You have more power than you think

Saints,
When the world around us appears to be in upheaval we are mandated by His Word to turn to Him in faith and in prayer. We remove our focus from the things of the world and fix our eyes upon Jesus. We shift our gaze off the problem and look to the One who has the answers and IS the answer.

When things get really bleak it is more challenging to do this but the Word of God does not seem to offer alternative methods. Our temptation has always been to take matters into our own hands and use the world's methods to solve the world's problems. It seems like we know how to fix things in the flesh and when troubles come we want to fix them any way we can. 

Christians tend to feel powerless when answers don't come as fast as we would like. This always increases the tension we feel, we can become frustrated and even angry when things are not going the direction that we believe they should be going. We can even feel justified to take matters into our own hands. But anger and offense do not contain the power of God's Spirit, outrage is a fleshly emotion which can actually limit our ability to see things from heaven's perspective.

Bill Johnson says "if we use the world's methods to fight the world's battles we will lose because the devil is better at them than we are." This might actually explain a lot. 
One of the reasons that I spend a lot of time teaching the supernatural is because the supernatural is God's realm. We have greater power and authority than we believe. The church, God's people, holds the answers to the world's problems but these answers are contained within His 'ways', in the Spirit and not in the flesh. 

We have not yet begun to realize how much authority we have in the Spirit. Paul wrote to Timothy, "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectable in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth." 
I would like to suggest that we haven't pushed this authority to its full power. Paul is more than implying that our prayers and intercessions work, he is urging God's people to pray with thanksgiving for kings and all in high position, Paul is saying that this is God's way for us to end up living quiet and peaceable lives and His 'ways' are what are  good and acceptable in the sight of God. Is it possible that the church is angry and frustrated because they keep trying the world's methods to transform culture and our culture doesn't seem to be responding. I could go on to suggest that we have not fully understood or tried God's 'ways'. Perhaps we have not fully taken hold of the power that is by faith? Perhaps the church has not apprehended the full extent of the spiritual authority that Jesus has released to His people. 

Jesus said "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto Me", that means: ALL authority, which implies that the devil has none, the world has none and the 'kings' of this world have none. Jesus then went on to commission us with His spiritual authority, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations." I would like to suggest that He has released His authority to His Body, His people, and our power rests in the spiritual realm and not in the methods of man.  (see*below)




You have more power than you think!  

BELIEVE!
In His radical grace,
     Ray

p.s.  An important note:

Radical Gospel Ministries suspended our meetings in Petaluma for a season and that season is coming to an end. However, during this transitional time we have been listening intently to the Holy Spirit and He has been speaking clearly. God has further revealed and confirmed Radical Gospel's assignment in this region. Our focus and our reason for existence is to be a blessing and encouragement to the church, the Body of Christ in this 'city'. We were mandated to equip the Body of Christ in supernatural ministry and to become the powerful people of God that we were intended to become. We were mandated to shift the atmosphere of our region with the Presence and the power of the Spirit through worship, prayer and the preaching of His Word!

The Holy Spirit has revealed that the center of our Metron is Santa Rosa and we are actively praying for and seeking a venue in Santa Rosa to 'house' Radical Gospel's meetings. 

It is our vision and our mission to hold more than one meeting. We envision a place where classes can be held for instruction and impartation of all aspects of supernatural ministry. We have joined forces with the vision of the Encounter Movement (college & youth emphasis) and they have come under the mantle of Radical Gospel Ministries. We require a venue where their meetings can be held too. This would include ongoing small discipleship meetings and classes.

We envision a place that is not just about Radical Gospel but a 'Revival Center' where the representation of the Body of Christ, the church (churches) of this 'city' are working together to equip God's people to transform our culture, our city and our world by the supernatural power of the Spirit.
 
We need your help...this is not a mild request for money, prayers or support...this is an urging to catch a vision for this city and region. Your response, your feedback, your ideas are more than welcome, we earnestly desire and covet your input. 
Let's do this thing! 

*P.S.S. By no means am I advocating that God's people should not be politically active, vote according to Christian values and be fully engaged in the privilege we have as American citizens to express our opinions. It is our right and our responsibility! My concern is that God's people have lost sight of where their real power lies and have become frightened and angry. It is the responsibility of leadership in the church to point people to the source of their authority. If we stir up fear or anger to motivate God's people it actually renders them powerless. Whenever you feel angry or fearful it is a good sign that you've lost sight of the Kingdom.  
 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.'Isaiah 26:3