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Get Violent

Did you know that there are great things that God has prepared for you to enjoy; blessings that He has prepared especially for you; blessings so great that they could only come from Him? However, before you can experience these great blessings from above, there is something that you must do: get violent. Now if that alarms you, it should not. To receive the fullness of God's covenant promises you must get serious about the promises of God: serious about finding out what belongs to you and serious about doing what it takes to bring them to pass in your life.

Why does it take such concerted effort? Because you have an enemy, a thief, the devil, who is working overtime to keep you out of the abundant life that God has promised, through His Word, to give to you. (I Peter 5:8; John 10:10). In his role as your adversary, the devil's job is to hinder you, frustrate you, lie to you and ultimately cause you to forego the blessings that God has for His people. Knowing that someone is against you and contesting you in any sort of battle requires extreme measures on your part to ensure victory. This is also the case in how we deal with our enemy, Satan, as we pursue our inheritance from God. If you want to possess the promises of God for your life, then you must become violent.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)

Do you understand that if you are ever going to get what belongs to you in the Kingdom of God that you are going to have to take it by force?! You will not experience the richness of God's blessings by only going to church on Sunday morning, "hoping and praying", and going on with "life as usual". That is not what it means to be violent and that is certainly not what it means to take something by force. When you understand that you have a blood-bought right to something, then you won't (or rather you shouldn't) be so quick to just lie still and let the devil steal it from you. If it's yours, you must take it, and many times this will require diligent effort in praying, studying the Word, obedience to God, giving, confessing the promises of God, and finally waiting on God's Word to come to pass in your life.

When I think of the so few Christians who really experience the abundant life that God has made available for us, it saddens my heart. In other areas of our lives we are so quick to exercise our rights and even fight for them, if necessary. However, when it has come to spiritual things and our rights in God, we have been content to allow the devil to steal from us what rightfully belongs to us. I charge you today to allow this to take place in your life no more.

The truth is that nothing just happens--nothing of the devil just happens and nothing of God just happens; there are things that must be done and effort that must be employed on either side to see results.

So if you want results from God's Word, it will require effort on your part. If you are a lazy, slothful Christian, this message is not for you, and you'll never know the blessings of God in any powerful measure.

But for those of you who are ready for a change of status and ready to live "the good life", here are some steps you can take to get what God has for you:

1. Find out what belongs to you by studying the Word of God;
2. Write down the scripture references and say them aloud at least 3 times daily;
3. Feed your heart the Word of God on a continual basis by attending church, listening to teaching tapes, reading the Word and Christian books and praying;
4. Tithe and sow seeds for your harvest;
5. Praise God for the victory.

This five-step plan will take you from one who only dreams about the promises of God to one who is living in the promised land!

I am confident that as you begin to learn of all that God has for you and wants to do in your life, you won't remain satisfied with the "status quo" of how things are in your life. Knowing God's will is for you to be healthy, wealthy, wise, favored, protected, and much more, will stir up a determination in you to do whatever it takes to walk in the blessings of God. Don't delay, but put your plan of victory in motion and take back what belongs to you!