East Houston for Jesus Christ!

John 12:24-26 

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

This weekend, the Potter's House of Pasadena TX had the wonderful privilege of going to outreach and street preach for our very own Pastor James Salazar and his wife Karina.

They have started a new church in the Channelview / East Houston area - and over the past 2 months, God has moving tremendously. Overall, we witnessed 4 precious souls give their lives to Jesus during the outreaching...it was fantastic.

The Salazars are encouraged and stirred for all that the Lord will do in 2018...somewhere along the way of their Christian lives...they died. They died to self...they died to carnality and sinfulness...somewhere, they just let the Lord take over their lives and now He's using them in a powerful way - impacting lives forever!!

What's so wonderful about this precious couple is, they are both under 25 years of age!! Their youth, which on the contrary would normally be spent hurling themselves into various sins and turmoil...no, they decided to die to self and have Jesus take over...look at them now!

Please pray for the Salazars as they endeavor to do the will of the One who sent them. Also...ask yourself this question - Are you willing to die to self so that the Lord can use you in a mighty way? Is there any room in your heart for the will of God, or is He still competing with things you refuse to let go of...we only have one life to live...give it all to Jesus!!

Vision or PRO Vision?

Matthew 6: 25 - "...I say to you, do not worry about your life..."

“…do not worry about your life….” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (Matthew 13:22 – “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit. - O. Chambers

The main problem with this conflict is: all of our passion and energy will be put on things God is supposed to take care of and what God has commanded us to do gets shoved aside.

Remember?

Mark 16: 15 – ‘Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature.’

Somewhere between working a job and taking care of the family – that vision has been lost in the shuffle.

Understand, it is godly to provide for your family! It is godly to work; no one has any use for a lazy person! However, your desire to provide for your family shouldn’t be motivated by FEAR…it should be FAITH.

We live in a generation where the working class is motivated by fear! Your entire life is centered around PROVISION and by doing so, you’ve sacrificed what is really important – the VISION that God has given all of us!

You would be in church more, but your job | You would outreach, but you have to work | You would treat your wife to a date, but you don’t come home until 10pm and you’re too tired to invest in her | You would make the revival, but you’re working…do you see where I’m going with this? There is nothing worth sacrificing your spiritual health over!

I’ve made little money, and I’ve made big money – what has never changed has been my resolve to serve God with all my heart – and make room for Him in my life.

Luke 14:16-19 (NKJV)

16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’

Things were lined up for these gentlemen but one by one, they began to excuse themselves because of provision.

1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV)

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

If God said that He was going to take care of us, why are we so worried about things? Either He cares, or He’s a liar – which one is it? 

The Mark of Cain

Genesis 4:9-15 (NKJV)

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

15 And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

We are literally looking at the aftermath of sin…in this case murder. There is always a prologue (introduction) concerning sinfulness. We are under the delusion that sin is instant, and we are unprepared for it!

This makes for great excuses but the bible will not let us get away with that – there is always a process / preparation to sin from the start. In other words, before we commit the crime, there first must be contemplation…

We are masters of rationalizing sin. We no longer want to sin, we NEED to – we resolve to do this and think, nothing is going to change…no major problem, I’m still the same person.

We see God intervene before Cain does the deed (verse 7) * He warns Cain about the consequence and the power of sin. Cain is contemplating this: pride is involved, carnality, etc.

It’s a sermon in itself because despite the warning of God: Cain kills his brother anyway – verse 15 tells us that God put a mark on Cain…

Mormons believe that the mark is Black Skin…this is stupid! Others believe that it’s some sort of birth mark or tattoo…this is also ridiculous.

Do you wanna know what the mark of Cain is? I don’t know! But that’s not the point…it’s not what the mark looked like: long after the deed / sin is done, the MARK remains…in other words, something has changed after SIN.

Some of you can point to a place in time when sin was done in your life: you remember like it was yesterday – or rather, from the time that I did that, something changed…the deed is done, but the mark remains.

See, sin is supernatural! This is beyond breaking rules…look at verse 11…

Genesis 4: 11 - So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand

You have released something into your life that is demonic and supernaturally at work now because sinning is a CRIME against God!

Think about the mark of sin

1.       There’s the mark of guilt and shame – sin is not supposed to go well, so when you give in to this, you set something in motion that won’t go away so easily. Sin has a voice… (verse 10) the voice of your brother’s blood (what you did) cries out from the ground…today – that voice is our conscience. When you do go, you’re praised by that voice, but when you sin, it screams out GUILTY!!

Genesis 4: 16 – ‘…so Cain went out from the presence of God…’

Whenever we sin, we are pushed away from God’s presence and all that goes with it. The old saying goes, “Your bible keeps you from sin, and your sin keeps you from the bible.”

2.       The mark of character alteration – when you sin something changes inside, and it’s never good. After sin, you don’t feel like a better person…sin degrades, in other words it gets worse…

The prodigal went from leaving the father’s house, to parties, to living with pigs. The mark of Cain is degradation.

3.       The mark of damaged relationships – it always attacks and damages relationships. You cannot submerge in sin and it NOT affect your relationships. We see Cain cutting himself off from healthy relationships…people avoid worship / church / fellowship. Another folly is you project your sin on everyone else…think with me…Cain is the ONLY murderer up to this point, but he cries to God saying that everyone is out to kill him! You often despise in others what you struggle with! In your warped mind, everyone has changed…but the truth is – you’re the one who changed because of your sin.

4.       The mark we leave on others – you can do whatever you want, but it always costs other people: especially those we love. We also leave a mark on people, in other words, the sins we give in to, people we have relationship with, and family will struggle with the exact same thing. This is why words are so powerful…your bitter speech towards the things of God will eventually poison your spouse and / or your children…whenever you find repentance, they won’t be so quick to come because of the mark you’ve left on them

Jesus said it best - Words are spirit and they are life.

Sin is a heart issue: this is beyond what was DONE, but who you BECOME because of it. Or better yet, it reveals what’s on the inside. The DEED is only the result, not the cause.

People commit sin because of what’s going on in the heart and the mind…so the action is the consequence of what was working on the inside all along. So stopping sin isn’t the solution…we must deal with the heart so that our minds and hearts can line up with God.

You can run to the altar every service, but unless the heart and mind change…you’ll keep coming and gain no ground and get no victory…we must change on the inside. If you wanna change your world, you MUST CHANGE YOUR MIND.

Haven’t you noticed in the text that Cain isn’t repentant – even after he killed his own brother, he’s more concerned about what is going to happen to HIM? Seriously?

He’s ripped of Abel and his parents, but you hear none of that in his discourse with God. I know people like that…they don’t serve God anymore, because there’s no true repentance.

2nd Cor. 7:10 - For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Godly sorrow allows you to feel bad enough to fix it, not bad because you got caught or confronted.

God doesn’t kill Cain for what he did, He marked him in order to protect him; He’s giving him the opportunity to fix it! It’s a mark of redemption!

Cain I will help you in spite of your sin…

Hebrews 12:24 - to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

The blood of Jesus speaks LOUDER than Abel’s blood! God doesn’t give up on people. Adam and Eve had another son named Seth…the seed of life keeps going because God is into redemption and recovery, not more separation.

True repentance is when you own your sin…the moment you ask…the fixing can begin; the consequences of our sins have the ability to be short-lived…not everlasting

The change and the feelings come AFTER the decision of mind and heart.

Are you going to keep your sin going? Maybe it’s the sins of your parents…will you give it to God, or keep it going. (Alcoholics / Fornicators / Drug Abuse in my family) – through Christ, the curse was stopped!

Stop the Mark…allow Jesus to provide the redemption you desperately need.

The Redeemer

Proverbs 23: 11 - 'For their Redeemer is mighty, He will plead their cause against you.'

Our Lord and Savior thrives on showing up on our behalf and moving for us; however, this will never come to pass without faith. We must trust Him in order to see Him move for us - trust me, the Lord wants to do this far more than we ever want Him to do it!

We are living needs, but the Lord doesn't respond to need necessarily, He responds to faith! The bible says: '...When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith upon the earth?' (Luke 18:8)
This is what Jesus is looking for in His people - we will dare to believe Him and step out on His promises...the moment we do - everything will change. It was the Lord who asked Sarah, 'Is anything too hard for the Lord?'
My brothers and sisters, we must come to know that God can do anything and everything, anytime He very well pleases. The test is, whether we believe He will do these things for you and for me? This is a new dawn, a new year, another opportunity to better our walk in Christ - there must be some risk taking involved if we're really gonna see God move on our behalf.

That means we are gonna have to do things a bit differently than before. We cannot continue to do the same old things, and expect different results...this is insane thinking! We won't get anywhere except another dead, and very frustrating year of no productivity. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm sick of going through that! I want change, and revival, and impact - all of these are going to happen when I step out on the edge for Jesus Christ!

That means our giving must increase, our devotion must deepen, our prayer life must be honed, and our spirituality must be matured - this takes work and time...will you do it?

Grave Clothes

 John 11: 43-44, 'Now when He has said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

Lazarus is a great picture of what our lives must look like to God before salvation. What I love about this story is, Jesus went to him, not the other way around...so many people claim that they have found the Lord...this is impossible because God isn't lost - we are!!

1st Pet. 2: 9 - '...who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;'

We've been called out of the tombs of our sin's past, shame, darkened lives. Bear in mind however, calling doesn't equal a command...just because Jesus calls, doesn't mean we have no choices to make. Lazarus, made the decision to come out of his tomb...will you?

Another thing that we must note here is, Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, but when he appeared at the mouth of the tomb, he was still wrapped in grave clothes...this is where many Christians live. You may be free, but you're still wrapped up in things that hinder your walk with Jesus!!

You see, grave clothes limit your movement, and keep you from advancing out of the dead and dark things that entangle you on a daily basis!

Let me ask you - how long are you going to entangle yourself with dead things? Jesus told us plainly in Luke chapter 9 to 'Let the dead bury the dead' > it's dead, it cannot help you at all. Leave it be.

One final thing to note which is equally important, no, it's critical as we continue our journey for Christ.

Take note of what Jesus said...He told the people to take the grave clothes off of Lazarus...Jesus didn't take them off - He used other people to do so! In this lies the power of relationship...God will use other people to remove dead things out of your life!

Listen, it's one thing for me to rebuke and / or exhort you concerning something...many of you will regard or heed the words of your spiritual leaders and pastors...but what about your brother/sister? What about someone who is younger in the faith?  Will you allow them that right?

Great example is Naaman and his servants...when they rebuked him for not listening to the prophet about dipping in the Jordan; he actually listened to his subordinates...he didn't let his pride get in the way, and the results were being healed! What about you?
Will you let others inside? There's a humility and a vulnerability that must take place in order for these grave clothes to be taken off...allowing your comrades in Christ do this, is a big step towards spiritual strength and maturity.

Overcomers

2nd Cor. 4: 8-9, 'We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed'

As children of God - overcoming obstacles, tackling difficulties, triumphing over our enemies, should be the norm. However, it's amazing to me how we spend so much energy trying to relieve ourselves of worry and fear versus giving these things to God and fighting through it all.

The Lord never told any of us that faith would be easy - only that all things are POSSIBLE. The picture you see above is a picture of a young family striving to do what is right. They are overcoming the curse that comes with fornication and illegitimacy through prayer, matrimony, and love.

Ask yourself, what is your greatest fear? If and when you're faced with it, what are you going to do? Run or Win? The choice is up to you...let Jesus give you the victory!! He wants to settle the score with sin and hell that seeks your demise...you'll never find true victory and rest without Him...

Take Heed

Matthew 27:45-54 (NKJV)

Jesus Dies on the Cross

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.

49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

It wasn't until these people heard Christ's last cry - the supernatural take place, and the fact that He loved others to the death that they finally realized He was truly the Son of God...what has to take place in your life in order for you to draw the same truthful conclusion?

So many in our generation, and even before us, sought after some sort of physical sign that Jesus Christ is who He said He was...Jesus however, said that the only sign we were gonna get was that of  Jonah - Jonah's sign, was a divine warning!

Folks, we've been warned of Christ's return...we've seen the handwriting on the wall, but very little do anything about it...if these signs are so catastrophic and powerful, why aren't people changing? We know the truth, but we suppress the truth in our own unrighteousness.  It's high time for us to wake up; judgment is coming, and according to God's word, it's gonna start in the house of the Lord, first.

Take heed - Jesus is coming back, and His reward is with Him!