In this segment, we will show you how many times in our walk with God He will deliberately allow us to go through a different path, one we didn’t see coming, because He knows our hearts and the path that is before us. You will also discover that you are in one of three specific transitions right now and what that means. To view the entire message, watch the video:

{eoa}

Ricky Scaparo is a former pastor and founder of the international ministry End Time Headlines. This ministry has exploded over the past few years, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers via the website () and social media streams. Ricky provides resources to equip believers and to inform the discerning of the signs and seasons in which we live. His mission is to inform his readers and viewers of prophetic events and how they are unfolding before our very eyes through news and headlines presented from a prophetic perspective in light of the holy Bible. This ministry is also an outreach ministry that presents the gospel to the lost through preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

This article originally appeared at .

In my morning prayer time, the Lord showed me clearly too many of His children are incarcerated in the cell of condemnation. Many blood-bought believers wake up with the voice of condemnation prophesying doom and gloom over their lives every morning.

The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is God is not mad at you. In fact, the Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1).

We must reject condemnation’s injustice, spit out the bait the enemy puts in front of us every time we make a mistake, and remember the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness when we confess our sins (1 John 1:9). We must cast down condemning imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5).

During my Mornings With the Holy Spirit broadcast, the Lord gave me a secret weapon to wrestle condemnation. It’s called the mercy card. On the broadcast, I declared and prayed:

“Pull the mercy out of your back pocket and show it to the devil, and say, ‘I haven’t done anything worthy of being condemned. Jesus was condemned for me and I’ve got a mercy card. I plead mercy and I receive mercy.

“I thank You, Lord, for Your blood, which affords us mercy. I thank You, Lord, for what You did on the cross which affords us mercy. The mercy card trumps condemnation. The mercy of God is more powerful than the condemnation of the enemy.

“When you feel condemned pull out the mercy card, and say, ‘I know I messed up. I know I made a mistake.’ The Bible says agree with your adversary quickly when you’re on the way.’ So you say, ‘That’s right, devil, I messed up, but I have a mercy card, and it’s covered by the blood of Jesus, it’s dripping with the blood of the Lamb. Hallelujah! Yeah, that’s right, devil, I said a dumb thing. I did a dumb thing. I missed the mark. I sinned. But the blood of Jesus is greater than my sin. I repent. I turn around, in Jesus’ name.”

“I break those words of condemnation, those words of death, those words of guilt, those words of shame—that feeling that God is mad at you all the time. I break that in Jesus’ name. I come against that religious spirit that tries to get you to perform, that warps your perception of Jesus, your loving High Priest who suffered for you, who gave His life for you.

“Somebody needs to take the key that God has given you and unlock that cell of condemnation and walk free in the name of Jesus. We’re not going to feel ashamed any more. We’re not going to feel condemned any more. I break the powers of condemnation. Condemnation doesn’t belong to us. I break all that in Jesus’ name.”

Tap into these Mornings With the Holy Spirit prayer calls on Periscope. Follow me @propheticbooks. Be sure to get a copy of the devotional.

In 1994 I was married, had built a successful ad agency for 12 years in Atlanta and had enough money in the bank to retire comfortably. I was leading Bible studies in the workplace, giving money to Christian causes and thought I was a model Christian business leader.

However, that would all change in the spring of 1994. My world began to fall apart that spring, and within three months, several things began to happen: I went through a marriage crisis, lost over $500,000 overnight in a “Bernie Madoff” scam whose leader fled the country with my money. Soon after, my largest ad client, who represented 80 percent of our business, refused to pay a $140,000 bill and fired us as their ad agency. And just a short time later, my vice president came to me and said he was leaving the company. What he did not say was that he was taking my second largest account with him. My wife divorced me a few months later.

In three short months, my life shifted drastically—I would lose my family, my wealth and my business. This would usher me into a seven-year season of adversity. Most psychologists say any one of those events is enough for the average person to commit suicide; I certainly felt like life was over for me. The fact that I was a Christian only compounded the shame and guilt I felt from these failures.

I would struggle to make sense of my adversity for the next two years. Then one day a friend sent me an audiotape from a man named Gunnar Olson. On that tape, Gunnar talked about a “Joseph Calling.” He suggested that there are many who were going through adversity in their business and personal lives today because of a unique calling that comes from God. I had never heard of the concept of a “Joseph Calling” before, and so I felt like I must meet this man in person.

Gunnar was from Sweden. He was founder of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce, which operated in 75 countries at the time. He agreed to meet with me when he came to Washington for their international conference, which would be two months away. And so I flew to Washington to meet with him. He was so gracious; he invited me to his suite and listened to my story.

After listening to my story, he and his board member began to chuckle. I was taken back by their response to my crisis, but Gunnar quickly responded by saying, “Os, we are not trying to be rude. It’s just that we have heard such similar stories from so many other marketplace leaders that it is uncanny to us. Os, you have a Joseph calling on your life.” He then went on to explain, “A Joseph calling is a marketplace call that a man or woman goes through in order to become a spiritual and physical provider to others. You become known, just like Joseph became known, by the adversity you have gone through. It is a marketplace call.”

He then took out a napkin and drew a diagram. Gunnar said, “Os, this is where you are currently. As you begin to press into Jesus with all your heart, he will guide you to this next destination (spiritually speaking). You have probably made some mistakes during your process, but what you need to remember is your call is greater than the mistakes you have made. You have a marketplace call upon your life. Yes, you probably have made some mistakes along the way. But what you need to realize is the call is bigger than your mistakes.” That day changed my life forever. Gunnar would become my spiritual father in the marketplace for the next 22 years.

That day I walked into his hotel room as a shamed and defeated Christian businessman, but I walked out with an understanding that I was in a process of a call to the marketplace. That day Gunnar became my spiritual mentor and father. Now, twenty-five years later, I have spoken and ministered to men and women in the marketplace in 26 countries and written 18 books, including a daily devotional that is read in more than a hundred nations (). God turned my Valley of Achor (trouble) into a door of hope for me and for many others (Hosea 2:15).

Since that time, I have discovered there are six unique stages that “Josephs” will go through to fulfill their assignment as a Joseph. I have reviewed these in detail in my new book, The Joseph Calling, being released this month. These six stages can be seen in almost every major leader God has used in the Bible and even modern-day Christian leaders.

Here is a brief overview of the six stages “Josephs” go through in order to understand, navigate, and fulfill their purpose in life:

1. The Recruitment Stage. There is usually a crisis in the life of the leader that ushers them into their larger story.
2. The Character Development Stage. Like Joseph and David, there was a season of character development to remove pride from the leader’s life.
3. The Isolation Stage. God often isolates the leader to turn his mess into a message and make him a messenger.
4. The Cross Stage. God often allows betrayal to take place in the leader’s life to see if he will wash the feet of his “Judas”.
5. The Problem-Solving Stage. Josephs are problem-solvers. God uses their adversity to make them a problem-solver in culture.
6. The Networking Stage. God uses networks. Joseph had the 12 tribes. He uses networks to accomplish his assignment.

Every Joseph will go through these six stages in order to fulfill the call of God on his or her life. {eoa}

Os Hillman is president of Marketplace Leaders and author of 18 books. This article is an excerpt from his new book, The Joseph Calling. To read the first chapter free and download a free 12-week Joseph Calling Bible study, visit .

Late on Easter night before I went to bed, I had a moment with the Lord. I just wasn’t praying, but rather there was a deep groan that came from my soul and spirit asking God for a visitation from Him through prophetic dreams and visions that night. I remember saying, “God, I am so desperate for a dream that will speak to my wife and I about our future, the future of our city, region and our nation. I remember going to sleep with great expectation that my God was going to speak to me. I knew that when the Lord visited me with a prophetic dream that it was going to be a kairos moment that would be a marking point for our future.

At 2:55 a.m., I woke up, having just experienced a prophetic dream. In the dream, the sky was filled with an angelic battle. The dream was so clear, and the heavens were filled with heavenly angels and demonic powers engaged in warfare. Then suddenly a loud roar from heaven came. Then all of the demonic angels were blown away and fell to the wayside. There was a glorious burst of light, and the dream was filled with a glow, and gold filled the place and overtook the vision. When I awakened, I heard this phrase over and over again. “Now is the time, now is the time, now is the time.” I got up out of bed and started to pray in the Spirit. As I kept praying, for about 15 minutes I continued to hear these same words, “Now is the time.” I continued walking around my house, praying and seeking the Lord. I looked up and it was 3:46 a.m. It seemed that I had only been up for a moment. I continued to pray, and as I prayed, I could still hear the echo of that phrase in my spirit, Now is the time.” I would hear this, and it would repeat in 15-minute segments. Then around 4 o’clock, the Lord spoke to me and said “Breakthrough is at hand.” My friends, I continued praying, and then I heard the phrase over and over again, “Now is the time.” It was probably about 4:30 a.m. when I heard the Lord speak a third time. He said, “Jesus is ruling in your favor.”

My friends, the only way I can explain this encounter is that it felt like the kingdom of God exploded inside of me. This is one of the top five God experiences I have ever had. The power and presence of God was not just around me but exploded within me and overtook me. I found myself on the ground, and I started laughing and weeping. I was overcome with joy because I knew three things: “Now is the time—breakthrough is at hand —Jesus is ruling in my favor.”

As I remained in the place of prayer, the Lord reminded me of what He had spoken to me numerous times the week before Easter Sunday. I felt the Lord repetitively saying, “This is not just another Easter, this is not a normal Easter. People celebrate that I have risen, but now I want to celebrate my body rising, which is the church.” A few times the week leading up to Easter, the Lord spoke very specifically and said, “From seven days to 21 days after Easter Sunday, I am about to move on people’s lives and situations in a way that will blow them away.” These are things that have overwhelmed people in the past seasons, but God is about to overwhelm them in their next season of their life. During this encounter, the Lord showed me that suddenly the miraculous hand of God is about to perform many signs, wonders and miracles among His people. The children of God who have not let up in the place of prayer are about to have their breakthrough, because Jesus is ruling in their favor, and now is the time! {eoa}

Joe Joe Dawson is the president of Burn Texarkana Revival center and House of Prayer. Pastor Dawson also serves as staff evangelist for First Assembly of God in Texarkana, Texas, where he also is now the Tribe College/young adult pastor. Burn Texarkana has one revival/awakening service a month at First Assembly and also has Burn on the Road meetings in neighboring cites monthly. There are four Burn Texarkana prayer meetings each week, He also serves on the leadership team of New Breed Revivalists Network.

In this segment, we will discuss how many believers blame their undisciplined and crucified lifestyles on the devil instead of taking personal responsibility for their own actions. We will also discuss how the Apostle Paul emphasizes putting off the old man and putting on the new man as well as walking in the Spirit and a renewed mindset. For the entire message, watch the video:

{eoa}

Ricky Scaparo is a former pastor and founder of the international ministry End Time Headlines. This ministry has exploded over the past few years, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers via the website () and social media streams. Ricky provides resources to equip believers and to inform the discerning of the signs and seasons in which we live. His mission is to inform his readers and viewers of prophetic events and how they are unfolding before our very eyes through news and headlines presented from a prophetic perspective in light of the holy Bible. This ministry is also an outreach ministry that presents the gospel to the lost through preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

This article originally appeared at .

In the past few weeks, I have read several very powerful articles, each making the point that the only real way for us to reach this new generation is to transition, at least in part, from larger congregational models to home-gathering models of worship. The cases were made using both biblical text and anecdotal evidence, and by the time I finished reading these articles, I was convinced they were correct. It is true that the only real hope we have of reaching the current generation of seekers as well as the generations that will follow is to focus on home meetings as the primary source of outreach and the community building.

However, while I agree that the establishment of home meetings is the only hope for a healthy, biblically sound body of believers, I differ in the understanding of home meetings and their role from those who authored these articles. A few years ago, a group of visitors from a local church visited our synagogue. After the service, one of the men in the group, who happened to be a Jewish believer in Yeshua, came to speak to me about our congregation. As we discussed our services and events, he asked if we had cell groups or home groups established, because he had been a very active part of a cell group in the church he had been attending. My answer was that we had many cell groups that met every week, but, that we called them families instead of cell groups. His response was exactly as most people respond: a kind of sideways smile and a look as if he thought I was making a joke, or worse, making fun of cell group ministry.

This could not be further from the truth. I absolutely believe in home groups and cell groups. However, I believe that they have to be established not by having a couple invite people from around their area to their home for a study. They must be established around the family group. The cellular structure of any congregation starts with the family. The father and mother are the spiritual leaders of their family—that is their cell group or home group. Regular devotional time, study time and prayer time as a family must be the foundation to a home group. Once this true cell group has been established, then the family is in a position to invite others to come and join them in their times of study or devotion.

The generation of those who are seeking today are only seeking because many of them have not found what they are looking for in their homes. Studies show that they are looking for a sincere group in which they can belong. They have a desire to be world-changers and are looking for ways to affect radical social change. The answers they seek are both in the Bible and in the body of Messiah. The problem is that there is a distinct disconnect between these young people and the congregations they see around them, and that disconnect is that there is only a tenuous connection between their family and their congregation. I am not saying their parents don’t go to worship services and events at their congregations. I am saying that their families do not operate as a functional part of the cellular structure of the body. In other words, when they are at their house of worship, they don’t feel a unity with the people there, because their life outside those walls does not resemble their life inside those walls. They don’t necessarily feel like those around them are hypocrites. Most believe that those people that they see in their worship services are sincere and honest-hearted about their faith and their beliefs. Not only do they believe that those people are sincere, they want to experience that same level of commitment and conviction to faith. They just don’t know how they can be a part of that because they have never been taught by example at home.

Let me provide an example. When I was young and would attend synagogue, I would hear the older members of synagogue talking in Yiddish. These were the pillars of my faith, the examples I was to follow. I was Jewish, and this was the synagogue that my family was a part of, yet at the same time, I was an outsider within the very walls of the place where I should have felt most included. Why? Because I was never taught at home this language of my people. I knew where I belonged, I knew and agreed with the goals and purpose of my synagogue, yet no matter how much my heart longed for the very feeling of community and greater family that synagogue provided, I was still an outsider because the language of the synagogue was not what my family spoke at home.

I watch as congregation after congregation hires youth leaders and has special youth services and events to attract young people. They do community service work and get involved with social justice program to attract young people. They have concerts with musical artists to attract young people. They even have special services with speakers to designed to reach out to young people. Every conference I have attended over the past 10 years or more has had at least one speaker whose topic was how to reach the next generation. We have spent large amounts of money and invested in everything from movies, water parks, and short-term missions trips hoping our young people would find their reason to join in and commit to the body of Messiah.

Yet, the very thing that is purposefully designed to do exactly what we want to see is given little or no attention and is actively replaced by a manufactured imitation model: the “cell group.” Yes, we need cell groups and home groups. They are our only hope for a healthy, powerful body of believers. However, these home groups must be based upon the family and not become a replacement for the family. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is executive director of The Messianic Times and author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity and OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry.

I feel that the Lord wants to turn the written word into a rhema word. If you will just get into the word—if you’ll just meditate upon it—the Lord will begin to speak to your heart. Not only will the Scriptures come alive, but He will begin to speak to you about other things, even mysteries, even problems, even things in your life that you’ve been looking for answers about. The Lord will begin to speak to you. I heard the Lord say:

You need to settle your mind on My Word, and then My rhema word will come to you. You need to settle your mind on the Scripture. You need to settle it. You need to calm it. You need to steady it on My Word, and I will begin to speak to your heart. You need to hear that still small voice that will not be defied. Then those things that I speak to you in that secret place, you will grab hold of them. You will grab hold of them.

During the broadcast, I saw somebody just grabbing hold of the Word as if it had a big handle on it. I saw a big vertical handle and somebody grabbing hold of the Word. Prophetically speaking, when you grab hold of that handle, you’re going open the door that you’re going walk through. It’s the Word of God that brings the entrance of light into our life (Ps. 119:130). The Word is a lamp for our feet and a light unto our paths (Ps. 119:105).

The Lord Is Handing Out Keys

Yes, the Lord is handing out keys, things that He called you to in the past season, but you couldn’t navigate your way there. You couldn’t see them because of the smoke screens of the enemy. You heard the voice of God, but you couldn’t see it. You were walking by faith and not by sight. You were walking by what you were told, even though you couldn’t discern it fully, but the Lord would say to you, “I’ve given you keys now, and I’m going to show you plainly which door to open. I’m going to show you which way to turn the key.”

The Lord showed me many have been turning the key the wrong way. You got up to the right door, but you thought it was the wrong one because you turned the key the wrong way. In other words, it was the wrong strategy. You thought you had it figured out. You ran on in the power of God, but when you got up to the door you had the wrong strategy.

It was a misapplication. It was a misunderstanding. It was a misinterpretation, but the Lord would say to you:

I’m giving you keys, and I’m giving you strategies, so wait to put the key in the door until you hear the rest of the story. Wait to turn the key until I tell you which way to turn it. Don’t run out ahead of Me, but don’t lag behind Me, because this is a kairos time for many of you. I hand out keys in the kairos time. I hand out the right keys with the right strategy in the kairos time,” says God. And this is a kairos time for many of you. So, I’m giving you keys now. Walk with assurance. I am giving you new vision now, that you might walk—not only by faith, but that you might walk by sight; that you might see some things and have a greater confidence, because I’ve brought you right up to the edge. I’ve brought you the edge of breakthrough. So take your key and go to the door, which is Jesus, and hear my voice to turn the key whichever way I tell you to, and you will see open flinging wide open!”

Prayer for the Prophecy to Manifest

This is a transcript from the live prayer broadcast:

Thank You, Lord for the open doors. Thank You for the strategic keys, God. Thank You, Lord, even for the tactics. Thank You, God, for the teams that are running with us—the people that you’ve called around us to stand with us and pray with us and fight with us and war with us.

Just as Paul said, “a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9). Lord, we’re not fooled; we’re not foolish. We know that where there are open doors there are devils on the other side. But greater is He who is us than He that is in the world.

Thank you, Lord, that this is the year of the next. Next-level assignments, next-level warfare and next-level blessings. We will not be intimidated by the overwhelm. We will not be intimidated by the voice of fear, the voice of doubt or any other voice that is not Yours.

We’re always asking, seeking and asking God, but thank You, Lord, that we can grab hold of Jesus. He is the door. We just grab hold of Jesus today. We let go of the lies of the enemy, God.

We let go of the wrong thoughts that have come against our mind—those imaginations that overwhelm us. We let go of those handles. We let go of those handles. We’re not going to hold on any longer to things that defy Your Word. We’re not going to open the door any longer to those things that torment our mind. We’re not going to open the door any longer to sickness and disease that the enemy brings to our doorstep. We’re going to grab hold of the handle that’s on Jesus. Jesus is the door, and we’re going to walk through that door. I thank You, Lord.

I bind the hand of the thief over your life—that thief that came in by another way. There’s a thief that comes in by another way. It’s a sneaky way. It’s the subtle way. It’s a lying way. It’s a deceiving way. Oh Lord, help us to shut the door to all of the things that try to hurt us, that try to harm us, that try to drag us backward. Help us shut the door to those things that try to cause us to backslide, God, those things that try to tempt our hearts. Jesus, You are perfect Love. Oh Jesus, You are the door. {eoa}

Tap into these Mornings With the Holy Spirit prayer calls on Periscope. Follow me @propheticbooks. Be sure to get a copy of the devotional.

The first calling and task of the church and its people is to worship God. How do we worship in spirit and truth? Some say that if we believe the right things about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, then somehow that makes us worshippers in spirit and truth. The answer, however, lies not in doctrine, method, or location, but in connection at the level of spirit.

3 Kinds of Worshippers

1. Spiritual self-pleasers

My father says that too much of the worship he has seen in the places where he has traveled to minister is little more than people working themselves up to produce a self-centered experience, a spiritual self-pleasuring.

Trying hard to make something happen, they strive to generate excitement and the supernatural by their own effort because their goal is to have an experience. Because it is focused on self, such worship begins and ends in the flesh.

You see this when worship leaders hype a crowd, working up excitement for excitement’s sake, stirring up the flesh to produce something that outwardly looks like a move of God but really isn’t. The flesh is good at that. You know that we’ve missed true worship at some level when you hear people saying things like, “I get so much out of worship,” as if we did it for our own benefit.

True worship has never been about getting a personal blessing. It never focuses on the quest to get something from it. To be real and fully Christian at the level of spirit and truth, worship must be offered to please God for God’s sake. Was it what He wanted? Was it about giving Him honor?

2. “Bored with it” worshippers

It’s possible for boredom in worship to stem from another form of focus on self. Worship becomes lifeless and boring when it’s for us and not for Him, when we begin to offer less than passion because it’s all about whether or not He blesses us.

If the life has gone out of worship for you, don’t blame the music, the worship leader or the sound system. Look to your own heart. Is worship for you or for Him? Is it for delighting and blessing Him, or it is for you so you can have an experience? If your answer is the wrong one, then worship will be boring because God won’t show up for it.

Some of the most effective evangelism happens in the excellence, fire and passion of our worship. Why would the world care for our God when they see us so laid-back about Him that we exhibit no passion?

3. Worshippers in spirit and truth

According to Malachi, the answer to the question, “What is it to worship in spirit and truth?”, is that worship is a sacrifice to God. Praise is the beginning of sacrifice. Sacrifice releases power. Make it a great sacrifice, and great power is released. As power is released, more voices join the ever-increasing volume while the power grows yet greater.

Worship reaches its most powerful stage and returns the greatest blessing when it’s selfless, when we offer it not for the sake of obtaining a blessing for ourselves but rather to bless God alone for His sake with the first and the best of what we have to offer. Worship begins with our decision to praise, and in that sense, it is what we make it. It is the breakthrough that follows the sacrifice of praise pursued to its end.

One more piece needs to be added to this picture of deeper and renewed worship for the truly hungry:

“And I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of a great thunder. I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth” (Rev. 14:2-3).

In these last days, a new anointing has come and is coming to worship that can flow only from the hearts of fully committed, laid-down lovers of God. It begins in heaven and it manifests on Earth. It can be truly entered into, or learned, only by those wholly given to the Lord.

Worship takes us more deeply into His presence—past the entertainment orientation, beyond the “feed me” attitude—to a place where the heavens open and we find ourselves in the throne room of the King, where tears are dried and suffering is washed away. {eoa}

Loren Sandford is an author, musician and the founder and senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver, Colorado. He has a bachelor’s degree in music and a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. In addition to pastoring, Sandford has an international teaching and worship ministry. Married since 1972, he and his wife, Beth, have two daughters and one son. They live in Denver, Colorado. This passage is an excerpt from his book, Yes, There’s More.

Worry once had a stranglehold on my mind. I felt like I couldn’t string two positive thoughts together because of this dark plague called worry that harassed my soul day and night.

When you look at the definition of worry, it’s intense. Merriam-Webster defines it this way: “to harass by tearing, biting, or snapping especially at the throat; to shake or pull at with the teeth a terrier worrying; to touch or disturb something repeatedly; to change the position of or adjust by repeated pushing or hauling; to assail with rough or aggressive attack or treatment; torment; to subject to persistent or nagging attention or effort; to afflict with mental distress or agitation; make anxious.”

I told you it was intense.

Eventually, I got free from worry. It’s time for you to break free from this snapping, biting, tearing, shaking, pulling, disturbing, assailing, pushing, hauling, tormenting, persistent, nagging, distressing, agitating attack on your life too.

During my Mornings With the Holy Spirit prophetic prayer call, I heard the Lord say:

Your worry: It has no power, but it actually drains the power. It drains your prayer power because when you are worrying, you are not praying in faith. You’re praying out of a place of worry. You’re praying out of a place of fear. You’re praying out of a place of timidity. You are not sure if I am hearing you or not. Not sure, not knowing if I will answer you or not. Not sure, not knowing if I am willing or not. I am willing, I am willing, I am willing, and when you pray My Word, when it reaches My ears, you can be assured that I am going to answer you.

You can rest assured that I am going to do something, that I am going to intervene, that I am going to interrupt the situation that is causing you trouble, that is causing you pain. You can be sure that I am going to do something miraculous, even though you might not see it, even though you might not understand it. You can rest assured that Romans 8:28 is true.

You can rest assured. You can rest assured that Romans 8:28 and every other Scripture … it’s all true! I’ve put these things down on paper for you so that you can meditate upon them, so that you can renew your mind with them, so that you can find good success by doing all that is in My Word.

“Oh, don’t be just a hearer of My word, but be a doer of it. Step out in faith! Stop the worry! Stop the drama! Stop the upsets! Stop the running around the same old mountains! You have the power to stop it. You have the authority to stop it. You can choose what you think. The devil can’t make you think those lies. The devil can’t make you meditate on his false prophecies. The devil can’t make you run around those same mountains. You are the one who has the power and the authority to control your thoughts, to control your steps, to control your words.”

Hear the word of the Lord!

Here’s my prayer for you:

Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask You to deliver Your people from worry, in Jesus’ name. We cast our cares on you, Lord, because you care for us. We ask you for the grace to overcome worry, for the peace that surpasses all understanding to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and for your love to cast out all worry. Thank you, Lord, for victory over worry, in Jesus’ name.

Tap into these Mornings With the Holy Spirit prayer calls on Periscope. Follow me @propheticbooks. Be sure to get a copy of the devotional.

The United Methodist Church Judicial Council ruled lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual members could not be consecrated as clergy.

The ruling came after married lesbian Karen Oliveto was consecrated as bishop last year. Despite the ruling, Oliveto can still serve as bishop until it is determined she violated these standards.

“The Judicial Council had a difficult task of ruling on the narrow basis of church law that has been carefully developed over the years to protect the rights of clergy accused of wrongdoing—sometimes well beyond the bounds of reasonable doubt and to the point of sidelining concern for victims,” UMAction Director and 2016 General Conference delegate John Lomperis said in a release.
 
“I celebrate that these landmark rulings should now make it significantly easier to bring accountability for pastors who choose to violate biblical standards for sexual self-control. We are slowly but increasingly strengthening biblical accountability in our church,” the statement continued.

According to the release, this binding ruling clarifies several matters in United Methodist church law: Because of church standards only recognizing monogamous, heterosexual marriage and disapproving of sexual relations outside of it (Paragraphs 161B, 161F, , and of the UMC’s governing Book of Discipline), which UMC clergy must vow to uphold, any “partnered homosexual … does not meet the minimum standards” for ordination, and a minister found to be “openly homosexual and partnered” cannot be made bishop.

To be disciplined for violating separate provisions prohibiting the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” (Paragraphs 304.3 and ), it can be enough to prove that a minister is in a same-sex civil marriage.