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Dr. Michael K. Lake is the Chancellor and Founder of Biblical Life College and Seminary and the Pastor/Apostle of Biblical Life Assembly.  He also serves as an educational consultant for many ministries and a Biblical Life Mentor to hundreds of ministers worldwide.  Biblical Life also offers complete teaching series in DVD format through Biblical Life Publishing.

In discussing this question, there are two types of people:

· Those that wait for the right time.

· Those that make the time right.

Those that wait for the right time never find it! They are the type of individuals that are constantly in a holding pattern in life. They are waiting for things to get better and become more favorable. Have you ever noticed that things never become more favorable in their lives? They wait for things to get better until they reach the autumn of their lives and then say "When I was younger, I could have done it!" This type of individual has bought a lie from the pit of hell. This same lie keeps millions from entering the Kingdom today: "I will wait until things are right to accept Jesus!" The Word tells us that "now" is the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 6:2)

Here is How to Make the Time Right

Right here I could go into all kinds of personal development, organizational and productivity techniques that could help. To be truthful, that is not the first answer. Those are things that you do AFTER you make the time right, not before. I am sure you either think that I am off my rocker or just wondering where in the world I am coming from. Here is the answer:

When prompted by the Holy Spirit!

Just like when someone accepts the LORD, they are prompted by the Holy Spirit. With the prompting comes the anointing to move forward. Once we begin to move in obedience, the Holy Spirit looses an anointing to get it done. Only after we obey the prompting of the LORD do all of the other productivity techniques and technologies come into play. That prompting by the Holy Spirit is your window of opportunity! Let me give you a few examples:

1. For those of you that have been reading the "Mentor’s Tips" that I have been publishing, some are better than others. Come on, be truthful. The truth presented in the articles is correct, but the writing skill and level of anointing in them are different. Have you ever asked yourself why? For some articles, when the Holy Spirit deposited the idea into my spirit, I dropped everything I was doing and wrote immediately. At times the circumstances did not look like the right time to write, but the Holy Spirit knew when the right time was. As I yielded to Him in obedience, He loosed ability and anointing in me that took those articles to a level that cannot be achieved without Him.

The articles that were good, but so-so on the anointing, were articles where He prompted me and I wrote down the concept but did not write out the article. Obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit makes things better!

2. Here is another funny situation that shows the importance of heeding a timely prompting.

Those of you that have called into Biblical Life have had the pleasure of speaking with Pastor Michael Rodhouse. All of you know he has a wonderful pastor’s heart. One day as he was finishing up mowing his yard, I stopped to speak with him. I noticed that the seat pad was coming off around the edge on his lawnmower. I felt impressed to point that out to him and told him, "You better fix that. It will just take a minute." Well, he waited for a better time. He was tired and sweaty. The better time never came. Within a day or two his dog found the edge that had come up, worked it off the mower and turned it into a chew toy until it was in pieces. The next time that he mowed, the hard steel seat was a powerful reminder of the importance of heeding a prompting to respond in a timely manner. As a side note, his mower was an older model and he never found a seat that would fit. He found a makeshift seat that would rest on top of the normal seat, but it was never comfortable. It stayed that way for several years until he purchased a new mower.

3. This article.

I had many things on my agenda to accomplish today. I am learning that when the Holy Spirit prompts and speaks, I need to drop everything to follow His leading. It will be a fresh word, and it will minister to those that need it.

What is the Holy Spirit Prompting You to Do?

You need to ask yourself, "What is the Holy Spirit prompting me to do?" For some of you, it is about enrolling with BLCS. For others, it may be to start a new ministry or deepen a relationship. The good news here is that if the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do, He is ready to release the anointing and resources to accomplish it. The only way they will be released is through your act of obedience. You need to realize that you have an open Heaven for this project that only the Holy Spirit can see. It is similar to when the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan. The river did not split until they had stepped into the water!

Once they crossed over, there were still challenges and giants to fight. Each victory came because of obedience to the prompting of God. Once you start to step out in obedience, keep listening and keep doing as the LORD gives ability. Don’t allow the enemy to convince you there is a better time. Who knows more, the devil or God?

After you cross over your Jordan, each day the Holy Spirit will open a window of opportunity to move the project further to success. Your task is to stay faithful through obedience to the promptings!

So, what is the Holy Spirit been prompting you to do? There has never been a better time for obedience. There is an open Heaven waiting for you to move forward!

© Copyright by Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E. All Rights Reserved

Dr. Michael K. Lake is the Chancellor of Biblical Life College and Seminary and the Senior Pastor/Apostle of Biblical Life Assembly.

It seems that everyone is talking about investing in the economy  . . . everything but is really important.  For you to move forward in the ministry that God has called you to, you must invest in yourself!  Biblical Life College and Seminary is the best value in educational programs that transform for those called to the ministry.  No other bible college or seminary provides the balance of solid academics and transformational courses that empower like Biblical Life!

Isn’t it time for you to roll up your sleeves, invest in yourself, and move forward in God?  We have been assisting ministers just like you for nearly 30 years.  Why not set up a free consultation to see how BLCS can move you forward in your calling?

Current Tuition Special

• Enroll using Plan C (Full Tuition Payment with Enrollment) and receive a full 35% discount on tuition on all programs, except for the Master of Divinity.  All M.Div. students will receive 40% off!

There has never been a better time to enroll!

Offer ends May 31, 2010.

We just uploaded April’s edition titled “Taking Down the Giants.”  We pray it will help you gain “Full Spectrum Preparation” for taking down your giants!

Biblical Life Victory Briefing Video BLOG

Beginning this month, I will return to writing several articles a month to empower believers to move forward.  Tips will include personal productivity, spiritual growth, and whatever else the Holy Spirit impresses upon my heart.

The monthly videos will become the “Biblical Life Victory Briefing” and will deal specially with what God is speaking to His people today in light of the new turnaround anointing He is releasing.  These videos will be made available in 10 min segments on our YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/biblicallife) and can also be purchased for $10.00 each month (includes shipping in the US) through Biblical Life Publishing.  This month’s message will be “Bringing Down the Giants.”

I would like to point to the long history of exceptional ministers in the Body of Christ that were powerful writers. Many of those ministers still speak to us today. Their writing inspires us, challenges us, and even helps us through the most difficult of times. I could also point to the fact that we have the Bible because men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write. Where would we be if they shunned writing the way many aspirants of ministry seemed to be doing today?

Writing helps us connect to what we really believe, who we really are, and to the information we need to convey. In Christian counseling and ministerial mentorship, journaling (another form of writing) helps us to discover our strengths, come face-to-face with strongholds, and begin connecting the dots theologically to move to next level thinking in the Kingdom of God.

William J. Farrell, while president of Colorado State University, provided interesting insights into writing in his article "The Power of Writing.[1]" Let’s look at several of his statements:

"What is the most important skill a college president can have? . . . writing skills . . ."

"Whether in business, politics, or the academic world, most corporate decisions involve complex choices. To understand the complexity of a problem, as well as the available solutions, executives and board members must turn to written communications. The written report can present data and a level of analysis that would be difficult to convey in oral form."

What Dr. Farrell was expressing is that the power of writing allows us to present and analyze important information that otherwise could not be processed properly. This fact is applicable to both those trying to understand the problem and those working to develop a solution. If writing is so important for analysis and problem solving in the business world, how much more powerful is it in the field of ministry?

Over the years, I have discovered two primary camps in ministry: the deep thinkers with great revelation and the shallow thinkers with pat answers (although there are many somewhere in between). I don’t know about you, but when it comes to walking with God and facing the challenges of life, I prefer depth! We think that there is something unique about those that can dig deeply into God’s Word, connect dots that most never realized existed, and discover powerful truths that enlighten and empower God’s people. That uniqueness is not that God has anointed them to think deeply. I actually believe God calls all of us to that task. What makes them unique is that they are avid readers AND WRITERS. These ministers have developed the discipline of taking notes, journaling, jotting down ideas, and then using the writing process to come to a deeper understanding of truth. I have known many of them over the years. For every one article they publish, there are hundreds of journal entries, pages of notes, brainstorming diagrams, etc. They have learned the fine art of thinking on paper.

You may be asking yourself: "Where did they learn to create such depth in their understanding of spiritual things?" That is an easy answer – in bible college and seminary, but not just any bible college or seminary! It was in schools of higher learning that required extensive reading and writing. They had to write for every class, and they had to write when they felt like it and when they didn’t. They had to write when it came directly against a stronghold that resisted the writing. However, they pressed forward, and (in the light of written analysis) the stronghold fell apart. They wrote until they discovered themselves and, in the process, found the depths of who Jesus really is!

My concern is that we are losing the art of writing, thus losing the art of deep spiritual analysis! Life seldom hands you a multiple choice exam. As an educator, I know you need a proper blending of all types of testing instruments to assess the progress of a student. Multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions all have their part in getting the student to focus on significant information in each study. Albeit, every true educator knows that the only way to evaluate where the student is emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and academically is through the process of writing. Until a minister can express the truth of God’s Word in writing, they do not possess sufficient depth in it to withstand the tests of life and ministry!

Without ample writing requirements in online ministerial degree programs, we not only shortchange the educational process, we shortchange the development of the minister. In turn, underdeveloped ministers shortchange ministry. These ministers will spend their days in ministry looking for a quick answer to fill in the blank for every problem. Quick sound bites of preformatted theological positions seldom provide comfort or lasting solutions to the Body of Christ! In the end, we could lose the transformational power of true ministry!

Both ministry and life require deep analysis of God’s Word and every challenge that faces us. Writing will always remain an essential tool of the well-prepared minister.

Copyright 2010 by Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E.

Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E.

Biblical Life College and Seminary

Chancellor, Educational Consultant, & Biblical Life Mentor

[1] Farrell, William J. The Power of Writing. http://wac.colostate.edu/journal/vol3/farrell2.pdf

God has also been teaching me about Kingdom Assignments. This is really something that I have never heard of before. I have heard about Kingdom Destiny, Kingdom Authority, Kingdom Power, etc., but assignments were not in the mix. So when God began speaking to me about them, He had my attention.

Kingdom Assignments come in all sizes. Some can be completed within one event, such as praying for someone. Others can take years, but will include daily sub-assignments. (We will go into more detail about sub-assignments in a moment.) One of the things that we need to understand is that when we accept the assignment, the Kingdom begins to go into operation to provide the resources, time and anointing to accomplish that task. That sounds reasonable, but our paradigms can keep us from those resources to fulfill a given assignment. Let me give you an example:

For a pastor, each service is a Kingdom Assignment to accomplish something in the Kingdom of God — usually within the lives of those attending. When a pastor realizes each service can become a specific Kingdom Assignment, he will seek the face of God for instructions. Once he receives those instructions, he accepts that assignment. Immediately the Kingdom will begin realigning things within his spirit, his congregation and even the atmosphere to accomplish that assignment. Without this mindset, weekly services become a routine. The pastor and staff will find themselves going through the motions with little devotion. (I have been there and can speak from personal experience.) The sermons become "what the people want to hear." The songs become "what the people want to sing." We move from "divine visitation" to "Christian entertainment and motivational speaking."

With a change in the pastor’s mindset, he will begin seeking the face of God for his assignment. He may turn the services upside down. One service may be all singing and prayer. Another service he may teach for the full two hours. In the next service, he may teach for twenty minutes and then begin moving prophetically in the congregation. No one will know what to expect each service, to include the devil! It will add a new excitement and expectancy within himself and his congregation.

I believe we do not experience many powerful things in God because we are not sensitive to Kingdom Assignments. Over the past week, God has been giving me one specific assignment a day. Yesterday, it was to design a new follow-up letter for those that had requested catalogs. The interesting thing is that the letter had little to do with the catalog and yet the anointing of God was all over it! At the beginning of the year, God instructed me to include a complete seminar on MP3 CD along with the catalog. It is our "Next Level Living" seminar that has already blessed so many of you. The letter was about a litmus test to see if Biblical Life was right for them. If God spoke into their lives through the free CD, Biblical Life was most likely the place God was calling them to study. If they received nothing from the CD, they needed to look elsewhere. I would have never thought of such a thing by myself. Once I accepted the assignment, the Holy Spirit began moving: the anointing, ability to write and understanding flowed. It was almost effortless, and the presence of God filled our office!

This morning God woke me up at 4:30am. (And I mean wide awake, not roll over and go back to sleep kind of awake.) I asked the LORD, "What is up? Do I need to do something?" He told me to eat breakfast and go into the office to write this article in the quiet before our normal work day. I am sitting here with a fine cup of coffee and enjoying writing more than I have in quite some time. It was a Kingdom Assignment, and the Kingdom is flowing in it.

If you are a pastor, you need to change your mindset to the one I have already described in this article. I promise you that if you do, you are going to shake some things up! If you are a student at Biblical Life or praying about enrolling, I want to speak a new mindset into your thinking. Attending Biblical Life College and Seminary is not like attending your average bible college or seminary. Most schools are about imparting information – in their case, biblical/theological information. At Biblical Life there is a lot of information, but also a Kingdom anointing for transformation. You cannot approach Biblical Life like you were going to a business college. There is an overload of spiritual truth, altering mindsets, pulling down of strongholds, kicking over sacred cows and anything else God needs to do to transform you. Attending Biblical Life is a Kingdom Assignment, a divine calling to prepare you for the future. If you approach it any other way, you will either get nothing out of it (because it is spiritually discerned) or your head will explode (figuratively speaking). BUT, if God has given you a Kingdom Assignment to study with Biblical Life and you accept that assignment, the King will release an anointing of a prophetic bible student into your spirit. You will receive a spiritual hunger for truth and the presence of God will surround you every time you sit down to your studies! I have hundreds of students that can testify to this very fact as well as hundreds that can testify the reverse, if you do not accept the assignment! Your mindset can either make you like the pastor going through the weekly routine or like the pastor that turns the services upside down!

Now Dealing with Sub-Assignments

I am going to handle this on two levels. First, when you enroll into BLCS using Plan B or C, we will ship you a volume with five complete courses in it. Do not just start with the first one and work your way through it. That is the way of traditional, secular schooling. Ask the Holy Spirit which one you are to start with. There may be something in a particular course He needs to speak into your life now. Let’s say the Holy Spirit instructs you to go through the course "Biblical Life Prayer Dynamics." Accept that assignment and have the mindset that you are going to receive everything God has for you in that course, even if it turns your life inside out! I promise you that the course will take on a life of its own! God will speak to you through the lessons and will begin taking you deeper than you ever dreamed possible! You will learn more, experience more and change more! If you don’t, you are limiting yourself and the Holy Spirit.

Each day ask God for your daily Kingdom Assignments. Your long term assignment is to complete the program He called you to take at Biblical Life. But is today’s assignment to do the next lesson or will it be to go into intercession or minister to Jim down the road? What is your assignment today? Today’s assignment will have today’s anointing, insights, revelation and transformation. Miss the assignment, and you will miss out on all the resources of that assignment! Once you miss it, it is very hard to regain the same level. Obedience is ALWAYS better than sacrifice. Satan wants to keep you in "routine" mode. The routine may get it done, but it will be without the anointing, insights, revelation and transformation your assignment brings. Routine only accomplishes things through hard effort, but will have little spiritual value. Kingdom Assignments require less physical effort, but require higher levels of anointing, insights, revelation and transformation – which the King will release into the lives of those who accept His assignments.

Change your mindset from routine to assignment and watch the Kingdom of God go into operation in ways you never dreamed of. It will change your life!

Copyright 2009 by Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E.

Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E.

Chancellor, Educational Consultant, & Biblical Life Mentor

Biblical Life College and Seminary

Download MP3 Message: Preparing for Deliverance

The Power of Biblical Order

by Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E.

 Genesis 1:1-3 (NKJV)
¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Reading Between the Lines

 There is so much in the first chapter of Genesis. I have been told by many scholars, both Evangelical and Rabbinical, that one could spend their entire lives in study just to properly understand the first three chapters of this powerful book. To properly understand what God is revealing here, we will need to take a look at the Hebrew in verse two.

Most of us would overlook the word “was” in verse two. Yet the Hebrew reveals so much more:

Was: Strongs # H961 hy”h’ hayah {haw-yaw}

Meaning: 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) —– 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to occur, come to pass, be done, be brought about 1b2) to be done, be finished, be gone

Origin: a primitive root [compare 01933]; TWOT – 491; v

Usage: AV – was, come to pass, came, has been, were happened, become, pertained, better for thee; 74

Verse 2 could easily read “And the earth BECAME void.” When God creates something, He does not create something imperfect. Many Evangelical scholars believe that the fall of Lucifer occurred between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis Chapter 1. Sin and darkness bring chaos. The Word also tells us:

1 Corinthians 14:40 (NKJV)
⁴⁰ Let all things be done decently and in order.

James 3:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

When sin takes a hold of the things of the earth, it produces confusion. Let’s look at the Greek word here that James used to properly understand what he was saying.

Confusion: Strongly # G81 avkatastasi,a akatastasia {ak-at-as-tah-see’-ah}

Meaning: 1) instability, a state of disorder, disturbance, confusion

Origin: from 182; TDNT – 3:446,387; n f

Usage: AV – confusion 2, tumult 2, commotion 1; 5

Chaos, instability and a state of disorder are places that darkness can easily operate and manipulate people and circumstances. No wonder those in the occult promote anarchy. Biblical law and biblical principles bring stability and order to God’s creation. Stability and order always live within light, thus darkness finds it extremely difficult to operate.

In tip # 5, we touched on “redeeming time.” It takes two elements to redeem time in your life:

1.    You must be living life awake.

2.    As a person that is sanctified and has a sanctified place in sanctified time, you can take control of your time and bring order to it.

Bringing Biblical Order to Creation

 Whenever God begins to speak, light always comes. As God begins to bring light to your life, biblical order will always result. Our old nature will fight against biblical order, accountability, Holy Spirit breathed priorities and structure. Our old man prefers disorder. This way he can hide what he is really doing from your new man (i.e. new nature in Christ).

Everyone seems to be interested in bringing biblical order to the Church, to the home or even to society. We have not understood the fact that it must first start with us. As I taught in the Leader of One, you cannot properly lead in your home or ministry until you properly lead yourself! I believe one of the reasons the Church is no longer bringing order to homes or society in general is that believers are not walking in biblical order in their personal lives! We have made everything external, instead of internal. Remember, Jesus taught us:

Luke 17:20-21 (NKJV)
²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

What we are teaching in these Mentor’s Tips is bigger than just you getting organized in your life, to completing your education and starting ministry. Once you bring biblical order to your personal life, you can bring it to your home. Once it is established in your home, you can bring it to your ministry. Once it is established in your ministry, you can begin bringing it to your community.

I am going to recommend two secular books that will help you clear away the clutter. Once the clutter has been taken care of, we can work more on biblical order in your life. As long as the clutter is in the way, it will fight any type of order you need to establish.

• “Getting Things Done” by David Allen
• “Time Management from the Inside Out” by Julie Morgenstern

You can get them both from Amazon.Com for $19.20 or you can purchase them in audio format from Audible.Com. (I enjoy listening to books while I do other busy work or workout.)

When you decide to bring order to your personal life, God will begin speaking light into your life and aid you with setting things in order. Here is the important part to remember, as you mature, God wants to do things with you (not for you). Bringing order to your life is what happens when you grow up, so this is something God will not do for you; He will only do it with you.

Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and work with the Holy Spirit? Let’s begin bringing order to our lives and see God work!

Biblical Life College & Seminary
P.O. Box 588 | Marshfield, MO 65706-0588 Phone: 417-859-0881 | Fax: 417-468-2037

Website: http://www.biblical-life.com

E-Mail: biblicallife@centurytel.net

Living Life Awake – Redeeming the Time

by Michael K. Lake, Th.D., D.R.E.

  This past week as I was preparing my weekend message for our local body, the Holy Spirit had me write the phrase “Live Life Awake” in the side margin of my notes. I was dealing with the concept of learning to activate and daily walk in our new nature in Messiah. Although I did work it into my message, the Holy Spirit continued to deal with me about being awake and how everything in our secular society is designed to put us spiritually and intellectually asleep.

 As I pondered these things, I remembered a sermon series by Pastor Rod Parsley. He taught this powerful series in the early 90′s, and it was based on a prophetic vision of Prophet Tommy Hicks. This series as called “The Final Awakening: A Vision of the Endtime.” (I do not know if Pastor Parsley’s ministry still sells this series, but I would recommend it to anyone.) In Tommy’s vision, he saw a giant covered with rubble and small demons. These were not the things holding it down. This giant was asleep. Every once in a while this giant would try to wake up. As he did, the demons would flee into the darkness in stark terror. He would not be able to sit up fully and would finally fall back to sleep. As soon as he did, the demons would come rushing back in believing they had achieved some great victory. My friends, the Church in America looks more like that giant now than when Tommy spoke forth this vision in the 1950′s or even in Pastor Parsley’s sermon in the 1990′s!

 With this in mind, I want to take a look at Paul’s exhortation to the Church in Ephesus in Ephesians 5:11-16:

¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
¹² For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. ¹⁴ Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” ¹⁵ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (NKJV)

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I like to dig a little deeper and see things in the scripture that many are prone to overlook. That’s just the way the LORD wired me. So we are going take a deeper look at Paul’s warning to the Church.

 The first part of our hermeneutical journey will be to understand Ephesus. Ephesus was a hot spot for paganism and the occult. As Paul’s ministry began to take hold in the area, we find in Acts 19:19 that many of the people brought all of their occultic objects and books to be burned and destroyed. So the influence in Ephesus was not only basic paganism but a powerfully established structure of the mystery religions. This influence within that society caused Paul to warn these believers of several things:

 1.    There are many things birthed within darkness that we should have no fellowship with.

 The Greek word here for “fellowship” is sugkoinoneo {soong-koy-no-neh’-o}. It means to become a partaker together with others, or to have fellowship with a thing. (Strongs #G4790) It is important that we do not allow ourselves to partake of something that is birthed in darkness. That may be easier said than done.

 2.    Things done by them in secret.

 There are many today that discredit a “conspiratorial” view of history. Such individuals are usually liberal in their thinking; few of them would be considered having a biblical worldview. One does not have to go past Genesis Chapter Three to find conspiracy. Darkness is constantly planning in clandestine fashion its desires upon mankind.

 There are secret societies that permeate much of western civilization. They touch finance, politics, the entertainment industry and education: just about every aspect of our lives. They have slowly and methodically altered what we are taught, what we see, what laws are passed and even what we eat. A great portion of what they do must be done outside of public observation, truth or even daylight. To accomplish their work, they must either distract the public or place them into some type of spiritual and/or cerebral fog. They have learned throughout the centuries on how to either distract the Church by getting it to fight within other sections itself or to place Christians in a spiritual stupor.

 3.    Paul calls us to awake out of sleep.

 Paul is trying to get the Church to realize that the very culture around them will put them to sleep spiritually. For those that walk with God, too much worldliness always leads to lukewarmness! This was the problem with the Laodicean Church in the Book of Revelation. They thought that had everything and really they had nothing!

 We need to learn to maintain a balance: unplug from the world while being able to reach out to the world.

 4.    Walk circumspectly.

 Here again the Greek word “circumspectly” is akribos {ak-ree-boce’} , which means exactly, accurately, and diligently. (Strongs #G199).

 I believe Paul was admonishing us to be aware of this tendency. If we know that it is there, we can guard ourselves again it.

 5.    Redeeming the time, for the days are evil.

 The definition for the Greek word “redeem” is a long one, but I want to make it fully available to you in this article:

 Redeem: Strongs # G1805 exagorazo {ex-ag-or-ad’-zo}

Meaning: 1) to redeem 1a) by payment of a price to recover from the power of another, to ransom, buy off 1b) metaph. of Christ freeing the elect from the dominion of the Mosaic Law at the price of his vicarious death 2) to buy up, to buy up for one’s self, for one’s use 2a) to make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good, so that zeal and well doing are as it were the purchase money by which we make the time our own.

 Notice that I have underlined two sections of the definition. Let’s look at both of them in the light of this teaching:

 1.    Only when you are awake spiritually can you take back the power of your time from the enemy. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the devil controlling my time, energy and creativity in the Kingdom. The only way to get his hands off of them is to wake up, walk properly before the LORD and to unplug from his influence.

 2.    Time is like money, you need to invest it wisely. Time is not like money in that you cannot make more. This tells us that God is requiring us to use our time here on earth wisely. So much of the world wants to waste our time with things that dumb us down and rob us of time we could spend with friends and loved ones or to accomplish something great for the Kingdom.

 Application

 1.    We need to know this is real and happening to the Body of Christ.

 Knowing the tactics of an enemy is the first step to overcoming him. In this case, it is the first step to waking back up. Are you on fire for God as much as you could be? Are you hearing from the LORD every day? Is His Word a living thing to you? Is prayer a routine that is boring or more like a contact sport (emphasis on “contact”)? If not, you are someplace between getting sleepy and being completely out!

 2.    Moderate the spiritual and intellectual junk food.

 Before I even touch this one, I need to let you know who is writing this. Nobody could down a large sack of chips and jumbo tub of dip like I could. I also love action and sci-fi movies and could easily go into a marathon of snacking and watching. So as I approach this, I know my own weaknesses.

 We have got to moderate how much and of what we read and watch that is influenced by the spirit of this world. Much of it is just like junk food; the more you eat, the more you want. Know yourself and where you are at. It is one thing to watch a movie and chill out after a hard week of ministry. It is another thing to get so lost in TV shows and movies that you cannot find the time to pray, read the Bible or feed your spirit!

 More than 100 years ago, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto discovered the 80/20 Principle (sometimes called Pareto Principle or Pareto Law). This principle can be seen in finance, in productivity, in church work, well; in just about everything. Let me give you an example: at Church, 20% of the congregation will do 80% of the work. Twenty percent of the people can also take up 80% of the pastor’s time. In your personal productivity, 20% of what you are doing will produce 80% of your results. Unfortunately, 80% of what you do only produces 20% of your accomplishments. Since this is a principle, it is pretty well universal. Here is another formula for you:

 Eighty percent World and 20% Kingdom will make you lukewarm and a citizen of Laodicea!

 Eighty percent Kingdom and 20% World will set you on the right track, wake you up spiritually, set you on fire of the Holy Spirit and keep you balanced. In other words, you will find the balance between “unplugging” from the world while still reaching out to it.

 3.    Feed the Fire.

 Listen to praise and worship, listen and watch anointed teaching, and read. In fact, HEAVY ON THE READ. It activates different parts of your brain that viewing something doesn’t. Read the Word. Read solid books written by Christian authors. (I am not speaking of Christianized soap opera books either). Find those things that “stir you up” spiritually and intellectually (with a biblical emphasis). Learn to incorporate those into your life. You may have to schedule them into your day and week. It will take learning new habits and looking for new solutions. In fact, right here would be a great time to ask you how well your habits and the things you are doing now are working for you. If you are near perfection and folks need to cover their eyes from the glory of God shining from your face, then this article is not for you. The rest of us need to take a serious inventory. We have some time to redeem back and things to accomplish for God.

 On the other side, find those things that dumb you down and make you spiritually and intellectually drowsy. Make note of them and limit their use. The really addictive ones for you may need to be avoided all together! Your life is too precious to waste it in a spiritual fog!

 4.    Keep Going!

 Once you get the ball rolling, don’t fall back into the old mold the devil made for you. Those old habits are like a comfortable bed the enemy wants you to snuggle down into. He wants you to sleep, miss your divine appointments and just be spiritual enough to think you are OK just where you are.

 God is calling us to live life “awake.” When we are awake, the enemy runs in fear and the Kingdom of God starts advancing once again!

Biblical Life College & Seminary

P.O. Box 588 | Marshfield, MO 65706-0588

Phone: 417-859-0881 | Fax: 417-468-2037

Website: http://www.biblical-life.com

E-Mail: biblicallife@centurytel.net