do you have a "death wish?"

When someone regularly does dangerous things, for instance, parachuting, driving too fast, eating fatty foods, etc., we jokingly say in America that they might have a "death wish."  The idea is that they don't care enough to live and so they risk their lives through their behavior.  Of course it is a figure of speech and they don't really have the wish to die.  You get the point...

But some people do seem to have something like a death wish in an even more important realm.  In their spiritual walk.  Let's check it out...

Romans 8 (NIV)

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 

You are likely familiar with the fact that the Bible says our words have the power of life and death in them.  But let's go further to the root of the problem.  After all, our words come from our thoughts which are generated in our minds.

 

This scripture tells us that when our minds are set on what the flesh desires, that our minds literally are Death.  Our thoughts literally are death.  Nothing good can come from a mind like that and a mind that is set on what the flesh desires generates thoughts and words which destroy us and other people.

 

But a mind that is set on what the Spirit desires literally is Life and Peace.  That means that a mind focused on what God desires can please God, can be "in the Spirit" and can generate thoughts, words and actions which accomplish life and peace for the one who has developed this kind of mind and focuses it on Kingdom desires.

 

This is why it is so important that we renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2) and develop the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). 

 

Sometimes people struggle when I encourage them in times of prayer or worship to "get into the Spirit."  Usually it is because they are waiting for something to "happen to them" like the Holy Spirit coming and jumping on them or something.  What they need to do to get into the Spirit is simply start to focus on the Spirit and on what the Spirit desires.  The Bible encourages us to "find out what pleases God" (Ephesians 5:10).  When we think to the Word and begin to repent and humble ourselves, it's amazing how quickly God's Holy Spirit will descend on us.

 

So if things are dying around you, it would be wise to ask yourself right now.  Is it because your mind is death?  If so, it's time to kill the flesh, to focus your mind on what the Spirit of God desires and therefore transform your mind to Life and Peace!

Joseph is with the Lord

Hi everyone.  Many have inquired about Joseph who I spoke of in my last blog post.  He went to be with the Lord just hours ago.  His wife and his daughter made it to Manila just in time to spend precious time with him.

He is with the Lord!  The other good news is that his wife is in remission from her cancer.  She is completely bald from the chemo therapy for which she took the last dose this month. 

Please pray for the entire Ostia family during this difficult time.  It is not easy to lose a 34 year old Dad, Husband, Son and Brother. 

These kinds of cases are hard for me.  I have seen hundreds of people come up out of their beds at the touch of my hand extending the power of God.  I have also prayed for people in their beds hundreds of times only to conduct or attend their funeral later.  God is sovereign and He knows what is ultimately best.

I know that in Joseph's life, the enemy was defeated and we experienced the power and the presence of God in his room every time we were there.  We fought for his life in prayer and in the end, Jesus still did not let go, but took Joseph to be with Him in glory where we will meet again.

Joseph has many family members who are not yet serving God.  Let us pray that this will be a season of harvest in his family.  Thank you for your continued prayers.

Jesus Never Let's Go

I visited a 34 year old man in the hospital yesterday.  He has lung cancer and is literally fighting for every breath.  He has a 6 year old daughter and a wife, in another city which he cannot get to because of his critical state.  The wife also has cancer but her case is 50/50 at this point.  Without a miracle, he will survive only days or weeks.  It very well could be that their daughter will become an orphan if God does not heal one or both of them.

 I led him to the Lord.  He had a religious background but was not born again.  He and his family had also involved themselves in the world of faith healers, those who practice witchcraft under the guise of being Christian friendly.  There was worry in the family that this husband and wife are under a curse because of a jilted half brother who had converted to Islam and had said he would curse them.  In Asia, Muslims often are involved in witchcraft.

We prayed, we dealt with all of the possible issues and the presence of God came into the room in a tremendous way!  We could barely stand in His presence.  It was awesome!  But sometimes the presence of God comes and He does not yet choose to heal or to heal completely.  God is sovereign.  And so we are continuing to pray for his healing.  A team of our intercessors will return today and I will go back again in two days with another team.  We are not going to let go of him.

Visits are limited in ICU and so the time came for us to leave.  He was looking at me with tears rolling down his cheeks.  He could say nothing because of the tube in his throat...  But he grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go.  He didn’t want me to leave.  Every time that I tried to pull away, he would squeeze and hold, pleading me with his touch not to go.  It took me 15 minutes to leave while the nurse gave me the look.  I kept assuring him that even though I must go, Jesus never lets go.  I also assured him of our continued prayers and of our impending return.  It was heart-wrenching...  I could barely stay composed.

While in the room, I kept hearing a song in my spirit which I had heard by David Crowder from his album, “Remedy.”  This group and this album are certainly not traditional in any sense of the word, definitely a part of the new generation sound (in other words, most of you over the age of 40 won’t like the music from this group).  Frankly, the song had not appealed to me in the past as I had bought the album specifically for 2 other songs on it.  But the chorus kept repeating in my ears.  “You never let go, You never let go-oh.”

In the car before I pulled out of the parking space, I found the song on my I-pod and I played it 3 times with tears rolling down my face.  Below I have included some of the lyrics (edited where redundant).

Jesus never let’s go.  If you read this message, pray for the healing of Joseph and Jisel Ostia.  God is able!

“You Never Let Go” (David Crowder Band)

When clouds veil the sun and disaster comes
When waters rise and hope takes flight
Ever faithful, ever true
You, I know, You never let go
You never let go, You never let go
When clouds brought rain and disaster came
When waters rose and hope had flown
Ever faithful, ever true
You, I know, You never let go
Oh, my soul overflows
Oh what love, oh what love
Oh, my soul fills with hope
Perfect love that never lets go
In joy and pain, in sun and rain
You’re the same, oh, You never let go