People allow so many things to hinder them from doing God’s whole will, and some of those things are not even real—they are imaginary hindrances. Imagination is the ability to form pictures in your mind of things you have not seen or experienced, and it is solely a creation of the mind. Some people have vivid imaginations and create all kinds of mental pictures, some good and some evil. Not everyone uses their imagination to write poems or stories, but many can come up with a million reasons why they can’t do what God has called them to do.

There are many examples in the Bible of people who had imaginary hindrances. If circumstances were not perfectly favorable to them, they would create mental pictures of defeat before they even tried. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap (Ecclesiastes 11:4). If all farmers refused to plant because they imagined the wind would carry the seeds away, no crops would grow. If they planted but then refused to reap the harvest because they imagined it would rain and ruin their crops, there would be no harvest brought in; and there would be a food shortage.

Don’t let your imagination hinder you from doing what the Lord has told you. You cannot always be waiting for what you consider to be perfect conditions before you say yes to God, and you cannot try to think for God; you must trust Him completely.

You Must Be Born Again

Nicodemus was no doubt a very intelligent man who was used to thinking things through in the natural, but his imagination took him in the wrong direction when it came to the spiritual things. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night (John 3:1,2). Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night because he did not want anyone to see him, but Jesus was about to turn on the light for him.

And [Nicodemus] said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:2,3). Those who are not saved cannot see the Kingdom of God, feel it, use what it provides for them or be ready to spend eternity in Heaven.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born (John 3:4)? That would be ridiculous, and that isn’t the plan of God.

Reasoning with the human mind alone can open the door to many imaginary hindrances, and Nicodemus had plenty of them; so Jesus explained the truth to him. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water [the water of life] and of the [Holy] Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:5,6).

Like Nicodemus, so many people today know nothing about being born again. They may think it is enough to go to church once a week, but many of them look forward to having coffee and doughnuts after church more than they do to hearing the Word of God.

Marvel not [Don’t be filled with wonder.] that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John 3:7). Jesus did not want Nicodemus to ever forget that he had to be born again. Then Jesus went on to say, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). No one really knows where the wind comes from or what it looks like, but we can see its effect. Likewise, you can’t physically see a person being born of the Spirit, but you can see the manifestation of his or her brand-new life.

Even after Christ’s explanation, Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be (John 3:9)? If you fail to use divine faith, you will have plenty of imaginary hindrances and miss out on so many blessings; but if you imagine good things, the devil will not be able to scare you with bad things. But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus spoke the truth to Nicodemus, but it was up to him to decide whether or not he would receive it. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness (John 3:11). Nicodemus chose to receive the truth, but not everyone will; so don’t waste your time with those who won’t receive it. No matter who they are, just turn them over to God and go on to others who do want the truth.

Never Run from God

Jonah was hindered so much by his imagination. Nineveh was a very wicked city; and Jonah did not want to go and tell the people that God was about to destroy their city because he knew that if they repented, God would spare them. So instead of doing what God wanted him to, Jonah ran.

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa (Jonah 1:1-3). Imaginary things can frighten people and make them run no matter who they are, but you cannot run from God. When He tells you to do something, He means it; so you must always listen to Him and do His will.

God was angry with Jonah. But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging (Jonah 1:4,7,11,12,15).

The people on the ship knew something was wrong, so Jonah confessed that he was the problem and told them to throw him off the ship. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). Then Jonah finally repented. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me…And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land (Jonah 2:1,2,10).

Do You Get Angry at God?

After that ordeal, God again directed Jonah to go to Nineveh; and finally, he obeyed and went. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD (Jonah 3:1-3).

Will God have to send a whale after you to get you to move? How many times have you gone through something that caused you a lot of trouble just because you imagined the wrong things and were running from God?

After Jonah warned the people of Nineveh that God was going to destroy their city, they repented just like Jonah thought they would; and God did not destroy the city. Then after all Jonah had been through, he got mad at God. And he [Jonah] prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil (Jonah 4:2).

It is good that God was slow to get angry or He would have killed Jonah, but then there was Jonah asking God to kill him. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live (Jonah 4:3). Never think for God; you must let Him think for you. Never act on your own imaginations but only on truth. You must then give other people the truth, and let them choose what they want to do.

The Holy Ghost Is for All

Some people let imaginary hindrances cause them to quit seeking the Holy Ghost. Are you one of them? You may say, “I have sought again and again, but I can’t get the Holy Ghost.” Then you have not really sought for Him the right way; you just imagined you did. If you knew that the Rapture was going to take place within the next hour, you would be desperate to get the Holy Ghost. However, it’s up to you if you want to go on your way imagining that you won’t be left or that you have more time than you do.

Some people say, “The Holy Ghost is not for today, and it’s not for me.” But I say that it is time to believe the Lord and not your own imaginations. The Bible says, For the promise [of the Holy Ghost] is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Acts 2:39). If you are called to salvation, then the promise of the Holy Ghost is for you.

Consider these verses: If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him (Luke 11:11-13)? And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17).

We are living in the last days, and this is the second time the Spirit has fallen upon man. The book of Acts tells of the first time the Holy Ghost fell, and that was the first rain of the Spirit. This is now the second rain, and the Bible says it will be greater than the first rain. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil (Joel 2:23,24).

God is now pouring out the Spirit everywhere, but many people are not receiving the real Holy Ghost. They teach speaking in tongues at will and prophesying at will when the Bible says the Spirit is the one who does the speaking. On the day of Pentecost, they [the disciples] were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4).

God told me that when people speak in tongues at will, at first it is the spirit of the person doing the speaking and not the Holy Ghost. Then if they continue on, a demon will take over and start doing some of the speaking. If they still continue, devils will take over completely; and they will be deceived and never get into Heaven.

You Can Be Delivered

Do you have any imaginary hindrances that keep you from receiving a miracle or a healing? Some people think they have been afflicted too long to be healed, but the length of your illness has nothing to do with it; and it does not matter what doctors have said. Good doctors are a blessing to us, and they do all they can to help people; but when they have done all they can, are you going to give up? You may not know of anyone who has been healed of your condition, but that doesn’t matter because there is a first time for everything.

Consider the lepers who sat outside the gate of Samaria. The enemy had the city surrounded, and the people inside were starving, too; so the lepers decided, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die (II Kings 7:3,4). Read the rest of that story, and you will see that the lepers’ plan not only gave them food for themselves but also for the entire city.

Why don’t you speak the words of the lepers and say, “Why should I sit here and die when others are being healed”? In this ministry, we have seen thousands of people healed of cancer and many other deadly diseases.

The woman who had been bound for eighteen years with what we would call arthritis didn’t have any imaginary hindrances, and Jesus healed her. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God (Luke 13:13).

The rulers of the synagogue had imaginary hindrances, and they criticized Jesus for healing the woman on the Sabbath; but Jesus said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day (Luke 13:15,16)?

Know the Truth

Jesus let us know that God can do anything. He said, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). He also said, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23). Every word in the English language that ends with “eth” means to continue on, so you can’t just believe for the moment; you have to continue to believe.

Some people will receive a miracle at one of our services; but when they get away from church and have a pain, they listen to the devil say, “God does everything exactly right, so you must not be healed.” Then they believe him and imagine they are not healed when they are. You may have a pain after prayer, but that is just false symptoms; so don’t let that make your imagination run wild. Let the Word decide the truth for you, and never let imaginary hindrances keep you from receiving all that God has for you.

God knows what He can do; and you can know, too, if you will study the Word. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). Some people take pride in reading through the Bible two or three times a year, but what do they get out of it? If you don’t study and get to know the Lord, all you will have left are man’s imaginations and opinions; and they are very limited. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all (Ecclesiastes 11:5).

When you let go of the Word, you limit yourself and what God can do for you. When you hold on to it, it will come to pass. For I [God] am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass (Ezekiel 12:25). You can trust the Word for eternity. The word of the Lord endureth forever (I Peter 1:25).

Imaginations of Defeat

Never let imaginary hindrances keep you from doing the whole will of God. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). You must cast down your bad imaginations with the Word of truth, and you can never let your imagination take the place of reality. If you are not using your imagination to imagine good things, then you are using it to imagine bad things; and that is not the will of God.

When Moses sent the twelve spies into the land of Canaan, ten of them imagined the worst; so they had unnecessary fear and anxiety. But Caleb and Joshua had cast down their imaginations and believed God, so they gave a good report. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we (Numbers 13:30,31). The people in the land of Canaan may have been stronger than the Children of Israel, but they were not stronger than God.

The ten fearful spies brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (Numbers 13:32,33). Those spies lowered themselves to the size of grasshoppers because of their imaginations.

Imaginations of Victory

David didn’t have any imaginary hindrances when he faced Goliath, but his brothers were jealous and made fun of him. And Eliab his [David’s] eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle (I Samuel 17:28).

David didn’t let his brothers stop him because he was filled with the courage of Jehovah God. And he [David] took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones [J-e-s-u-s] out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him (I Samuel 17:40,48-50).

Imaginary hindrances will rob you of God’s best and can even take you completely out of the will of God and destroy your soul. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain [evil] in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:21). Without the light of Jesus, a soul is dark; and through the Spirit of God, I have looked into so many dark souls. When a person is saved, the cross lights up completely in their soul; but if they are not saved, it doesn’t light up at all. That person may have gone to Calvary at one time, but they are no longer living Calvary’s way. For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart (I Samuel 16:7).

Grumbling Is a Hindrance

Not all hindrances are imaginary; some of them are very real. One of man’s greatest hindrances is grumbling, or as the Bible calls it, murmuring. Grumbling means to make a half-suppressed complaint; to protest or mutter your opinion discontentedly; to murmur, whine or fuss.

Are you blessed by people who grumble? Do you like to be around them? Do they relax you and nourish your spirit? I’m sure the answer to all of these questions is “No!” Therefore, how do you think God feels about those who grumble and complain? The Bible says we are to do all things without murmurings and disputings (Philippians 2:14). Notice it says ALL things.

God hates grumbling, and He does not want His people to grumble about anything. Those who grumble carry an attitude that implies, “My way is better”; and sooner or later, God will push those people out of His way. Grumbling is devil-talk, and it shows irreverence and a lack of divine humility. No one can make the Rapture with that attitude.

Israel Hindered God

The Israelites had been in bondage for 400 years; yet after their deliverance, they grumbled about everything. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink (Exodus 15:24)? And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2). And the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst (Exodus 17:3)?

When you grumble against those whom God has chosen to lead His people, you are grumbling against God; and Moses told that to the Israelites. And Moses said…your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD (Exodus 16:8). God could not stand what the people were doing; and He asked, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me (Numbers 14:27).

The people were finally free and on their way to the Promised Land; and if they had obeyed God, it has been calculated they would have been there in eleven days. Instead, they continued to complain and even wanted to return to Egypt. And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt (Numbers 14:1-3)?

God did not allow them to return, and they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years while God waited for those who had grumbled and complained to die. Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29,33).

Grumbling got the Israelites nowhere, and it won’t get you anywhere either. The Israelites’ own grumbling determined their punishment, and that happens to people today. The Israelites had said, Would God we had died in this wilderness (Numbers 14:2); and that is exactly what happened to them.

God hears grumbling whether people think He does or not, and He does not take it lightly. They may think they are grumbling in secret, but God knows all things. Moses told the Israelites, And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us (Deuteronomy 1:27). In Psalms, the Bible says Therefore he [God] lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness (Psalm 106:26). People grumble when they get their minds off of what God has promised, but you must never do that.

We all must live by the promises of God, yet it is amazing how quickly people who grumble can turn against God’s promises and listen to evil reports. Words have so much power, so you must get away from people who grumble.

Grumbling Exposes Greed

Some people grumble about how much God is blessing others and leaving them out, but they are the ones who are grumbling their blessings away. God didn’t promise anything good to those who grumble, only judgment and destruction. Jesus spoke a parable saying, For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard (Matthew 20:1,2).

Later that day, the householder saw other men standing around idle, so he sent them into his vineyard to work, too. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny (Matthew 20:8-13)?

God has let me know that there is always a self-centered motive behind grumbling, and you must never forget that statement. There are people who murmur against those who give their time to work for the Lord and say that they should use more of their time for themselves. Murmurers are not really concerned about other people’s welfare; they just don’t want them giving so freely to the Lord because they don’t, and it exposes their selfishness.

The Bible gives us a clear example of this. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he [Jesus] sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her (Mark 14:3-5).

One of Jesus’ own disciples, Judas, even complained about that, but his heart was no longer right. This he [Judas Iscariot] said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this (John 12:6,7).

You Must Want Truth

Why do some people complain?—because it is easier to complain than it is to seek the truth and obey it. Many will even grumble at the smallest things, and the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day were good at that. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man [Jesus] receiveth sinners, and eateth with them (Luke 15:2). Jesus replied to that attitude saying, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Mark 2:17).

Even some of the Lord’s disciples grumbled. When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you (John 6:61)? They would get offended and murmur about things without realizing that Jesus knew everything whether He was with them or not. If God keeps track of little sparrows, He will certainly keep track of people. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father (Matthew 10:29).

God put examples of grumbling and its consequences in His Word to show us that we should not do that. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (I Corinthians 10:11,12).

You Must Separate

God will judge all those who murmur and complain against Him or His saints. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him [God]. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage (Jude 1:14-16). Some people claim to be something great, and they want people to look up to them when really they are nothing. They are just full of ego, and God hates ego.

Stay away from grumblers because they will get you into trouble. They will take so much of God out of you, so you must separate. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord (II Corinthians 6:17). Some of you need to examine certain members of your family through God, not through yourself. You may think you are obligated to them, but you are not if they are against God.

Some of you let your unsaved family members rob you of God’s blessings. You will pray and fast to get closer to God, but then you will go to be with them on special occasions rather than being with God’s people. Some will even miss church services to visit with them, and God is not pleased. Your obligation is to God Almighty who sent His Only Begotten Son to save the world. 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).

Jesus said that He came to separate God’s true children from those who are not. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household (Matthew 10:34-36).

If you live in the truth, God will deliver you of the burden for some of your family members who reject God, too. Then you won’t feel obligated to miss the place God wants you to be in while you go and listen to them talk against God and His true people. When Jesus comes, He will gladly leave those kinds of people behind. God said, Because I have called, and ye refused…I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh (Proverbs 1:24,26).

Do You Hinder God?

There are many other things besides imaginary hindrances and grumbling that can hinder you, so you must 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)? It is important to know that whatever you allow to hinder you also hinders God from moving for you like He wants to, so how much have you hindered God?

The Lord took me back to Eden and showed me that He was not hindered with the man and woman He had created until they gave over to the powers of the devil and sold their souls to him. Since that time, so many people have hindered God more than they have ever helped Him, and He needs us to help Him make miracles and to bring people into the Kingdom.

Your life in Christ begins when you are born again. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Corinthians 5:17). You set out on a new way of living to be a blessing to the Kingdom, to lost humanity and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How do you do that?—by keeping your first love.

First love is the great love you receive at Calvary, and there is nothing like it. With that love, you will never hinder the Lord; but if you lose your first love, you will be a hindrance to Him. Jesus said through John the Revelator to the first church mentioned in the book of Revelation, Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love (Revelation 2:4).

Have you lost your first love? Have you hindered God from working His miracles? Have you hindered Him with a lack of divine faith and love? Have you hindered souls from being brought into the Kingdom? Have you hindered God in not using His Word like you should? Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it (Luke 11:28).

Have you hindered God through a lack of prayer and fasting? The Bible says, This [miracle] kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21). When you fast God’s way, you must yield yourself completely to the Word. Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). The important thing is not how many fasts you have been on but what God has been able to do for you through those fasts. When you fast the Bible way before God, you can expect to receive much from Him.

Do you make your own decisions, or do you depend on God to help you make them? The Bible says, 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). Trusting God is the first thing you must learn when you come to the Lord; and you hinder the Lord when you lean to your own understanding. Some people will buy a car or a house and then want to know if it was the will of God, but it is too late to seek God’s will then. You must please God daily if you want to get His help daily.

Be Like Jesus

Jesus came to Earth to bring us all a new and living way, and He lived it. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (Hebrews 10:19,20).

Are you in step with Jesus and that new way of living all the time or just part of the time? Jesus is our example, and He showed us how not to hinder God. Jesus said, He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him (John 8:29). Jesus always did everything the Father told Him to do, and so must you.

Do you seek to be just like Jesus? I don’t know how many times I have asked myself, “What would Jesus say? What would Jesus do?” Then I stand still, and the Lord gives me the answers; and He will do the same for you. The Lord said, Come now, and let us reason together (Isaiah 1:18). The Lord wants to have a real relationship with us, but it has to be through divinity.

Do you have all nine fruits of the Spirit? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance [self-control] (Galatians 5:22,23). Having no self-control hinders God, and many people are trying to serve God without getting the victory over self. They cannot control their temper, and they want God to take it away; but God does not want to do that. He wants us to use our tempers on the devil. You have to rise up against the devil and get mad at him if you want to be able to stomp him through faith. Use the divine blood on the devil, and the Lord said he would run. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

The Holy Ghost Is Not Optional

You cannot have any of the fruits of the Spirit without the Holy Ghost because they are His fruits; but if you are not obedient in seeking the Holy Ghost, you are tying God’s hands. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him (Acts 5:32).

Without the Spirit, you will have His hands tied when the Rapture takes place; and Jesus won’t be able to take you with Him. To your sorrow and His, you will be left in the Tribulation Period; but it will be your own fault. Anyone can make the Rapture if they will just do what God tells them to. 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 Bible gives many reasons why we must have the Holy Ghost baptism to make the Rapture, and Jesus is our example. He received the Holy Ghost before He began His Earth ministry when John baptized Him in the Jordan River. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mark 1:9-11).

You must not hinder God by running ahead of Him or lagging behind; just trust Him and believe Him. Don’t live by your theories and opinions, and don’t listen to other people; listen only to the Lord. He told us seven different times in the book of Revelation, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22).

The Spirit will talk to you when you have the real Holy Ghost, and He will give you revelations about all that Jesus taught and brought. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26). The Holy Ghost will help you to receive blessings, strength and power every day. He will be your teacher and your guide, and He is perfect in all of His ways.

Hindering Leads to Destruction

People in Noah’s day hindered God so much that He destroyed everybody on planet Earth except for Noah and his family because Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:8). It took 120 years for Noah and his family to build the ark, and the people on Earth at that time had all of those years to accept God; but none of them did. After Noah’s family and all the animals were finally on board the ark, God waited for seven more days before He shut the door; but still, no one came.

During that waiting period, God said, For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in (Genesis 7:4,15,16).

No doubt, we are in that same kind of waiting period today, a time during which the ark door, Jesus, is open to all. He said, I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture (John 10:9). We have to be anointed to pray for the lost and take divine love to souls all over the world, and we have to bring them into the Kingdom.

The great God of the universe has put Himself in a position where He needs you and me to help Him do His work; and when God is not hindered, He can do great things. Mary, the mother of Jesus, said, Whatsoever he [Jesus] saith unto you, do it (John 2:5). I do whatever the Lord tells me to do, and it always works.

Never Let Your Faith Waver

We must live by faith and never make any room for doubt because the Lord never rewards doubt. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord (James 1:6,7). Wavering faith is human faith because divine faith never wavers. You cannot blame God for not answering your prayer when your faith wavers because you are the one who has hindered Him.

How many times have you hindered God and then blamed Him when your answer didn’t come? You may say you are waiting upon the Lord for something, but are you in the Lord’s waiting room? You have to be in His waiting room of love, grace, faith, longsuffering, patience, goodness, gentleness and kindness. When you are, the Lord said you would mount up like the eagle. 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).

Peter walked the waters, but then he let fear take him over; and he fainted, spiritually speaking. When Peter first saw Jesus walking the waters towards his boat, he said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me (Matthew 14:28-30).

Peter’s wavering faith hindered the miracle. He was on top of the water and doing fine until he doubted. Jesus always classified human faith as little faith; and He said to Peter, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt (Matthew 14:31)?

Little faith only does little things, but divine faith does great things. When the centurion told Jesus, Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed (Matthew 8:8), Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel (Matthew 8:10).

The devil seeks to rob you of your faith; and when you allow him to do that, you become helpless. Then you are a hindrance to the Lord, to His Kingdom, to His outreach for souls and even to yourself. That means you are walking on thin ice, and you are liable to sink at any time and miss Jesus’ return. This is no time to hinder God; it is time to untie His hands and let Him move. We all need as much of Heaven’s help as we can get on this last stretch of our journey.

Give All to God

We cannot be a hindrance in this final hour; we must be walking epistles for Christ. Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (II Corinthians 3:2,3). God said He will walk inside of His children. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (II Corinthians 6:16).

Paul knew that Christ lived in him; and he said, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Galatians 2:20). Paul could say that because he knew he had committed everything to God. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (II Timothy 1:12).

Paul gave so much of himself to the Lord that he considered everything worthless but what he could do for God. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:8). If you are a true child of God, you must be completely finished with the world, too.

You have to burn all bridges behind you and never go back again. Stay away from anything on television or the internet that God would not approve of, and do not associate with people who reject Christ no matter who they are. Put both of your hands in God’s and hold to that which is good. Hold fast that which is good (I Thessalonians 5:21). How do you hold on?—through divine love and divine faith, and you must never let go.

You must let God make Himself real to you through His holy power, His love and His grace. Then Jesus will become your greatest friend and brother, and He came to Earth to make us sons and daughters of God just like Him. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons [or daughters] of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).

Be a Soul Winner

God has put His mark on certain people for each child of God to win. They may only come across your path one time, so you have to be ready and let the Holy Spirit be your guide. You don’t have to preach to everyone; just give them some scriptures about salvation, and let the Holy Ghost work with them.

Don’t keep talking and talking to a person because you will talk conviction onto them and then talk it right back off. The Holy Spirit will let you know what to say and when to stop, and then it is up to the person whether they accept it or reject it. You have done your part, and their blood won’t be on your hands.

You cannot be a real Jesus soul winner with any hindrances, so the Lord is calling to you to examine yourself. He is calling you because He loves you, and He wants you to stop giving in to imaginary hindrances. He wants you to stop grumbling, complaining and doubting. Can’t you hear Him calling you now?

God is anointing His children like never before. Thus saith the Lord, accept this great anointing. It will help you win more souls than you ever thought you could. It is the anointing that will change you in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, saith the Lord. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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 15:51,52).

Present yourself before God today; and if you have any hindrances or anything in your life that is not holy, ask God to make you holy. You have to give up everything that is unlike God, but some of you have not yet done that. In your imaginary world, you think you have; but thus saith the Lord, that is an evil imagination. God is giving His final messages to His people, so you must examine yourself to see if you are living in the faith and in the reality of the eternal God. If not, it is time to surrender and get rid of your imaginary world—that kind of world is for kids.

Do Not Turn Away

If you need to give your life to Jesus, will you confess your sins and ask Him in today; or will you be hindered by imaginations? Jesus said, Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24). And that includes salvation. Jesus died for you. No one else has ever loved you like He loves you, and no one has ever cared like He cares. He said if you would confess your sins with godly sorrow, He would hear you and forgive you. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).

Say the sinners’ prayer right now. Oh, God, I am lost. I have failed you, and I have shamed you. I know you died for me, and I am so sorry that I have sinned against you. I believe that you are the Christ and that your shed blood will wash away all of my sins. I am coming home, and I am going to serve you for the rest of my life. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in! If you meant that prayer, Jesus has come. Say, “Hallelujah, Jesus is mine, and I will never let Him go. I will make Heaven my home.”

Believe and Receive

If you are sick and afflicted, you can have a miracle. Millions have received miracles down through these many years as I have prayed for them. People have been healed in the name of Jesus all over the world. The Lord wants to be real to you, too. It is not His will for you to be sick and afflicted because He only gets glory when you are healed, so it is His will for His children to be well and healthy. The Bible says, The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (James 5:15).

Lord, I bring the people to you in the name of Jesus. You are the healing Christ. You went to the whipping post, and they beat you almost to death; but you won for our physical healing. The great prophet Isaiah said, With his [Jesus’] stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). It doesn’t matter whether you have AIDS, TB, heart trouble, lung trouble, cancer or diabetes. You can be healed of anything. Heal! in the name of Jesus. Heal!

The power of God flows through me every time I cry “Heal!”, and you are being healed now. Only believe, and that power will heal you in the name of Jesus. Don’t hinder the Lord; turn His love and faith loose and let them work for you so miracles can be yours.

Write and let me know what happened to you, and we will rejoice with you. God bless.

Thus Saith the Lord

Yea saith the Lord, I have come down. I am teaching you. I am loving you. I have all the love you need; use it. I have all the faith you need; accept it. I have all the goodness and all the power that I covered my Son with from the time He left Heaven until He arrived in Heaven, and it is available to you. It is yours. You are mine; use it. It will work for you, saith the Lord.