls upon His name and asks for forgiveness.  


Look at Psalm 86: 5.  The two angels on the mercy seat were guarding the ark at Jesus' tomb.  The ark angels were standing.  But the angels over that makeshift concrete slab, where Jesus lay and was the last and final sacrifice to be laid on the mercy seat, were seated.  This is so because the work for redemption had been finished through the act of forgiveness. 


Forgiveness changes everything, and it changed our eternal destiny.  It will do the same for you too.  We are to forgive others.  But, you say, you just don't know what they did to me.  I don't care.  Imagine having forgiveness in your heart and speaking it while someone is murdering you. And that you were blameless for any wrong doing.  


You see as Jesus hung on the cross forgiveness was essential in order for him to be raised up.  He had to forgive the ones who had killed him.  So, if someone has killed your spirit, forgiveness is still a must in order to be regenerated and lifted up into the spiritual life.


Jesus became sin.  If there had been no forgiveness there would be no salvation.  So as they were killing Him, he said, "Father, forgive them, for they no not what they are doing."  Jesus showed us the Father's mercy and grace.  Do you want blessings in your life?  Then you'll have to love your enemies.  Those that persecute you, that lie on you and that hurt you.  Don't you ever let your happiness be in somebody else's head.  Forgiveness is not for the benefit of the one you are forgiving but it is for the benefit of you maintaining a pure heart with mercy and grace before you can walk in the love Jesus wants us to demonstrate toward each other.


Look at Matthew 6:12, it says, "If you forgive not, the Father cannot forgive you."  You're locked out of the blessings.  It locks you out when you don't ask for forgiveness and when you refuse to forgive.  Unforgiveness will eat you up and spite don't even make sense.  A bull dog can whip a skunk, but what does it prove other than that you both stink in the heart.  They both have stopped blessings from flowing.  It causes health problems, ulcers, heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure.


The greatest part about forgiveness is that the devil fears it. He has no hold on your heart when you step out and forgive.  I loved the scene in Shindler's List, when he tells the prison camp guard, real power is when you are in the position to pardon and give it freely.  That truth saved a Jew's life that day.


There will be times when you'll have to give forgiveness when you don't want to.  When a bad person suffers and dies we say, oh they deserved it.  When we see a saint suffer and die, that's hard for us to accept.  But there are things God don't reveal to us in these matters because they are secret things God keeps to himself so we can love by faith even when we don't understand it.  Those things we don't understand God always works to our benefit.


The spirit of prophecy came from that kind of trust and unquestionable faith.  If you can imagine holding a bird in one hand and he can't get loose from your grip, and then imagine a bird in your other hand and you freely release him.  We do this same thing with our acts of forgiveness and unforgiveness.  So the state of your heart affects the spirit of others.  When we are able to free others it will come back to you if it's God's will.  


If you hold on to things Christ wants you to let go of it will eat your life up.  He puts the good and the bad together so He can bless you.  So what are the blessings God wants to give us.  They are in Duet. 28. God tells us that we will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.  Blessed when you come and blessed when you go.  You see, God's eyes are running to and fro looking to see a perfect heart that is set upon him and reflecting Him in us.


Look at the people who have broke your heart today; a woman, a spouse, a child or someone in your church.    You've asked God, why?  God says you'll just have to trust me.  I've got a plan and I can fix it.  It may not be the way you would work it out.  Some things we have to leave with God.  But when he sets forth a spiritual principle for us to walk in, it may not always make sense to our natural mind, like the forgiveness principle or the tithe and giving principle but when we apply things change in our circumstance.


I wish I could tell you that you would never get hurt.  Hurt is reality, but bitterness is a reaction.  We have a chose in what reaction we are going to do.  Forgiveness is a foundational principle that Jesus demonstrated on the cross for us, so don't blame the devil for your bitter heart.  Bitterness is an internal characteristic and is shown in how you react to your circumstances.


Now, lets look at the 90/10 principle. This principle was explained by Steven Covey, a professor of religion.  He said, "10% of life is made up of what happens in your life.  The other 90% is how you decide to react.  We have no control over the 10% but you determine the other 90% by your reaction."


Your wife knocks over your coffee on your business papers.  How do you react?  Do you yell?  Do you criticize, accusing her of setting the coffee cup to close to the edge of the table?  Now  a series of things begin to take form.  You can't finish breakfast.  You rush to the car, you're late and so you speed.  You get a ticket and you get to work and you realize you forgot your briefcase.  When you arrive home you've got a wedge between your wife.  What caused it; your wife, the policeman, or the coffee?  The truth is none of the above caused it.  It was your reaction that set off multiple events.


Let's look at another scenario of the spilled coffee.  You say it's okay honey!  You pick up your brief case, kiss your wife goodbye, have a pleasant drive to work, and have a great meeting at work.  When you get home you have a happy wife.  Very few people know and apply this principle.


Everyone who comes into your bitterness will feed out of you and be bitter also.  Jesus forgave even before they asked his forgiveness at Calvary.  He canceled the debt and that takes Satan out of your situation.  Forgiveness is not a one time thing.  It's essential to your work with God, and it will be tested over and over again.  If you pass the test, you get the treasures of heaven.


You can order the cd on this teaching by requesting it at: djbraman@gmail.com or to see more sermons from Pastor Jerry Nelson at Westmoreland PHC in Wilson go to: westmorelandphc.org

Taking Back What The Devil Stole From You

Protect The Seed Of God's Word In You

All of us have lost things, opportunities, money, relationships, family members that have walked away from God. But God can restore all of these things back. He brings recovery to us through 5 principles that I'm going to lay out for you.

King David understood these principles. They are not hard but most people simply don't do them. They changed the outcome for David, and they will you too. In Samuel 30 is a story of miraculous recovery and restoration.

As a young man David knew both victories and struggles. He grew up as one of the eight sons of Jesse. When God withdrew His favor from Saul, King of Israel, the prophet Samuel was sent by the Lord to seek a new King for His people. He went to Jesse's house, took the oil flask and anointed David (1 Samuel 16:12-13).

King Saul's days as a leader of the nation were numbered. But David, he went from victory to victory. Armed with only a sling shot. He stepped up on the plate with faith. Then the future King had to flee from the enemy. You get some anointing and see how the devil will come at you. In 1 Samuel 22 we see that David's band of followers were all in distress, in debt, and discontented with the situation. They wept and they cried. David's two wives had been taken captive. He was surrounded by trouble. It got so bad that his group even talked of stoning him.

But then an amazing restoration occurred. Joy returned and abundance and victory. This story in the bible is one of the most astounding transformations of any in history of restoration. I began to ponder about what it was that made the difference and the shift.

The following is what made the difference.

1. Encourage Yourself In The Lord In The Middle Of Your Trouble. (1 Samuel 30:6).

Praise is difficult to do when things are going wrong. We ask, Lord what are we going to do? Praise brings God into your situation, no matter how bad it is. "Thou art Holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3). You may feel like doing everything but praising, but the second you start lifting your praises to God, He walks into the midst of your mess. He dwells in the praises of His people! Praise not only brings God into your situation, but it also gives you access into the presence of God. (Psalm 100:4).

Isaiah 61:3 says, praise is a God-given garment that covers your life. That garment of praise covers your life of pain, hurt, worry, stress, confusion, and it brings you deliverance, protection, and preservation. Praise is a believers weapon, releasing God to fight your battles for you.

2. Find someone to come into agreement in prayer with you.

This is David's story throughout his life. Agreement is a spiritual principle: "Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 18:19).

Agreement delivers God's people from temptation. (Matthew 26:21) It helps you make right decisions ( Acts 1:14), releases the power of God (Acts2:1-2), brings the miraculous (Acts3:1-7), takes away lack (Acts 4:31-33), breaks away the shackles (Acts 12:5-11), brings deliverance (Acts 16:25-26), gives boldness (Ephesians 6:18-20), opens doors (Colossians 4:2-3), and gives the Word of God free access (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2).

3. Act and move in faith.

We know that God moves and responds to our faith. "David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, "for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all." (1 Samuel 30:8). When you act, God acts. David didn't sit around fuming and screaming. He didn't evens sit around confessing to the Lord. He released his faith by acting on what he was told to do.

God will not force you to step out in faith. The Bible even tells us that Jesus did not do great works in Nazarene because of the people's unbelief. Lack of faith literally stops the Lord's powers from flowing. Once we know what to do, we must do it!

4. Take your God-given Authority.

Attack the enemy! We are told, "David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day." (1 Samuel 30:17). Take your authority by commanding things to happen. Penetrate the camp. The passage in 1 Samuel 30 tells us that David and his followers not only attacked, but they kept fighting until the enemy was subdued and all was recovered (verse 19).

5. Seal your restoration in GIVING.

After all was taken back, it says in 1 Samuel 30:26, "That when David came to Ziglag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord." Giving was David's declaration of total recovery. It is a supernatural law that must be activated to bring continued blessings from God. There is no other way to see outpouring after outpouring from God. When Israel was delivered from Egypt, they gave an offering that would go toward building the Tabernacle. It sealed their recovery. That's why David planted seed; he knew it would protect his future.

If you need deliverance from anything, a strong hold from the devil, stress, financial problems, a discontent soul then putting these principles into practice will cause your faith to abound and victory will surely be yours. We are not an island, we need each other to come into agreement to pray for one another, to give to others in need, and God needs to hear our praises with a shout that stirs the angels in heaven. Power is when no one is looking and in your private chambers you get up from your troubles and you open your mouth HOLY, HOLY, HOLY and tell him how awesome he is and the earth will move for you. Well, Glory!


This teaching is a collection of biblical articles by Donna Braman