When Chris Wark received his colon cancer diagnosis, he wanted to know why. “Why me? Why isn’t the child molester getting cancer?” And many of the 1 in 8 U.S. women who receives a breast cancer diagnosis no doubt feel that way, too.

But once Wark listened to God’s specific guidance for his life, not only did he avoid 12 months of chemotherapy for his own cancer, but he also learned truths about holistic healing that he shares on his website and in his bestselling book, Chris Beat Cancer. These truths, he says, certainly apply to those with breast cancer. One of the most important, he says, is something “cancer patients are not told. … up to 90% of cancers are caused by our diet or lifestyle choices and our environment.”

Especially in the area of diet, Wark says, “most of those factors are things we have control over. We choose every day what we put in our mouths. We choose every day what products we’re putting on and in our bodies. We choose every day whether or not to exercise, to get fresh air and sunshine, to spend time in prayer. Your physical condition today is largely a result of the choices you’ve been making for the last 5-10 years. … By and large, most cancers are chronic diseases that are caused by our choices.”

When Wark got colon cancer, he says, doctors told him that even after surgery and the chemotherapy they said he needed, he only had a 60% chance of living five years. But he took James 2:26, “faith without works is dead,” to heart. “Faith without action is dead. … so for me, the action I took was believing that God would heal me miraculously. I was praying and asking for that, or just to lead me in the path of healing—either one’s fine. Whether it’s instantaneous or it takes some time; either one’s OK with me, but I want to get well; I want to live. I was very clear about that. And so I was asking God for healing and asking Him to lead me and guide me. But at the same time, I was also reading and researching and learning and changing my life.”

Learn more about why Wark now thrives almost 16 years after his own cancer diagnosis and how his ideas can help you or someone you know prevent or beat cancer by listening to this podcast. {eoa}

One of the questions I’m asked the most is how long did it take you to lose 250 pounds? When people ask me that whether it is in an email or in person, I know what they want. They want a precise answer that ensures them they can lose weight quickly because I did.

I hesitate to answer because I don’t have the nice and neat answer they want. It’s actually why I have almost 1,000 blog posts on my website, have 200 video lessons available for those in my coaching group and have written five books and two study guides. There is no easy answer.

Sometimes I tell them it took me 66 years or one second, however you want to look at it. I am now 66 years young and there will never be a day until I get to heaven where I am not battling with this body of flesh. It’s where we are tempted and tested. It’s where we learn to overcome by God’s strength alone.

One does not arrive at a weight loss goal and say, “There, it’s done.” I lost 100 pounds many times and tried to be done with weight loss, but I wasn’t because I had not surrendered the foods I love to God. I still held them in high esteem in my life.

How Food Addiction Affected Me

All right; let’s be gut-level honest here: My god was my stomach, my belly or my appetite, however you want to translate Philippians 3:19. The Passion Translation says it a bit differently. “Their god has possessed them and made them mute. Their boast is in their shameful lifestyles and their minds are in the dirt!”

That’s a bigger ouch than my stomach in my god. It is basically saying that my desire for food had possessed me to the point that I didn’t even talk to God. When that happened, my mind was full of everything I wanted and nothing He wanted for me.

See, why I don’t answer people who ask me this question? They really don’t want to know the depth of how food addiction affected me—body, soul and spirit.

Saying No

Although today, I can say no to free cupcakes, donuts and candy that seems to be present at every women’s conference and be okay.

I can say yes to cashews, almonds or a healthy mix that involves some dried fruit and a smoothie made with Stevia. I can choose these and say no to the other things because I know once I start eating those other kinds of things, I can’t stop.

I know I am addicted to foods made with sugar and flour. When others joke about how many doughnuts they’ve eaten in a day, I can praise God that He gave me the grace and the anointing to not even want to go there.

The Second That Made All the Difference

That was not always the case. There have been plenty of times when I have pigged out and regretted it. However, there was a second in time when God showed up in my life in such a profound and unexpected way that I have never been the same again.

I’ve told the story many times, but it was the moment when my entire life pivoted and went from dull and mundane grays to bright and vivid colors.

It was in that second hat I realized I was a sugar addict. I was like an alcoholic, only with sugar and high-carbohydrate-content foods. This meant I was going to have to give these up by changing my habits.

Although it would have been awesome to have a quick fix, walk through a prayer line and hope 250 pounds would magically fall off of me, I knew myself well enough to know if that did happen, I would just put all the weight back on again.

Addiction Is A Stinky Mess

Addiction has to be addressed through habit change. It cannot be and will not involve a quick and easy dietary fix. Addiction will involve every single stinky and messy part of us—body, soul and spirit. Believe me, I had a lot of stinky messes that had to be cleaned up, changed and dealt with.

Am I fixed now? No, I can’t say that. I can never say that. Have I changed? Oh thank God, I can say yes! My eyes are opened to my weaknesses. I know my triggers, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I know what is likely to cause me to want to eat what I shouldn’t.

I anticipate that happening, and I plan for it. The devil is a sly old fox, but he has habits too. He will always try to tempt me, so I plan for that to happen, just as I plan what to wear.

Last week, I was at a conference. I wasn’t sure what was happening for lunch, so I brought my protein bars with me. That was helpful on every level. There were plenty of temptations, but I had my go-to resource. I was satiated and never hungry.

The Ongoing Journey

Living healthy and losing weight are an ongoing journey. There are days I gain weight and days I lose. Most of those days are a result of a combination of things, many of which I may or may not understand. I don’t ask why, I just ask God, “What’s the next step?”

If I sense He’s saying to keep going, then I keep doing what I’m doing. If I sense He’s course-correcting me in some way, I implement the change. To me in any given moment all that matters is that I am doing what God showed me and has led me to do.

Whatever happens in my life is up to Him. The very best piece of advice I can give you is to allow God, not the latest, greatest diet, to change you. Allow Him to help start you on His phenomenal journey to transformation—body, soul and spirit.

You’ll never regret it. Remember, it’s not how long it takes to get there, it’s about who you are following and choose to continue to follow for the rest of your life. {eoa}

Teresa Shields Parker is the author of five books and two study guides, including her latest, Sweet Journey to Transformation: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Live Healthy, and her No. 1 best-seller, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds. She is also a blogger, spiritual weight loss coach (check out her coaching group, Overcomers Academy) and speaker at .

This article originally appeared at .

Maybe you’ve been believing for something for a long time and haven’t seen an answer. My best advice is this: Don’t stop now!

Anytime you hear someone say, “Well, I asked God for that but He didn’t answer,” or, “I tried believing for that but it didn’t work,” you’re listening to someone who has stopped believing at some point. God’s promise didn’t change; the person did.

Don’t let that be you!

The apostle Peter knows all about what happens when you stop believing. Matthew 14 tells the story about him walking on water.

Not long after the miraculous feeding of 5,000 people, Peter and the other disciples were on a boat when Jesus came along, walking on the water. The other disciples were freaked out (I have to admit that I would have been too) and they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” (Matt. 14:26b, NIV).

For reasons that defy comprehension, when Jesus said, “Be of good cheer. It is I: do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27, MEV), Peter hollered, “Lord, if it is You, bid me come to You on the water” (Matt. 14:28).

Now, really? Is that first thing you would think of? Notice the other guys in the boat didn’t say a word. I can’t wait to talk with Peter about this when I get to heaven. What in the world possessed him to say that?

You know what happened next. Jesus said, “Come” (Matt. 14:29a), and based on that word from the Lord, Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water. He really did it!

That’s amazing! I’ve never seen anyone walk on water. Have you? Obviously, Peter had more faith than anyone else on that boat. He believed the word of the Lord, and he walked on water.

But just as Peter took his first steps, trouble came. (Isn’t that just like real life?)

It was windy, and the waves were crashing. Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to look at the tempest around him. In other words, he stopped holding fast to the word of the Lord (“Come”), and he looked at the rather daunting circumstances. As a result, he began to sink.

Double-Minded

When Peter cried out to the Lord to save him, of course Jesus did. But Jesus didn’t say, “Congratulations, Peter, you got out of the boat when no one else would, and you walked on water!” No, Jesus said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”(Matt. 14:31b).

The word “doubt” has the same root as the word “double.” To doubt is to be double-minded, or to believe two ways—first one way, and then the other. At first, Peter believed the word of the Lord (“come”) and faith rose up in his heart. But then, because of the circumstances, he doubted.

In essence, Jesus was saying, “Peter, why did you change? Why did you doubt? Why were you double-minded? You stopped believing me and started believing the wind and waves.”

When Jesus told Peter, “Oh you of little faith,” I don’t believe He was talking about the size of Peter’s faith. It takes a big faith to walk on water. Rather, I believe Jesus was talking about the duration of Peter’s faith. The apostle had a short burst of faith.

Peter started out strong. He had big faith to get down out of that boat. He just couldn’t sustain it long enough.

Eyes on the Word

That happens to us today too. Some of us have started out strong in our faith. But then something happens in our circumstances, and we stumble. We start believing what we see (or sometimes what we don’t see) and we stop believing the Word of the Lord, the Bible.

So here’s the deal: You need to keep your eyes on the Word. If Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus, and ignored the wind and the waves, I’m fully convinced he would have made it safely to Jesus’ side and possibly even walked to shore with Him.

The wind and waves had nothing to do with walking on water. Think about it. Is water-walking possible? No. Even under the best conditions, if water is as smooth as glass, you can’t walk on it—you need supernatural help.

Likewise, it will take supernatural help for you to walk through this life or walk out of the valley of shadow. So keep your eyes on Jesus, and keep believing!

Take Action

Think about an area of your life where you believed for a while but then stopped believing. Purpose in your heart to pick that up again! Find Scripture that meets your need and keep it before your eyes instead of focusing on the wind and waves. Keep declaring what the Bible says about you! {eoa}

Karen Jensen Salisbury has been in ministry over 30 years. Formerly a lead pastor, then an instructor at Rhema Bible College, she is currently an itinerant minister and author of several books. Connect with her on her website, , on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

This article originally appeared at .

Pocketing and cookie jarring. To paraphrase a line from The Princess Bride, “I do not think it means what you think it means.” One thing’s for sure: neither phrase means what I thought they meant!

Both terms are now used to describe dating trends.

“Pocketing” occurs when the relationship seems as if it’s progressing, but your partner has not introduced you to family or long-term friends. They’re enjoying the fun relationship, but they don’t see a future with you. In the words of the owner of a matchmaking service, “Why get friends and family involved?”

“Cookie jarring” occurs when the person you’re dating keeps you as a backup while they pursue a serious relationship with someone else. They consider it to be a practical backup plan “just in case.” Sort of like keeping the cookie jar full in case you experience a snack attack.

So who are you pocketing, and who’s in your cookie jar?

I’m not talking about someone you might be dating. (And no, I’m not dating!)

I am talking about your relationship with Jesus.

How many professing Christians keep Jesus in our “pocket”? We hesitate to be open about our beliefs because friends and family wouldn’t understand. Even worse, there might be open hostility. The result is a compartmentalized life, keeping Jesus separate from other areas.

Or how many professing Christians treat Jesus like a cookie jar: dipping our hand in when we have a need? The rest of the time, we go merrily on our way pursuing people, interests and activities that have little to do with a life committed to being a Christ-follower.

Commitment

It’s a term used in describing relationships with other people and with Jesus Christ. Are we committed Christians or Christians in name only? Is Christ Lord of our whole life, or do we limit His reign to certain “pockets”? Do we only seek God’s hand when we need something, or do we pursue His heart?

I’ve been studying and teaching from the book of Acts recently. And I’ve been impressed by the difference between the early disciples of Christ and many of us today. In Acts 4, Peter and John were imprisoned for their faith, yet afterward they prayed, “Lord, look on their threats and grant that your servants may speak Your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:2). They did not pray for safety; they prayed for boldness!

A short time later, these same men were jailed and flogged for proclaiming Christ again, yet they were “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41b). Can I say the same thing?

If I’m honest, there are times when I’m less like Peter and John and more like someone who keeps Christ in a pocket or a cookie jar. Times when I hesitate to proclaim Jesus Christ because I don’t want to be that person—the one people avoid because she’s a religious fanatic. Times when I pursue things that are convenient, comfortable and safe, rather than speaking up about the one people need, even if they don’t realize it.

Then I think about persecuted Christians today. In places such as China, the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, Christians are imprisoned, beaten and killed for their faith. These Christians understand Peter and John. What they do not understand are the people who are pocketing and cookie jarring the Savior.

Every Christ-follower has the indwelling Holy Spirit who gives boldness when needed to proclaim Jesus Christ. Let’s not keep Him in a cookie jar. {eoa}

Ava Pennington is a writer, speaker and Bible teacher. She writes for nationally circulated magazines and is published in 32 anthologies, including 25 “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books. She also authored Daily Reflections on the Names of God: A Devotional, endorsed by Kay Arthur. Learn more at .

This article originally appeared at .

International evangelist Mario Murillo didn’t grow up in the church. And that background proved an asset, he says, when he encountered the Holy Spirit.

As host Jennifer Eivaz explains on the “Take 10 With Jenn” podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network, Murillo’s unchurched background meant he had no preconceptions about the Holy Spirit. “He had not been taught to reject Him; he had not been taught to reject [His] power. And he thought that everyone knew how to be filled with the Holy Spirit and receive their heavenly language and to receive His power from on high. But he discovered that many in the church had not been taught that very thing,” Eivaz says. “And then later on, he became very grieved when he noticed that there were other pastors who were actually engaging in ministry without being led by the Spirit of God. That was one thing that he learned early on … to have this as a practical, living, decision-making relationship in his life.

“He learned how to walk in the Spirit; he learned how to be led by the Spirit. And he was shocked when he discovered so many, so many who were professing Christians, ministers, pastors who didn’t have that same kind of relationship,” Eivaz says. “It was painful, and he had to really check himself and not succumb to pressure by those who considered his relationship with the Spirit out of the ordinary or exceptional. And he said, ‘No, this is normal. This is what it should be for everybody.'”

Eivaz explains that, as Murillo experienced, others may sometimes use sophisticated arguments to challenge the believer who genuinely follows the Spirit. But, she adds, “If you want to live in the unbroken fellowship of the Holy Spirit and continue going from glory to glory, then you have to learn, really learn, how to follow Him. You have to learn connection, what it feels like and what breaks it.

“And there’s this contentment hat comes to you when you’ve chosen to follow His clear leading. And His clear leading just happens to be in a way that’s not popular, or it goes against your church or denominational tradition, or it comes under the scrutiny of those in your social circle,” Eivaz says. “And it’s not about being right and others wrong; it’s simply having that connection, that intimate connection with the Spirit of God, even while others are pressuring you not to do so.”

To learn more about true connection with the Holy Spirit and how to walk in the Spirit despite opposition, listen to this podcast. {eoa}

For more about life in the Spirit, click here to download How to Discern a Word From God, a Charisma e-book on this topic, for just $.99.

Perhaps you or a loved one received a serious medical report, and in the natural, there is not much hope. But I am here to help you see that regardless of the medical report, there is always hope for healing in the name of Jesus. But we need to learn to believe in God’s healing promise to receive our manifested healing. And this woman did just so and was miraculously healed from a brain tumor. Here is her glorious healing testimony to encourage you in the faith to believe.

In October 2018, Penny from North Carolina was diagnosed with tumors. She had a bad MRI, and doctors were even talking about performing surgery. However, Penny chose to believe God’s word from 1 Peter 2:24 instead, and stand on it.

“He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. “By His wounds you were healed”(1 Pet. 2:24).

In March 2019, Penny attended a healing conference where Becky spoke forth a word of knowledge that there was something behind the ear. Twice it was said that the Lord is healing it.

Penny knew it was her tumors Becky was speaking of. Penny knew she was healed. Becky’s word of knowledge was a confirmation of what Penny was already believing God for, and He brought forth the manifestation during the conference.

Now, Penny is completely off all medicines and she does not have to take any more MRIs for two years.

She is now committed to telling people about her healing and to confess that Jesus is a healer. {eoa}

Becky Dvorak is a prophetic healing evangelist and the author of DARE to Believe, Greater Than Magic and The Healing Creed. Visit her at .

This article originally appeared at authorbeckydvorak.

To learn more about God’s healing power over cancer, click here to receive the Charisma e-book, Spiritual Strength Through the Valley of Cancer, for just $.99.

The first time I met Peggy Burgess, she was in a wheelchair and was no longer able to drive. I was helping with a writer’s conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She lives close by, so her daughter graciously brought her to my hotel so we could meet.

Divine Connection

One thing I dislike about an online coaching group is not being able to meet my members in person. So whenever I travel, I love getting together with current and past members of my coaching groups or courses.

Visiting with Peggy was a delight. I felt from the moment we met that we had a divine connection. I realized that but for the grace of God it could have been me in that wheelchair and not being able to drive.

Loss of mobility means loss of independence. I’m not sure how I continued to be able to walk and drive when I weighed 430 pounds, but I did. Once I was asked by a Christian television show hostess about who enabled me when I was super-morbidly obese. She said, “I see these people on TV who are so large they can’t get out of their homes. Who enabled you when you were that large?”

My answer was that first of all I was not bedfast. I was mobile. I was able to walk. I was able to drive. No one enabled me. I enabled myself. Those of us who have issues with food will find a way to get what we want. We are stubborn that way.

Many Major Health Issues

I’m so glad I met Peggy back then. She has been in my coaching groups for four years now, and her before and after story is amazing. She’s had many major health issues, not the least of which was not being able to walk for three years. She had kidney cancer, an operation on her esophagus, blood clots, hip replacement and depression.

“I also I had little or no spiritual companionship,” she said. “I was looking for a church after my wonderful small group disbanded when the pastor went back to school. Not to mention I had relationship issues with my children and grandchildren. I knew God, but I was at a point where instead of walking closely with Him, I was far out in the crowd.

“My prayers at that time were of desperation. They were simply, ‘Help!’ I knew that He alone could fix things.”

Divine Promotion

She was reading Charisma magazine and saw an ad for my then-new book, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor.

This is astounding to me because even though Charisma has been running my articles since 2013, I’ve never paid for an advertisement. Yet, Peggy remembers a boxed ad with a picture of Sweet Grace. I don’t doubt it. God has promoted Sweet Grace. Not me.

In whatever way she saw it, she says, “I knew God had sent me this information. I read the book, joined Teresa’s group and began a journey not only to get healthy, but to draw closer to the Lord. I finally realized that nothing would happen unless I took some steps.”

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I remember working with Peggy back in 2015 when she first came into my group. She had a lot of weight to lose, but I encouraged her to take it slow and make sure each step of her journey was on solid ground. Slow and steady does win the race, especially the race we are in.

“Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Phil. 3:13-14b, NLT).

She started with what had become a bad habit and a trigger food. She started by giving up the candy she had sitting in a bowl on her desk.

Changing Habits

I also told her that stopping a bad habit will only work if we focus on a good habit we want to start. She chose to start reading her Bible every day. It was something she wanted to do but had been putting off.

That began to feed her in a way she had been longing for. She didn’t try to change anything else until she got that one bad habit under control and had the one good habit started.

“Each success has encouraged me,” she said. “I am the only one responsible to God for what I do. My journey is not the same as anyone else’s. I wish I could say I was immediately obedient in every area. But here is a summary of what has happened in the past four years.”

Then and Now

“Back then I was wheelchair-bound, mostly house-bound, could not drive and weighed 388,” she continued. “I had no energy and felt hopeless.

“Now I walk only with a cane. I drive wherever I need to. I volunteer at our Ronald McDonald House. This summer, I have had the stamina to babysit four of my great-grandkids a day or two a week. Another great blessing is that a wonderful Bible-believing church found me!”

Peggy is 69 years old and has lost 71 pounds in four years. She has never given up, even though she has more weight to lose.

“I know as I am obedient to the Lord, my weight will continue to go down,” she says. “In the past, I would have given up and gone over 400. That will not happen as long as I am on God’s path. He is faithful.”

Consistency, Focus and Desire

There are three things I love most about Peggy. They are her consistency, her focus on her destiny and her desire to please God in everything she does.

“I am enjoying life again,” she says. “I want a future, and the best part is my relationship with God is getting better and better. Sometimes when I start to get in a funk, my prayer is ‘God, You see me and how I am. Make me want to do the right things.'”

When she’s in those down times, she reminds herself, even as she is reminding us, “God loves you. He has wonderful plans for your life. Be encouraged.”

I’m so grateful to God for Peggy and for her journey.

Stubbornly Refuse

My desire for every person who has issues with food and weight and the overwhelming frustration that comes with that is to fall into the arms of God and taste and see that He really is good. He really is all we need. He really does want to set us free to follow Him completely.

Speaking of freedom and of being stubborn. There is one good thing about being stubborn. It’s found in Galatians 5:1 (TPT, emphasis added): “Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.”

You are set free in order to stay free. {eoa}

Teresa Shields Parker is the author of five books and two study guides, including her latest, Sweet Journey to Transformation: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Live Healthy, and her No. 1 best-seller, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds. She is also a blogger, spiritual weight loss coach (check out her coaching group, Overcomers Academy) and speaker at .

This article originally appeared at .

Author Twila Belk had a lot on her plate when she received her breast cancer diagnosis. The author and speaker, also known as the “Gotta Tell Somebody Gal,” was serving as both caregiver and primary breadwinner for her family plus dealing with a teenage son’s significant issues when a mammogram and subsequent biopsy revealed the disease.

At the time, she had no health insurance, Belk tells host Marti Pieper on the “Hope Through Cancer: Breast Cancer Awareness Emphasis” podcast series on Charisma News. But, she says, “through a series of God-events and connections, He got me connected with a program, a state program that pays for breast cancer.” In fact, her entire journey has provided her with multiple opportunities to do what she loves: brag on God.

“Shortly after I received my diagnosis, the words, ‘I will not die but live; I will not die but live’ kept running through my mind as I lay in bed,” Belk says. “I found in Psalm 118:17, it says, ‘I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.’ And so I grabbed hold of that as God’s promise to me. … and it was my theme and purpose as I moved forward on that unknown path. … I made it my purpose to brag on God and to look for the God in it.”

And that purpose transformed the difficult months ahead, Belk says. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that whatever we focus on becomes magnified. So I wanted to magnify God through this, not cancer—because whatever we focus on, that can become overwhelming to us, and it can control our life. So if I focused on the cancer, or the financial part, or the caregiving, or my son’s issues, or this or that or whatever, that could become overwhelming to me, but I chose to focus on God. …

“And I saw who He is; He just came and showed up in so many ways,” Belk, now on the other side of her cancer surgery and treatment, says. “And it’s through those circumstances, through cancer and through a lot of these bad things that I know who God is.”

To hear more of Twila Belk’s inspiring breast cancer story and how God met her needs all along the way, check out this podcast. {eoa}

For more inspirational stories of God’s healing power over cancer, click here to order the Charisma e-book, Spiritual Strength Through the Valley of Cancer, for just $.99.

It’s true. We do, indeed, have an enemy who is on the prowl looking for some oblivious person on whom he can work his deceitful magic. This should not cause a believer in Christ to be afraid at all.

However, it should actively propel us to being alert, being watchful and being sobered by the possibility that the enemy has targeted one of us.

I believe that one of the fraudulent tactics that the enemy has been successful at is this: convincing Christians to build a life based on feelings rather than on a belief system. Emotion-driven living has become a plague even within the church.

I speak with so many women who liberally pepper their speech with the four-word phrase, “Well, I just feel…”

This phrase may be rearranged to include fragments such as “If you want to know how I feel…” or “I feel strongly that…”

When a woman who has chosen to place her trust in Jesus Christ speaks to me in that manner, I have to stop myself from interrupting her with these aggressive words, “You know, it’s really not important what you feel! Tell me what you believe!”

Sadly, even Christians are more aware of their duplicitous feelings than they are of the principles of their faith. One must have an immovable and highly active belief system upon which they make decisions, choose speech patterns and determine feelings. Your belief system should dictate your feelings on every matter in life rather than your feelings determining what you believe.

With this in mind, what do you believe? Do you even know what you believe? Are you convinced that you have built a life upon the promises and theology found in the Word of God? Or have you wondered in the murky land of emotions and counterfeit sentiment?

I have decided to obey this truth-telling Scripture from 1 Peter and to be sober in my dealings with my emotions and affections. I have determined to limit the usage of the phraseology that might begin with those four nonsensical words, “Well, I just feel…”

Instead I have resolved to build a dynamic life upon those things that I know to be truth. Let me share them with you in the hope that you, too, will catch the sobriety that has enveloped me in the quest to live a life of principle rather than unbridled passion. I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

—I believe God has given us free choice to choose Him or not.

—I believe I don’t have—nor will I ever have—a better idea than God.

—I believe in the power of forgiveness.

—I believe kindness can change the world.

—I believe it is possible to choose joy no matter what you are going through in life.

—I believe God hears us when we pray.

—I believe God is good all the time and He works all things together for good. All things.

—I believe when God says, “all,” He means “all”! {eoa}

Carol McLeod is a best-selling author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol is a prolific author and loves digging for truth in the Word of God. Her early books include, The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart and Defiant Joy!

For more of Carol McLeod’s powerful teaching on emotions, listen to the podcasts included with this article.

It feels really thrilling to think of a place where promises (the Word) and power (the Spirit) meet, but how does it work? What is the point of the Word and the Spirit coming together? What difference does it make? I will endeavor to answer these questions as I describe to the best of my ability what it will look like when the Word and the Spirit come together.

First, I believe there are five levels of the Word and the Spirit coming together.

Level 1: Believing It

Let’s face it. We will either accept this, or we don’t. We believe it as a valid concept, or we don’t. Some would say that a separation between the Word and the Spirit is a false dichotomy; the Word and the Spirit never separate. If one takes the view that the Word and the Spirit always flow together and there is no such thing as a separation—or divorce—between the Word and Spirit, then this is false and therefore irrelevant .If that is what you believe, then this has no chance of impacting you, much less changing your life. So, the first question is: Is what I am writing true or false?

Level 2: Emphasizing It

There are those who believe what I have written. They think it is a good word, a timely word. Not only that, one should stress from time to time that the notion of bringing the Word and the Spirit together is a good idea. We should see it as an ideal match, namely, for the Word and Spirit to come together.

At this, then, there are those who nod their heads positively. Some might even say, “We need more of this emphasis,” but it is always out there as a future thing to anticipate or pray about, like kicking the can down the road. In the meantime, we have other important things to think about, and nothing ever happens. It is perhaps like those who are not cessationists but who have no worries whether the Word and Spirit ever coalesce simultaneously.

Level 3: Trying It

At Westminster Chapel, we began healing services by praying for the sick in connection with the Lord’s Supper. Then we moved to praying for the sick each Sunday evening following the preaching. Our deacons acted as elders. Those who wanted the anointing of oil called for the elders of the church (James 5:14) by sitting on the front rows of the church. We did this for the last few years I was at Westminster. We saw genuine healings—not a lot, but some. It was absolutely worth doing, not only for the healings but also because it brought everyone closer to one another.

We were doing our best to give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to work. My part was preaching the Word. Likewise. We were open to the Spirit by offering the anointing of oil. There is more, however. The entire congregation that remained following the preaching would be in an attitude of prayer. Anyone who did not want to pray or be prayed for was asked to go home or go to the back hall for coffee. This meant that all in the main auditorium were inviting the Holy Spirit to manifest in any way He was pleased to do. A great sense of the presence of God became a regular occurrence for my final days at the chapel.

Level 4: Tasting It

To refer to our practice at Westminster, God indeed gave us a taste, but it was only a taste—just enough to make us want more. We saw unquestioned healings and at least one deliverance (a man who did not have a full night’s sleep for 25 years owing to demonic interference was set free). There were others we would hear about later.

The revival I prayed for never came to Westminster Chapel. But on the other hand, there was an anointing that settled on the chapel that stayed throughout my time there—a sweet presence, great unity, peace, joy and easy preaching. All of it was a taste of the Word and Spirit coalescing.

Level 5: Experiencing the Fullness of Power

“Fullness of power” means true revival, which we never had at Westminster Chapel, but it is what I prayed for daily—that “Isaac” will come. It will be a move of the Holy Spirit that even exceeds the Great Awakening in New England, the Cane Ridge Revival, the Wesleyan Revival in England and the Welsh Revival. I don’t know where it will begin—possibly in London—but it will be a worldwide phenomenon. As one prophetic person put it: “a resurgence of the fear of the Lord is coming.” It will fall “suddenly, unexpectedly, and unannounced.” He added that “it will not be an “encore”: It will be unprecedented. He added that “it will be a waste of time telling people to get ready. It will just come.”

I hope he is right. I believe he is right. It is what I live for and long for more than anything in the world. Smith Wigglesworth prophesied it just before he died. It will signal the end of the silent divorce between the Word and the Spirit.

Adapted from Word and Spirit by R.T. Kendall. copyright 2019, published by Charisma House. If you have been keeping the Word and the Spirit separated, it’s time to recognize the truth that they are both necessary to fulfill God’s purpose in the coming days. “What the Word proclaims, the Spirit acts out.” This book will help you confront your traditions, challenge your faith and prepare you for what’s ahead. To order your copy, click on this link.

This week, totally yield yourself to the Holly Spirit once again as you hide His Word in your heart and let Him put it into action in your life. Continue to pray for worldwide revival and especially for our own nation. Ask God to join you with those of like mind to pray in unity for God’s purpose to be established in our nation and around the world. Remember our leaders, our allies (especially Israel), our military, first responders and their families. Read: 2 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Thessalonians 1:5.

For more on revival, click here for access to Charisma’s e-book, The Secret Keys to Starting Revival, for just $.99.

For more of Dr. Kendall’s teaching, listen to the podcasts included with this article.