Show Your Faith

Given September 7, 2007
"When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Mark 2:5". Remember this story? The friends of the sick guy went to the trouble of making a hole in the roof to get their buddy to Jesus, and Jesus noticed their faith. We have to ask ourselves, 'How does Jesus see our faith?'.

He's given us all a measure of faith, Romans 12:3 , so we all have some, right? I think we need to exercise our faith and increase it so it will be visible. Just like our muscles...we all have muscles but those who regularly exercise them cause them to grow and people will notice. Have you ever seen a muscular guy and thought, "You can tell he works out!". It's the same with our faith. We should exercise our faith by learning who we are, what we have, and what we can do from the Word of God then practising it in public.

I know it's misguided but almost every day we see the radical Islamist's faith. Determine in your heart to not be a "Sunday morning only" Christian but show your faith wherever you go. The Bible says signs and wonders will follow you, Mark 16:20.

Bill I Know

Given September 5, 2007
During the closing prayer at church last night, our pastor made mention of us, as believers, being able to cast out devils, speak with other tongues, and lay hands on the sick and see them recover, Mark 16:17-18. It reminded me that we should be taking more control over things in the earth than we are.

The verse in Acts 19 came to mind where seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out a devil using Jesus' and Paul's credentials and got whuped, (a southwest Virginia term). The evil spirit said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? Acts 19:15". As a believer, I want to be known by the evil spirits and have them say, "Uh oh, there's that Dotson guy. Don't mess with him, let's get outta here."

Do we really believe we can get to that point? What did Jesus say? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12". He that believes, those who believe...

I heard it said by a famous preacher regarding Mark 16, "These signs shall follow those who believe that these signs shall follow them." We've got to believe! Jesus I know, Paul I know, and Bill I know. May it be so Lord.

I Can't Stands No More

Given July 15 , 2007
I heard something at church this morning that was a different kind of revelation. I was getting an update from a guy who has been in a great battle over his health. I posted about it here. He told me of a vision he had.

He said he felt like Popeye who was getting beaten up by Brutus, (the devil), and was in his clutches. At the last minute, Popeye says, "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!", pulls out his can of spinach, eats it, gains strength, and pulverizes Brutus. My friend said, this week, he was at the point where he "couldn't stands no more". He said Jesus was his "spinach" and he was tired of getting beat up. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19". It was encouraging for me to hear him and his wife talk like this. Speaking the Word of God is very important no matter what the circumstances look like.

We have the power and authority to use the name of Jesus to put Brutus in his place. My friend is going to make it!

Strength, Shield, Refuge

Given March 11, 2007
We had a guest worship leader and speaker at our church this Sunday, Chet Caudill, who is the Director of Youth Ministries for the Appalachian District of the Assemblies of God. He was great! One of the songs he led us in created a vision in my mind; a revelation if you will.

The lyrics said, "Lord you are my strength, Lord you are my shield, Lord you are my refuge in my time of need". When I sang those words, the vision I got was this: I saw a believer in the midst of battle and sometims, God gives us Strength to fight and stand against the enemy. Sometimes He gives us a Shield to protect ourselves in the battle. And other times God sends us to a place of Refuge where we have total protection from the battle. "He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. Psalm 144:2". Wow!

The next time you feel yourself in the middle of a battle, see yourself in one of these ways, or all of them. We ARE victorious, you know!