It's possible to have mixed seed in us - to say we believe one thing and yet at the same time another thought system to be working actively, sabotaging what we say we believe otherwise. Such is the case with Christians when we say we believe in being victorious in Christ, yet subtly we act as if we're the minority, we're losing and we're never going to rise to our best. These seeds of failure might have been sown in us by the world or even through those who profess to be teachers of the Word and had chosen to propagate failure as spiritual. 

To say you are a son or a daughter of the King by definition means you are declaring a higher and better way of being than the desperate world around you. You and I are supposed to think and act as success. 

When exactly do you begin to feel successful? Naturally, most people begin to "feel" successful when they actually achieve success, not while they are trying to get there. 

Success to a businessman or a business woman means closing the deal. For a doctor, it means a patient sent home healthy after being treated for a life-threatening disease. For a student, it means a diploma received at graduation. To this world, the evidence of success is the realized promise, not the promise itself. 

But agree with me - success has to be the direction, before it becomes the final destination. If success is not the direction, it will never become the final destination.

You can be on the right road, but going in the wrong direction. This actually happened to me recently. While driving around a Baltimore suburb, looking for my final destination, I ended up on the right road, but going in the wrong direction. 

Likewise, you can be married (the right road) but acting as if the final destination of this marriage is divorce (wrong direction). You can be studying at school but doing it as if you'll end up as a drop out. You can be running a business, but all your actions are admitting you're moving towards bankruptcy. 

Sometimes this lack of congruity between belief system and actions, seems obvious to everyone, except the person who is the primary character in their own life drama. 

Are you thinking one way about the future and yet acting out a different belief system or a conviction? 

Here is a Kingdom Power Principle you cannot afford to miss: as soon as you have identified the seed of success, identify yourself with it and celebrate it! Success is in the seed! 

Next, identify the seeds of failure and begin to root them out until you have purged your heart, mind and life from all the bad seeds the enemy had planted through the world or through false teaching. 

It is now only a matter of time to experience the harvest of the success God has already planted in you. He is with you to bring forth the promise of the seed.

You'll meet a lot of people who want only the ready harvest, the end result, the realized promise. They don't care to hear about your faith struggle. They will only respect you after you have produced. That's okay, you can't be mad at people for being that way. Only a select few are probably your "seed buddies" - those who will believe in the seed God has placed in your. Find out who they are and stick close to the those few encouragers. However, if you don't have such, when you understand that success is in the seed, the power of fear is broken over your life! As long as you have the seed of God planted in you, you know you will be a success, regardless how long it will take or how many challenges you will go through. 

We need to know how to shake off the vipers and move on. Think of Paul's situation: after being tossed in the sea for two weeks and nearly escaping death, he gets out onto dry land and a viper bites him while he's trying to help with getting the fire started! How absurd can it get? And yet, this is what happens all the time. Just because you've decided to serve God and people, don't expect Satan to watch on the sidelines and cheer for you! God will do his part and he will protect us THROUGHOUT such experiences.

But we must be strong enough in faith and learn how to shake off the demonic assignments against us and move onto the greater things that God has in store for us. The Kingdom advances through difficult circumstances. The notion that "if something is from God it will all work out just perfect", is absurd! In fact, if something is from God, all hell will break loose against you!

PRAY THIS PRAYER TODAY: Lord, help me shake off the vipers and keep my focus on you! I break off any demonic assignment from my life. I'm above anything Satan might scheme against me. Amen! 

One of the things that has amazed me through the years as a preacher is how many people approach me with questions they expect me to have the answer for. For some people this might be flattering. To me it's about responsibility. Who am I to give someone advice about this or that? What makes me think I can give someone the competent counsel they need, based on the Bible? Thus, I really need to rely on the Lord's ability in and through me when it comes to helping others with their questions.

The Lord began to use me to preach the Word and lead a church at a very young age. I was trying to be of help to everyone who came to me. Many times it was hard, because people approached me with questions that were above my pay-grade. Thankfully, I found something very liberating early on into my ministry development. It's the power of saying "I don't know".

Not only we find ourselves humbled by Jesus when he asks us a question (see Mat. 22:46), but we must be humble before Him when others approach us with their difficult questions.

"Should I change jobs?"

And on and on.

The first time this happened to me I was in counseling with a member of the church. They presented me with a situation that was rather complex. I was searching for the right answer to give this person to help relieve them of at least some of the stress they were obviously going through. I felt the Holy Spirit was saying something to me which I wasn't prepared to hear. "Tell him you don't know." I must have been a pastor for less than a year and I guess I had this idea that now since I'm a pastor I need to have an answer for everything. But I didn't realize that I was believing such a false concept. There are many stereotypes about what a pastor is supposed to be. Amazingly enough we can believe some of those stereotypes about ourselves, too. The light had come on for me right when I needed it.

"I don't know", I said. "That's between you and God. There are some things God has reserved to reveal directly to you. I wish I could give you the answer, but I can't."

Suddenly I felt relieved. I didn't feel like I had done something irresponsible as a easy way out of a difficult situation. I knew this was the right answer and there was power in my ability to say I don't know and be honest about it.

What is humility? Contrary to what most people believe, humility has to do mostly with the condition of our heart and mind, not with the way we look or behave. In this situation I chose to humble myself and be honest rather than to sound wise or well-versed in the Bible. And of course, when you choose to humble yourself you don't run around screaming "I just humbled myself!!!!" to everyone else around you. What kind of humility would that be? So you just have to do the right thing before God, whether people realize what you have just done or not.

This is true for pastors, moms, dads, business owners, professionals, everyone! This is a powerful life concept, not just a religious notion.

Let me be honest - the more I know God, the more I realize how little I know. The paradox is that at the same time I learn a lot more about God and life in general. So while I learn more about God and things in general, I must consciously develop an attitude of humility and honesty, recognizing there's more that I don't know than what I do know. I must protect my integrity by using the power of saying "I don't know" when I don't. I must also trust God with the things I do know because wisdom is the ability to apply the right knowledge at the right time, not just to have knowledge. God wants us to be mature in our understanding of him in the world we deal with. There's nothing godly about going around saying you don't know anything about anything.

Jesus came to enlighten our hearts and minds and make us wise children of light. But he also came to give us the power to be truthful and honest which liberates us to be human. You can be confident in what you know and yet humble in what you don't know.

There is power in declaring the truth you do know and there is power in saying "I don't know" when you're don't have the answer to something. Then, it's God's turn to make his move and nothing, and I mean, nothing could be better than that!

PRAY THIS PRAYER TODAY: Lord, I humble myself and come to you for answers! I don't have knowledge about so many things. I'm not able to do so many things. I admit it, but I also acknowledge you do. I therefore choose to stay humble and admit when I've come to the end of myself. Thank you for loving me when I know and when I don't know the answers to difficult and challenging issues arising in and around me. Amen!

George Bakalov (c) 2011

But the narrow gate and the road that lead to life are full of trouble. Only a few people find the narrow gate.  Matt. 7:14 (GWORD)

The word used for 'trouble' here traditionally is translated “narrow”. A deeper study tells us that there are more meanings to it: “to crowd (literally or figuratively): — afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble.”

Whichever way you look into it, the full meaning of the word doesn't convey a very pleasant picture.

• The road that leads to life will be crowded. All kinds of people, relationships and circumstances will try to crowd out the right people you are supposed to share the journey with. Some of those who 'crowd' your forward movement may be in fact people with very pressing needs. You know, the kind of people who never bother to actually seek God on their own or do something for themselves to better their lives. Why should they bother, when they know there’s plenty of mercy motivated “fools” in the Church who will take care of them one way or another.

• The road that leads to life will be full of affliction. You will be betrayed, disappointed and even targeted by people you thought were fellow Christians. Tragedies, financial losses, illnesses and all sorts of other situations do actually happen to well meaning Christians. Why? It’s because we live in a fallen world. And even if we do all the right things and even if God is warring on our behalf, the simple truth is that He never promised earth is or will become Heaven and that he is in full control of what happens down here. I don’t mean to scare anyone, but it’s better to take the bitter pill of realization now than not be prepared in the day when affliction knocks at your door. And if it doesn’t -- well, praise the Lord, you have many wonderful reasons to sing and shout -- you are in the blessed minority! Most people experience various forms of affliction throughout their lifetime. And this, my friends is not indicative of whether God loves us or whether He has all the power. He does. Look at creation and you’ll know it. Look at the cross of Jesus and you’ll know it. But the fact remains this is a battle ground and we must be prepared for it.

• The road that leads to life will be narrow. I remember living life circumstances leading us to live in a two bedroom apartment in Bulgaria with two babies, laughable income and intense persecution from the authorities, the culture and the church. Yes, living in the 90’s in Bulgaria was not for the faint of heart. Nothing was easy to accomplish. Even the most simple things took so much effort and resources. And what’s worse is that it lasted for years, not days or months. In retrospect, if that’s the worse we will experience ever in life, I’m OK with it. I’m thankful reminded of so many other believers who live in much worse conditions around the world. I’ve been there. I know.

• The road that leads to life is full of trouble. Troubles come in two ways -- internal and external. Internal troubles are those that concern our families and us personally. Most of these are self-inflicted and the result of our carnal nature. External troubles are the ones the system of this world causes us -- troubles for us personally, for our churches, businesses and societies in general through corrupt government, unjust courts, crime and all kinds of scenarios who are outside of our control.

We try to shift lanes.

Most of us are not raised up with enough mental and spiritual discipline to know how to plough through the troubles that come at us. We interpret these troubles, afflictions and tribulations as denial coming from God. We feel inadequate for the task. We try to shift lanes.

To our surprise, we find there are indeed different lanes on the road that leads to life.

There are all the casual Christians, who may show up to church on Sunday but outside of this are totally submerged in their own lives. You watch and you think: may be something’s wrong with me, praying and working for revival, reformation and all that good stuff? May be it doesn’t take all that? Hmm.

In the lane next to them are all religious nuts who don’t mind living completely in a world of their own, denying everything and everyone and isolating themselves in a bubble of prayer, reading of Scriptures and painful expectation of the end of times. Oh, well...

Apparently, there are several other lanes, which I can’t get into describing here. They may be broadly described as:

• the lane of the hurt & wounded,
• the lane of the flashy and successful,
• the lane of the mediocre,
• the lane of the cynical and the skeptical 

Don’t shift lanes, stick to what your inner man is telling you. The safest place on planet Earth is to be in the middle of God’s will...or lane, if you will. PRAY THIS PRAYER TODAY: Lord, help me stay the course you have for me! I commit to your vision and purpose for my life. Amen!

Power Principle # 21 was about developing a God centric mindest, which is really the only way to understand the Bible and to be properly positioned to receive His instructions for success.

Let’s look at the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot.

You might say that Abraham had already made the switch from being self centric to being God centric. To become God centric has to do with worship. Worship is not about music! Christians, please get this once and for all! Worship has to do with positioning yourself permanently in submission to God. Read this again: worship has to do with positioning yourself permanently in submission to God.

Abraham came from a tribe which worshiped God. Many years ago I heard a preacher say that Abraham came from a moon worshiping nation, namely Ur of the Chaldeans. I have done extensive study on this subject and found out this: Abraham actually came from a tribe which resided in Ur of the Chaldeans but in fact was a tribe, which worshiped Yahweh, the true God. One of the reasons the Lord called Tara to leave Ur of the Chaldeans was probably because idolatry and the moon worship cult was threatening this minority tribe and they needed an exit strategy in order to get to a new place, to a new land where they'll be able to establish a permanent altar to Yahweh.

Abraham did not invent the idea of building an altar to God. This was a well established custom in his family and in the tribe he came from. Worship has to do with acknowledging the superior position God has in relationship to man and man's willingness to follow the patterns of God. Singing songs and making music which praises God is only one of the many expressions of our worship. Unfortunately in today's Christianity most people are taught that worship is about music.

Back to our story.

Abraham is in transition. He has arrived in the promised land but his authority hasn't been established yet. It's not only what God wants to give you, it's what you accept and act on that makes the difference.

The strife between the shepherds is very telling of the condition of the Church today. As soon as some people get some success in ministry, business or otherwise, they become arrogant -- Christians and non-Christians alike. Success can be deceptive and make one believe that it's the ultimate seal of who we are as a person, our methods and so on. It isn't! You can actually become successful for a time and begin to believe yourself and the lies people tell you of how great you are. The true definition of success is not only about how high you reach but also how long you get to stay in that place or close to it. History teaches us that it's very possible for certain individuals, people groups, nations and even civilizations to arise and reach great heights of success for a period of time. True greatness has to do with how long they get to stay in that place and how well success can be transferred from generation to generation.

It seems to me Abraham needed a breakthrough. So God calls him to a higher place, to a place from which he could show him the big picture, the long-term strategy and plan. He tells Abraham that he will give him all the land Abraham can see with his eyes.

The Lord had already determined what he wants to give to Abraham but it was now time for Abraham personally to see the land and embrace God's plan. In other words it's what you see and embrace and identify with that makes difference not only what God has planned and prepared for you.

One of the most frustrating mindsets in the Church today is this: if it's God's will, it will happen.

This mindset stems from the subtle but well-established hyper-Calvinistic understanding of predestination. In simple terms, it’s the belief that whatever God has determined to happen, it will happen, regardless of what I want or do. You and I can't afford to tolerate such subtle deception if we are to succeed in our Kingdom mission.

This is not the time and the place for me to get into a lengthy theological discussion. Sometimes powerful truths are communicated in a simple way. Imagine yourself standing on the verge of a cliff one step away from falling down to your death. All you need is for someone to give you a simple warning which might sound something like: step back!

Likewise, through this teaching I want you to grasp a very simple premise: it's not only what God wants for you, it's what you get to see with your eyes of faith and embrace as your own that makes all the difference in how your life will unfold.

As a parent I might be seeing some incredible gifts and talents in my children. And they indeed are all very gifted in many different areas. But their breakthrough will come from what each one of them will see and decides to act on. They’ll have to see themselves as successful before they even engage in pursing God’s will. They’ll have to apply discipline and effort to release God’s ability in them.

Has the Lord called you to start your own business? Now you must see yourself as a business owner, you must embrace what the Lord is showing you and ultimately in the right timing you must act on it in order for God's plan to unfold for you. It will come with responsibilities, risk, failure and many opportunities. But you hold the key to activating it all.

Has the Lord called you to gather people and minister to them in some way? You must see yourself doing it, embrace your role as a gatherer and act on it in the right time. The Lord will do his part and his provision will align accordingly.

Has the Lord called you to the area of arts and entertainment? Same applies here.

You can go on and on and apply this principle to every area of life -- career, family and other creative pursuits which might serve as vehicles of influence.

In real life things don't work as simple and as automated as we would like them to. Even when you accept God's will for your life and embrace your calling -- circumstances, Satan and other factors might still work against you. However, we will emerge victorious because the Lord is on our side when we plug into his strategy and embrace our role in it.

What are some of the factors hindering people from seeing and embracing what the Lord already has planned for them?

• Not pursuing by faith, but pursuing God out of carnal, selfish desperation.
• Low self-esteem.
• Fear of man.
• Lack of discipline.
• Toxic environment -- relationally and culturally.
• Theological misconceptions.
• Disconnectedness.

There are many scriptures who show us the Lord wants his people to be successful both in their private lives and as a body of believers in our mission to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here’s what the concordance tells us about the Aramaic word used for “success” here:

Sakal: to be (causatively, make or act) circumspect and hence, intelligent:—consider, expert, instruct, prosper, (deal) prudent(-ly), (give) skill(-ful), have good success, teach, (have, make to) understand(-ing), wisdom, (be, behave self, consider, make) wise(-ly), guide wittingly.

Here’s Jesus on succcess:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (NKJV)

The Greek word for “abundant” is perissos, which means: superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication, excessive; preeminence: — exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly, advantage, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, vehement(-ly).

It's important for us to define success. Let's look at it this way: if you are in a ship out in the open seas and there is a storm, your goal would probably be to reach safe shores as soon as possible. That would be success. However, if the shores you reach are inhabited by cannibals, your definition of success will not be complete, especially if you get cooked for dinner.

Likewise in the Christian Church, especially in materialistic societies (and believe me, even though it might take different shapes and forms, there is materialism in every culture and continent), we need to redefine success and look at the whole context, not just the popular and very shallow concept of what it means to be successful.

For us as Christians success begins with responding to the Holy Spirit from our heart, turning away from sin and pursuing a relationship with Jesus Christ who is the King of Kings and Lord of lords. At first this seems like very strictly a “spiritual” only dynamic. But if we examine the full meaning of the word “salvation” used in the New Testament, we’ll see that the new birth is designed to impact every single area of our lives, not to be just an emotional or abstract “spiritual” experience.

The second phase of our Christian life has to do with us getting cleaned up from all emotional, spiritual, relational and economic bonds of our past. It's important to get cleaned up otherwise we will be difficult sons and daughters, unable to stay in a place of communion with God, receiving his direction and serving him. For instance one of the huge problems among Christians is the inability of hearing his voice. God has no problem speaking, usually the problem is with us hearing Him.

Thirdly, our success as Christians is defined in discovering our place in God's plan, which has to do with our positioning both in life in general and in the body of Christ, according to our gifting and abilities. One of the technologies that has changed our lives in the last two decades is the GPS technology -- the global positioning systems technology, formerly only available to the United States Army. Today the GPS technology has been commercialized and is widely used by ordinary people and professionals. There is something very similar between the GPS technology at our whole experience as Christians on the earth. We were instructed by Paul the apostle to live by faith not by sight.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.  2Cor. 5:7 (NKJV)

We are told that the sons of God are being led by the Spirit.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  Rom. 8:14 (NKJV)

Isn't this pretty much the same, except in the spiritual realm? Your positioning does matter. You must determine your current position and condition in order to move to your next position and achieve your mission. This is where the prophetic ministry comes in. Sadly, without the overall strategy which apostles have the ability to receive from the Lord and communicate with the body of Christ, the prophetic ministry can also become perverted and do more damage than good. Why? Because it's not about you. And it's not about me. We will never understand how to function on the earth in sync with God if we are self-centric. We will never understand the Bible and the biblical worldview if we don't understand it's written from a God centric point of view.

Let's go back to our discussion on success. We've establish something very important: in order to be successful in God's plan we as Christians must develop a God-centric positioning in life. Jesus taught on this principle:

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matt. 6:33 (NKJV)

Seeking first the Kingdom means first and foremost that you and I must abandon our carnal ideas of who we are and what we should be doing with our lives. Laying down our ideas opens up the possibility for Lord to reveal to us his will and strategy. We are then assured other circumstances will lineup and provision for our daily needs will manifest accordingly. It sure takes faith to walk and live your life based on this principle but long-term it is indeed the winning strategy.

Having said all this you and I can’t be perfectionists when it comes to God's will. The Lord may be showing you prophetically you will one day be a millionaire but in the meantime you will need to get a decent job to be able to provide for yourself and your family. 

Some of the people reading this material might not be in a very good place in life right now. SO PRAY THIS PRAYER TODAY: Lord, you want me to succeed! But before anything, please cleanse my mind so I my idea of success is not a carnal one, but rather - Holy Spirit, please clearly define the Father's plan and purpose for me so that my faith is based on God’s plan for my life and not some fantasy I picked up along the way who knows how. Amen!

For this to happen, you need to find YOUR tribe first. If you are frustrated due to not being able to fit in, there’s no need to blame everyone else for it. Your situation is your situation -- just because you don’t fit in it doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t fit in.

But it’s a good thing to determine you will find your tribe. Somehow, somewhere, someday, you come to a place of connecting with like-minded people with whom you share enough to make you feel like together you can achieve something for God. When this happens, don’t place ALL your expectations on your tribe, that’s unrealistic, too. You need to build those special few relationships on which you can lean and feel like they can lean on you. It may take a long time.

How can you tell your tribe:

- It inspires you.
- It adds something to your life you might not be able to get otherwise.
- It surrounds you (in a good way).
- It makes room for you to add to it.
- It makes you want to sacrifice because the reward is greater than the sacrifice.

If you thought you had found your tribe and it wasn’t it, exit gracefully. It takes mature, internally strong people to do so. Move on and keep seeking. Your tribe is waiting somewhere out there, wondering what’s taking you so long.

So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.  Gen. 13:8 (NKJV)

In the Old Testament tribalism was a normal thing. In fact, your tribe was your extended family. We have evidence to believe the apostles of Jesus were in a way leaders of spiritual tribes, or formations. This was meant to be a good thing, it was to help bring unity to the diversity within the covenant nation. 

God wants us to know and connect with people of like faith and like spirit. When you do, make a decision to invest of your time and efforts to build up the ties with your tribe. Unity doesn't happen just like that, it's an effort in many ways.

Copyright (c) 2011; George Bakalov

Purging the new seeds we sow is not enough. Pulling the weeds is just as important.

Those of you who have had a garden, know how weeds ruin your ground. They consume the nutrients needed by the plants you’ve planted. They choke the life out of everything. They add no value to anything.

I hate weeds! Way too many people are tangled in the weeds the enemy has planted in their minds.

Weeds represent false ideas, thought patterns and philosophies. Notice God tells Jeremiah he has appointed him to pull out and break down before he even plants and builds.

I wish things worked by just making sure we purge the seeds we sow. However, there are many weeds we need to pull out before we can secure the seeds can be planted.

False ideas about marriage have ruined many of families. We all bring weed thought patterns into our marriages and those must be pulled out if new thought patterns are to be planted. False ideas about God have pushed many people from believing in Him. False ideas about money have gotten many people in debt they can never repay.

Weeds grow even if you do nothing. The pop culture plants false images and ideas into our brains without some of us even realizing it.

It takes the mirror of the Word of God and prophetic discernment to track down these weeds. And we do, we need to be determined, forceful and consistent if we are to see breakthrough.

George Bakalov (c) 2011

Jesus taught the principle of the seed many times.

"The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground.” [Mark 4:26]

Also, there is the law of reproduction from Genesis 1.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. Gen. 1:11 (KJVS)

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Gen. 1:12 (KJVS)

Evil begets evil. Grace begets grace. We must purge the seed, so it can produce after its own kind. Our doctrine, ideas and works all represent seeds. What we spread is what will grow. It amazes me how evil reproduces itself through the generations. Why not have righteousness reproduce itself and become multiplied?

When we purge the seed, the harvest will be great! Confused Christians beget confused Christians. Abusive fathers abuse and beget abusive children. Ant-semites beget anti-semites. Racists beget racists. Like it or not, more things are transfered from one generation to the next by imitation than anything else.

We must purge the seeds in order to change the harvest.

George Bakalov (c) 2011

All of us have flaws.

Some talk too much, others are timid, yet others are always late. It’s human to have flaws. Those can be worked on and they are not fatal. But character is something you and I must have.

The way the Father sees us on the earth is not only as his children but also as stewards of what he has entrusted us with - gifts, talents & calling.

A steward has to treat what has been entrusted to him as his own, but never to become obsessive about it - he needs to remembers it belongs to someone else. As a steward you cannot afford not to be faithful. You can have flaws, but you cannot be unfaithful.

Suppose you have the gift of comfort. So many people need comfort in this life. As soon as you become aware your presence comforts people and ministers to them, will you be faithful to bless others through it? In other words, will you keep on keeping on?

It’s been 22 years now in my walk with God and I’ve seen one thing - there are a lot and I mean A LOT of people who come to Christ but never develop as consistent disciples. They may have gifts and talents, but they can’t be trusted.

Faithfulness is a non-negotiable. This means you will keep releasing to others what God has given you as long as you are alive! You must finish the course!

George Bakalov (c) 2011

(Lev 14:57 KJV) To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.

Jesus said that not one jot or a tittle from the Law and the Prophets will pass until they are fulfilled. Today the veil has been taken off our eyes and we can understand the Old Testament Scriptures prophetically. This will help us understand the ways of God and learn how to move with Him in Kingdom life and authority.

Moses gave the law of leprosy to the Israelites. Leprosy is a symbol of sin for us who are of the New Covenant. Just like sin, leprosy has the ability to kill slowly and to be passed from one person to another.

We may be safe to say that the greatest battle of the church today is the battle with sin. I hear again and again of pastors who have fallen in adultery and Christians in the church who are committing all kinds of sin – lying, stealing and committing sexual immorality.

Churches are full of false brethren – those who are calling themselves Christians, but with their lifestyle they are actually denying Christ and His teaching. The apostle Paul spoke of false brethren.

(1 Cor 5:11 KJV) But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

So there are those who call themselves brothers, but in actuality they are all those things the apostle identified.

Now, we know that no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes and many sincere Christians sin habitually. However, after we are born-again, our status in the Kingdom is different. We are now sons. When we fall, we fall as sons. When God picks us up and forgives us, He is not looking at us sinners, but our identity has been changed – we are sons and we are righteous through Christ. When we are judged by Him, we are judged as sons.

(Heb 12:4 KJV) Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

(Heb 12:5 KJV) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

(Heb 12:6 KJV) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

(Heb 12:7 KJV) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

People whose minds have been weakened from the lies of secular humanism, will find this kind of message offensive and difficult to accept.

(2 Cor 11:3 KJV) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

But I find it very difficult for me to accept what’s going on in the church today: adultery, fornication, lying, stealing, gossip, politics and all kinds of evil.

This is may be just a fraction of what’s really going on in the Church. The apostle Paul commanded the Corinthians:

(1 Cor 5:13b KJV) Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

In the Old Testament times, when someone suspected that there is leprosy in their house, they would call the priest to come in and inspect it. Jesus is the High Priest and the Apostle of our faith. (Heb 3:1) Jesus knows how to inspect our lives and find the stones that are infected.

When the priest would find such stones, these stones would be taken out of the house and replaced with good ones. This was a way of giving a chance to the whole house. If this didn’t help and the leprosy affected those new stones too, then that house had to be destroyed totally.

(Lev 14:45 KJV) And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.

This revelation has an individual and corporate application:

* Individually

The Holy Spirit desires to come and show us which stones (areas of our lives) are affected by sin and help us how to deal with it. This requires honesty, faith and understanding of deliverance if we are to have breakthrough in our lives. It’s not a negative thing for us to be rebuked by the Lord and for Him to show us areas of sin or vulnerability to sin in our lives.

(1 Cor 11:31 KJV) For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

(1 Cor 11:32 KJV) But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

We have to invite the Holy Spirit to come and inspect our “house”, just like that person in the Old Testament would do. God will not help you, unless you are willing to humble yourself and invite Him as Lord in your life.

* Corporately

The Holy Spirit will deal not only with individuals, but also with whole bodies of believers. Sin, if it’s not confronted publicly, will spread like leprosy in the church.

(1 Tim 5:20 KJV) Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Jesus gave us the order of church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17. This is rarely practiced in the church today. We have made up all kinds of excuses not to build the church of Jesus, the way Jesus wants it built. True apostles are on the rise once again to restore simplicity and purity in the church.

If there are members of the body, who refuse to listen to what leadership is telling them to do in order to be set free, such people have to be released from the church.

John Kelly said once: “All believers have the authority to cast out demons from the church, but apostles have the authority to cast out people, too.”

This is the time to press in to a higher place in Jesus. We want the miracles of the early apostles, but we cringe when we have to embrace the holiness, order and authority of the apostles in our lives today. It’s time for us to put sin where it belongs, under our feet, right where Satan and all his demons belong, too.

Jesus demonstrated Kingdom dominion over leprosy. We can walk in dominion over sin, sickness and demons!

(Mat 8:2 KJV) And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

(Mat 8:3 KJV) And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

7 Steps for breakthrough:

ASK the Holy Spirit to show you what the infected areas in your life are. Be real and you will be amazed how quickly the Lord will begin to inspect your life and show you wickedness and compromise.

CONFESS your sin to someone you trust. This can be your marriage partner, spiritual parent (If you have such), trusted friend, church leader or someone who will know how to handle your confession and pray with you.

TURN from sin in your lifestyle. There is not such a thing as: The devil made me do it! We choose to sin. Therefore we can choose to turn away from sin.

PRAY for deliverance. Identify the stones (areas) of sin and demonization and release yourself from the bondages. The best is really if you have someone whom you can talk to, confess and have them pray for you for deliverance, too.

REPLACE the old stones with new. Exercise godliness! (Acts 24:16 KJV) And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.

TAKE HOLY COMMUNION

FAST AND PRAY throughout this divinely appointed time. Seek the Lord for divine order in your life, cleansing, healing and deliverance. Make a decision that you are going to the next level of love, life and prosperity in Jesus.

George Bakalov (c) 2011

When you find yourself in that place in life, it may be time for you to go for an encounter with God! When you have an encounter with God, your faith becomes sharpened!

In order to penetrate darkness, we need the kind of faith that goes beyond the Sunday morning church experience. If we want to be Kingdom pioneers and deliverers, we need the force of conviction. Conviction is aggressive, initiating and penetrating force that the church lacks today. Some have called it ‘over zealousness’ and ‘intolerance’. But we are talking about … conviction! Yes, faith indeed comes from hearing the word (rhema) of God. However, when we experience the sovereign power of God, through an act of God, our faith changes. It becomes energized, sharpened and it transforms itself into conviction. And this is exactly what the devil hates to see happen in the church today. He doesn’t mind having churches full of people who are formal Christians.

What the enemy fears is people with conviction. 



When our conviction becomes weak, God may even give us a sign. A sign from God is something so undisputed supernatural and transcendental in nature, that it disarms all of our fears, breaks through the barriers of the enemy, penetrates beyond our logical thinking and pierces our heart with the very evidence of the power, love, truth and reality of God.



"Because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake." (1 Th 1:5 NRSV) 



The word conviction here comes from a Greek root word which means “to carry out fully (in evidence), i.e. to completely assure (or convince), entirely accomplish: --most surely believe, fully know (persuade), make full proof of”.



There are too many of us in the Church today, who are nothing more but a product of a watered down, politically correct, socially acceptable, culture friendly ‘gospel’. Also, wrong teaching on ‘faith’ sometimes creates ‘robo-Christians’ (as my dear friend, prophet John Isleib, calls them). We need once again the Gospel preached not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with FULL CONVICTION.

Where do we get full conviction from? From having an encounter with God!



Did God strike Gideon dead for asking for a sign? No, he didn’t! In fact, Gideon’s very request came from his already believing heart. He was honest before God, admitting, he didn’t have what it takes to rise up and become a leader. In fact, I believe that God was pleased with Gideon's request. When the angel gave him the sign and the fire came out and consumed Gideon’s offering, I believe that the glory of God, the presence of God’s peace and love totally covered Gideon and he fell and worshiped God as Jehovah Shalom. Gideon was overwhelmed with God’s goodness and mercy! Gideon was shocked that instead of God striking him dead, He came with peace and power. 



Do we need faith? Yes! We need to learn how to walk by faith and not by sight. But at the same time, we need to get real with ourselves and with God and realize that we need HIM.

Didn’t Jesus tell the apostles to wait for the Holy Spirit to come? Wait for what? They were commissioned, they were called, and they had even seen the risen Christ. What more could they possibly need after seeing Christ risen from the dead? Well, their inner man needed AN EXPERIENCE. They’re faith needed the edge called CONVICTION.

And they had to pray for God to move…and to wait…and to receive it when it came. They had to go into the upper room and wait for an experience with God? What happened on the day of Pentecost didn't give or add faith to the apostles. It came because they already had faith. But after the tongues of fire came on these men, they went out and preached with full conviction! And they had to wait for 10 days and pray for God to send his promise! So, I say - you can pray for God to intervene into your life and shift you into a whole new place with him!


You may even know what God has for you to do for Him. But you may be lacking the force of conviction in order to move forward.

Get real with yourself; stop all religious prayers that only make you fall asleep. Realize God hears only the words that come from our heart. Ask him to send the fire, let Him be God FOR you, not only through you. Receive in humility His goodness and His miracles. Allow him to convince you with the proof and the evidence of His love. He knows how to do that.

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. (Mark 9:24 KJV)

George Bakalov (c) 2011

This is a great Power Principle! Envision your better life, your promised land! Hold on to it, it's your anchor of hope and the engine of your life!

Many people will say: 'How dare you say that thinking of a better life can be my anchor of hope in this life? I think Jesus should be that!"

Well, it is Jesus - both in this life and the next. But who said it's wrong to envision your promised land? What's wrong with segmenting your journey and thinking of the next step in this life before you worry too much about your stepping into eternity?

Jesus said:

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Sounds to me like he's speaking of both now and eternity. Now if you want to be miserable in this life, that's fine, enjoy it! But don't deny the rest of us the perfectly normal aspiration to have a better life with God in this life.

Imagine a guy coming to this gal and saying to her: "Would you marry me? This is what I can do for you: I'll beat you up every day, I'll treat you like trash in front of the kids and I'll keep you poor and dependent on me for money!"

How many clinically healthy women do you think will smile big and say: "Yes! Yes! Yes!" None, right? Exactly!

If we don't have the aspirations for a better life in this life, we're worse than the average couple who's getting married today, because at least most of them envision some kind of better, not worse life. And 50% of them divorce anyway (according to statistics in the United States), but hey they at least tried, didn't they?

Wrong theology denies Christian even the right to try! "Be humble", "don't become arrogant" and other such code words shape up the the thinking of a lot of Christians.

Shake it off, I say! Come out from under such religious influences and come under the headship of Christ. He's not interested in making you look like you've been baptized in pickle juice. He wants you to make it big with him - in fact as big as possible!

Now I understand that some people first have to break the hold mammon has on their lives before they can experience the lordship of Christ. For others, there may be other issues and addictions that have to be dealt with before they can be free.

But all people, regardless of what was the primary issue holding them back or being the root of evil in their lives, all people must be free from mammon, or Satan in the area of money and material possessions.

All people in this world sooner or late somehow own something. All of us need to learn how to be good stewards of material riches, so that the Father can entrust us with the "true riches" of Heaven.

Now, let's envision a life shaped up by the true riches of Christ(partial list):

• Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
• The gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• Prophecy.
• Favor with the Father.
• Understanding Scriptures.
• Peace of mind.
• Divine health.
• Healthy relationships in your immediate family.
• Good relationships with extended families.
• Good friendships.
• Good working relationships.
• Understanding of your purpose in God.
• Understanding of spiritual things and realities.
• Understanding of times and seasons.
• Wisdom.
• Knowledge.
• Favor: with friends, family, employer, colleagues, neighbors, institutions, etc.
• Timing.
• Accelerated learning abilities.
• The ability to hear God's voice and specific instructions.
• Protection from accidents and destruction.
• Time saving solutions and ideas.
• Creative ideas, discoveries, inventions.
• Talent discoveries.

Does this sound like a good list to you? It does to me. And this doesn't even include eternal life, which tops any list, any time, anywhere. Now go ahead and start finding the Scriptures that the above mentioned list is based on. They're there, waiting for you to discover them and base your convictions on God's promises. 

George Bakalov (c) 2011

One Power Principle that will give you an advantage against satan and this world is to be free from greed. Now greet is rooted deeply in the human heart. Most people will never admit it, but we all as sinners have that root in us. Most people have never dealt with large amounts of money and therefore they don't understand how much greed they have lurking beneath the surface of their pious ego.

Have you heard the expression "Money and power change people"? It's true! People who have never had power or money, when they get some, a different side of them manifests and most of the time it ain't pretty!

Just think of it - the root of greed is the reason for great many people to never come to the knowledge of God in the first place! Wrong theology has told us to tell people Jesus loves them and not to confront them regarding sin. However, greed, or the love of money and material possessions is identical with the worship of false gods.

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Col. 3:5 (NKJV)

Covetousness is the same as idolatry. In this case a person who is covetous worships Satan without knowing it. Satan is not obvious. Someone had said that the greatest success of Satan would be to convince people he doesn't exist!

This way he can bring people into various captivities without them knowing who is behind the plot. Addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, money, fame - they are all the works of Satan by which he holds people under his control.

Satan's greatest goal is not to kill people, but rather to bring them to a place of control, so they can do his bidding.

that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 2Tim. 2:26 (NKJV)

Whether it's through addictions, greed, love of power or whatever else, Satan knows what to tempt us with due to the familiar spirits that have been working in the generations.

That's why you can see certain addictions run in families for generations. These demons simply follow the family and exploit the open doors of generational sin to access our lives.

That's why there are prayers for repentance from generational sin in the Bible.

"keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Ex. 34:7 (NKJV)

please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. Neh. 1:6 (NKJV)

PRAY THIS PRAYER TODAY: Lord, show me if I need to root out greed from my heart and mind! I want to be able to think clearly and receive from You wisdom for prosperity! And once you get it, I will keep rooting out anything that the enemy might have planted in the mean time. I'll never become one more victim of greed! I am free through Jesus!

George Bakalov (c) 2011

You must determine you will beat poverty and lack. No one can make this decision for you. You and only you can make the decision to beat poverty and lack. Or, if you like it better - to succeed and prosper!

However, before we even get to this place, we need to clear up some things. How does God view this whole idea? While some Christians have made a new religion out of the teaching on prosperity and have been excessive in pursuing lavish lifestyles, we can't allow these exception do determine our belief system.

Obviously, Jesus' teaching was about more than just riches - he spoke about "true riches". Which means there are false riches as well.

The "true riches" Jesus talked about in this incredible teaching, are riches far different from the material possessions we usually associate the word "rich" with.

The apostle Paul on the other hand describes the Kingdom of God in terms that some of the more pragmatic thinking people might find quite abstract - righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

"...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom." 14:17 (NKJV)

However, when you think of it, even in human terms - righteousness, peace and joy might be what describes happiness better than anything else - across cultures, ages and civilizations.

I hope you get my point - my life philosophy does not define material wealth as happiness or the purpose of human existence. I'm not a greedy person and I love to give and share with the less fortunate.

At the same time, it doesn't take very long for any of us to see that poverty is plaguing our world and is causing more harm, grief and suffering than anything else. So there's NOTHING and I mean NOTHING noble or worthy of admiration in being poor! Some poor people are very generous. That's worthy of admiration, namely their generosity. But being poor cannot possibly be anything worth emulating.

Finally, the Bible tells us that money is the answer to all things. Many might be shocked to see such a statement in the Bible, but there it is!

A feast is made for laughter,
And wine makes merry;
But money answers everything. Eccl. 10:19 (NKJV)

So, what is it that will make us happy? Peace and joy or dollars and euros?

What's more important? What does God really want us to have more of these, both as individuals and as a society? Does God even want us to have a better life?

I believe the answer the Bible gives is a resounding "yes"!

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 2Cor. 1:20 (NKJV)

Now here is the wisdom - "true riches", such as spiritual wholeness, family, friends and all these crucial non-material blessings, do not substitute for material riches! All promises are Yes and Amen in Christ. All here means "all" as in all kinds of promises and every single promise as well!

Great friends won't be able to substitute for the lack of money. Still, good income won't necessarily mean you'll have great friends, or joy and peace in your life. So you see it now?

Here comes the really interesting part: which riches does God want to give us first? Or is there any priority when it comes to God wanting to give us "true riches" such as peace, joy and family or do they even have to come in at a certain order?

The Bible really doesn't have a clear cut instruction on whether we need to first get one and then the other. It's different for each person because God's dealings are unique with each individual. However, there are common principles we can see in the Word. Somehow false teaching (from a religious spirit), has taught us that we need to first become spiritually rich before we become rich in material riches.

Amazingly enough, Jesus makes the following statement:

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Luke 16:11 (NKJV)

There is an obvious sequence here and a relationship between the way a person handles material possessions and their spiritual condition. This lines up with other parts of the teaching of Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matt. 19:21 (NKJV)

Here is the young rich ruler who wants to know God. Jesus instructs him first to dispose of his wealth and then to follow him. The young man's response exposed his greed and fear. Because of holding on the material wealth, he remained spiritually poor.

Make a decision to love God and not money! Then make a decision to make enough money to beat poverty and lack. Take care of yourself, your loved ones and the needy. Make a decision to leave a great inheritance of both faith and financial blessings to your children. Don't be a beggar, don't settle for the "nomadic" mindset of some Christians. Being a pilgrim is not the same as being a nomad. We are called to have dominion through and with Christ, not be poor and bankrupt.

George Bakalov (c) 2011 

As a Kingdom Christian you must break the power of man-pleasing over your life. Everyone who has ever walked as a free human being on this earth has had to do it at some point. You can't be the exception!

Man-pleasing is like an invisible task master who watches over you. When you decide to raise your head and give voice to what you feel, believe, think or want, it whips you mercilessly back to "your place".

As a child of God, "your place" is right next to Jesus Christ, in the realm of the Spirit! Remind satan this principle the next time he tells you to shut up, to swallow the abuse and to blend in with the wallpaper in the room.

Man-pleasing is the fear of being rejected by someone you believe holds the key to how you're going to be perceived by others.

However, if you connect with Jesus and his endless love and favor, who cares what someone else does and says to intimidate you? No one should even have the idea they can do this to you. If they do, whether they are a "friend", relative, boss or even a church leader, you need to stand up, empowered by this powerful truth - you are free in Christ and no one has the right to violate your human dignity.

Now don't take this teaching and go to work and start telling your boss he needs to make coffee for you because when you get fired, I'm not going to be looking for work for you. You need to have common sense when you hear this kind of teaching.

This idea here is to help set you free from people who take advantage of you, not to go stir up trouble with people who are in legitimate positions of authority in your life and are challenging your own rebellion. The whole point of this principle is this: those in authority who willingly and consciously choose to mistreat you, are abusing their position as opposed to "using" their position to serve, lead and work with you.

Do this: pray in private and break words and patterns that are being spoken over you. Also: when you end up in a situation where you know you're being violated, stand up for righteousness! Don't chicken out! People who cave in, end up hating themselves and then hating others. No need to waste your life like this, bound by the spirit of man-pleasing. Be who you know Christ has called you and made you to be and forgive those who come across as bossy and taking advantage of you. You are responsible before God to stand up for your right to have your freedom of conviction and to express yourself, regardless of who likes it or dislikes it.

George Bakalov (c) 2011

It is God, not man, who is building a spiritual house (temple) on the Earth. You and I will never be blessed if we attempt to build our own thing, be it a materialistic lifestyle or another human system of existence alienated from God. However, our inner man, the spiritual core of who we are, is so designed by God, that it will always try to build something that imitates God's building process, whether we realize it or not. 

The guy had been building his own materialistic paradise for years. He now was going to cash in on it and enjoy it. Turns out all his building efforts had nothing to do with God's purpose for his life. 

For example, Communism wanted to build "heaven on earth". They saw evil only in outward circumstances, such as poverty and inequality. Denying God and his wisdom, denying mankind's sinfulness, the most obvious consequence of man's rebellion against God, they ventured off to pursue 'Utopia' on earth. But earth will never be heaven. The wisdom of God teaches us that the earth is in the shape that it is due to sin. Mankind was and is responsible for the state of the earth. Regardless of what mankind does, we can't restore paradise on earth. Furthermore, communists' idea of "heaven on earth" had nothing to do with the inner nature of man. It only had to do with the material. Communism and all its variants are godless. It's a lie from start to end.

God can never, and I mean never bless Communism and the works of communism, because it's in direct opposition of who God is, His wisdom and purpose for mankind. It violates God's very principles of justice. It goes against everything God has ever declared in His word.

Communism leads people to Utopia, i.e. to nowhere. Which really means Communism has been, is and will be deceptive ideology, which will never solve any problems, it will only damage our world even more through its inherent violence and corruption.

Building God's house on the earth is different. When you get involved in this process, you partake of a dimension of his power otherwise unavailable to you.

George Bakalov (c) 2011

It's all around us and unfortunately its subtle influence penetrates even the most independent of minds. It plants messages, images and feelings in most people without them even realizing it happened. It robs, divides and twists. It makes some people adore other people and yet it causes others to hate them.

The dictionary defines it as: "a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing". Psychology has been trying to explain the phenomena for years. And yet, even if we succeed in understanding how it works, no one can claim they have the power to stop its poisonous advancement against the human race. On the contrary, the evil genius of that old fallen Adam in us has figured out how to join it, serve it and exploit it. Marketing, branding, politics - no sphere of dynamic human exchange is left untouched by the mighty hand of stereotyping. Some create it, others fight it.

I've had my share in this unique experience due to my high profile involvement as a young pastor in Bulgaria back in the 90's. I was only in my mid 20's when had the rare 'privilege' of personally experiencing the powerful impact of the (state-run) media machinery and its ability to indoctrinate the masses with a daily serving of information coming from national newspapers and TV. Literally hundreds of articles were written about our church, many if not most of them hitting hard on me personally, making sure I was presented as the sum of all things despicable, a cult leader, charlatan, pseudo-healer and so on. At that time I didn't understand the tactics of the enemy. In many ways I underestimated the system's ability to use the old communist tactics of Saul Alinsky, author of "Rules for radicals" - "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it" (Rule # 12).* (see note below)

CULTURAL STEREOTYPING

""Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?" Nathaniel asked." (John 1:46) Nathaniel was very close to miss his entire future by dismissing Jesus as fraud. All this because of stereotyping Nazareth and its people. It's amazing how even today in our supposedly modern society people look down at other people based on where they come from. Here is God speaking to His people Israel through his very own Son, the embodiment of God in the world and yet, Nathaniel was about to gamble away his very salvation due to the cultural stereotyping of Nazareth that was going on in his day.

So, is cultural stereotyping keeping you from receiving what God might want to bless you with through someone coming from the "wrong" place? Do you know people who are missing God's blessing because they are so wrapped up in their cultural context?

ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS AND GENDER STEREOTYPING

My next three examples are again from the Gospel of John and from the same instance. It shows how much stereotyping Jesus himself had to face in his own day and ministry. It shows how the different layers of stereotyping at work, how they shift quickly and how they work against the free flow and God's truth. Part of the reason we need the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as words of knowledge and the prophetic is to penetrate the insulation of stereotypes that keep people from even coming to a place of honesty and transparency.

* "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (John 4:9)

Jews were looking down at Samaritans. Samaritans found ways to get back with them. But here was a man who did not apply the rules of the day in his approach to others and most certainly, the rules of the day didn't apply to him as well. Jesus' identity as the Son of God was greater than the Jewish culture he grew up with. If it wasn't, and if Jesus had allowed the stereotypes the Jews of that day had adopted toward Samaritans to mold his own attitude, we would have seen Jesus in action in the most unusual of circumstances. And yet, here he was - conversing with a woman who had a number of issues in here life. Bringing hope and direction to her future. Impacting a whole town. All because he didn't see people through the popular stereotypes of the day, but instead chose to look into their hearts and minds and to connect with them by the Spirit, rather than ethnicity or culture.

* "Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." (John 4:20)

The Samaritan woman, regardless of how close she was to being blessed, had to overcome her own pride and religious stereotypes. Was she going to stick to what she and her forefathers had believed was right? Or was she going to take a chance and give her attention to this Jewish prophet? Before she knew it, she was overpowered by the power of God and Jesus demonstrated he wasn't here to argue about religious beliefs. He spoke to the truth. He calmly affirmed that salvation comes from the Jews. He challenged her with a statement that revealed a whole new place of worship - not this or that mountain, not Jerusalem, not Rome. He spoke about a place of transparency, a place in our hearts where we come to God as who we are, trusting He is the God who seeks such worshipers and He will meet us there.

* "Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman." (John 4:27)

When it was all said and done, here come the disciples. Jesus talking to a woman? Are you serious? One more barrier this unusual man from Nazareth broke in his day. Gender stereotypes are certainly not a new thing. What's more amazing is how much they still dominate our world. Some nations are worse off than others. But even in the United States, the birthplace of modern feminism, we are witnessing the most pathetic assault of the liberal media on Sarah Palin, senator John McCain's pick for the VP. No, they will never say it's because she is a woman, but the evidence tells otherwise. The stereotype here is not only gender, but also political. If Palin was a pro-choice, liberal personality, you can bet the mainstream media would be showing a very different face in the way they treat her.

HOW TO BEAT STEREOTYPING

Can we beat this unwanted, invisible shadow in our lives? Can we detect its tactics and sever its influence in us and in the lives of others? Can the Church demonstrate a higher way of thinking and being? Here are three ways you can beat stereotyping on a regular basis:

1) Examine your foundations

The Word of God is a mirror (James 1:23). When things rise up in you and you sense the foul smell of pride coming from some place near, check it out, it may be coming from your very own stereotyping. It may be a very subtle thought or an attitude built into your foundations. A racial remark your mom, dad, or another role model made. A book or a movie depicting someone in derogatory terms.

2) Judge others the way you want to be judged

Do you want to be stereotyped based on your gender, culture or race? I didn't think so. Well, then apply this same basic rule now to others "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (Luke 6:31). Determine you will judge people based on the facts, not on the mind games stereotypes play with us. Make the effort to see what's at work in this other person, both the good and the not so good. Learn how to acknowledge the good things you see in others and how not to despise them when you see their weaknesses. You can disagree and even criticize, but if it's not based on facts, it doesn't speak very highly of you.

3) Determine you will be part of the solution

There are way too many people who don't understand their personal responsibility in making our world a better place. They think they can release their toxic prejudices and it doesn't matter. Some are probably even happy to live with the stereotypes they inherited or adopted as their own. In fact, they probably wouldn't even know what to do if they let go of their racial, social or cultural stereotypes. Life would almost seem boring. Your enemies will be reduced to zero or to the very few of those who choose to be your enemies, not all the people you thought were your enemies. Such are the choices we have. We can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. We either proliferate the cobweb of deception stereotypes nurtures, or we cut through it with the truth that comes from Jesus Christ.

The Church is called to be part of the solution. It doesn't mean we agree with everyone. We can disagree, but it will have to be based on facts, not on prejudice, or stereotypes, as I have pointed out in this article. When there are people who commit crime, wrongs and evil, they need to be held accountable. There is objective evil and objective good. We need to have moral clarity if we're going to build communities where liberty is honored and violence is under control.

So, don't just beware of the false prophets and teachers who appear on the TV. Beware of the false prophet of stereotyping who is sometimes at work even when your mind doesn't realize it.

George Bakalov (c) 2011 

Source: www.in30days.posterous.com 

Over 30 times the New Testament Scriptures use the word enemy when categorizing different parties in a relationship.

We used to be enemies of God in our sinful state (Rom. 5:10). Death is the last enemy that shall be defeated (1 Cor. 15:26). Satan is an enemy to God and mankind.

However, here I want to talk about people being your enemies, not Satan.

The power principle I want to share with you today is this: when you learn how to deal with your enemies, you will never be a victim!

You may be the kindest person out there, but if you rise up in boldness, you will make enemies. That's a given. Not because you will try or even want to, but because that's the nature of things in this world.

Think of it - Jesus didn't come to make enemies with anyone, yet he was crucified as a criminal. Paul and the apostles didn't try to make enemies, yet they were persecuted everywhere they went. Why? For being who God had called them to be and doing what God had called them to do.

Sooner or later all of us find ourselves in the bizarre situation of having an enemy. Someone who does things to actually harm you - socially, relationally, financially or otherwise.

Now, as Christians, I know a lot of people who don't know what to do with their enemies. They think Jesus has called them to be doormats in life and do nothing to defend themselves or their good name. That's actually wrong!

You have the responsibility, when someone is spreading lies and is creating a false report about you, to call them on it and hold them accountable for what they are doing. What if you had a garden and you had planted vegetables like my wife and kids did this summer? We'll be enjoying our own cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, dill and hot peppers! (Well, the hot peppers are only for me!)

If I saw someone is sneaking in at night and stealing our tomatoes, do you think I'm just going to watch him and say to myself: "I wish God struck this man on the spot for doing something so terrible!"

No, my friend! I'll open the door, I'll yell at him with authority and if he didn't leave the premises, I will be calling the police immediately.

Now, why would you work hard day and night, build a good name for yourself and watch how someone is spreading lies about you, robbing you of the fruit of your labor? You need to confront wicked and twisted people with the truth and stop them in their tracks. This world might be unjust in many ways, but this doesn't mean we will sit back and watch wicked people tear us down.

Have you ever thought that from Acts chapter 19 to Acts 28 we have the story of Paul seeking to clear his good name? He went to court, appealed to the Emperor and practically abandoned his apostolic "career" in order to pursue a lawsuit against his enemies.

In this world, if you don't stand up for yourself, your family, your church and your friends, nobody will! In fact we are called to be our brother's keepers! How can we be our brother's keeper if we don't know how to keep ourselves?

Now, you don't have to hate for your enemies. In fact, we must forgive all people. Some of the most powerful words Jesus ever spoke were those:

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matt. 5:44)

That's where we miss it as Christians. We don't want to hate anyone, therefore we shrink back in religious pseudo-humility and allow evil to triumph all around us. There's nothing godly about that. You can't be naive when it comes to who Satan is using to try to tear you down.

President John F. Kennedy said once: "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names!" How wise!

Learn how to deal with your enemies and you'll never be their victim!

One of the greatest tragedies that resulted from the fall of man was the entrance of the spirit of division on the earth.

The first major manifestation of sin was Cain's murder of his brother.

And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Gen. 4:8

When we become followers of Christ, we need to reform our thinking when it comes to unity. Why? Because there is no substitute for unity!

You may be saved, but that doesn't mean you automatically understand God's idea of unity. You may learn how to pray, but that's not a substitute for unity. You may begin to prosper financially but end up being isolated and with no one in your life who will stand in agreement with you.

Now, when I speak of unity, I'm not talking about the religious idea of unity such as 10 churches in town coming together to pray for their city once a year. That would be "church" unity.

This is the problem with church unity: most of the time church unity is about one denomination or a religious leader trying to get all others to do what they think others should be and do. The reason we don't have unity among churches is because there's no unity among leaders. The reason there's no unity among leaders is because too many leaders have big egos and everyone who has achieved at least some level of success is trying to recast everyone else into their image & likeness. Guess what, I need to be who God has meant me to be, not who your religious traditions think I should be!

True, mature leaders, are free to be who they are and to allow others to be who they are. We need to kick religiois witchcraft out of the Church!

Kingdom unity is based on Christ and freedom not on religioius politics.

Christians, when we die to our ego, we can participate in the power of unity. True for marriage, true in the area of business, true for society.

You can't make it alone, without someone not being in agreement with you. Only YOU can know from God who you're supposed to be, what you're mission is, where you're supposed to be in place and time. But EVEN if you have all these things figured out, you still can't fulfill God's purpose for your life without those He has prepared to be in agreement with you.

So many people pursue "opportunities" when they should be pursuing God. As you pursue God, he wants to position you in the Kingdom in such a way that you have at least two or three significant, covenantal relationships who will help you succeed. You in turn need to do the same for them!

Jesus didn't have "holier-than-thou" attitude, even though he was the most holy one. He mixed in with prostitutes, pimps and priests alike. But when it came to dispatching his apostles on their mission, he had specific instructions for them. These instructions reflect some power principles, one of which is the principle of associating with worthy people.

We all can have many casual acquaintances. I have over 2,000 names and addresses in my Address Book alone! I may even end up doing fun things together with some of them, share in similar experiences and like the same style of music. This doesn't qualify them automatically as someone I can associate with when it comes to my mission.

To succeed in your mission, you need to associate with worthy people. But first of all, you yourself need to be a worthy person.

It's scary how many so-called Christians float around our churches and at the same time fornicate, lie, steal, gossip, are hateful, hypocritical, lack good work ethic and so on.

We all make mistakes. We all occasionally do something we need to repent of later. The born-again part of you is your spirit, not your mind, will and emotions. We therefore have many born-again Christians who are foolish, stubborn and emotionally unstable. They need help. Some of them get it and become better people, some don't. They choose to blame everything and everyone for who they are, what they do and most importantly for who they will never become and the things they will never achieve. They end up being not suitable and dependable when it comes to getting something serious done.

You can't possibly be one of them and expect to be counted among the "worthy" people I am talking about.

You don't have to be flawless as a Christian, but you must be and you can be a worthy and dependable person.

According to the Greek Concordance the word worthy is the Greek word "axios", which means: deserving, comparable or suitable (as if drawing praise). We all tend to judge other people by their actions, but ourselves according to our intentions. However, to be counted as worthy, you need to have deserved it in one way or another; you must have some track record as someone who has done something that reveals who you are internally.

You must be comparable to something or someone we all all recognize as good and noble. And finally, you and I must be suitable when it comes to being entrusted with something significant, whether it's a position, money, influence, etc.

John the Baptist called on people to bring fruits "worthy" of repentance, or to put in today's language: to be real!

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. Matt. 3:8 (NKJV)

The prodigal son realized he was no longer worthy to be called a son:

"and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." Luke 15:19 (NKJV)

When it comes to committing yourself in a significant way to someone, whether it's a potential marital relationship, covenant relationship in ministry, a friendship or even a business partnership -- are you a worthy person and are you looking for those who are worthy to commit yourself to?

In this day and hour you can't trust people only because they say they are Christians. You need to examine their track record and see if they are as worthy of a person as they say. That's how you're going to succeed in your mission and that's how you're going to leave a legacy for the generations worth emulating.

PRAY THIS PRAYER TODAY: Lord, you are worthy to be worshipped! You paid the ultimate price and proved you are who you say you are. You deserve my devotion and praise. Make me also a praise-worthy person. Help me pass the test of integrity in my relationships, business, work career and ministry to others. Connect me with other worthy Kingdom believers who are committed to being worthy in all they do. Examine me and show me what in me needs to go and what needs to be imparted. Connect me with those who can impart it into my life. I will associate with godly people who are worthy in your sight, not according to popular opinion. Amen!