Jesus asked the disciples one day, Whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 16:15-17).

Jesus blessed Peter for speaking what the Father had revealed to him; and the Lord will bless us, too, as we speak the revelations of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The things of divinity cannot be revealed through flesh and blood.

Right after blessing Peter for speaking God’s revelation, Jesus had to rebuke him for acting on his flesh and blood thoughts. Jesus had just told the disciples that He would have to suffer and die. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee (Matthew 16:22). Peter had the nerve to rebuke Jesus for telling him that He would die for the people of the world. But he [Jesus] turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Matthew 16:23). Peter had to learn the limits of flesh and blood.

Nothing without Love

Flesh and blood do not delight in the things of divinity, so you must be very careful not to speak or put forth visions of your own heart like Peter did. You must not depend on the thoughts and feelings of flesh and blood. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know (I Corinthians 8:2). Flesh can only discern what it knows naturally, not things of the Holy Spirit; so the things of God we should know come only from divinity.

So many people today do not know the limits of flesh and blood, and yet they think they know so much. Paul said, Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:22). Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (I Corinthians 10:12).

When people think they are something special, they are really nothing because they don’t have the love of God. First Corinthians 13 is the love chapter; and in it, Paul says, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing (I Corinthians 13:1,2).

We are nothing without divine love. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself (Galatians 6:3). Deceit destroys, and it is especially bad to deceive your own heart.

Flesh and blood waste so much time trying to come up with answers that only divinity can reveal. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (II Timothy 3:7). You will never learn all about the truth, not even after you have been in Heaven for millions of years; but the Lord gave us a deep well of wisdom and knowledge to study called the Holy Scriptures. It took 1500 years to dig that well, and everything in it was given by the Holy Ghost. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (II Peter 1:21).

Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed (I Samuel 2:3). God knows all about everybody, and He weighs our actions. I want Him to weigh me all the time; and if I ever come up lacking, I want to know it at once.

The Lord must be able to use us just like He uses His own hands and just like He used His own Son when He was on Earth. If a man therefore purge himself from these [those who dishonor God], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (II Timothy 2:21). God is trusting us to finish up the work His Son left undone, and I consider it a great honor to take up where Jesus left off.

Divine Secrets Revealed

God reveals things that flesh and blood could never conceive on their own. He revealeth the deep and secret things (Daniel 2:22). The Lord has told me that in this last hour, everything in the Bible is open to us; and that includes every prophecy. He wants us to understand the whole Bible and for there to be no secrets, so the Holy Ghost is working hard to teach us.

The secret of the LORD is with them that fear [honor] him; and he will shew them his covenant (Psalm 25:14). God will show you the things you can have and how to use them. The table of the Lord is always full, and there is plenty of the grace of God to help you reach for all you need at any time. You can be so strong in the Lord.

And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD (I Samuel 3:21). How did the Lord reveal Himself to Samuel, a great prophet who was perfect in all his ways?—by the Word of the Lord. He will reveal Himself through the Word to each one of you, too, if you will walk like Jesus, talk like Jesus and act like Jesus. The Lord wants us all to be just like Jesus.

When I am facing something and I don’t know what to do, I stand still and ask myself, “What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say?” Then the Lord always gives me the answer or the solution I need for His work. That is why we have a great, worldwide ministry of the Lord today.

How many times have God’s hands been tied because flesh and blood limited Him? People today limit God just like the Israelites did, and that is sad. Yea, they [the Israelites] turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 78:41). God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground. They were on their way to Canaan, and they had it made; but then they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years because they murmured, complained and disobeyed God.

Turn Only to God

Before Paul was saved, he was so confident in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee (Philippians 3:4,5).

After Paul was saved, he no longer trusted in flesh and blood; and when he was called to preach, he said, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood (Galatians 1:15,16). Paul discussed his calling with no one, and I was the same way when God called me to preach. If God calls you to do something or the Holy Spirit deals with you about something, who is going to know more about it than divinity?

Paul wanted the mind of Christ, and he got it. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Anyone can have the mind of Christ who really wants it.

Paul was so controlled by God and the Holy Spirit that the Bible tells us he went bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem knowing that evil would befall him. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself (Acts 20:22-24).

Paul was imprisoned, beaten, stoned and so much more for the sake of Christ; but none of those things moved him to leave the boundaries of the Spirit’s leading. We can’t let anything move us either because we have to be winners for Christ. Paul only counted his life dear for what God could use it for, and we must do the same thing.

So that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). How do you testify the Gospel of the grace of God?—by your holy conversation, by not listening to those who gossip, and by using the Word of God. You must testify of His grace no matter the persecutions and tribulations; and like Paul, you must let nothing stop you.

You Must Separate

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness(II Corinthians 6:14)? God’s Word says His children are not to be yoked with unbelievers, but does your flesh mind twist God’s Word to justify doing just the opposite?

You must know the limits of flesh and blood and act on God’s revealed truths. You cannot associate with unbelievers when the Bible says, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you (II Corinthians 6:17).

If you really want to be received by the Lord, you can’t fellowship with unbelievers or let them be a great part of your life. You can never let anybody hinder you no matter how closely related a person is to you. You have to separate from anyone who fights against your God. When I got saved, I even left my own brother behind; but because I did, I later won him for the Lord. Then he went on to receive the Holy Ghost, and he is in Heaven today.

There is so much sin in the world today—living together without being married, same-sex marriage and so much more. Thus saith the Lord, you have to leave all of that behind. When God made a helpmate for Adam, He made a woman; and He ordained marriage to be between a male and a female. The Bible says, What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (Mark 10:9). God would never join two people of the same sex together.

Young people, you should not date a sinner because you cannot marry a sinner. That is against the will of God, and it won’t work. You will either go God’s way or you won’t. You will come short of the glory of God when you don’t obey Him in everything, and you must never want that to happen.

This world is like Sodom and Gomorrah all over again, and God said it would be that way. 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 (II Timothy 3:1-5).

Angels are trying to help bring people out from all of those things; and once they are free, they can never look back. When an angel was leading Lot, his wife and their two daughters out of sinful Sodom before it was destroyed, they were told not to look back. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). The Bible says, Remember Lot’s wife (Luke 17:32). You must never forget Lot’s wife, and you must never look back.

Yield to God’s Way

When God calls you into a certain position in the body of Christ saying, “I want you to be a foot,” does your flesh respond with, “I think I should be the eye, and that other person should be the foot”? If so, that will get you into trouble.

You have to let God do what He pleases with you and others. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him (I Corinthians 12:14-18).

God places every member of His true church in the body as it pleases Him, and you must follow His instructions. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that (James 4:15). You must seek God’s will in everything and let Him direct your path. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5,6).

When you fail to go God’s way, you will fight losing battles because you will miss the path God has for you. Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand (Matthew 13:13).

People who are not right with God will not accept the things of God because they seem foolish to them. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the [Holy] Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (I Corinthians 2:14). When the natural man fails to see the spiritual importance of things, you must yield to the Holy Ghost so those things can be spiritually discerned. Only then can the Lord have His way.

You Must Forgive

Not knowing the limits of flesh and blood can cause hurt to both you and others, and hurt can make self have so many bad reactions. That is why you must know the limits of flesh and blood and immediately yield to truth when you are hurt.

When you yield to divinity, forgiveness for what others have done to you will flow; and you have to forgive like Jesus did. When He was dying on the Cross, He said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). When Stephen was being stoned to death, he forgave just as Jesus did. In the last minutes of his life, he cried, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:60).

When you are hurt, don’t take yourself so seriously because it is not the end of the world when someone offends you. Instead, you should ask yourself, “Have I ever hurt or offended anyone?” Jesus let us know that we will be offended in this life. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come (Matthew 18:7). But Jesus also said, Woe to that man by whom the offence cometh (Matthew 18:7)! Never forget that.

When you are hurt, anger can rise quickly within you and bring thoughts of revenge; so you must get rid of anger like the Bible tells you to. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath (Ephesians 4:26). But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth (Colossians 3:8).

Have you ever said, “I just can’t control myself”? If so, then you are not saved, and you are deceiving yourself if you think you are. You have to get victory over self and then keep self under subjection through the spirit of Calvary. The Bible says, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord (Romans 12:19). You have to turn your enemies over to God and go on to do His will.

Flesh and blood do not want to forgive; but the Bible says, And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25). You must forgive your brothers and sisters in Christ or you won’t get into Heaven. Jesus said, If ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses (Mark 11:26). You must always want to be on the forgiving end.

People will fight your God and lie about you, but they lied about Jesus, too. Don’t try to correct liars; just pay no attention to them, and let God take care of them. He said, All liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).

Jesus said only the truth can make people free. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). Jesus was the Word made flesh, and He brought that truth. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Live by Faith and Promise

Do you know the limits of flesh and blood when it comes to dealing with discouragement, or do you try to battle it yourself ? Discouragement can take the life right out of you if you allow it to. That is why the Bible says, Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed [discouraged]; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10). You will have nothing to be discouraged about when you know the Lord is your strength.

When discouragement comes, immediately yield to the Lord; or the devil will move in with fear, depression, oppression and feelings of hopelessness. The Lord does not want us to be tormented with any of those things, and that is why Jesus came to deliver us from them all. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him (Acts 10:38).

It is not God’s will for you to be depressed. Turn all depression over to Jesus; cover it with the blood, and go on your way. Count your blessings, and remember who you are in Christ Jesus. Realize that God’s promises are too wonderful, and your God is too big for you to carry discouragement around.

You have to hold on to the promises of God and live by them. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:2-5).

God promised through the prophet Isaiah, I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them (Isaiah 42:16). You must know that the Lord is with you just like you know when another person is with you. God must be as real to you as people are.

God does these things for us through faith. For we walk by faith, not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). If you do not walk by faith, you will not have it as good as those who do; and you will miss so many of the blessings you could have.

You can’t use faith only at certain times and not at others. You have to go from faith to faith and from grace to grace. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17). And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace (John 1:16).

Use Divine Hope

When you know the limits of flesh and blood, you will use divine hope rather than human hope. Human hope is weak, and it will eventually run out; but divine hope will keep you encouraged until you get to the place in the faith and the love of God that your great answer can come to you. You just have to wait upon the Lord. The Bible says, They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). You may have more than just one waiting period in your life; but through them all, you must wait upon God in divine hope, divine faith and divine love.

Human hope is fragile, and it is limited in what it can do; but there are no limitations on divine hope unless you put them there. And if you put limitations on it with your human spirit, then you are cheating yourself out of what the Lord has planned for you to have.

There is plenty of discouragement in human hope, but there is none of it in divine hope. Divine hope has the voice of God in it and all the divine strength you need. Thus saith the Lord, if you don’t use divine hope, you are going to get so weary in this hour.

Human hope and divine hope are millions of miles apart when it comes to receiving from God. The Lord said that when we use divine hope, we will never be ashamed because divine hope is eternal hope. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5).

Get away from that frail, human hope that has been discouraging you. The devil knows what divine hope will do for you, so he does everything he can to drag you from divine hope back into human hope; and he will make you think it is enough. He will try to ease your conscience by saying, “Well, you are hoping, aren’t you?” Yes, you may be using human hope; but tomorrow, that hope could be dead. Then your mind will become so disturbed and upset that you hardly know whether you are coming or going, and the devil will work on your nervous system until you are in one awful shape.

The Lord is doing everything He can to help us in this final hour because He knows the devil is battling all of God’s children. Jesus said, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). That is a promise of God, so you had better put divine hope and divine faith in it and know you are going to be all right.

Temptation Will Come

Do you trust flesh and blood to help you overcome temptation, or do you turn it over to divinity? Jesus was tempted when He was on Earth just as we are, but He did not trust in His flesh. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

When Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He immediately gave the devil the Word saying, It is written (Luke 4:4). He gave the devil what was written three times, and the devil had to go. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him [Jesus] for a season (Luke 4:13).

The devil never gives up; he will always come back to tempt us, but just continue to give him the truth. He can’t stand the truth because there is no truth in him. Jesus said, He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:44).

Jesus willingly took on flesh to show us that flesh and blood could surrender to divinity and do the perfect will of the heavenly Father. Flesh won’t want to turn away from that temptation. Flesh will want to spend time with it; but that is where lust is conceived, and lust brings about sin. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:14,15).

When you are tempted, you need to immediately look to Jesus. He said, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). Jesus promised to go with us all the way because this life is dangerous, and walking the straight and narrow way will not be easy; but God will give us the grace to make it.

The Lord promised He would not allow us to be tempted above what we can take. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (I Corinthians 10:13). When you think you just can’t take any more, look around and see if the Lord has provided a way out. If not, then humble yourself and say, “Lord, I can take some more.”

Jesus Is...

Jesus knew the limits of flesh and blood when He was on Earth, and He is the one in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7). When we accept that redemption, our souls are sealed with the blood by the Holy Spirit. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13).

Jesus has all wisdom and knowledge. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). He gives those things to us, but we must glorify Him. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (I Corinthians 1:30,31).

Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). We must use that faith. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him (Ephesians 3:12).

Jesus is the one who is approved of God. For he [Jesus] received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory [straight from the throne in Heaven], This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (II Peter 1:17).

Jesus came to make us sons and daughters of God just like Him and to show us that we have the same Father. When Jesus was teaching people to pray in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9). Notice He said “our Father.” That means God is your Father and my Father, too. Jesus also said, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Again, He said that His Father is our Father.

The Spirit Must Have Control

When you know how limited your flesh really is, you will long for more and more of Jesus. That includes not just receiving the Holy Ghost but yielding to Him so He can possess you and use you as He wants to. He must be able to use you even at a moment’s notice like He did Philip.

An angel of the Lord had instructed Philip to head toward Gaza; and as he did, he saw a eunuch who was sitting in his chariot and reading the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Then the [Holy] Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him (Acts 8:29-31).

The eunuch was hungry to know the truth, and Philip was ready to be used by the Spirit. Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus (Acts 8:35). The eunuch accepted the truth; and he was saved, delivered and baptized in water.

As soon as Philip had finished baptizing the man, the Spirit caught Philip up and carried him fifteen miles away to another place to bless more people. The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea (Acts 8:39,40).

Always remember that God’s ways are not our ways. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). You must long for the spiritual man to shine brighter than the natural man, and that can only happen when you have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God (I Corinthians 2:12). God freely gives us all we need, and He wants to give us more and more so those things can be used through us by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual (I Corinthians 2:13). The more you are full of the Spirit, the easier it will be for the Holy Ghost to take you into the deep waters of God’s grace.

Hunger for God

The wisdom and understanding of flesh and blood are so limited; so you must long for more and more of Heaven’s vision, godly wisdom and divine understanding. The Lord will give you as much as you will seek for and receive. The Psalmist wrote, O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is (Psalm 63:1). You can’t describe a deep longing for God much better than that, and the Lord is the only one who can satisfy a longing soul. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness (Psalm 107:9).

If your soul is always hungering for more of God, He will fill it. Jesus said, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6). When you hunger and thirst after righteousness, you are hungering and thirsting for more of Jesus; and you can never stop.

Jesus said, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matthew 11:29). Jesus also said, I am the bread of life (John 6:35). Jesus is food for your soul; and the more you learn about Him, the greater your appetite for Him will be, so you must seek to learn as much as you possibly can. Then you will have more answers than questions.

Humble Yourself before God

When you know the limits of flesh and blood, you will know that you must serve the Lord with all humility of mind and be led by the Holy Spirit at all times. Only then will you be profitable to other men’s souls.

You cannot think it is all right to decide what you will and will not do for God and His work. Paul gave God such complete control of his life that he could say, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

Paul was ready to help souls whether it was convenient for him or not. Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind [That is the secret.], and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house (Acts 20:18-20). Paul suffered so much, yet he still gave everything he had to teach people the benefits of serving Jesus.

Anyone who thinks it is okay to be headstrong in serving the Lord is in danger of falling away or being resisted by God. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Peter said, Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (I Peter 5:5). Paul had that kind of humility.

Jesus taught people about divine humility saying, Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4). Human humility cannot forgive all that it should, but divine humility will forgive and turn everything over to the Lord. Then you can go on to do the work of God with the spiritual fire of the Holy Ghost.

Jesus also said, And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Matthew 23:12). Ego is of the devil, and God hates it. Ego and God won’t mix and neither will ego and the power of the Holy Ghost.

Put Self Down

It is so hard for some people to realize that more and more of Jesus and more and more acts of the Holy Ghost mean less and less of flesh and blood. You have to love Jesus far more than you love yourself. That is why Jesus said, If any man will come after me [go my way], let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24).

If you are going your own way today, you are not going God’s way because you can only go God’s way by denying self. There is a cross for everyone to bear, and it is rugged and very trying; but you must be determined to carry it all the way and one day exchange it for a crown of life.

You must know that your worst enemy is yourself; so when you have victory over yourself, you have victory over all devils and all people. If you are in trouble today, it is most likely your own fault; so examine yourself. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates (II Corinthians 13:5)?

You have to continue to put self down for the rest of the journey and move higher with the Lord. Paul said, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). What is that prize? It is the greatness of God toward us for winning the lost at any cost. We must never count the cost for winning souls to be too great.

Some of you will let the devil deceive you into thinking that you don’t have a high calling from the Lord like others do, but God’s high calling is for everyone; and every person is important to God. You would not be on your way to Heaven if it were not for God; and through Christ, you can have full assurance night and day that you are ready to go.

Paul told Timothy, Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called (I Timothy 6:12). You must be willing to fight the good fight of faith, too; and on Rapture Day, Jesus must find His high calling in great action in your life. Not everyone can travel to the mission fields, but you are valuable to God if you have the burden for lost humanity. If you love souls, God needs you.

Never Draw Back

Flesh is weak, so your inner man must be renewed and strengthened day by day. But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (II Corinthians 4:16). That he [the Lord] would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his [Holy] Spirit in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). Through the power of the Holy Ghost, you can sense that strengthening; and you can feel the Lord drawing you ever onward.

True members of the bridal company are saying, Draw me, we will run after thee (Song of Solomon 1:4).We are not just walking but running after the Lord, and we must never get tired of serving Him or bringing in the harvest. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:9). In that verse, the word “faint” does not mean to pass out; it means to draw back from the Lord. When you do that, you are either running ahead of Him or lagging behind; and either one will get you into trouble.

You must keep up with Jesus, and you can only do that through the Holy Spirit. It is such a privilege to be able to walk with the Lord, and the power He gives you daily will help you and give you the strength you need to make every move He wants you to make. We must take the Gospel with signs and wonders all over the world and give people a chance to see God’s great miracles. They must see His hand at work and know that He is the real Creator.

Some people go to church every Sunday because it is tradition, but they are not longing for more of Jesus and not pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. They are in bad shape and don’t even know it.

Like Paul, we must always be reaching forth to the great and wonderful things which are before us. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before (Philippians 3:13). The joy, peace and grace of God are all ahead of us; and they will work for us as long as we desire them and allow them to. The Lord will give us all the power and strength we need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13).

God Needs Pure Vessels

So many people today just want to take it easy and sail through life. This prophecy from Jeremiah describes them. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed (Jeremiah 48:11).

In that verse, Jeremiah was using the steps needed to refine wine and make it clean and pure to show the impurity of the people of Moab. First, it says Moab had ease from his youth. To be at ease means a state of being comfortable, to be free from pain, discomfort, labor or difficulty. It means relief from obligations. What did the people of Moab call freedom?—doing what they wanted to do. They had settled on their lees, which means they had come to rest in a comfortable position. They were lazy, and God couldn’t stand it.

When something is emptied from vessel to vessel, it is refreshed or refined; and the people of Moab had not been refined. They had become stagnant, and they smelled awful in the nostrils of God. They had allowed the impurities to settle to the bottom of their human vessels, but they never emptied themselves from vessel to vessel to be purified. Every time trouble came, all those stagnant impurities were stirred up again.

Jeremiah said that their taste remained, meaning that they did not have the right spiritual food. When you dine on the wrong things, spiritually speaking, and you don’t eat the Word, your appetite for the things of God does not increase; and your scent does not change. Every person has a scent before God, and those who disobey Him have a bad odor.

You are going to become spiritually stagnant and spoiled if you settle down in the comforts of self too long. If you refuse to be emptied from vessel to vessel or made into one vessel after another, you will stink in the nostrils of God. That is why we have to allow the Lord to refine us and change us into His image. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the [Holy] Spirit of the Lord (II Corinthians 3:18).

You must be what the Lord wants you to be so you will smell good to Him. The best perfume you can have in your soul is that of obedience, love, faith and everything divine. God’s anointing has a sweet fragrance, and it will fill the world with His aroma. That divine aroma is what will draw people to you and break the yokes of those who have honest hearts.

Don’t seek a life free of obligations to God. Don’t settle down into your place of ease and refuse to do the Lord’s will. Don’t become stale and lukewarm or God will spew you out of His mouth. The Lord said to the church at Laodicea, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (Revelation 3:15,16).

When God can no longer stomach you, He will spew you out. You must be willing to go beyond the limits of flesh and blood and seek more and more of Jesus. Be willing to leave your place of ease to pray, fast and live in the Word of God. The Lord told me that those three steps would keep you on the straight and narrow road to Glory.

Face Trials God’s Way

You will face distressing situations in this life; and because of the limits of flesh and blood, you will be forced to leave your place of ease. But many times, it is in these distressing situations that God enlarges our hearts. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer (Psalm 4:1). When did the Psalmist’s heart become enlarged?—when he was in distress.

Life’s hurts, disappointments and persecutions do not have to stunt you or turn you away from the Lord. If you know the limits of flesh and blood, these hurts and disappointments can be stepping stones into the deepness of God; and you can go higher and higher in the Lord. Some people don’t know how to face disappointments and distress; but if you face them God’s way, He promised to always be with you. For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5).

Persecution can usher you into deeper fellowship with the Lord just as it did Paul. He said, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection [the power that brought Jesus out of the tomb], and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death (Philippians 3:10). Paul wanted to know how to suffer as Christ suffered, and no one has ever suffered like Paul did except Jesus Christ Himself.

Christ’s suffering was so horrible that when He was dying on the Cross, God had to turn His back on His Son. Jesus never thought such a thing would happen; and He cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me (Matthew 27:46)? But Jesus wasn’t forsaken. God the Father just loved His Son so much that He had to turn from the scene or He would have come down and ruined the plan of redemption for mankind.

God told me Himself that He gave all of His love when He gave us Jesus. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). A person cannot be saved without the great, divine love that came through Jesus. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Come to Jesus

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink [from the river of life]. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37,38). When you know the limits of flesh and blood and turn to Jesus, your heart will be enlarged to hold rivers of living water. That is divine water; and it will give you great strength, great health and great power to make any sacrifice the Lord wants you to make.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). The Bride must be ready to say, “Come,” to the lost all over the world. The Lord is sending us forth.

Love took Jesus to Calvary for all who will accept Him; and if you have not yet taken Him into your heart, you must do it today. Ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and take Him into your heart right now. Pray this prayer with me: Oh, God, save my soul! I am so sorry that I sinned against you, but I have come home. I will serve you, Lord, for the rest of my life. I believe in the blood of Jesus, and I know there is power in that blood to wash away all my sins. No matter what I have done, I will be free for eternity. I will always trust the blood and live pure, clean and holy through the power in that blood. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in!

If you meant that prayer, Jesus has come. Praise God, your sins are gone! Praise God for the blood of Jesus. Always remember the limits of flesh and blood and always seek more of Him.

Jesus Is the Healer

Now, you are ready to be made whole. Jesus went to the whipping post for your healing; and with His blood stripes, you have physical healing. With his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Do you trust the Lord to heal you? I trusted Him when I was so nigh unto death at twenty-three years of age, and He poured His life into me. Without that healing power, I would have been dead years ago.

It doesn’t matter how sick or afflicted you are; the Lord can heal you just as He healed me. He is great in all His ways. Again and again, Jesus said, Only believe (Mark 5:36). When Mary, the mother of Jesus, was helping Him make the first miracle, she gave the formula needed for all time: Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it (John 2:5). I do whatever He tells me to do, and it always works. All people have to do is be obedient to what the Lord wants, and they can get a miracle.

All diseases and afflictions come from the devil, and Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8). Jesus can heal you of anything right now. Just keep your mind on His divine blood because every miracle and healing comes through the blood. There is power in His holy blood and in His blood name. I have no powers of my own; I am just a holy vessel God uses to pour His power through, and it is all the power of the Lord.

Lord, I bring the sick and afflicted to you. There is power in your great, divine blood over every disease and affliction. There is power to make every correction needed and to deliver people from anything unlike you. Nothing is too hard for you, Lord. You have healing for any deadly disease—AIDS, cancer, heart trouble, lung trouble, diabetes, paralysis and anything else they may have. Those who are suffering can be free through the divine blood. In the name of Jesus, I command it done! Heal! in the holy name of Jesus!

Healings are taking place, saith the Lord. God is moving by His mighty greatness, and the miracle power in the blood is flowing to the people. That blood carries power over every weakness, sin and disease. Thank the Lord that your miracle is in the blood.

Receive the Holy Ghost

If you don’t have the Holy Ghost today, don’t you want Him? Doesn’t it frighten you not to have the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in another language when you cannot make the one flight out without Him? You have to hunger for the baptism; and thus saith the Lord, if you really get saved, you will have that hunger.

After I was saved, I looked to the Lord night and day to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Every waking hour, I said, “Lord, give me the Holy Ghost.” If you hunger and thirst for Him, He will fill you; and you must be filled. Never think it is no big deal if you don’t receive the baptism because it is actually the biggest deal of your life next to salvation.

Again, I say that without being baptized in the Holy Ghost you will not be prepared to get out of here when Jesus comes. It will take the power of the Holy Ghost to change you in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Corinthians 15:52).

Jesus received the Holy Ghost when He walked on Earth as a man, and He is our example. Before He returned to Heaven, Jesus commanded His disciples to receive the Holy Ghost. And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4,5).

Receiving the baptism was not an option for the disciples, and it is not an option for us today. The Lord let the Early Church know they couldn’t do His work without the Holy Ghost, and you must have Him to be able to do God’s work today. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The Holy Ghost is a real person; and when He comes in, He will speak using your tongue and your vocal organs, and He is saying something with meaning. But if you can speak in tongues any time you want to, it is not of God. Talking in tongues at will is of self or the devil, and it definitely is not of God.

Follow Jesus

The Bible contains so many scriptures about those who did not know the limits of flesh and blood that I can’t possibly give you all of them; but it tells of people who reasoned among themselves, strove among themselves, inquired among themselves, agreed among themselves and trusted in themselves and yet never came up with divine answers. Study all I have given you, and then let the Holy Ghost teach you more.

We need to know the limits of flesh and blood so we can worship God the right way and be overcomers. The overcomers are the ones who are looking for Jesus to come; and Jesus said, Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come (Matthew 24:42). Turn your problems over to the great I-Am and carry only the burden for lost humanity, and you will be all right.

Humble yourself before the Lord. Yield to the Holy Spirit and follow hard after Jesus. The Jesus spirit of humility will help you bow to the will of the Father at all times and carry no grudges or resentment against anyone. You will be as free as Jesus was when He walked among men, and that divine freedom is for everyone. Let the cry of your heart daily be for more and more of Jesus.

Again, I say study these holy scriptures in this message, and you will know the mind of God. Remember, you can’t fail Him for one moment of time. You must be in His will all the time.