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"I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes so you can see. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:18,20 It was to the last Church the Lord addressed in the Book of Revelation, the Church of Laodicea, that He gave His greatest promise to. Those promises are for His people today. When most people think of the Church of Laodicea, they think of the negative rather than the positive. We need to consider these great promises. First, we need to see why they are so great. Then we need to understand how overcoming the negative things this Church confronted will produce some of the greatest overcomers, the greatest saints, the world has ever known. The Church of Laodicea was so temporally prosperous that it caused them to become lukewarm, and made the Lord so sick that He would vomit them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-17). Being lukewarm is the worst condition a Christian can fall into. It reveals an ultimate contempt for the Lord. Indifference is the greatest affront to any relationship. ZEAL FOR THE LORD "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent." - Revelation 3:19 The Lord called the Church at Laodicea to "therefore be earnest and repent" . We must recover and keep our zeal for the Lord if we are going to make it through these times. How do we do that? The Lord sent fire from His presence to light the fire on the altar in both the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple that Solomon built. He then commanded the priests to KEEP THE FIRE GOING. God has lit every fire in every heart that has ever turned to Him. However, He expects us to keep it going. WE DO THIS BY: prayer, worship, studying and affirming His written Word to us, fellowshipping with others who have the fire, being the witnesses we are called to be, and embracing God's PURPOSEfor our life. We lose the fire when we give ourselves to sin and wickedness. This leads to lawlessness as described in Romans 6. The Lord warned that lawlessness would cause the love of most to grow cold. THE REMNANT PRINCIPLE The remnant principle was at work when the resurrected Lord told five hundred people to go to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. However, just a few weeks later, there were only 120 gathered there. Yet that remnant was in "one accord" or unity. As Abraham demonstrated, true faith grows stronger with the passage of time, not weaker. The passage of time between when the promise is given and the fulfillment of that promise will usually thin out the crowd by removing those who do not have true faith, but are just caught up in the excitement of the moment. This does not mean that those with true faith will not waver sometimes too, but overall, true faith grows with the passage of time. Is our faith growing stronger, or are we going to slip into the majority that drifts away? People tend to draw their security by how many people are with them. True faith doesn't. True faith is faith in God, not how many people are with us. True faith is demonstrated by patience, which is why we are told that it is through "faith and patience" that we will inherit the promises. "Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won't become bored with being a Christian, nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience." - Hebrews 6:12 (Living Bible) ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

Some people think their calling is to sit in church and support someone else's vision. While it's good to do all you can to encourage someone and support them – each of us has our own CALLING in Christ Jesus. And at the end of the road, Jesus is going to ask you, "What did you do with the anointing I put in your life?" WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO YOU? Everyone (all born-again believers) has the witness of the Spirit, or the anointing, within them. That's why the apostle John said, "You don't need any man to teach you, because the anointing (or the Anointed One) is within you," - 1 John 2:27. Does that mean that we don't have teachers in the Church? No, of course not – there are teachers, pastors, prophets, apostles, and evangelists – all given to equip the Church. But you have to listen to the anointing or witness of the Spirit within you to discern what God is saying to you personally. For example, someone could come to your church and prophesy or teach or preach – but you have to discern what God is saying to you – even if there are just a couple of sentences that are for you personally. Paul prayed for Philemon that "[Your] faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." - Philemon 6 When you acknowledge the gift and calling in someone, you cause it to be brought forth and activated; for example, telling someone, "That was a great word you gave." When you tell someone that, they are encouraged and it makes them want to do that again. Out of one message, maybe there are different things that the Holy Spirit brings out to each individual present, and perhaps He says a different thing to 20 different people. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Not every word you hear, nor every Bible verse you read, is proceeding a word for you today. What is God saying to you NOW? Today? This week? The proceeding word imparts life and faith and has power to move you to the next thing that God has for you. One thing is for sure – we have to move on. We have to continually discern what is He saying to us now (today) -- today's manna. WHAT SHOULD BE YOUR RESPONSE TO GOD? We can sit there forever in our comfort zone or we can rise up and say, "I'm going to go for it. I'm going to be all I can be in God." You can't aim at what you can't see. By faith we have to see our DESTINY. We don't have to wander around and around the mountain, wondering where we are supposed to be going and doing a kind of "hit and miss" attempt at fulfilling the will of God. God will show you what He has for you if you start to see by faith and believe YOU CAN HEAR FROM GOD. By faith He can release a word to you if you need confirmation – but He also puts His desires in your heart so that when you fulfill the will of God, it's delightful to you because it's in your heart. What's in your heart? Where do you want to go? What is it you really want to do? You only have one life to live down here on earth. What kind of life do you want to live? A mundane, in-my comfort-zone, occasionally-stepping-out kind of life? Or, an on-the-edge, exciting, what's-going-to-happen-next kind of life? It is your Heavenly Father who is stirring you up. He made an awesome deposit in you. Jesus deposited His life in you. He is looking for a return on His deposit. His deposit will bring forth your DESTINY if you let it run its course. WATCH OUT FOR THE DOGS THAT LAY AT THE DOOR OF YOUR DESTINY There are dogs – religious spirits -- having a knowledge of God, but denying His power -- negative spirits -- that make God's people have to "qualify" to be used by God. But Jesus already qualified us 100%. Dogs can also be jealous spirits in people that don't want you to go further than them. A good teacher or instructor is proud when a pupil begins to accomplish something. Jesus has made you perfect in the sight of His Father. It is His righteousness that you are covered with – not your own. Jesus switched with you. He took your righteousness, which is like filthy rags, and took it to the Cross – then He gave you His robe of righteousness in exchange. What a great "swap"! Your rotten rags in exchange for the beauty and awesomeness and righteousness of the Mighty Son of God! How awesome is that? To be clothed in the holiness and beauty of the perfect Son – Jesus. Don't be afraid of the dogs (religious spirits) – Jesus has given you power over them. The dogs can only minister to you through lies – you have to choose not to believe those lies. Now is the time to be all you can be in God – you don't have to qualify – you just have to learn how to yield to the anointing. God sees a great big vision for you. He is not limited. He is not limited by your inability. He is released through your believing in His ability. Don't let the dogs keep you from the doorway of your destiny. They are liars and thieves. The dogs can howl and scream and bark all they want, but they can't touch you if know who you are and what is your CALLING and DESTINY on your life. Have a spirit of abandonment to the purposes of God. God wants to send the winds of the Spirit to take you where you are supposed to go – His plan and PURPOSE for your life. ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

"Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:28-29 Even though things are being shaken where we currently stand we have access to a Kingdom that is shaken by NOTHING. If He has spoken that we win, then, we must continue to fight in FAITH until we win! Our God is with us and He is an all-consuming fire! Part of our mandate as Christians is to raise the breathing dead who have no life and no hope - they exist everywhere. (Ezekiel 37) ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. 1 John 2:27 This of course means that we must be guided by the Holy Spirit. It does not mean that we do not need church,pastors,priests or other spiritual help. The Holy Spirit will guide us especially in discernment of things we hear or even see. Personally I love the "as for you". Of course this puts a very personal touch on this particular passage.