October 04, 2012
The message the Lord Jesus continually brought forth was that of the Kingdom of God. In Mark 1:14,15, He began His ministry with this message, “14) Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15) And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The Lord Jesus preached the Good News of the return of the Kingdom of God to man-kind. In verse 15, He gave us the keys to entering into the Kingdom. He said first; repent by turning from your sinful ways to God’s righteous ways. Second, He said the way to do this was by believing and embracing the Gospel.
Repentance and believing the Gospel are still the two keys that bring us into the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul taught these two principles throughout his ministry. In Acts 20:20,21, he said, “20) And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, 21) Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” These things are profitable to us today just as they were then.
In Matthew 24:14, the Lord Jesus said the prominent message of the last days would be the Gospel of the Kingdom. He said, “14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
In Colossians 1:12-14, the Apostle Paul wrote, “12) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14) In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” According to these verses when we are born again, we are translated into the Kingdom of God. This happens now here on earth. We are taken out of satan’s kingdom of darkness and its way of living and we are placed into God’s Kingdom under the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Now that we are in God’s Kingdom, we must learn the new culture and ways of this new life. If we are to partake of our rich inheritance and take advantage of what is ours, we must learn how to function in this new Kingdom. II Corinthians 5:17 says, “17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Everything is new now in our lives and we must discover how to live in this new realm.
Learning the culture of God’s Kingdom is a must if we are to live victorious. To learn these new ways the Lord has given us His Word, the Holy Spirit, and teachers.
Over the next three months, I am going to be teaching on Kingdom Culture. I believe it is vital that we not only have an intimate relationship with our Lord and King, but that we also know the ways of His Kingdom. Through the Word of God, the anointing of the Holy Spirit and solid teaching we are going to learn how to be productive citizens in the Kingdom of God. I encourage you to come and join with me and let these teachings revolutionize and change your life.
September 11, 2012
Ecclesiastes 5:4
says, “When thou vowest a vow unto
God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou
hast vowed.” A vow here
means a promise or commitment. The
Message Bible says it this way, “When you tell God you’ll do something, do
it—now. God takes no pleasure in foolish
gabble. Vow it, then do it.” When we make a commitment to serve the Lord
He takes that commitment very seriously.
This verse says that God has no pleasure in fools or in foolish gabble. If you said you would do it, then do it. We are to live our commitment we make to the
Lord.
In following the Lord, there may be times that our vow of
commitment may be sorely tried. In
following the Lord, we may be faced with a challenge to either stay with our
commitment or to change and do something else.
This challenge usually comes when things don’t go our way or something
happens that we don’t like. It is during
these times that we must stay true to our vow of serving the Lord and staying
the course He has called us to.
We read the story of Jonah and we see the importance of
fulfilling our vow to the Lord. Jonah
made a vow to preach God’s word and to stand in the office of prophet. Yet when God called him to preach to a people
he didn’t like and to deliver a message he didn’t want to give, Jonah broke his
vow. The moment Jonah turned from his
commitment to God and followed his flesh he was in trouble. The key to keeping our vows to God is to
trust Him and to know He would never ask us to do something unjust. We also need to remember that our commitment
was to follow and not take the lead.
Well, as the story goes on, Jonah found himself in the belly
of the great fish and in a seemingly hopeless situation. Jonah was wise enough to know that breaking
his vows got him into this mess and the only way out was to recommit himself to
his vows. Jonah 2:1 says, “Then
Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.” If you find yourself in the midst of
a mess, do as Jonah did and cry out to God.
In verse 2 he said, “and He heard me…” God hasn’t changed and His plan for you
hasn’t changed. He is waiting on you to
make the change and recommit yourself to Him.
No matter how big of a mess we make of it, God is bigger than our mess
and His plan for us never changes.
Jonah 2:7-9 says, “7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto
thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of
thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” Jonah got his eyes off of his mess and back
on God and His plan. Jonah refused to
look at the lying vanities that said it wouldn’t work. Instead He began to praise God and speak His
faith. God heard Jonah’s commitment and
turned his circumstances around. Because
Jonah recommitted to his vow, God not only saved him but He also saved all who
heard the message.
As long as we still have breath, it is not too late to fulfill
our vow to God. Don’t look at your
circumstances and let their lie determine your future. Cry out to God, recommit yourself to Him, and
get back to doing what He called and created you to do. Remember Romans
11:29, “For God’s gifts and His
call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He
does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He
sends His call.].” By His
mercy let each of us fulfill our vows to God.
September 05, 2012
Ephesians 4:8 says, “Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.” When the Lord Jesus was raised from
the dead He not only delivered us from sin and bondage, He also called us into
His ministry. Every Believer is to be active in the ongoing ministry of the
Lord Jesus to the world today. To accomplish our part of His ministry, the Lord
gave every one of us a gifting that would supernaturally equip us to do our
part. Ephesians
4:7 says, “But to each one of us grace was
given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Along with our
special gifting, the Lord has also given us His grace and ability to use that
gift. No matter what your talent, gift, or ability is, the Lord has already
given you the grace to use it.
In Romans
12:6, the Apostle Paul says, “Having then gifts differing
according to the grace that is given to us, let us
use them.” The key to anything the Lord
gives us is to use it for His glory. God did not give us unique abilities and
gifts for us to not use. He also didn’t give them to us just to use for our own
purpose. He gave us different gifts and grace so that together, all would make
up His Body and do His works on earth. Ephesians 4:15,16 says, “15 but, speaking the truth in love,
may grow up in all things into Him who is the
head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined
and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective
working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the
edifying of itself in love.” As
every member and part of the Body connects and uses its gifts and grace, the
Church grows and accomplishes the works that Jesus called us to do.
How important is it that we each find our place, gift, and
grace? Hebrews 10:24,
25, gives us
our answer. “24 And let us
consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another,
studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful
deeds and noble activities, 25 Not
forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of
some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and
all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.” To
assemble means to put all the pieces together where they are supposed to go. As
we assemble with other Believers and connect our gifts together, we become a
powerful moving force on earth. Also, every member receives strength and
encouragement to continue on. It doesn’t matter how beautiful a clock looks on
the outside, it is only valuable to us when all the working pieces are assembled
and the clock does what it was created to do. In the same manner, it doesn’t
matter how beautiful a church building may look, it only becomes valuable to its
community when all the working pieces are joined together fulfilling what God
called that church to do.
I believe that now more than ever, it is important for every Believer to
discover their gift, walk in God’s grace, and take their part. Let us not
forsake the assembling of ourselves together but come together, admonishing and
encouraging one another, and all the more faithfully as we see the day
approaching.
July 24, 2012
I John 5:18,19 (NKJV) says, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he
who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” All through this
First Epistle of John we are taught how to stay in fellowship with God and with
each other. In this hour we are living,
it is easy to see the sway and influence of the wicked one. In II
Corinthians 4:4, the Apostle Paul calls satan the god of this world. In Ephesians
2:2 he calls him, “…the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” The Lord Jesus called the devil a thief and
in John 10:10 said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and
to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly.”
So when we see tragedy strike and horrible things
happen we need to recognize at once that these terrible things are not from
God, but from the sway and influence of the devil. In Daniel
12:10 God speaks to us of the last days and says, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall
do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall
understand.” Notice He says the
wicked will do wickedly and not even understand why they are doing it. It’s because satan, the god of this world
system, has them blinded and they are under his influence. But notice also that He says many will be
purified and tried; and once they have stood the test, will be given wisdom to
understand.
So what must we do to walk in wisdom and overcome
the darkness around us? We must get the
revelation of what the Apostle John was teaching us. We must know that we are
of God. We must know that we are born of God out of darkness into His Kingdom
of Light. We must know that we don’t
have to give in to sin. Above all, we
must know that we can keep ourselves in a place with God and the wicked one
can’t touch us.
How do we keep ourselves so the wicked one can’t
touch us? I encourage you to read,
study, and meditate on these five chapters of I John. In this letter to the Church, John teaches us
how to walk in the light, and have the blood of Jesus constantly cleansing and
protecting us. He teaches us to be
honest and live in the light of our salvation.
If we mess up, don’t yield to pride, go to the Lord Jesus, and receive
forgiveness. Walk in love toward God and
fellow Believers. Walk and live in light
of your righteousness in Christ. Learn
to follow the anointing of God from within you.
Live the life of faith and be powerful in prayer. If we make these things real in our lives and
make them our lifestyle, we will keep ourselves under the protective covering
of our Almighty God and the wicked one won’t be able to touch us.
We cannot stop the darkness from being here, but
we can be a shining light to those who are bound and show them the way to
salvation.
July 18, 2012
We as believers must know the times we are living in and be ready to face the challenges that are coming against us. In II Timothy 3:1, the Apostle Paul warns us of the coming days of hardship and adversity. He says, “But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].” Notice he says, “times of great stress, and trouble, hard to deal with and hard to bear.” These are the things we are having to deal with right now. These things come to destroy us and to break our faith, not to help us or build us up. This is why it is vital that we learn to deal with these things without being burned out and our faith broken.
Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” In this verse, we find great encouragement to stand strong and keep doing the right things. Paul reminds us that the Word will produce good things for us, even in hard times. No matter what is going on around us, God’s Word works. If we will keep the Word of God working in us it will overcome everything that is going on around us. This is why we are encouraged to not lose heart, grow weary, get discouraged, and quit. If the devil can’t get us to quit, he can’t defeat us. Look around, everybody that is defeated in their faith decided at some time to quit. They grew weary, became discouraged, and quit. You can’t win if you quit and you can’t be defeated if you keep pressing on. The Bible is full of examples of people who refused to quit and in the end, they won. We too can win in this time we are living, if we refuse to grow weary and if we will keep doing the Word.
Hebrews 2:1 says, “Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we drift past [them] and slip away.” I believe this is the key to us having victory. We must stir up the great truths we have been taught from the Word of God. Righteousness, faith, authority of the believer, redeemed from the curse, and all the other great truths will work today just as they did in days past. The great truths of the Bible must again be a revelation to us and not just a religious ritual. We must not let the truth of God’s Word slip away from us. If we do, we will find ourselves drifting back into a weak and defeated Christianity. It is when we are adrift that we become weary and faint.
Romans 10:17 says, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith comes today just as it always has, by hearing the Word of God. If your faith is weak and you are weary find out where the Word of God is being spoken and go hear it. We must all make a renewed commitment to stir up the Word of God in our lives. Mark 11:23 is a spiritual law that still works if we will work it. We must again believe God’s Word in our heart and speak it forth in faith. Faith filled words spoken from a stirred up heart full of God’s Word will still give us the victory even in these hard times we are living in.
February 28, 2012
Pastor Darrell Huffman just released a brand new teaching resource called "Made to Praise" that is available now in the DHM Online Store!
You can order the teaching on CD for $15 or it's also available as an MP3 download for $9.
December 13, 2011
During this Christmas Season of gift giving, we need to remember that our God is the greatest gift giver of all. Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Our Heavenly Father loves to give gifts to us just as much as we love giving gifts to our loved ones. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” The great thing about God’s gifts is they are always perfect and we never have to take them back.
As we study God’s Word, we can find many references to gifts and blessings the Lord bestows upon us. I want to take some time to look at two very special gifts. Every person on earth should receive these two very special gifts from our Heavenly Father.
The first gift we should receive from God is found in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In a world of sin and darkness, God has provided for us the gift of eternal life. As Christmas day approaches, we must remember what this day is truly about. John 3:16, 17 says, “16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Thank God for His wonderful gift of salvation and redemption to every person on earth. Salvation and eternal life are the greatest gifts given to us, and the most expensive. The gift of eternal life cost God the life of His Son and because of this, we should cherish and respect our walk with God above everything else.
Always remember that salvation is a gift from God. We cannot earn it or purchase it. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, “8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast.” By God’s grace, we receive the gift of eternal life. We receive by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I John 5:11, 12 says, “11And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” By accepting Jesus Christ into our heart we receive God’s great gift of eternal life.
I also want to take a look at the second gift from God that all people should receive. This gift is found in Acts 2:38, 39 “38Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Once we make Jesus our Lord, our Heavenly Father has another gift for us. This gift is the baptism or infilling of the Holy Spirit. Every believer should put the Baptism of the Holy Spirit on their Christmas list. In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells us why we should receive this gift, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Holy Spirit empowers us to be the witness God wants us to be.
In Luke 11:13, Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” It is our Heavenly Father’s desire to give us the Holy Spirit, but notice that He will not force it upon us. The Lord Jesus said we must ask for it. In fact, every gift from God must be asked for. God will never force His gifts on anybody but He always makes them available for everybody.
This Christmas let us all come to God with the faith of a child and ask Him for these wonderful gifts. At the mall, we see children sitting on the lap of Santa telling him the things they want for Christmas. With that same child-like faith, let us go into the Heavenly Holy of Holies and ask our Father to give us His gracious and wonderful gifts that only He can give. You can be sure that He will not turn you away.
November 10, 2011
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word law is defined one way as, “a rule or principle stating something that always works in the same way under the same conditions.” A law is something that is absolute and can always be counted on to do what it says it will do. This is true in both the natural and spiritual realms.
The Lord also set up everything to work by laws and the principles that He laid out in His Word. The Word of God is the Law of God that always works and produces results. When we look at God’s Word and receive it as a law and not a concept or a theory, it will begin to produce results in our lives. When the Word of God becomes a law to us, it begins to govern our attitudes and actions as well as setting boundaries and direction for our lives.
When the Word of God becomes the law and standard that we live by it produces liberty and not bondage in our lives. I John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
In Genesis 8:22, God laid down what I call an earth law that would govern the earth as long as the earth remained. He said, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” As we look at this verse, we see all of these things in operation today. Why? Because they are laws and always work the same way under the same conditions. We will continue to experience cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night. I don’t care what some scientists are saying; man will never alter or stop these earth laws from working because they are God’s laws.
Notice also in this verse it says, “seedtime and harvest.” A natural law that God laid out to provide blessing to man is seedtime and harvest. This is a law. If you plant the right seed in the right soil in the right climate, you will produce a harvest. It works anywhere for anybody because it is a law.
Now look at Mark 4:26-29, “26And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” The same law that God set in motion to produce a harvest in the natural realm, the Lord Jesus set as a law to work in the Kingdom of God.
The law of the Kingdom is seedtime and harvest. To get the Kingdom of God to work for you, you must activate and operate its laws. The Lord Jesus said the law that activates the Kingdom is sowing and reaping, so whatever you want to receive into your life you must sow. To have friends, sow friendship. To be loved, you must love. Everything in the Kingdom of God works through this law. The only way not to reap a harvest is to not sow any seed.
With all the pressure that is coming against us in today’s environment, we can be tempted to pull back in many areas of our life. If the enemy can get us into fear and cause us to forsake God’s laws, he can defeat us. We must remember that God’s Word is an incorruptible seed that has within itself the ability to produce what it says in our life. The key is to activate it by sowing it and acting on it in faith. We must keep God’s Word as the governing law of our life. When we do, it will produce the same results no matter what is going on around us.
No matter what the need, the Word of God covers it. In this time of uncertainty, we must do as Isaac did in Genesis 22. Isaac heard and obeyed the voice of the Lord. He stayed in faith and he sowed his seed. Genesis 26:12 says, “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.” We serve the same God. We have the same laws. If we do as Isaac did we can have the same results. Seedtime and harvest is a law that will work for us today if we will step out in faith and do as God says.
October 31, 2011
Matthew 28:18-20, “18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” In these verses, the Lord Jesus reveals to each and every believer the very heart and purpose of God. We call these verses, “The Great Commission.” The Lord Jesus reveals to us the great heart of love and forgiveness that God has for every person and every nation on earth. It is God’s will that none should perish, but that all people should be saved and brought into the Kingdom of God.
In verse 19, the Lord tells all believers to go in His authority “and make disciples of all the nations.” This is God’s Great Commission to us: that we are now to represent the Lord and convince people to turn their hearts and lives to God. We are not only to win people to Jesus, but we are to teach them truths from God’s Word that will transform their lives. Our Great Commission from God is not to build crowds, but to make disciples.
Disciple according to Webster’s Dictionary is “one who accepts and helps to spread the teachings of another, also, a convinced adherent.” To make disciples then is to help people change their lives and lifestyles not only to serve Jesus as their Lord, but also be involved in sharing His Gospel with others. This is our Great Commission from the Lord, to establish the Kingdom of God in the hearts of people, that they may establish God’s influence on the earth.
My question today is “Have we, this generation of believers, accepted the Great Commission as God’s Word to us?” Do we accept the Lord’s words as commission, or order, from our Lord and King to go in His stead and make disciples; or, do we look at it as a suggestion that we can do in our spare time, if we feel like it?
In Matthew 9:37, 38 the Lord Jesus said, “37Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” We must become the laborers of this Harvest. We cannot allow our generation to be the one that lets darkness, sin, and false religions silence the voice of God. Nations and people are hanging in the balance and Jesus is calling out to us to go to them and make disciples. I read an article that said within the next twenty years there will be enough Muslims in America to elect the president. My question is “Will we, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, have made enough disciples to stop them?”
When challenged in the past, the Church has risen to the challenge. Believers have, in the past, chosen to sacrifice time, money, and pleasures to pray, witness, and turn back the evil powers of darkness. Revival comes from the broken heart of believers accepting the Lord’s Great Commission and releasing His authority and grace to this generation. This is our generation and our responsibility, so in the words of our Lord, let us also say, “…Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
July 21, 2011
We are excited to announce to the Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma region that "Faith That Overcomes" with Dr. Darrell Huffman can now be heard daily on the radio! Listed below are the new stations and times that you can receive your daily dose of faith!
KNYD 90.5 FM
Tulsa, OK / M-F at 1:45 p.m. CST
KMSI 88.1 FM
Oklahoma City, OK / M-F at 1:45 p.m. CST
Pastor Darrell Huffman just released a brand new teaching resource called "Made to Praise" that is available now in the DHM Online Store!
