"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." (Philippians 2:9-10)


Once you make up your mind to keep the commands of Jesus and begin to allow the Word to dwell in you richly, the Name of Jesus will become far more powerful to you. It will become more than just a word. It will become a force that will cause every circumstance and every demon that tries to stand in your way to bow its knee to your command.

I tell you, the Name of Jesus works. There is far greater power in it than any of us have yet realized.

My faith is so set on the authority of the Name of Jesus that there are times I just say, "In the Name" and the power of God comes on the scene.

In fact, I've discovered that the Name of Jesus--just the Name alone-- is effective when spoken by a Word-abiding believer. Revelation 19:13 says the Name of Jesus is the Word of God! So, when an evil spirit is trying to bring sickness, poverty, depression, or any other garbage into my household, I don't have to quote every scripture I know to stop him. I can just point my finger at him and say, "Jesus!" That's like throwing the whole Word of God in his face at one time!

The Lord . . . by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. (Numbers 14:18)

Repentance and forgiveness accomplish much; but there is one thing they can't change: the past. What's done is done. Like the waves that ripple across a pond where a pebble has been thrown, the effects of even small choices reverberate far and wide. Take Abraham's acquiescence to fathering a son with Hagar (Genesis 16). The descendants of that son, Ishmael, became a thorn to the descendants of Isaac, Abraham's son of promise. That antagonism rages on in the lands of the Middle East today.

God warned that the effects of iniquity would be visited on the third and fourth generations. But He also promised that He would maintain His covenant and mercy for a "thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments" (Deuteronomy 7:9). If the effects of good and bad choices impact future generations, would a thousand generations of mercy be better than four generations of judgment?

Parents who teach their children how to make wise choices are blessing future generations today. It's a biblical way to predict the future.


Men are free to decide their own moral choices, but they are also under the necessity to account to God for those choices. (A. W. Tozer)

"And Peter answered him and 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."
(Matthew 14:28-29)

It's easy to be so afraid of making a mistake that you never get around to stepping out on faith. You can spend all your time wondering, "Is this faith? Or is it presumption? What if I exercise my faith for something and find out later I've missed God's will?"

Don't worry. God can handle any mistake you can make. I know because I've made plenty of them. When I did, I'd just go to the Lord and He'd tell me, "Stay on the Word, son. Together we'll overcome this thing." And we always did.

If you act on the Word out of the sincerity of your heart and you steadfastly stay with the Word, Jesus will never let you down...no matter how many dumb mistakes you make. He proved that the night Peter jumped out of the boat in the middle of the lake.

Have you ever stopped to think about that incident? Peter hadn't been praying or seeking God's will before he did that. On impulse he just blurted out, "Lord, if it's You bid me come."

What was Jesus supposed to say? He couldn't very well say, "It's not Me." I suppose He could have said, "Wait a minute now. You don't have the faith to get out here. You'd better stay in that boat or you're going to drown for sure."

But He didn't say that to Peter--and He won't say it to you. If you want to get out and walk by faith, He'll get out there with you and pick you up when you start sinking. He'll walk you back to the boat if He has to.

It's better to risk being presumptuous than to waste your life in the boat of unbelief! If you have to, just dive into the water and say, "God, help me!"

Don't let fear keep you from taking that step of faith. Come on, get out of the boat today!

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do."
— Romans 12:2


A flock of wild geese was flying south for the winter when one goose looked down and noticed a group of domestic geese by a little pond near a farm. He noticed they had plenty of grain to eat. Life seemed relatively nice for them.

So he flew down and hung out with these geese until spring and enjoyed the food that was there. He decided that he would rejoin his flight of geese when they went north again.

When spring came, he heard them overhead and flew up to join them, but he had grown a bit fat from all of the seed. Flying was difficult, so he decided to spend one more season on the farm and then rejoin the geese on their next winter migration.

When the geese flew south the following fall, the goose flapped his wings a little, but he just kept eating his grain. He had simply lost interest.

That is what happens in the subtle process of the world influencing our lives. It is not necessarily dramatic, nor does it usually happen overnight. It is gradual, causing erosion in our lives as we begin to lower our standards. Soon, the things of God become less appealing, and the things of this world become more appealing. After a while, we have no interest in the things of God.

We have a choice: either we will be conformed to this world, or we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It is one or the other.

The only question is, which way will you go?

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
(James 1:22)


Have you ever been in the position in the past where every time you opened the Bible you received a river of revelation? Does it seem lately that the river's run dry? If so, I strongly suggest that you backtrack to the last revelation God gave you. Back up and see if you acted on it, if you did what God showed you to do. If you didn't, start again, digging into that revelation and then putting it into action in your life. You'll soon find new revelations are beginning to flow.

You see, revelation is most prolific when you are acting on the Word. I've discovered that for myself again and again. The more I act on the Word, the more I see into it. That's why James 1:22 tells us to not only hear God's Word but to DO IT!

It may seem that the things God has revealed to you are very insignificant. They may not even make good sense to your natural mind. But do them anyway! If you had insight into the spirit realm, you'd see they're far more important than you think.

Open God's Word anew today. Come before Him expecting a fresh revelation of the Scripture and commit to Him to follow it up with obedience. Be a doer of God's revelations and not a hearer only and your river will never run dry.

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."
— 2 Chronicles 16:9


What kind of people does God want to use? We find the same pattern throughout Scripture: the people God used were faithful in what He had placed before them. The people that God used for big things were people who were faithful in the little things.

Perhaps you have considered dedicating your life to Christian service one day, maybe even in another country. That is a good and noble aspiration.

But how about just serving the Lord where you are right now? How about seizing the opportunities around you today?

When God used David to defeat Goliath, he was on an errand for his father, taking food to his brothers on the front lines. But as he was faithful in a little way, God gave him more.

We know that when God called Gideon to lead Israel, he was threshing wheat. When Elijah called Elisha into the Lord's service, he was plowing a field. When Jesus called Peter and John to become fishers of men, they were mending their nets.

Not one of them was sitting around, thinking, "I wonder if God will ever do anything in my life?" They were busy with the work at hand.

While we're looking for distant opportunities, we might miss the ones that are right in front of us. Are you serving the Lord right now with what He has called you to do? Be faithful in that. Do it well. Do it as unto the Lord.

It may seem like your efforts go unnoticed, but there is someone who sees. And He will reward you openly one day.