When that happens to me, I have to ask myself:  What is your problem?  Why are you letting things bother you?  Quit it!  Straighten up right now and get your attitude right!
If I heeded my own rebuke, I made an attitude adjustment, although I still had to control my thoughts.

I’m over sixty, yet here I am—still having to get my attitude in order.  You would think by now I’d have trained myself and have my attitude on auto-pilot, but apparently not.  If I don’t rule over it, in no time at all, it will begin to rule over me.  And when it does, everything stinks.  A foul attitude is really foul.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly a foul attitude can creep in, and what creeps we can become when it does?  It always flies in under the radar so it can land without detection and begin to do its dirty work.  Its usual landing zone is some circumstance that is less than a gnat on an elephant’s back in the grand scheme of life.  Yet, at the moment it comes, through the binoculars of my carnal mind, it looks more like a 747 landing on a postage stamp.

Together with its old friend, “Impatience”, it begins to do its work and it’s never satisfied.
Suddenly, my attitude about everything is affected.  How I feel, how I think, how I respond, how I interpret everything—all are affected in a very negative way.  I have, I am ashamed to say, let old “bad attitude” hand around for days.  (Isn’t that ridiculous?)  But to be completely honest, (one thing I enjoy about getting older is the freedom to be completely honest) it’s too late to worry about what people think.  At those times when I’ve let a bad attitude became my running buddy, nothing was right; everything was wrong.  And poor Denice had to put up with a jerk that resembled me.

As I look back over my life, I cannot remember a single plausible reason for a bad attitude.  Yet at that moment, I probably could have written a book filled with my convoluted logic as to why it was justified.  It’s absolutely safe to say that every single time I was whole-heartedly obeying my flesh and serving its feelings completely.  Without exception, each scenario would end with me getting fed up with myself, repenting to God, and changing my attitude.  You would think I would smarten up and just start with the last step in that process as soon as I detected a wrong attitude landing.  I am working on that and actually have succeeded a time or two.

Attitude affects so much in life and the amazing thing is that it is determined by me.  I choose what attitude I will have in life, good or bad.  I choose it.  It isn’t chosen for me.  It’s not predetermined; it’s me-determined.

I like that.  God trusts me enough to let me choose.  Also, He makes me responsible to choose.  I think attitude is a lot more important than we give it credit.  I believe it impacts every area of our lives for good or for bad.  I believe it opens doors or shuts doors.  I believe it opens or shuts people’s hearts to us.  It either is working for us or against us.  And remember, we chose the attitude we have.

Life does give us reasons to have a bad attitude, but it also gives us reasons to have a good one.  The thing I’ve noticed is that when I choose to respond to those reasons in life that are right for a bad attitude, I no longer notice or am aware of those reasons for a good one.  I miss them completely.  I don’t like that because then life becomes a continual cloudy day.

God is good and He has been good to me—much better to me than I have been to Him.  He is greater than the circumstances of my life, and He is at work in all of them to weave them into a life that, when all is said and done, is good.  Good because of Him, not me, and certainly not because of every detail being the way I think it should be.  Here’s the yellow ribbon I have to tie on every tree of circumstance in my life and a great reason to choose a good attitude, no matter what:  “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

How’s your attitude?

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

Because of this one great truth, I will see my father again and we will never be separated.  Our relationship on this earth was strained at best, though I longed for a different one.  And I now believe he did also.  We just never could make it work.

But he left me that note.  It’s a little piece of him I still have.  He died two months after we founded Christian Life Church.  That note means something to me.  When I read it, I see his face, I remember his touch, and I hear his voice.  I am reminded of how much I truly adored and looked up to him.

I like to pray just before I read my Bible in the morning, focusing on what I am about to do.  I am going to read the Word of the Living God.  His Word, not the words of men.  I am going to hear His voice, sense His touch, and look into His face.  As I do, I will be changed into the image of His Son.  Wisdom, revelation, faith, hope, love, correction, direction—my spirit will be impregnated with all these and more, not as add-ons, but as the very essence of my being.

As I knelt to pray in honor of God’s Word, ensuring my heart and mind approached His Word with due humility, honor, faith, and expectation—a thought welled up on the inside of me.  I was reminded of my father’s note and its importance to me.  Like a feather, these words landed softly on my spirit.  “This is My note to you.”  My spirit was so overwhelmed; I began to pour out adoration to God.  No language learned by man could adequately communicate what was in my spirit.  So in a language received, not learned, I expressed my love and gratitude.

How precious is this Word of God.  It is abundantly filled with God’s very life and power— so filled, it overflows like a river at flood stage.  His very breath is in each word, each phrase, and each promise.  As we read it, if we slow down and listen, we can hear His sweet voice.  It whispers ever so tenderly to our spirits.  It’s what the prophet heard as he stood in awe at the mouth of the cave.  Moses heard it for forty days on the mountain.  The effect was so powerful that his face glowed.  Isaiah heard it and responded, “Send me.”  Samuel heard it when just a lad and the sound of it awakened his spirit to see and to hear what others could not.  Adam heard it, walking in the garden in the cool of the day.  The disciples heard it and they left all to follow that voice.  It’s the one thing Jesus said His sheep know.

It’s what the world longs to hear.  They search everywhere in vain to find it.  Experts say:  “Find your voice,” and I understand what they mean.  But what good is it to find my voice if I’ve never found His?  His voice is my voice. When I find His, I’ve found my voice.  Then when I speak from the platform of a church or from the platform of my daily life, those who listen hear not my voice but His—the voice they have been longing to hear.  They hear a voice within a voice.

I want to be filled with His voice.  I don’t want people to hear my voice when I speak to them; I want them to hear another voice within mine.  A voice that is not of me but of Him.  I want Denice to hear it.  I want my children to hear it.  I want my grandchildren to hear it.  And long after I’m gone, His voice will still speak to the hearts of those I’ve left behind.

Billions are yet to hear His voice and they never will until we lift ours.  If we will go and tell, they will hear.  What a privilege, what a responsibility, what an opportunity.  If one will not listen, go on; thousands will.  Quit shouting at the deaf who refuse to listen.  There are millions upon millions who would gladly hear your whisper.  They are waiting for you to tell them.

At the end of my mural, there is a picture of a beautiful city whose streets are pure gold and whose light is the glory of God and of His Lamb.  Our job is to fill that city with people—and that’s the only reason we should want to fill our churches.  And that’s exactly why we must fill them, so that we can empty  them as we send that bunch out, so that we can fill them again, so we can send another bunch out.  It’s not how many we have coming that really matters; it’s how many we have going.

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

Does life seem busy to you or is it just me?  Sometimes I feel like the guy who had to cancel his reservation at a time management seminar because he didn’t have time to attend.  The demands on our time are endless, and most of them qualify as at least fairly good.  To accomplish anything in life, we must make hard decisions about what really matters and where to give our attention.

We see this very issue played out in the lives of Martha and Mary during a visit to their home by Jesus.  Martha was busy getting everything ready and taking care of all the natural responsibilities while Mary, her sister, simply sat down at the feet of Jesus.  One responded to external demands while the other responded to an internal desire.

You know the story and the wisdom it teaches.  But knowing and doing can be two different things.  The cries of responsibilities and needs can become deafening, while the whisper inside gets lost in the noise of all that tugs at us.  The problem is, most are ministry related.  So we make our lists and give ourselves to each of them, endeavoring to be good and faithful servants.

Mary and Martha both knew what needed to be done.  They both made decisions about what was most important.  Jesus said that Mary made the right decision.  I can’t say I always have.  But everything I have done right—everything  that produced fruit for the kingdom—was the child of following Mary’s example.

Life and all that it is wants us to serve it.  But it is to be given in service to the only One worthy to be served.  This is a willful, determined decision on our part.  It does not happen automatically.  We are not to serve the ministry; we serve the One who placed us in the ministry.  We do not serve the vision; we serve the One who gave us the vision.  He must remain the center of all in our lives.  He is the sum total of all that is important in life.  Truly keeping Him first sensitizes my spirit to the priorities of God for my life.

As I do, I will begin to clearly see how amazingly unimportant most things are that are pulling on my life and the time that I must steward.  This amazing discovery frees me to ignore “stuff” so that I can adore Him.

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

Suddenly, the Lord spoke to me so powerfully and clearly from John 5:19: “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what he sees the father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’”  The Lord asked me, “Can you say what my Son said?”

His question pierced to the very core of my being.  Tears began to stream down my face as if on cue.  I was not conscious of crying, yet my eyes seemed to respond on their own to the piercing question of their creator.  Turning my face to the window, I looked out over the clouds as my heart began to cry out to God, longing to be taken to some secret place alone with Him.  There His molding, shaping of my being into the image of His Son would be unhindered and uncluttered.  Gathering my thoughts, I responded, “No, Father, but I want to be able to say what He said.”

What was the Father asking me?  What was He revealing to me?  The answer to so many questions I had asked.  The opening of a door I had knocked on repeatedly.  That which I had sought for so long.

He was ushering me from a place I had been to a new place in Him.  I was being taken from glory to glory.  The way was being revealed clearly.  What was this way?  Complete abandonment of self and complete dependence on God.  (He that would find his life will lose it, but he that will lose his life will find it.)  This is the life the Lord Jesus lived while on this earth.  This is the example he left for us to follow.

As I sat staring out the window, God instructed me that this would be a journey, a process.  He told me to speak from the journey.  As He spoke , a deep, settled peace filled my heart and my mind.  It seemed as if I was in a cocoon of His presence.  My life was marked by that moment.

As we all know, we are all on a journey.  And it is a journey out of us into Him.  We are learning Him each and every step along the way.  We are becoming more like Jesus and less like us.  It is by faith in Jesus Christ we began this journey and it’s by faith in Him we continue it.  We are travelers with a message.  Our message is Him.

Without the journey, I can only say what I have heard others say; I can only describe what others have seen.  But from the journey, I say what I hear Him say; I describe what He is showing me, and I do what I see Him doing.  And as we speak from the journey, the hearts of those who hear are stirred to follow Jesus also.

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

Blessed are those who realize their complete, utter dependence on God and His Son.  God is not asking us to do what we can do but to do what He alone can do through us.  He delights in our conscious need of Him and our dependence on Him.

Jesus made the decision to live this way during His journey on earth.  The Bible says He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form of a servant.  He chose to disrobe Himself of His own divine ability and to allow His father to clothe Him with His ability.  He said He could do nothing in Himself but only what He saw His Father doing.  So we find Him so often in the place of prayer, calling on His Father, looking to His Father, listening to His Father.  And from that place of complete dependence on His Father, ministry flowed out like a river; it came flowing out like an artesian well.

The impact of this was so powerful that the disciples did not ask the Lord to teach them how to minister but rather how pray.  They saw it as the source of His ministry.  Real prayer is the voice of a dependent child.  It is the cry of one who recognizes his/her need for God and His help.  It is the anthem of a faith-filled heart.  And it draws earth to heaven and heaven to earth.

In God’s Word, we find many examples of Jesus and His dependence on His Father.  When I was younger, I was so hungry for the knowledge of God; I consumed the Word, reading it and reading it some more.  I still do read it, but I’ve learned a powerful secret: to learn it fast you must slow down.  So now I do not read as many chapters a day, but rather I slowly walk through the pages of the Bible, endeavoring to be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, stopping at a word, a phrase, a verse, or an incident to let Him unfold to me the unsearchable riches of Christ, revealing to me the deep treasures of God’s limitless wisdom in Christ Jesus.  It compels me to empty myself of me so I can be filled to overflowing with Him.

As I do this, sometimes my heart seems to literally overflow, like a jar left under a running faucet, being continually filled beyond its capacity, yet each drop of pure refreshing water makes a deposit within that is somehow not lost or wasted.

Feed on Him, my friend.  Drink to your heart’s content at His fountain and then drink some more, and some more.  Out of you will flow rivers from the overflow of your drinking of the waters of Christ Jesus.

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

Spend time with anyone who has suffered at the hands of demons who wield these cruel swords of betrayal and abandonment. They will tell you stories of loneliness, self-condem-nation, thoughts of worthlessness and becoming obsolete. It cuts and scars like a dull knife. Even prisons and penitentiaries themselves use “solitary confinement” as the ultimate punishment that one can experience.

It’s difficult, and I would say borderline impossible (except with God all things are possible), to teach loyalty. Paul said to FIND faithful men first, and then teach them.
Loyalty is something you are either born with, or you painstakingly learn from the unpleasant experience of being betrayed yourself. Unity, dependability and loyalty will
always come under assault and even more so as we approach the “Last Days”. Why?
Because they alone can guarantee the long term gestation period required to produce
that most precious and elusive substance called AGREEMENT. Agreement unlocks the
power of God. Agreement beckons the presence and blessings of the Most High and His
Anointed. Once agreement is achieved and firmly situated, you may ask what you will, and it shall be granted to you.

Mt. 18:19 “…as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Talk is cheap; agreement is priceless. The devil knows this too well. He fears agreement, and will stop at nothing to kill it in the womb. Without agreement you have only a tempo- rary truce at best, which will never beckon the presence of the Most Holy. Certainly you would not be able to ask whatever you will. Without agreement you won’t have the Lord’s presence. Without the Lord’s presence you have only a form of Godliness without the power. The Lord said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” In order to have Him, you must first demonstrate true and authentic agreement.

Jn 15:4-7: “For without me ye can do nothing. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

Abiding and Remaining are the hallmarks of loyalty. They embody those who have
birthed agreement into the earth…

Agreement is a funny thing, and quite elusive. One should never expect it, without first
implementing clear, firm and honest objectives. Imagine Jesus; He offered His presence
and power to eleven solid, hand-chosen men. However, knowing and experiencing the cancer of disloyalty, He lowered the numerical requirement for agreement to only two.
To demonstrate the agreement that Jesus requires, one must first insist it be forged through friendship, truth, transparency, honesty and loyalty. Why Loyalty? Because
inherent in loyalty, is the embedded ingredient of time. Time to get it right. Time to
rise from your mistakes. Time to repent and ask forgiveness. Time to seek God and feel
after Him. Time to carry from the throne a revelation so real, so potent that those who
know God and love you will be willing to wait for it. Waiting on God’s transformational
revelations requires loyalty. Loyalty ignores tempting opportunities for individual aspi-
rations. Loyalty prevents wanderlust, the spirit that now works in the “church of the spiritually homeless”. Loyalty releases the believer to trust the vision and the path. It may
run through valleys, floods, fires and trials of every kind, but ultimately it will arrive at the feet of Jesus where the true power and presence of God abides.

The wrath of God was first revealed from heaven because of the continual and reckless
wickedness of man. Murders, adulteries, fornications homosexuality, bestiality, reveling
and thoughts of evil continually. One would think that the “Last Days” would at least, be as horrific. However, it will be exactly the opposite. The Lord says that we will be given away in marriage, buying and selling, and will be continuing in the normality’s of life. As a matter of fact that for most part, it will come upon men like a thief in the night. Almost,
without notice.

Interestingly enough, the signs that will be in observation are detailed in 2Timothy 3:1-5.
Of the seventeen signs of the “Last Days”, thirteen have their foundation in the absence of loyalty. To name a few: Men shall be lovers of their own selves, boasters, proud, disobe- dient to parents, trucebreakers, false accusers, traitors, heady, high-minded and more of the same…

Loyalty defines who we are. Loyalty is everything. The recipients of loyalty never really deserve it. Loyalty is rendered to accomplish visions and install purposes that remain, not to satisfy egos. Rarely is loyalty rendered to those who deserve it, but then again, loyalty
doesn’t measure the value of those who receive it but rather the value of those who give it. The Lord said that no matter what… “I will never forsake you.” David said “If I fly to the heavens there you are. If I slip and lose my way, and slide down into hell itself, there you are also; your hands are there to assure me, restore me and lead me out.” Fasting, praying and studying without devotion is vain.

The Apostle Paul said that perilous times would be upon us when men become disloyal.
Without loyalty there can be no agreement. Without agreement there can be no power.
Without power, the human soul cannot be reborn, only tamed. It takes the presence and
power of God to convert the human soul. In the “Last Days” many souls will be tamed but few, truly converted. And that will open the door to the hollow and echoing chimes of mere circus barkers who offer only a form of godliness. Their gimmicks and tricks are magnets for the “lovers of themselves, the covetous, boasters, proud, disobedient to parents, un- thankful, the unholy, trucebreakers, false accusers, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, self-willed, and the like.” They themselves were disloyal and now have been left to inherit disloyalty. Hence, when we as a church, have lost the power to truly convert the human soul, the Lord will return.

Loyalty is the antiseptic, the antibiotic (if you will) that rids the body of Christ of these toxins. It doesn’t matter if you are the head of a small group, a praise team, a family, pastor of a church, or involved in an interpersonal relationship, loyalty is what everyone
needs to grow to maturity, the vision that burns from within.

I’ll leave you with this illustration of the powerful presence that comes as a result of true
loyalty: Daniel, after being taken captive by the princes of Babylon, was brought before the head eunuch and required to eat the king’s meat and drink the king’s wine for the course of three years. However, Daniel purposed in his heart not to eat nor drink the king’s meat
or wine. Not only did Daniel refuse, but because of loyalty, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego chose rather to agree and remain loyal to Daniel’s revelation. They forsook
promotion and risked life itself. Everyone knows that God, after ten days, vindicated Daniel’s refusal. But something more happened during that time of loyalty for his three
friends.

For this extraordinary demonstration of loyalty and agreement, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-nego were awarded the ultimate prize. The Lord’s Presence…

The time came when they would be in need of Loyalty. The Lord Himself fulfilled that need.

Dan. 3:23-25: And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astounded and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Are you loyal?

David Miller
Glory Cloud Ministries, International
Harvest Churches International Founding Member

Continually Paul speaks of himself as a servant, a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. To him this is far more than religious rhetoric used to imply humility.  It is the definition of his state in this earthly life. Slave is the name of the road he has chosen to walk during his journey here. Just as his Master before him, he humbled himself willingly and chose to be clothed in the robe of a slave.

Why? Why did Paul choose this role to be the title he wore and the life he lived before mankind for Jesus Christ? Why did he not choose to wear the title of “more than a conqueror”, or “victor”, or “man of favor”, or “blessed man of God”, or some similar victorious declaration? There is no question that he clearly knew who he was in Christ; he clearly understood his rights of redemption. After all, if Paul had not penned in his writings these glorious realities of our redemption, most of the truths we boldly declare about ourselves would be completely unknown to us. After finding them out once we arrived in heaven, we would say, “I wish I had known these powerful truths while I was on earth.” So we owe a great debt to Paul for teaching them to us.

But our teacher also taught us something, perhaps even more powerful, in his chosen title. His determined attitude and position in life speaks volumes to those who will listen and follow his faith.

Paul declared himself to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. But this was not a title or position he chose for himself. It was his assigned function in the Church and the work of God. He had not chosen this role. His Master chose it for him. Paul’s chosen role was slave. As a matter of fact, in most of his writings that role preceded the role of apostle (unlike the self-proclaimed apostles of today). Paul gladly took upon himself the form of a slave in his service of the Master, and out of that intentional attitude of life flowed the true signs of an apostle in service of Jesus Christ and the advancement of the Kingdom. Forgive me, for this perhaps crude analogy, but Paul understood that the proper undergarment for his role in the body of Christ was slavery.

Jesus speaks of those who get to the wedding feast, but are improperly dressed. Those who do so will, as we say, “be shown the door”; they will be cast out! This tells me there will be those who will function in a role and have the attendant signs confirming that role but will be improperly attired in the sight of God. Evidently, there is a “dress code” for heaven.

A slave is defined as “one held in servitude as the property of another”. Servitude is defined as “a condition in which one lacks liberty, especially to determine one’s course of action or way of life; a right by which something owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another.” Wow! This makes it clear that if we are to truly be servants of God and His Son, then we are His property and we give up all liberty to determine our way of life or our direction in life. And I believe the greater the magnitude of our call, the greater our need for this attitude of servitude.

No one in ministry, or life for that matter, is immune to hurts and disappointments. We all face them, but if we are true slaves, then we have surrendered all rights to let these things affect us in our service to our Master. If we are truly His, then we must, like Him, robe ourselves in the garment of a slave and take up our cross of service to the King. Our attitudes, our decisions, our choices, even the feelings we allow ourselves to have must all be submitted to our Sovereign.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him…” (Ph. 2:5-9)

Like most everything in life, this attitude begins and is maintained in the mind. But Paul tells us mental gymnastics are not required to accomplish this; there is no need for repeating certain phrases until they become stamped upon our memory. Paul says, “Let this mind be in you…” In other words the Holy Spirit is waiting and willing to create this attitude in your mind if you are willing.

This, my dear friend, is a genuine key to much that is longed for by Christians and by ministers.  But sadly, we are being told so much about what is ours we seldom hear about this passageway to the fullness of what is ours. I believe the world would give us their ear if we demonstrated this attitude before them. I believe the Gospel would be more readily received if those declaring it had on the robe of a slave – a slave of Jesus Christ – and to a world for whom He died. We need to quit celebrating and emulating “Kings” and “Queens” in ministry (I recently heard of one minister who had to be addressed by others as “Her Majesty”) and celebrate the only ones worthy of emulation: those who demonstrate the heart of a slave of Jesus Christ. If we do not, we are headed for serious trouble in the Church, for people reproduce who they are. And the last thing we need is more kings – we already have a King. We need more slaves!

A fellow slave,

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

I began looking for practices to adopt that would accelerate my growth process.  Several became very evident immediately:  daily reading of the Word; prayer throughout the day; church attendance; fellowship with other believers, especially those further along than I, and sharing my faith with others whose paths I crossed during the day.  These became the staples of my day.  Not one of them was complicated or difficult to accomplish.  They became a regular part of my daily routine.  I knew that if I wanted to grow and change, I needed to develop consistent practices that would progressively bring about that growth and change.  And it worked for me.

A major part of my routine was prayer.  Once as a baby Christian, wondering what I could do for God, I heard someone talk about the importance of prayer.  They used examples from the Bible and history.  They showed its importance “behind the scenes” for every aspect of ministry.  As I listened, I thought to myself, “I can do that.  I can pray.”  So I decided that prayer would be my ministry.  I would pray for the different areas of ministry.  I would pray for the outreaches and such of the church, and I would pray for the lost in my family and in my community.  So, pray I did.

I fell in love with prayer.  I prayed all the time.  Before long, it was as if I never stopped praying but rather was in an elongated, ongoing conversation with the Father.  There would be ebbs and flows to it, times when nothing was said and I was focused on the task at hand on my job; then suddenly, without any introduction, picking right back up with where we were previously in the conversation.  Prayer began to shape and mold my life a lot more than I was aware.  We truly are affected by who we associate with regularly, and I was “hanging out” with the Holy Spirit in prayer.  I did not realize all that was taking place in me nor had I even sought God for it.  But He did it anyway.

Growth began to happen pretty rapidly.  Things became clear to me.  A sense of who I was and why I was began to take form on the inside of me.  A knowing of God’s voice and a confidence in that knowing developed in me.  A consciousness of His abiding presence settled upon me.  It seemed that I was actually aware of the Holy Spirit and His desires.  I thought this was the same for all Christians, never knowing that some had no idea about these things.  They still needed someone to make clear to them God’s will and God’s way.  They had very little consciousness of the anointing within their own heart and life.

Because of this, I was thrust into responsible positions within the church, which I neither sought nor desired.  But I committed to carry them out in obedience to my Pastor and church leadership.  Amazingly, God gave me the wisdom, understanding, and abilities necessary to carry out those duties.  It was assumed that there was a “call” on my life, which there was.  And it was assumed that was the reason for the accelerated growth.  I believe differently though.

I believe it was due to spending my days in fellowship with God in prayer.  As I stumblingly endeavored to communicate all my heart to Him, He worked in me far beyond any request I tried to make.  My commitment to prayer was, in a sense, like an open door through which He walked into every room of my life.  And His presence in those rooms brought about changes for which I didn’t even know how to ask.  I did not realize that as I prayed throughout the day, I was drawing close to Him, and His Father’s heart responded by doing the same.  I was spending more time with God than I was with anyone else, including Denice, and it was affecting me—all of me.

By the time I did step out into ministry, I had developed a lifestyle of prayer.  For every time I stood before people to minister, I had already spent hours upon hours in prayer in God’s presence.  I could not imagine standing before people without having stood before God.  Whenever I began to drift away from that pattern due to the responsibilities of life and ministry, the Holy Spirit lovingly tapped me on my heart and called me back.  Paul told us to “pray without ceasing”.  I know what he was talking about and I know how to do it.

What can we do without prayer?  Anything but God’s will God’s way.  The Lord Jesus lived the example of prayer—a life of complete dependence on His Father.  That’s the example for every ministry, even to this very hour.  Prayer built in me a hunger for God and a sense of dependence on Him for everything.  That is not weakness; it’s really where strength is found.  I don’t want to be strong in Steve Vickers but rather in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Jesus is praying at this very moment for you and me; why don’t we join Him.

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

I sip my coffee, read my Bible, think, and pray.  It’s not a planning time for the day.  Generally, the day has already been well scheduled out with responsibilities and projects. It’s a refreshing time for my spirit and soul.

It is always a very uplifting time as I read, reflect, dream, pray, listen, and think.  There have been times of correction and repentance.  There have been times of affirmation and encouragement.  There have been times of revelation and direction, times when answers suddenly became clear.  Sometimes, just the simple exchange of love—mine responding to His—accompanied by the deep sense of sonship and security.

These times are so important in my life.  It is very rare that I will allow anything or anyone to disturb them.  They are a source of strength for my day.  No matter where I am, like an old friend, they remain.

These are not times for sermon preparation, though they are the seedbed for all my sermons.  These are very intimate, personal times.  Sometimes, only one verse can be read, for it seems to explode within me.  My spirit, like a puppy running after its master, wants to run to the throne.  A season of prayer follows that revolves around what the Holy Spirit just spoke through that one verse.

Sometimes I may read chapters with short moments of prayer scattered throughout.  Sometimes, I may read a portion over, and over, and over—my praying and reading so intertwined they almost seem one and really are.

There are times when it seems very mechanical and dutiful.  But I still do it, pressing on to know Him more, to be changed more into His image, to take on more of His nature, determined that there be less of me and more of Him.  I love it when He overwhelms me in the midst of it, but I love it also when it’s simply the walking out of a commitment in my life. I know it produces fruit in me and through me for His glory.

In my life, this is my primary call.  It is the fountain from which all other calls issue forth in my life.  I see myself called first and foremost to be with Jesus and to know Him.  Everything I am and do in life (not just ministry) should be the offspring of this one calling.  I say “should be” because it’s a journey I am on, not a destination I have arrived at yet.

So I keep pressing on, determined to catch Him Who has caught me.  To behold the wonder of Jesus as much as I can in this life, so that others my catch a glimpse of Him in the mirror of my life.

Steve Vickers
President
Harvest Churches International

Although the literal word destiny does not appear in the KJV, its derivative, “predestinated”, does on several occasions. We can more clearly understand both words when we examine another derivative, destination. Our destination will be realized as the final chapter of many that lead to an eternal seat of authority with Christ, wherein, at that point, we will be immortal. 

All warfare, trials, tribulation and victories here on earth are strategically employed at specific points in our lives. They prove the wisdom and perfect will of God concerning our election to that predestined eternal seat of authority and glory. Our journey to that final destination at times seems more like an odyssey or an obstacle course rather than a manicured and carefully crafted passageway.  That passageway is replete with encounters, which we refer to as intersections with destiny.

In order to fully grasp and process clear lines of thought that enable us to wrap our minds around this truth, we must first allow ourselves to embrace destiny as a series of occurrences whose properties are three dimensional in form. At every moment in our lives we occupy three realms of authority that we are called to develop and perfect. These three are the physical realm, the mental and emotional realm, and the realm of the spirit. These realms are triggered by our impulses, reactions and beliefs. Our challenge is to demonstrate excellence and maturity in every realm, although not necessarily all at the same time. It is quite common for saints to experience great agility in one area while failing miserably in another. However, ultimately, we are called to perfect all three.

We are all commanded to do good and love all men while keeping our own bodies under subjection. This is the physical realm we must conquer. We also know that at times, we will be perplexed but never in despair. This is the realm of the mind and emotions. And we know that we are currently seated with Christ in the heavens and thus commanded to seek heavenly things, spiritual things, and the kingdom overall. Destiny appears in and affects all three realms.

To study our subject (destiny) more closely we must conclude that God, having chosen us in Christ to inherit immortality and glory as His heirs, needed first then to create a world having fixed intervals with destiny. These rendezvous are indicators, brushes, (if you will) with the heart and mind of our Father, the master architect of heaven and earth, where all realms exist. On earth we are strengthened and confirmed by warfare, trials and tribulations that serve to demonstrate that indeed we are His heirs.

Acts 17:26-28, holds a curious clue as to how, when, and where these points of destiny appear. Here we recognize that places, times and the people we encounter are all synchronized and predetermined. All of us, at times, desire to have full disclosure of our future (the good the bad and the ugly). However, no matter how strong your yearning, destiny’s very nature will always surprise. Your future, its ending, and every step along the way has been foreordained and predetermined before birth. Some would take this as a lease to relax and enjoy the view, while others recognize their obligation as heirs to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, rising every day, seeking His altar. In our journey of life, we will experience nothing and meet no one by chance or coincidence.

Just as Moses at the burning bush, or Saul (re-named Paul) on the road to Damascus, we can never know when or where God has placed His triggers that set into motion events that alter our life’s direction.  Destiny’s times and seasons are in God’s hand and have already been determined. There is no way to earn, qualify or prepare for these encounters. They exist independently in the fore planning and engineering of God’s design for your life. However, when we find ourselves in the midst of destiny’s grip, we are always called to be courageous and take inventory of our way.  Notice that both Moses and Paul encountered one of many points of destiny while returning from tragic and fatal misjudgments.

You don’t earn your destiny in Christ; you simply live, breath and experience your being in Him and allow destiny to find you. Acceptance is your only option as both Moses and Paul discovered. As did David, Abraham, Nehemiah, Jonah, Job, Mary Magdalene, Rahab, Gideon—obviously, the list can go on forever—a list that ultimately will lead to your door step. Because of this truth, we are admonished to take care when entertaining strangers. Indeed some are His very angels sent to impose this miracle of life’s engineering called destiny.

In conclusion, we must recognize that Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith and the master architect of destiny’s three dimensions.  He will be faithful to lead you on destiny’s path by His Holy Spirit as He illuminates that path with His Word. He has commanded us to be watchful and vigilant at all times as brushes with destiny are all around.

Acts 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

In Christ’s debt,

David Miller
Glory Cloud Ministries, Int’l.
Founding Member, HCI