ALONE WITH GOD

[SW205] 10/23/2015 message notes by
Evangelist Susan J. Wynn ©2015

“Alone With God”

Text: Genesis 15, etc.

God does great things through us, when we get alone with Him. But how do you get alone with Him? And how do you hear what He is saying?

We will look at those who got alone with God, and I pray He will show you how they got there and how they heard His voice.

Genesis 15:1ff —

Abraham’s condition:  Childless
Abraham’s action:  He obeyed God in what he knew of God, from Genesis 12 onward. Abraham didn’t have a Bible like you and I do. He had to pray and believe and obey, with an audible word from God Himself.

It is still possible to get an audible word from God, but you don’t have to wait until you hear audibly. You can start reading the Word, just a chapter at a time. Read it out loud, when you are in your room or wherever you find a place. You will hear Him there. Then obey what He says.
The result: God promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and the land that would eventually be Israel.You will be amazed at what happens. You will have many spiritual descendants, like the stars in the heavens. And who knows what else will happen?

Genesis 32:24ff —

Jacob’s condition: Afraid his brother, Esau, will kill him
Jacob’s action: He deceived his father, Isaac, stole Esau’s blessing, and fled to another land Esau couldn’t kill him. When he went back home, he sent all of his possessions and family ahead of himself across the stream called Jabbok, and was alone on the other side of the stream. In verses 11-12, he prayed for God to protect him, and reminded God of His promise. Now he was waiting for God’s response.

A “man” came and wrestled with him. This “man” was really God in the form of a man, but Jacob didn’t know that. Jacob wouldn’t let go until the man blessed him.

The result: God gave Jacob (deceiver, supplanter, schemer) a new name — Israel (strives with God). His character was changed. He followed God faithfully and no longer schemed to get what he wanted.

After you begin to obey God in what you already know of Him, go away to a place where you can be alone. Then He’ll show Himself to you in some way.

And when you wrestle with Him and find He’s far more powerful than you, He’ll change you so much that you’ll need a new name.

Exodus 3:13ff

Moses’ condition: A man with a broken dream to save his people from cruel slavery in Egypt.
Moses’ action: He was alone on Mt. Horeb. He had walked in obedience to what he knew of God. He wasn’t looking for God, but suddenly, he saw the burning bush. It was there, on that holy ground, that God revealed His name and character to Moses, and His plan for Moses to be the one who saved his people from slavery.
The result: All of Israel left Egypt and ultimately entered the Promised Land.
Do you have a noble but broken dream? Go and get by yourself. God will speak to you, and you will learn His character and your role in His plan.

But you must begin by obeying God in what you already know. Stop playing church and start seeking God. He says if you seek Him diligently, you will find Him. It won’t be in a crowd, with your friends, at a party,  or a ball game. It will be when you are alone. Walk in obedience in what you know of God. Go somewhere by yourself.  You will hear from God.

The list goes on! In John 4, the women at the well was shunned because of her sin. She was alone. Jesus came, spoke the truth to her, she was convicted of her sin and Jesus revealed He is the Christ!

In Mark 1:40, the leper was alone. He was an outcast because of his disease. Yet he came to Jesus, and said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean!” And Jesus said, “I am willing!” Immediately he was healed of leprosy, an incurable disease.
Finally, Acts 9

Paul’s condition:  Ignorant regarding God, though he knew the Scriptures. Murderer of Christians (Acts 26:10).
Paul’s action: He obeyed Jesus after God knocked him down and blinded him. The brightness of Jesus Christ blinded him. He audibly heard Him. There were other people in that house on Straight Street in Damascus, but Paul was fully concentrating on God, alone with Him in fasting and prayer.
The result: He received his sight, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and became an evangelist to the world.

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Obey God in what you know. Get alone. Get into God’s Word. Cry out to God.
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrew 11:6).

Seek Him. You will find Him. Ask, seek, knock. (Matthew 7:7).  He will change you —

— from childless and barren to fruitful,

— from fearful deceiver to striver after God,

— from one with broken dreams to one who stands in the presence of God, knows His name, and leads many out of slavery to sin

—from shunned to forgiven and saved

— from diseased outcast to one healed by Christ

— from ignorant murderer to open-eyed, Spirit-filled evangelist.

I testify that when I got alone, Jesus Christ came, and He did all of these things in me! God will do it!

GO, AND I WILL SHOW YOU

[SW204] 10/16/2015 message notes by
Evangelist Susan J. Wynn ©2015

“Go, And I Will Show You”

Text: Genesis 12:1-2

When I went to my assignment in San Diego, I had no plans of my own. I was totally inadequate for the job, but my adequacy comes from the Lord.

He said, “Go, and I will show you.” When I spoke to Dean and his parents prior to visiting them, I said, “I don’t know what God is going to do, but it will be wonderful!”

What did You show me, Lord?

9/28/15    —    YOU establish the connection (You in me is the key).
Servanthood comes naturally, because You have given me
Your nature.
YOU showed me that my joy and transparency were unexpected,
and that they break down walls and disarm those to whom I am
ministering. Dean said, “I am pleasantly surprised. I thought you
would be a Bible-thumper.” Score one for Jesus! I am assured
that I do not need to change my personality — you will use me
just as I am.

9/29/15    —     YOU reveal the truth, and salvation results!
— Why did Jesus come? To do good things.
— Yes, but Isaiah 53, He took the punishment you
deserved. Dean repents, asks forgiveness, receives Jesus.
YOU reveal the truth and expose Satan’s lies re: pressure to
perform.
— John 5, the power of Jesus’ words
— Not my work or Dean’s, but the power of God.
— Relief, relaxing now, compassion, laughter, and
truth

9/30/15    —    YOU stir Dean’s heart, just as You did me. He confesses openly.
We know we are on Satan’s Most Wanted List, and we are glad!

10/1/15    —     YOU show me Psalm 37:5-6, 34. I will see it!

10/2/15    —     YOU provide a sister in Christ for fellowship and encouragement,                 and show me that transparency is essential for encouragement!
YOU give me Psalm 64:4, 7, 10!
YOU instruct on spiritual warfare from John 10.
YOU shoot at Satan with Your arrows, shooting at him who
shoots at us.

10/3/15    —     YOUR word is powerful.
— Isaiah 61, then YOU cause me to spontaneously speak Matthew 11:28-30.
— Immediately, Dean spontaneously asks You to give him Your yoke, and explains to You what his is (MS). He “gives” his MS to You, out loud. Faith!

10/4/15    —     YOUR words unexpectedly come to free others.
YOU have Jeff and I minister together, even a continent apart.

10/5/15    —     YOU remind me to stay focused. No distractions. The Enemy is
trying to distract. YOU direct me to fast, to break the yoke.

10/6/15    —     YOU are the yoke-breaker. It will come. “Dean, what would God                 say now, if you asked Him if you are right with Him?” With no hesitation, Dean smiled broadly and said, “He would say, ‘You are right with me!’”

10/7/15    —      YOU fill Dean with the Holy Spirit, by the laying on of my hands
upon his head, and he speaks with other tongues.

10/8/15    —     YOU give us all a promise — Psalm 27:13-14, despite a bump in the
road with Dean’s natural condition.

10/9/15    —     Changes in scenery and players, even unknowing statements of                 unbelief,  do not affect Your work. Your compassion and love trump unbelief.

10/10/15    —     We change our strength for yours (Isaiah 40:31). YOU prompt me
to say, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” Dean begins to get up, then sits back down. “I’m afraid to stand up. Jesus, take my fear!” Faith!

10/11/15    —       YOU ask through me, “Why is My church glorious?” Dean says, “Because the Father and Jesus are inside of her!”
YOU will do the final stage of healing when Dean and You are alone together. You always do great things when you get women and men alone with You (Jacob’s name change, Abraham and the covenant-cutting, Paul and the three days fasting, and time in Arabia,
and many more)!

10/12/15    —     All YOU directed me to do has been done. I go in peace, and leave                 my peace with Bob and Inger’s home, and with Dean. I have had a                  front-row seat to watch You work! You continue that on the plane and in the taxi from the airport to our home! Hallelujah!

CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED

[SW202] 09/18/2015 message notes by
Evangelist Susan J. Wynn ©2015

“Christ and Him Crucified”

Texts: 1Corinthians 2:2-5, Acts 20:20ff

Paul determined that he would know nothing (not a thing) but Christ and Him crucified and preach Christ crucified.

Why? So the power of God would be demonstrated through him, by the Holy Spirit. He preached in his own weakness and fear and trembling, and the power of the Spirit was made evident. He did not preach using human reasoning and persuasion, or natural charisma.

Why? So the Corinthian’s and your faith would not be in the wisdom or persuasiveness of men, but in the power of God, which is demonstrated when Christ and Him crucified is preached.

My words must be spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit, as I preach Christ and Him crucified.  If I am not preaching Christ and Him crucified, God’s power will not be demonstrated.

As Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke says, “Preach the Gospel, and the Gospel happens.”

I will answer two questions:

1. What does it mean to preach Christ and Him crucified?

2. Why did Paul write these things to the church at Corinth?

Question 1: What does it mean to preach Christ and Him crucified?

— Everyone knows John 3:16. But WHY was it necessary for God to give His only Son? The alternative was that all of mankind would perish.

— Every human being on the earth has a fatal condition that no human can cure. But God sent His Son, Jesus Christ as the remedy. This was His plan from before time began (Revelation 13:8).

Until you believe into Jesus Christ:

— You are separated from God by your sinful state. All have sinned and lack the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sinners face God’s judgment, when He draws all things to a close (Matthew 25:31ff, Revelation 20:11-15).

— On His cross, Jesus Christ bore the punishment that you deserved for your sin, so that you may be reconciled to God, and He rose on the third day so that you may have eternal life (1Corinthians 15:3-8).

— If you repent (turn from your sin) and believe that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, on your behalf, your past sins will be forgiven and you will be reconciled to God (Romans 10:9-10).

But you will find that you are still disobedient in your heart (Romans 7:14ff). The root cause of your fatal condition has not yet been eliminated. You were born that way, a child of Adam (Romans 5:12). But God — hallelujah — has the ultimate cure!

— When Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day, ascended, sat with the Father on His throne, and poured out His Holy Spirit, the purpose was to CLEANSE your heart of its inbred sin nature (Romans 7:14, 20).

— Therefore, when you ask your Father in heaven to fill you with the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), Jesus Christ will free you from slavery to sin. You will die to sin  — that is, the sin nature in you will die (1Peter 2:24, Galatians 2:20).

— This is the will of God, that you be filled with the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:2, 11, 16-18, 22; Ephesians 5:17-18). It is the only way you can be freed from slavery to sin, so you are able to become a witness that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 1:8).

That is what it is to preach Christ and Him crucified. And when that is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel happens — God manifests His power.

I have this ministry of reconciliation, to proclaim to you that you will be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ. If you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, this will be your ministry, too.

How serious is this ministry of reconciliation? It is a matter of life or death.

Acts 20:20 ff

Because Paul was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, he did not shrink from (cower, withhold, conceal, shun) preaching Christ and Him crucified, even though it was foolishness to the world, and despite the persecution he suffered because of his message.

Because he fully preaches Christ and Him crucified — including deliverance from slavery to sin —  considering his previous great knowledge as a Pharisee to be dung (Philippians 3:8), Paul says he is innocent of the blood of those to whom he has delivered the message.

Innocent of the blood?

Ezekiel 33:8 “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.”

Question 2: Why was he writing this to the church at Corinth?

They were listening to false teachers who spoke of “secret wisdom,” and taught that you could continue to sin with your body, without losing your salvation as the consequence.

Then there were the Judaizers, who taught legalism — that is, that even if you were not born a Jew, the Law given to Moses must be followed in order for you to be saved.

Why did the Lord put it on my heart to speak this today? Many preachers:

— Preach only faith or

— Preach only grace, and even hyper-grace or

— Preach only healing or

— Preach only prosperity,

— But not Christ and Him crucified.

There is no mention of mankind’s fatal condition. And the faith of those who follow such preachers is in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God. The power of God and wisdom of God is not demonstrated, but simply the human wisdom and persuasiveness and natural charisma of the preacher.

Why are these things taught? Paul says it is for personal gain — money (1Timothy 6:3-5).

And Jesus says, “My people love it so.” (See 2Timothy 4:3, Jeremiah 5:31.)

The blood of those to whom they preach is on their hands, because they leave people in their fatal and incurable condition.
But turn now, O preachers, and preach Christ and Him crucified, for your listeners are not exhorted to repent, to believe that Christ carried their sins on a cross, and that it is the will of God that you be filled with the Holy Spirit so you are no longer a slave to sin!

And turn now, O sinner, and O sinning Christian, for you have heard the truth of the Gospel, the whole gospel — salvation form past sins and freedom from slavery to sin. Turn and be healed, reconciled to God and made a witness that Jesus is the Christ!

And you will be a citizen of the kingdom of God, full of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17), and joy inexpressible and full of glory (1Peter 1:8)!

STRENGTH FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT

[SW201] 09/11/2015 message notes by
Evangelist Susan J. Wynn ©2015

“Strength For Your Assignment”

You and I need His power for this hour!

He has an assignment for you and me. What is it?

— To walk as Jesus walked in this world (entirely obedient) (1Jn 2:6)

— To baptize and make disciples, teaching them to obey all He commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20)

— To be His witness (Acts 1:8)

— To love even our enemies with His love (Matthew 5:44)

— To set captives free (Isaiah 61:1ff, Matthew 10:8)

That assignment is absolutely impossible in our own strength. We need His!

Texts: Psalm 84:5-7, 11-12, Isaiah 40:29-31

Psalm 84

How blessed is the one whose strength is in God — literally, to him, strength is in the Lord.

God is the source of strength for him. He knows that apart from Christ, he can do nothing (John 15:5)!

Strength — boldness and power and might! HIS!

Psalm 84:5 Blessed (literally, straight/upright, happy) are you, because this is a revelation from God, just as Simon/Peter received when God the Father gave him the revelation that Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:17)!

In your heart is the highway to His presence!

Blessed are you! A way was prepared in your heart when you repented and confessed your sin, just as with those baptized by John in advance of Jesus’ ministry on earth. It is the highway of holiness (Isaiah 35:8)! You are filled with the Holy Spirit!

Psalm 84:6 And what happens because His presence is in you? As you walk about in the valley of weeping, you make it a spring, a place of fountains of living water. And that valley, now flowing with an endless supply of living water, also sees showers of blessing (Ezekiel 34:26).

Psalm 84:7 Everyone who seeks and receives God’s strength appears before God (NASB “in Zion”). That is, they stand before Him, in His presence!

Blessed are you if you seek His strength, for surely you will receive it!

Psalm 84:11 He is a sun and a shield — light and protection — He gives such ones grace and His presence within them, and He does not withhold any good thing from you, because they walk with integrity (without blemish, complete, full and perfect before Him)!

Psalm 84:12 O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You, who is confident, sure and bold because it is Your strength that is in him!

How blessed will YOU be if you seek His strength, His power, His might! Then you have the strength to do your assignment!

Isaiah 40:29-31

To the one who understands that he LACKS the might to do God’s works, the Lord increases power —  and that Hebrew word is only used of God’s power, with just a couple of exceptions.

His power comes to those who wait on Him, who entwine themselves with Him. They gain new strength, which literally means they CHANGE ABILITY.

So they exchange their strength for His, and in His power, they fly high, they run and walk without tiredness or weariness!

Those whose strength is the Lord also exchange their faith to His faith (Romans 1:17), their sin nature for His divine nature, their glory for His glory, ever-increasing, from one degree of glory to the next (2Corinthians 3:18)!

When you confess your weakness, your inability to do your assignment and ask Him for His power) —  the world will see Christ’s strength, His power, in you. (2Corinthians 12:9). And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)!

As you go about on your assignment from Him, rivers of living water will flow from your belly (John 7:37-39), and the valley of weeping will become like a valley of fountains, showers of blessing (Ezekiel 34:26)!

And  you will not hesitate to go, but will go forth immediately and joyfully because you know you are going in His strength, not yours.

But I have some admonitions for the church. Many of you are not going, and thus, not doing your assignment. You are silent. You are afraid. You know you don’t have power nor boldness to testify of Christ. Ask your Father in heaven to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and He will gladly do it!

Many of you are working in your own strength. Some of you have been quite successful in building large churches, in you own strength. But if you are not working in His strength, they will worship you and look to you, and not Him.

Also, you and I have seen that many who work in their own strength have burned out, and many who work in their own strength have had their secret sins uncovered publicly, giving the world more fodder to make a mockery of Christ.

Repent and turn, and He will yet receive you and give you His strength. When you ask Him for His strength, by being filled with the Holy Spirit, He will oblige, and you will begin to work for the glory of the Father and the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

GIVING UP

[SW198] 08/14/2015 message notes by
Evangelist Susan J. Wynn ©2015

“Giving Up”

Do you ever feel like giving up on trying to be an obedient child of God? Don’t give up! But give up! It’s a different kind of giving up.

I’m asking the Holy Spirit to help me to serve you up a full-course meal of God’s Word today, choice pieces of meat, marrow and aged wine (Isaiah 25:6), so you may learn the truth, so it divides soul and spirit, and causes you to say to the Lord, “I give up!”

I’m speaking a word of righteousness to you. Many of you are accustomed to a diet of milk (the basic tenets of Christianity). It’s what you generally get on a Sunday in many churches. But you ought to be teachers by now, teaching and feasting on the meat — the word of righteousness! (See Hebrews 5:13).

Willful disobedience to God — sin — is an age-old problem, begun by the first man, Adam. We expect those who do not know Christ to sin. But it also has flooded the church.

It would never be, if we truly understood the depths of our depravity, our illness. We’d be seeking a cure!

How serious is sin? So serious that God the Father sacrificed His Son to heal us of our past sins and set us free from slavery to sin!

Even before the earth was formed, the Father had a lamb prepared (Revelation 13:8). We can’t even calculate or estimate or imagine the cost of our salvation!

But try to comprehend it. God sent His Son to die in order that you may live. On that cross, God the Son bore God’s wrath toward you. He took what you deserved. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

Text: Romans 7:14ff

If you struggle with sin, join the wretched man Paul speaks of in Romans 7:14ff. You were born with a sin nature, just like he was. In verse 17, it is sin which dwells in him that causes him to disobey God. The sins he commits are the evidence of the sin nature that dwells inside of him.

But learn the truth — you don’t have to stay that way! Who shall save the man Paul writes about? Christ Jesus our Lord! He made the way for you to be freed from your sin nature and given His divine nature (see 1Peter 1:4)!

Paul did not only write Romans 7, but he also wrote Galatians 2:20 and 5:24. The divine nature doesn’t dwell in you when you’re a baby Christian, as evidenced by the problems Paul had to address with the Corinthians. But it surely does happen when you give up, and you will know it when it does!

The Lord wants YOU to give up. We get it wrong, thinking he wants us to give up habits, the people we associate with, dreams, situations, circumstances. He wants YOU. Once YOU have given up to Him, your heart will entirely change, and you will love to obey Him — there will be no more resistance, because His love accompanies His nature in you, so you love Him with the same love He has for you (Romans 5:5).

Some believe they won’t have fun anymore if they tell the Lord, “I give up!” Some Christians have told me that they like what they’re doing, they like their habits, they like their associates. They don’t want to give up any of that. They’re not ready, they say.

But if that’s your thinking, the struggle will continue, and your life will continue to be a mess until you give up that rebellious sinful nature and ask the Lord to kill it and put His nature inside of you.

Maybe you don’t like the idea of giving up, especially if it involves a spiritual crucifixion or getting on an altar and letting God’s fire consume everything in you that is not of Him. It certainly doesn’t sound comfortable.

Text: Romans 12:1

Many worship with great passion and emotion, but their disobedient living belies their passionate worship.

What is worship, according to God?

In light of all He has done for you, with that in mind, it is willingly placing yourself on an altar so He can purify you and make you holy on the inside. It is asking the Lord Jesus to baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.

Some will say, “I spoke in tongues when I was baptized in water,” or “I spoke in tongues when I was baptized in the Holy Ghost.” Tongues are the initial evidence, as the scriptures show in the Book of Acts.

But where is the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Are you continuing to willfully disobey God?

Then I say you have not yet been to God’s altar; you may have received something from God, but you are not filled with and controlled by the Holy Ghost, or you would be holy from the inside out!

If you are a Christian, your desire should be to do God’s will. And His will is that you be filled with His Holy Spirit, so you don’t struggle with sin anymore.

What a good word! What a freeing word! Will you believe Him? Do you really want to be His witness here, for more than Sunday morning?

But it is far more serious than being His witness here. It is life and death to you. The wages of sin is death. Keep on sinning, and you face the place where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.

Cry out to God today! Tell Him you give up YOU! Beloved, He wants all of you.

Give YOU to Him. By faith, you asked God to forgive your past sins through Jesus Christ. By faith, ask Him to destroy sin’s power over you.

Will you believe He can do it? If you truly believe, He will show you that He can, and then He will do it, just as He did in healing me of an incurable disease and then making me so hungry for all of Him that for two months, I cried out to be baptized in the Holy Spirit!

That is how you become Jesus Christ’s witnesses here. You will have His Spirit in you, large and in charge. You will walk as He did on the earth (1John 2:6).

You will be tempted, as He was, but you will have power over sin, and be a super-conqueror (Romans 8:37).

You will walk, live, love, and speak as He did. And His very presence in you will cause many to repent and turn to Him.