“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)     I want you to learn how to love me in a deeper way, for love is who I am, and only love can transform who you are. When you love me with all of your heart you are choosing to release your emotions to me and not be afraid to deeply care about our relationship together. When you…

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” (Matthew 21: 42-44)     It’s important to understand that Jesus did not say the builders rejected that stone and then changed their mind and made it the cornerstone … they reject it to this day. The building…

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)     I have not called my church to exercise authority over others. Whenever my people are tempted to exercise power over others, through legislation or politics or even religious doctrines, they are trying to bring secular solutions…

“For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37)     Words are the most powerful force in the universe. By them it was created, and by them the content of a person’s heart is judged. All human beings will have to give account for every empty word uttered, and it is the words of a person that forms the evidence of who they are. I want you to always respect the power of words and be diligent to not speak empty words or judgmental words or condemning words. When words are spoken out, they attain a life of their own,…

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13) Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” (MSG)       The message of the kingdom is not a religious message. I am interested in mercy, not religion. I care about those who are on the outside in the darkness and without hope, not those…

Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it. But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straightened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it. (Matthew 7: 13-14 AMPC) The way into my presence is always through a narrow gate, not because it’s limited to a special few, but because of the pressure of the ways of the world: a force that compresses it and makes it hard to enter. It’s so much easier to substitute the wide gate of politics or…

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)     I want my people to better understand what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and what it means to be baptized in fire. To be immersed in the Holy Spirit is to be filled with my presence in a way that goes far beyond feelings. His role in the life of a believer is to reveal all things that I have said, and it is crucial that my people be filled…

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36) My kingdom is not of this world. This means that any kingdom of God principle that looks like the world is a false principle. It means that using advertising to build my kingdom does not build it. It means that management techniques will not develop leadership in my kingdom. It means that wars are fought in a different way and that enemies and evil are overcome with good. It means that blessing is defined not by material wealth but…

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:27-28)     There will always be two ways that a person can respond to troubled times: to pray, “Father save me from this hour” or to pray, “Father glorify your name.” It’s not that I don’t have the ability to save anyone from any hour of trouble, the issue is … which solution will demonstrate my glory before men? I want you to learn to develop a default position that always declares, “Father glorify your name” in every difficult situation….

Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57)     The world needs a people who do more than just believe in me or talk about me, but a people who feed upon me. To feed upon me is to recognize that there is nourishment from me that you must have every day, without exception. To feed upon me is to see me as the source of all direction and all encouragement and all value and all purpose. To feed upon me is to have established times where we sit down…