When I ask this question, where does your mind take you to, and what do you think of? Do you think about your local church perhaps and what is missing in the physical building? If so, change the direction if you will because when the Bible speaks of the church, for the most part it never speaks about the physical building and never has in the first several hundred years when written about it.

I am speaking about the spiritual church of Jesus Christ, that is you and I who are born again of His Spirit. Acts 7:48-49, “Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? Saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?”

Please see 1 Cor 3:16, 2nd Cor. 6:16 and Eph 2:19-22: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

I am speaking moreover about the church of God in America. Let’s get back to our question. What do you think is missing from the church today? Some of you who have been born again in the last several years can no doubt grasp what I am speaking about, but there are others of you who have tasted of the Lord, his goodness and his presence and know that something is missing from the Church of God today.

The following is a list of some things that I believe the Lord has recently showed me through a dream and through the Word of God.

1. We seem to be missing power, which is Holy Ghost Power! That is real anointing that destroys the yoke over men and women’s lives. Do you see it in your local fellowship? Do you see it in the church as a whole in the US? If we will be honest with ourselves; the answer is absolutely not! When I say do you see the power of the H.S. In your church I am not talking about a feeling, or goose bumps either, but rather the demonstration of the presence of God that those who have gone on before us experienced.

I am speaking about real deliverances, healings and answered prayer on a regular basis instead of once a year or so. In fact, if we are real honest about it most of the church does not even expect an answer to prayer when they pray, but are going through a ritual when they pray not expecting the Lord to do or change their life’s situation.

There are some who refuse to acknowledge the power of the H.S. And say he doesn’t slay people in the Spirit; and there is another group that falls down pretending to be overcome by the same Spirit but when they get up there is no life change because they did not fall under the real power of the Spirit of God, but under the heavy hand of man!

Is it any wonder Jesus said after speaking about the woman and the unrighteous judge, Jesus said this in Luk 18:7-8, "And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them? I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

Faith seems to activate the anointing or cause it to flow into our lives and into the place where we gather together, whether or not it is in the local assembly or at our home.

Can you think of anything else that is missing in the church in America today? Until next time, God bless, strengthen and keep you in Him.

 

 

Part 2
Genuineness

 

There are a lot of things that come to mind when you really think about this subject. But genuineness seems to be and underlying quality that is missing from the Church today world wide. In other words, we are trying to fake it until we make it, if you know what I mean. We have a form of godliness but deny the power of God by not allowing him or His Word in our lives, gathering places or homes. We pretend that we do, but in reality we do not because it offends most of us. We hate hypocrites, but it seems that we have become that which we hate the most.

2 Timothy 3:1-5, This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

We don’t have a genuine care for each other, don’t know each other and don’t want to either. There is seldom any compassion seen or experience from us or to us but we say that we love God. The Word however says if we can’t love one another, whom we have seen then we don’t love God either (1st John 4:20).

Have we merely become ‘religious’ at the expense of being ‘Spiritual?” Jesus addressed the Pharisee’s and Scribes many times about their religious appearances, prayers and motives which were only to be seen by men and were not from a genuine heart of faith.

Luke 20:46-47, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.

The Pharisee, Scribe and Elder of Jesus day had an appearance of righteousness and holiness, but they denied the very power by the religious acts they did without really caring for those who they were to minister to. They cared more about the legality of the law than those who needed healing or ministry. Jesus said of them in Matthew 5:20, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteous of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The motives of the Pharisee and the Scribe was almost always something that Jesus questioned because it was not coming from a pure heart but one of hypocrisy.

Clark’s commentary of a Hypocrite in contrast to a Christian is as follows: "A hypocrite, who professes to be what he is not (viz. a true Christian), is obliged, for the support of the character he has assumed, to imitate all the dispositions and actions of a Christian; consequently he must reprove sin, and endeavor to show an uncommon affection for the glory of God."

Do you see yourself as a Pharisee or one who is self righteous or someone who has been made righteous by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ?

My Prayer for you today is that each of you search your own hearts and ask your self, am I genuine, is Jesus Christ Lord of my life, and am I allowing him to live through me?

 

 

Part 3
Effectiveness

 

Definition of Effective: Brining about the result wanted.

Definition of Effectual: That brings or can bring the result that is wanted.

Eph 4:16, "From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

We can see from Ephesians, above, that each member of the body of Christ; each joint is to contribute something to the body of Christ to build itself up. The problem is that we are not seeing much of an effectual working of the body of Christ in the earth, much less certain members of it.

James 5:15-18, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of thre years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

We can readily see from James that we are to pray the prayer of faith. God will then hear us, and if we have committed any sins they will be forgiven. The scripture goes on to say that the ‘effectual’ or prayer that we pray with effectiveness will bring about the desired result that is wanted.

Do we really see this in the Church of God today? If we will be honest, the answer is no! For the most part, we are not seeing answers to our prayers. Is it because the Lord has stopped answering prayer? Again, the answer is no He has not stopped. So what is the problem in the church?

If we are not effective or cannot pray the effectual prayer of a righteous man, then something is terribly wrong with the church. Our prayers, if prayed with effectiveness, will bring about the desired result.

Jesus said if we ask anything in His name he would do it. John 14:12-14, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

Put the above scripture together with 1st John 5:14, which says “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

The doubt of not receiving should be removed from our hearts. If we truly believe in the Bible as the Word of God, Gods revelation and will for our lives, then we should be praying according to the will of God, and praying fervently with effectiveness or seen results.

Someone would dare to ask; what is the reason behind the lack of effectiveness? I believe we will see from the scriptures, especially what Jesus has said many times, that we may be lacking true faith.

Looking at Luke 18:7-8, “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find on the earth?”

This is a good question, isn’t it... Will Jesus find faith on the earth toward him when he returns? Only you can answer this question for yourself. If you are lacking real faith then you are more than likely not praying, when you do pray with effectiveness.

May God strengthen you and I for the days in front of us that will greatly challenge the body of Christ and may each of you draw close to Jesus and to the Word of His covenant to build yourselves up in faith toward Him.

 

 

Part 4
Faith

 

The last time we were together, we talked about effectual prayer that brought about results. Today as we examine the scriptures we can readily see that we need expectant faith in our hearts before we can pray the effectual prayers of righteous men and women.

Do we see heart faith when we hear the church praying? Again, we hear words, many, many words. We hear all kinds of prayers too, but do we hear faith, genuine bible believing faith in God and in His Word, the Word of God? If we are honest with ourselves, the answer is no!

We are hearing pleas for help. We are hearing prayers of desperation. We are asking hundreds of people to pray so that God might hear at least some of them, but did you know that there is nothing scriptural about getting hundreds or thousands of people to agree with you? Do you remember what Jesus said in the scriptures about if two of you could agree as touching any thing, it would be done for them?

Matthew 18:19, “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.”

We are also praying with so much religious emotion that there really isn’t much faith involved, is there? We are praying for a feeling, some goose bumps, something spectacular, when we are to be praying according to the Word of God’s covenant, the bible. The problem with this is that when we pray looking for those feelings, if we don’t get them then we really don’t believe that we have received anything from the Lord. Does this all sound familiar to you?

Some of you know exactly what I am saying, even though you don’t want to admit it. Some of you do not pray with any emotions but you don’t pray with faith either. There is no expectancy of receiving anything because it has been such a long time that you have given up on receiving anything from God!

We know that ‘Faith’ comes from hearing the bible or word of God, but that still doesn’t help most of us because we read the bible some times but still we do not seem to have any faith. I think that I can help you hear. Do you really believe that the Bible that you have in your hands is the Word of God? Honestly now, is that what you believe, not your pastor, or best friend, but do you really read the Word of God as though He were going to speak to you?

Most of the Church today for the most part, does not believe that the Bible is the Word of God. They have heard it many times, but for them, it is not true and they are in a fix or as we say in the U.S. between a rock and hard place.

If we are ever going to pray with effectiveness or with expectancy, it will have to be done in faith. Jesus is not going to return and help you believe. You and I must believe that the bible is truly the Word of God and then ‘Faith,’ will begin in our hearts. Do you remember when you received Jesus as Lord of your life? Do you believe that he was the Son of God and that God raised Him from the dead? Yes, I can almost hear you now. Well, with that kind faith, little as it is, you must also believe the rest of the Truth, the word of God.

Our faith in God is the foundation for each and everything else that we have received in Christ. If we have doubts as to the authenticity of the Word of God, then everything else can be shaken. Do you remember the scripture in Hebrews?

Hebrews 12:27-28, "And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe."

Here are some more scriptures that might help you:

1st Timothy 2:13, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."

2nd Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

If the man or woman of God is to be thoroughly furnished or completely furnished with all that it takes to accomplish good works, then it must be by the inspiration of the scriptures or the Word of God. This is where we are going to get real faith that will move our loving heavenly Father to work on our behalf and accomplish miracles in the last days.

Let’s begin to pray according to the Word of God; let’s begin to live by faith now, and not wait until it is too late and we are caught unaware like the five foolish virgins or like those who ate, drank and beat their slaves because they thought the master would delay in His coming.

God bless you today as you endeavor to live, walk and pray by faith in the Word of God.

 

 

Part 5
The Fruit of the Spirit

 

In the church today we look for many things to see whether a man or woman has a valid ministry or is anointed or is what the church calls a ‘man of God’; but what does the Word of God say to each of us?

Mat 7:15-23, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Wow, does Jesus really mean what he says? We know of course that He always speaks the truth, so yes it does means what it says. When we see fruit in the lives of those in the church, it should be recognized for what kind of fruit it is. If it is not fruit from the Spirit of God, then what kind of fruit does it represent? If the church does not have any fruit at all, then that too speaks of whose they belong to, doesn’t it?

The problem is that we have been measuring each other by our own fleshly outwardly appearances instead of the Holy Scriptures, which we call the Word of God.

We see in the parable of the sower, that when the seed or the Word of God is sown on good ground, something happens. The seed the Word of God, if allowed to yields fruit! It yields good fruit, some 30, 60 and 100 fold type of fruit in the lives of those who allowed the Word of God to take root in their hearts.

Mar 4:3-8, "Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred."

Luke’s gospel records this verse immediately after the parable: Luk 8:18, “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he thinketh he hath.”

In other words, the church must give priority or first place to the Word, the seed of God. If do not then it will be taken away from us and given to another. Luke 8:15 “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

In our next parable we see a certain man planted a fig tree and came looking for fruit, but then not finding any after three years, he ordered the dresser or caretaker to cut the tree down. This sounds harsh to us if we believe that he is requiring fruit of our lives too. The truth is that the church IS hearing the Word of God but they are not receiving it, believing it or bearing fruit from it. I want to bear fruit from the Word of God. How about you?

Luke 13:6-9, "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”

Romans 6:21-22, “What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.”

Galatians 5:22 gives us the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit should, after the seed of the Word of God has and is being ministered to us, bear fruit in and through our lives.

I believe that the reason that we are not seeing more fruit is that the Seed or the Word of God in truth is not being implanted in the Church on a regular basis. To make things worse, the church itself is not abiding in the Word to see a change take place in their own hearts and lives.

In conclusion we see in Jude a harsh word to those who are following after their own lust and are what Jude refers to as twice dead, without fruit!

Jude 1:12, "These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever. And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaketh great swelling words), showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage. But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; That they said to you, In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who make separations, sensual, having not the Spirit. "

If you are reading this in it’s entirety you are probably having one of two thoughts; that this teaching is very harsh or that it is the truth and it is the Word of God and there needs to be change in our local churches so that we see more fruit and win our neighbors to Christ.

God bless each of you today as you hear the Word of God speaking to you and then responding by the Spirit and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to allow change in your lives.

 

 

Part 6
Unity

 

I believe that ‘Unity’ is another key ingredient that is missing in the local church today. We have come together to sing, worship and learn of the lord, but we have little or nothing in common and therefore we find it difficult to be in unity about anything.

The Truth is we have become little more than a social club or network of believers that have Jesus as a common thread that runs very thin in our midst. It has not always been this way as some of you can remember. We used to know each other, sup with each other, have wonderful fellowship with one another and break the bread of life with one another. Do you remember when all we could think about was Jesus and His Word?

This too seem to have brought about a hunger for the things of God and a fiery zeal for the things of God and a devout love for the brethren as well as a unity in what God had called us to do.

Looking at the young church at it’s beginning, we see they were in unity and the Spirit of God was moving in their midst. In Ephesians 4:1-6 we see Paul admonishing the church saying, “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.”

Wow! Does that sound like the church today? If we are truthful, the answer is more than likely no not even close! We are not longsuffering with one another, we are unforgiving, unloving for the most part and we don’t care anything about walking in ‘Unity’. We have been told that our church is right in what we believe, the other churches do not have the truth and are misled, even if it is not spoken outwardly it is understood by all who attend. However the scripture is clear, we are to diligently keep or strive for unity, keep the bond of peace with one another. There is only ‘One’ body, one Spirit, one Hope, One Lord and One baptism!

The truth be known, we are not even unified in the above scripture. Am I speaking to anyone right now? We need to lay all of our man made doctrines aside when it brings disharmony, strife, and division in the body of Christ and promote brotherly love, show kindness, acceptance of one another so that we are know by our love. Isn’t that what Jesus said we would be know for? Well, of course, but He did not know what we were going to be facing today did he? What do you really think?

Eph 4:11-16, “And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.”

What do you see in the scriptures above? I see that the leaders in the church are to perfect the saints, build them up unto a mature man or woman in Christ until we all, not just our local church, but we all come to the ‘Unity of the Faith’ and the knowledge of the Son of God. It goes on to say the whole body, every joint, every part is to be knit together with that which they are to supply in love. ActS 2:42-47, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”