Welcome to the Victory Blog

By: Pastor Colleen Rouse

“We eat what we like.”  Remember that tagline?  It was used to promote Apple Jacks cereal.  I never liked that commercial because it featured adolescents with cocky attitudes of entitlement.   Yet, it seems to epitomize the American mentality; and, we are in the midst of an economic crisis because of it.

We have lived without restraint. Our ferocious appetites have ruled us and freedom has been a means of fulfilling vices.  We despise waiting for anything and thus have not learned to develop patience. If we like it, we go for it without question and mostly without the proper funds, all because we can.  Creditors have became our friends, telling us they are on our side.  They became our source of counsel as to the size of our homes and big screen TVs.  If they gave us permission, we treated ourselves because, after all, we deserve it.  We have been willing to risk it all for TVs and cars because we never dreamed that “it” would come.

Our forefathers were willing to risk it all as well.  They came here in search of precious liberty and independence, knowing it would not come without a price. They were willing to risk their lives to find a place where they could use this freedom to pursue the One they desired to serve with all their hearts, Jesus.  How we have drifted from this pure motive to use our freedom to serve ourselves. Paul, admonished us in Galatians 5:13 NIV “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”  The freedom that we have today has come from those who fought in wars, serving us in love.

We have been so proud of our independence and at the same time, we have lost our appreciation for it.  We don’t want to belong to anything or anyone so we forsake getting married and opt for living together. The dollar bill that says in God we trust has become the god in which we trust. We have been deceived.  Paul also said in Galatians 5:1 MSG “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”  The country that loves her freedom has come under the harness of debt. We belong to the bank and even the banks belong to someone else, mostly foreign nations.

In reality, the “bailout” we need is much greater than the tune of $700 billion.  Our bankrupt state is a result of spiritual bankruptcy. You might be thinking that I am making everything sound bleak and hopeless, but that is not the case.  In fact it is because of hope that I am willing to admit to our foolishness.  You might be thinking that you are not one of those I have described above.  Perhaps not, but this is a day when we must begin thinking corporately and not independently because all that leads to is what is being demonstrated in Washington, blame shifting.  There is a different shifting that can take place and it is not too late for our country. The shift I am referring to is a shift in pursuit, a RETURNING. Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no revelation (vision), the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.”

The pilgrims who first landed here came with a great sense of purpose.  Our forefathers who drafted the constitution wrote down the vision God gave them for this nation.  We were meant to be a beacon not a blemish.  We were meant to use our freedom for helping others not for lavishing our own desires.  We must return to who we were called to be as a nation. We must return to our first love. We have built our houses on sand (credit) but we must build them on the Rock.  We must return to our first love.  We must be willing to refrain at times from “eating what we like” so we won’t have to stand in soup lines.

The beginning of the Declaration begins with the following, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Sometimes I wish that Jefferson would’ve left that last part out.  Let us pursue life with the same passion with which we have pursued happiness. Life is only found in Him.  We must return to our pursuit of HIM but we need help in finding our way.
We need something to clear away the confusion, dissention and lack of discernment.  We need leaders with pure motives and clear vision.  We as the Body of Christ need to break free of the hypnotic state we have been under.  We need a clarion call.

A clarion call is a powerful request for action or an irresistible mandate. It referred to a medieval trumpet and it is derived from the Latin word meaning clear.  We need true prophets to begin to open their mouths and speak truth and we must listen to what they say. I know that many of us may groan at this idea because we have heard many prophets declare many things. Some have been so audacious to declare that as long as we sent in our immediate pledge of $777, whatever they spoke would come true.  Those individuals will answer to God for their malpractice but that doesn’t mean there are not those who listen to God and have an authentic and specific assignment.  I believe that when they give the clarion call, it will be confirmed by the Spirit of Grace and Truth and rally us to prayer.  Rather than continuing to occupy the position of “wait and see” with the rest of this country we must take the somewhat different position of  “Wait on the Lord” and “See with eyes of revelation”.

I believe that the Lord is going to use the fivefold ministry gifts in unity once more to help us return to Him.  Let us begin to pray for the true leaders with righteous motives to be put in places of leadership in this nation and we will shine again.

This weekend, I had the pleasure of letting my wife Colleen give the message in our services. As usual, she brought a great word that was full of life. So, in case you missed it, I’d like to summarize it here.

God has the same heart to heal us today as He did for all those people that Jesus healed in the Bible. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God does not change. He was the Healer long ago and He is still the Healer today. Yet today, either because of ignorance or unbelief, people often miss out on receiving healing.

So, is God still healing today? Is Jesus really who He said we was? If we want to answer these questions, we should ask the person that they’re about. And, we’ll find His answers if we go to the right source - God’s Word. Isaiah 53:5 says, “By his stripes we are healed.” And, 1 Peter 2:24 says, “By his stripes we were healed.” Notice that it says “were healed” - as soon as God thinks something it’s as good as done. From God’s perspective everything that needed to be done by Him for us to be healed was completed in Jesus. The promise is intact.

What is needed now is our participation in order for the promise to be delivered. You see, just like the people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, our doubts and unbelief cut us off from being able to receive. It’s almost like God needs our permission; He doesn’t force himself on anyone. Rather, He’s looking for us to trust Him. That is what opens the door of healing.

Now, if we want to keep the door open, there are two things we have to do: Sift and Stand. First, we have to sift, or filter out all our wrong beliefs and the lies that the enemy throws at us. Then, we have to stand on the truth of God’s Word The devil would love to close the door of healing in our lives, but if we learn how to take a stand, we can refuse him that opportunity.

Still, standing is not easy. There are a lot of things that contend against our healing such as our feelings, the facts, fear, failure or false information. In order to stand, we have to keep believing in God and what He says He accomplished in His Son. We must embrace truth and isolate ourselves from the lies that serve to undermine our faith. That’s why we have to keep God’s Word in front of us. It is the lens through which we must examine the validity of what we believe. It will tell us if what we’re thinking and expecting is right or wrong.

Because of that, we need to fall in love with it. What’s great is that as we do so, and as we find truth in it, we develop faith. Now, this is not just mental assent or agreement. Faith is when the truth connects with our spirits; when we have that “aha” moment; when, regardless of circumstances, we know that we know that God is our Healer.

To get to that place, God’s Word must become a part of us. How? Through meditation. I don’t mean some kind of crazy eastern meditation where you’re sitting there saying, “Ommmm,” or whatever. No, I’m talking about the definition of meditation: to revolve in the mind; to ponder; imagine; speak; utter. Meditating is not only thinking about something, but it is also engaging our mouths. When we start speaking what we believe, the revelation of His goodness becomes illuminated. Something amazing happens. We get the Word into us and that enables us to stand.

Now, this can work for us or against us depending on what we’re meditating about. So often we focus on and verbalize our feelings, circumstances, sicknesses, symptoms, etc., but that only takes us further down, deeper into sickness and doubt. On the other hand, if we will meditate on the truth of God’s Word, it will work out through us in the form of faith and move us toward healing. Through faith we give God permission to move in our life. It may not be instant, quite possibly it may be a process, but it is inevitable.

As you go through this process, I want you to be patient with yourself. You’ve had a lot of experiences. It takes time to let go of traditions, preconceived ideas or impressions left behind on our souls from disappointing experiences in the past. But, if you will continue to sift your beliefs and take a stand, you will come to the place where your spirit agrees with the Word and you’re convinced.

Then, if you want to receive healing, you must activate your faith. Receptivity involves tenacity not passivity! The devil wants to steal your healing. Are you going to let him take it, or go after what is yours and take it back? Sure, you can be lying in bed, you can have a disease, but it doesn’t have to have you! Don’t just let the enemy run over you. Stand. Take up the armor of God (see Eph. 6). Activate your faith. And take what God has promised you.

God wants you to have the experience of healing. Why? Because after you’ve had to stand for it, gone through the process, and then received healing, you’ll want to go out and tell others about it and share the experience with them. And that is just what God wants you to do. He wants all of us to live life with the Door of Healing wide open!