Delightsome Agbabo

Health Food – July 1 By Rhema Team, Jul 1, 2020 Healing Works From The Inside Out While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal..  — 2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 Healing starts on the inside and then it appears or manifests on the outside. Everything you receive from God works that way. It starts on the inside and then moves to the outside. When people are born again, it’s their spirit that is reborn. You can’t tell they’re a new creature in Christ by looking at their body. You can’t even tell by looking at them right at the moment they appear to have an experience with God. Many times, I’ve seen people come to the altar and get emotionally stirred up—they jump up and down the aisles hugging everyone in sight. Then I never see them again. They didn’t get a thing in the world, but some kind of emotional high. I’ve had other people come to the altar and I’ve thought...

Health Food – June 30 By Rhema Team, Jun 30, 2020 The Hidden Man Of The Heart But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.  — 1 PETER 3:4 In my prayer lines, I sometimes have to say to people, “God’s healing power went into you, because I’m conscious of that power being administered to you. But it came right back out of you. I can sense it. I can feel it coming right back into my hands. You didn’t take hold of it.” You see, they tried to receive mentally, rather than spiritually. Faith is of the heart. Your heart is your spirit. Peter calls it the hidden man of the heart (1 Peter 3:4). Then I say to them, “Keep your mind quiet and on Jesus. You cannot contact God with your mind. He is not a mind. He is a Spirit. Jesus said in John 4:24,  ‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’  God is not a mind. You can’t...

Health Food – June 29 By Rhema Team, Jun 29, 2020 Jesus’ Healings Were Spiritual And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.  — MATTHEW 8:13 It’s a remarkable fact that when Jesus came on the scene as Healer, He demanded faith again and again. To the woman with the issue of blood, He declared, “Thy faith has made thee whole” (Mark 5:34). To the man who came with his lunatic son, Jesus said,  “. . . If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”  (Mark 9:23). You see, the man came to Jesus and said, “If thou canst do anything, have mercy on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). Jesus said to him, in so many words, “It’s not so much a matter of what I can do as it is of what  you  can  believe . All things are possible to him that believeth.” To the nobleman who came on behalf of his son, Jesus said,  “. . . Go thy way; thy son liveth . ....

Health Food – June 27 By Rhema Team, Jun 27, 2020 Divine Healing Is Spiritual God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  — JOHN 4:24 Divine healing, though it is manifested in the physical, is spiritual. It is not mental, as Christian Science and other metaphysical teachers claim. Now don’t misunderstand me. People get some results through mental science. The mind does, to a great extent, control the body, and a person could get some results that way. I know people who seemed to be miraculously healed through metaphysical cults. And I’ve heard people say, “If they’re healed, God must have done it.” But, no, not necessarily. If it’s mental healing, their minds produced it. I would rather stay sick and not be healed than to be healed through some unbelieving cult. Metaphysical religions such as Christian Science are not biblical. They believe that God is mind, and, in effect, that their mind is God. They believe that Jesus Christ is an idea i...

Health Food – June 26 By Rhema Team, Jun 26, 2020 Get Lined Up With God Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.  — JOHN 5:14 When Gary was fifteen or sixteen years old, he left home. He got away from God and became involved in the hippie movement. He actually denounced God. And that same kidney trouble that he was healed of as a nine-year-old boy came back on him. I went to Dallas to preach, and Gary came to my meeting. He wasn’t right with God. I knew he wasn’t. He tried to fake it, but he didn’t fool me a bit. He was seventeen or eighteen years old at the time. I said to him, “No, I’m not going to pray for you. You’re not going to get healed under the present conditions, because you’re just faking it. You haven’t made things right with God.” He admitted I was right. He said, “You’ve told the truth about it. I haven’t. There are a lot of things in me that should not be in me. I’m not...

Faith Food – June 25 By Rhema Team, Jun 25, 2020 Knowledge And Skill As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.  — DANIEL 1:17 “. . .  God gave them knowledge and skill . . . .” God gave Daniel and the other three Hebrew children, knowledge and all skill. Eternal life is the nature of God. You’ve got God’s nature in you. Know that! Believe that! Confess that! Then that nature will begin to dominate you! Learn to walk in the light of life. Learn to put that life into practice in your being. Walking in the light of that life will enhance your entire personality, and will increase your intelligence. Confession:  I am a new creation. I am born again. I am a new creature. I have the life and nature of God in my spirit. That life is the light of men. I purpose to walk in the light of life. God’s life is in me. God’s knowledge is in me. God’s skill is in me. God’s ability is in...

Health Food – June 25 By Rhema Team, Jun 25, 2020 ‘I Shall Live And Not Die’ I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.  — PSALM 118:17 Years ago while I was ministering at a youth camp in the Sierra Mountains near Sonora, California, I received an emergency telephone call. The voice on the other end said, “Brother Hagin, do you remember Gary?” I did. The man was talking about his oldest boy who was nine. “Well,” he said, “he had a sore throat and we prayed about it. But it got worse. We carried him to the doctor, and the doctor said that the infection went to his kidneys. Now his kidneys have stopped functioning. The doctor said that he will be dead in a matter of minutes. He is in intensive care, and we want you to agree with us. We believe that Gary will live and not die.” I said, “I believe with you that he will live and not die.” I was at this youth camp for several weeks. Before I left, I received a little reel-to-reel tape recording in the mail. On it, the...

Faith Food – June 24 By Rhema Team, Jun 24, 2020 Favor Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.  — DANIEL 1:9 I didn’t know anything about confession of faith when I was first saved as a teenager. But somehow my spirit impelled me to say these things. Second Corinthians 5:17 was a favorite scripture of mine. I would tell everyone I met, “I’m a new creature!” They’d reply, “What’s that?” And I would start preaching on it. Before I knew it, I’d have a crowd gathered around me right there on the street! Every morning, as I walked to school, I made my confessions based on John 1:4 and Daniel chapter 1. Sometimes a bunch of us students took up the whole street as we walked along. They thought I was crazy, but I’d explain it to them as we walked along. I would say, “Now, you see Daniel had favor with the prince of eunuchs (or, as we would call him in modern times, the dean of the college). And it was God who gave Daniel favor with him.” Then ...

Health Food – June 24 By Rhema Team, Jun 24, 2020 Instant Healings Can Be A Curse And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.  — LUKE 17:14 I’ve observed many times that the Lord will begin a healing in a person’s body, and as the person learns to walk in faith and walk close to Him, the healing will be completely manifested. The person receives a great spiritual blessing out of it as well as a physical blessing. I’m inclined to agree with one minister who said that instant healings oftentimes are a curse to us. You see, many times people come to a healing meeting and are instantly healed. Many of them don’t even know how they got it. Then they go away without consecrating or dedicating themselves to God, and they wind up with the same condition or something worse. But in a gradual healing, people learn to walk close to God. They learn to exercise their faith. And they learn a great spiritual lesson in addition to having their physical healing. Confession:  As...

Health Food – June 22 By Rhema Team, Jun 22, 2020 You Can’t Pay For God’s Blessings But he  [Elisha]  said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.  — 2 KINGS 5:16 If we read this scripture in context, we’ll find that Naaman wanted to pay Elisha for his healing. People try to do the same thing today. They would give thousands of dollars just to be healed. But they don’t understand that they cannot pay for God’s blessings. One time in a healing line, a guy put a roll of bills in my hand. I don’t know how many bills there were or whether they were all large or not. But he handed me a huge roll of bills with a rubber band around them. I said, “No, you take that back. I can’t take that. No, sir. You take that money back. I can’t take it.” He did it because he was so thrilled that he had received healing. But ministers shouldn’t take money in exchange for ministering healing to someone. Now if someone wants to ...

Faith Food – June 21 By Rhema Team, Jun 21, 2020 Change For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.  — GALATIANS 6:15 For neither is circumcision [now] of any importance, nor uncircumcision, but [only] a new creation [the result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ Jesus, the Messiah].  — GALATIANS 6:15 ( Amplified ) The first thing  zoe  does in a man is to change his nature. It changes his spirit.  Zoe  makes him a new creature. All things become new in his inward man, or spirit. What this new man, or new creature, must do now is allow his inward man to dominate him. When we believers allow our spirits to dominate us, we permit the life of God in us to dominate us. People are able to see the effects of this life of God within us. They see changes in a person’s habits, conduct, speech, and so forth. Criminals become law-abiding citizens. Thieves become honest. Drunkards become sober. Prostitutes...

Health Food – June 21 By Rhema Team, Jun 21, 2020 “Don’t Become Off Ended “ And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.  — ACTS 24:16 A number of years ago, a mother and her sick little boy came to our  Campmeeting . They stood in the healing line. Before I ever got to them, I got tired and turned the ministering to the sick over to others. Well, the mother almost missed it. She got mad and thought,  He doesn’t care anything about us . People forget that I’m human. I’m still living inside a physical, mortal body. I get tired, just as anyone else does. And when a person gets tired, he can’t yield to the Spirit of God like he can when he’s rested. The devil told her, “He doesn’t care.” And she almost missed it. I turned the healing line over to some RHEMA students who’d been working with me in Healing School. We found out later that the devil told the mother,“ Now this young man’s going to say that your boy is dem...

Faith Food – June 19 By Rhema Team, Jun 19, 2020 Receive Him But as many as received him  [Jesus Christ] , to them gave he power  [the right]  to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.  — JOHN 1:12 Receiving Jesus Christ is an act of the will. So man acts on the Word of God by an act of his will. Man knows he is without a Savior, without an approach to God, without eternal life, so he can look up to God and pray, in essence: Father, I come to You in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know You will not turn me away, or cast me out, because You said in Your Word, “. . . him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that He died for my sins, according to the Scriptures. I believe that He was raised from the dead for my justification, according to the Scriptures. “Justification” means that I might be set right with God. I believe that because of His death, burial, and resu...

Health Food – June 19 By Rhema Team, Jun 19, 2020 Don’t Be A Fool! Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses . — PSALM 107:17–19 I remember praying for a sixteen-year-old girl who had a venereal disease. Now when she came up to the prayer line, I didn’t know anything about her. I found out later that at the age of fifteen, she got involved with a gang. Now she was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, but she had gotten involved in all kinds of sin and sexual immorality. At sixteen, the doctors wanted to take out all her female organs. They were damaged. Of course, if those organs were removed, she could never become a mother. As she stood in the prayer line, the Spirit of God said to me, “Fools, because of their iniquities, because of their transgressions, are afflicted....

Faith Food – June 18 By Rhema Team, Jun 18, 2020 What To Believe For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.  — 1 CORINTHIANS 15:3,4 I read some time ago about a so-called minister of the Gospel who was a man of some acclaim. Some reporters interviewed him when he arrived in a large city about an article he had written. In the article, he had stated, “There is some question as to whether Jesus ever rose from the dead. And it doesn’t really make any difference whether He did or not.” It makes all the difference in the world! It makes the difference between spiritual life and spiritual death — because that’s the way you receive eternal life. That’s the way you are born again — by believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for your sins according to the Scriptures, and that He arose from the dead...

Health Food – June 18 By Rhema Team, Jun 18, 2020 Put The Word Into Practice But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  — JAMES 1:25 I was asked to preach at a certain convention in California. They wanted me to come and teach on the subject of faith. I didn’t have a “laying on of hands” service. I didn’t have a “preaching” or a “ministering” service. I just taught on the subject of faith. There was a woman there who was a member of the First Foursquare Church of Pueblo, Colorado. She had said, “I’ll go to that convention and get Brother Hagin to lay hands on me.” She had terminal cancer. Well, she came, but I wasn’t having a laying-on-of-hands service. I was simply teaching the Word. So she said to herself,  I’ll just put that Word into practice myself . She acted on the Word she heard and was completely healed. Two years later, I happened to be at ...

Faith Food – June 17 By Rhema Team, Jun 17, 2020 Helping Others To Life And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life [zoe] through his name.  — JOHN 20:30,31 Jesus did many things that are not recorded in John’s Gospel, or in the other Gospels. But the things that are recorded in the Gospels are recorded for a purpose. What is this purpose? “. . .  That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have zoe through his name. ” The object is that we might receive eternal life! As a Christian, you need to know how to help others receive eternal life. The first step is to get them to read or hear what is written in the Gospels so they may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that as the Son of God, He has made spiritual life available to spir...

Health Food – June 17 By Rhema Team, Jun 17, 2020 Obey The Laws Of The Land Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake. . . .  — 1 PETER 2:13 At the age of forty-two or forty-three, one of my uncles was working at a power plant north of McKinney, Texas. He was one of the two men who worked the graveyard shift from midnight to 8:00 a.m. The following was painted on a wall at the plant: DO NOT PULL THIS SWITCH UNLESS THE RUBBER MAT IS IN PLACE. At about 4:00 a.m. one morning, my uncle stepped outside to get a little fresh air. The grass was wet with dew so his feet got wet. He came back in and pulled that switch without the rubber mat being in place. Hundreds of volts of electricity went through him. The man upstairs heard him hollering. He ran downstairs, grabbed a pole to ground and protect himself from that powerful voltage, and knocked my uncle loose. Then he called an ambulance. My uncle was still conscious at the time. They put him in the ambulance and head...

Faith Food – June 16 By Rhema Team, Jun 16, 2020 Zoe For as the Father hath life  [zoe]  in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life  [zoe]  in himself.  — JOHN 5:26 The Greek word translated “life” in our text today is  zoe . It is pronounced zō-ā. Reading through the  King James Version , or any English translation, when you see the word “life,” you might think it’s always talking about the same thing, but it isn’t. Three other Greek words in the New Testament are translated as “life.” Briefly, these words and their meanings are:  psuche , natural life, or human life;  bios , manner of life; and  anastrophe , behavior. Zoe  means eternal life or God’s life. It is God’s nature. It is life as God has it — that which the Father has in Himself — and that which the Incarnate Son has in Himself. It is called  eternal life ,  everlasting life , and sometimes just  life  in the Word of God. No matter what “man...

Health Food – June 16 By Rhema Team, Jun 16, 2020 ‘I Could Have Done More’ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  — ROMANS 8:1 This businessman said, “You don’t understand what I’ve done.” I thought from the way this man talked that he had committed some terrible sins. So I said, “Just what awful sins have you committed?” “Brother Hagin,” he said with tears, “It’s not so much sins of  commission . I don’t know if I’ve done anything wrong. It’s sins of omission. The Bible says,  ‘Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin’  [James 4:17]. Now I’m a businessman and I’ve always had money. I have supported the church and paid tithes, but I could have given much more money. I could have prayed more. I could have been more faithful to my church.” I said, “I want to ask you a question. Have you committed the sin of omission four hundred and ninety times i...

Faith Food – June 14 By Rhema Team, Jun 14, 2020 Why Did Jesus Come? The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  — JOHN 10:10 Why did Jesus come? Did Jesus come to give us some creed to live by? Did He come to give us a code of ethics — a list of “do’s and don’ts” — to straighten us out? Did He come to start a new religion, or to found a new church? No! Jesus came for one purpose: That we might have  life , and that we might have it  more abundantly ! This word “life” is the biggest word of the Gospel. Man needed life, because he was spiritually dead. Spiritual death, which is the nature of the devil, was imparted to man at the fall of man, when Adam sinned. The eradication of this devil-nature is what God has worked toward in all the ages. It was the reason why Jesus came to the earth. Jesus stated, “. . .  I am come that they might have life  . . . .” Th...

Health Food – June 14 By Rhema Team, Jun 14, 2020 God Is Willing To Forgive Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.  — MATTHEW 18:21—22 I was holding a meeting in Houston, Texas, and a fine businessman came up to me and asked if he could talk to me. I said, “I just don’t have time right now. But I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll come thirty minutes early tomorrow night, and I’ll meet you in the pastor’s office. I can talk to you for thirty minutes, but that’s all.” The next night as I was getting ready, the Lord said to me, “Do you thinkthat I’d require you to do something that I wouldn’t be willing to do?” I said to the Lord, “Well, no, certainly not. That wouldn’t be right. That would be unjust. And You are not unjust.” The Lord asked me that question three more times, and I replied in the same way. The final time ...

Faith Food – June 13 By Rhema Team, Jun 13, 2020 Restoring The Soul He restoreth my soul  . . . . — PSALM 23:3 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  — ROMANS 12:1,2 Writing to born-again, Spirit-filled Christians in Romans 12, Paul tells them to do something with their bodies and their minds. Man’s spirit is born again at the New Birth, but he still has the same body and the same soul. He is to present his  body  to God, and he is to see to it that his  mind  is renewed. The Hebrew word translated “restoreth” in Psalm 23 and the Greek word translated “renewed” in Romans 12:2 have just about the same meaning. For example, a valuable, antique chair which looks like a ...

Health Food – June 13 By Rhema Team, Jun 13, 2020 God Has Promised You Long Life With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.  — PSALM 91:16 We used to have divine healing services every Saturday night in our church, and Grandma Jeffcoat would be carried in. Sometimes she would have a spell, and we would think she was dead. Then somehow she would start breathing again. Those were some experiences! That went on for about six months. We can get faith into people by teaching them, but we also need to get them into services where God is manifesting Himself. One Saturday night, Grandma Jeffcoat was at the service, and as we came to the close, I had a little quick vision about her. I saw her out of her chair dancing. I looked over at her and told her it was her time. I walked down off the platform, laid hands on her, and prayed. At the moment, nothing happened, but ten minutes later, she let out a yell, jumped out of the chair, and started dancing. She was healed! Severa...

Faith Food – June 12 By Rhema Team, Jun 12, 2020 Saving Your Soul Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. . . . Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.  — JAMES 1:18,21 What about our  souls ? Aren’t our souls saved when we’re born again? No. There are many Christians who have been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit for years whose souls are not saved yet! Some have lived and died without their souls being saved. Did they go to Heaven? Certainly. They were children of God, and their spirits were born of God. The soul, you see, is not born again. The saving of the soul is a  process . The Epistle of James was written not to sinners, but to Christians. And James was telling us that our souls are not saved yet. James 1:21 bothered me for some time, until I found out the difference between the spiri...

Health Food – June 12 By Rhema Team, Jun 12, 2020 You Can Die Without Sickness And Disease Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.  — GENESIS 25:8 Older people are eventually going to live their life out and go home to Heaven, but they don’t have to die with sickness and disease. Grandma Jeffcoat is a good example of this. She had stomach cancer. She came to live with her daughter who attended my church. Grandma Jeffcoat had just come from Brother J.R. Goodwin’s church. He was her former pastor. Grandma Jeffcoat was so far gone physically that her family had already called Brother Goodwin to preach at her funeral. Her daughter said to me, “Brother Hagin, I want you to go see Mom.” Well, I began to talk to her mom, Grandma Jeffcoat, about healing. “Brother Hagin,” she said, “Just leave me alone. I’m eighty-two years old, and I’ve suffered so with cancer of the stomach. Please leave me alone and let me...

Health Food – June 11 By Rhema Team, Jun 11, 2020 It Pays To Obey God And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.  — 1 SAMUEL 15:22 I remember a dear, precious saint of God. She was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. It was a joy to sit down and talk to her about the things of God. I don’t know how many times over a period of several years that I prayed with that dear woman for healing. I could help her momentarily, but I never could get her completely healed. She would be all right for a little while, and then she would lose it. I wondered why she had been in such bad health for so many years. She was eighty years old, and for many years, she had never really lived. Sickness and disease had incapacitated her. One day while standing over her bedside, she said, “I never did what God asked me to do. I wasn’t willing. God called ...

Faith Food – June 10 By Rhema Team, Jun 10, 2020 Heart Hunger And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.  — JOHN 6:35 Before Adam sinned, he walked and talked with God. Adam had fellowship with God. But when Adam fell, his spirit became estranged, or separated, from God. Since that day, in the life of every person born into this world, there is a heart hunger — a spirit hunger. This heart hunger causes men to seek something to satisfy it. Some look to worldly possessions. Some look to false religions of this world. Yet nothing can satisfy this heart hunger but God. Although this heart hunger may have driven a man to all kinds of things, it ends when he finds Jesus Christ. When he becomes acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ and receives eternal life and is born again, he becomes the child of God. Man then has a relationship with God! He can fellowship with God! His heart hunger is satis...

Health Food – June 10 By Rhema Team, Jun 10, 2020 Act On Your Faith Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  — JAMES 2:17 Years ago, when my mother-in-law had a goiter, the Lord said to me, “Tell her to go to the altar at your church on Wednesday night, and I will fill her with the Holy Ghost and complete her healing.” Now if you stopped to analyze some things, you might talk yourself right out of God’s blessings. Why did she have to go to the altar at the Full Gospel church on Wednesday night in order to receive? I didn’t know why at the time, but I told her what the Lord told me. On Wednesday night, we had a time of testifying and singing. I ministered a short sermon. My mother-in-law could tell that I was about to finish. She didn’t even wait for me to say anything. She suddenly stood to her feet and said, “I can’t wait.” She came out from between the pews and just sprawled out on the altar. By the time her knees hit the floor, she was talking in tongues. Late...

Faith Food – June 8 By Rhema Team, Jun 8, 2020 Our Choice For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith.  — PHILIPPIANS 1:21-25 Paul is talking here about physical death. Of course, the  real  Paul, the inner man, is not going to die. He’s going to go on living either way: departing and being with Christ,  or  abiding in the flesh. Paul said he hadn’t  decided  yet. “I’m in a strait,” he said, “between the two. I want to go on and be with Christ, which is far better.” (If Paul had just said it would be better, that would have been wonderful, but he said it’s even better than bet...

Health Food – June 8 By Rhema Team, Jun 8, 2020 The Law Of Faith Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  — ROMANS 3:27 At the same meeting in which I laid hands on the seventy-two-year-old man, I laid hands on his pastor. But the pastor did not receive healing. Five years later, he decided to resign his church. He said to me, “I’ve had this physical condition for so many years, and I just can’t get healed. I feel like I’m doing the church an injustice because I can’t do my job properly. I’m just going to retire.” He was in his mid-fifties. He did retire and I never heard of him again. Someone might ask, “Well, why could you get that church member healed, but not the pastor?” I’ll tell you exactly why. When I dealt with the pastor, I laid hands on him, prayed for him, and asked him the same questions I asked the man who was a member of his church. The pastor heard me talk to the man. He saw the man healed. He knew his physical co...

Faith Food – June 7 By Rhema Team, Jun 7, 2020 Gain! For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  — PHILIPPIANS 1:21 When the body dies, the inward man still lives. In today’s text, Paul was talking about physical death — and he said it is  gain . That does away with the theory that when a man is dead, he’s dead like a dog, and that’s the end of it. There certainly wouldn’t be any gain to that. It also does away with the theory that when you die, you just float around like a cloud in the sky. There wouldn’t be any gain to that, either. And it also does away with the theory of reincarnation. (That’s all it is — a theory! It’s certainly not scriptural.) Some people think they will be born again into this life — that the next time they might be a cow, or a horse, or even a fly. There wouldn’t be any  gain  to coming back as a cow — you might get eaten. If you were a mosquito, you might get squashed. How foolish people can become when they leave the Bible and get of...

Health Food – June 7 By Rhema Team, Jun 7, 2020 Have Childlike Faith And said, Verily I  [Jesus]  say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  — MATTHEW 18:3 At a meeting in Oklahoma, a gentleman came up to me and said that he was so hard of hearing that he couldn’t hear it thunder without a hearing aid. Well, I laid hands on him and his ears were perfectly healed; he could hear. I saw him five years later when he was seventy-seven years old, and he still didn’t need a hearing aid. I saw him after another five years (when he was eighty-two years old), and he was still all right. Not only that, but when I laid hands on him at the age of seventy-two, he could not walk by himself. He’d had a cane that he walked with, but he couldn’t even walk with the cane anymore. He couldn’t walk twelve or fifteen feet without falling. His daughter, who was with him, had to hold him up. The doctor said he should be in ...

Health Food – May 10 By Rhema Team, May 10, 2020 Agree And Then Don’t Back Down! Can two walk together, except they be agreed?  — AMOS 3:3 In 1949 I was holding a meeting in Plainview, Texas, at the First Assembly of God Church. Christmas was coming up, and I needed some extra money for Christmas presents. I wrote to my wife, “At three o’clock on Sunday afternoon, you open your Bible there in Garland, Texas, to Matthew 18:19, and I’ll open my Bible here in Plainview. We’ll agree that the offering will be a particular amount on Sunday night.” You see, you can be in agreement in spirit and not be with the other person physically. I preached on the last Sunday night before Christmas. And in all the hustle and bustle of special Christmas programs, the ushers forgot to count the offering. The pastor found the offering plates and brought them back to the parsonage. He dumped all the money out on the dining room table and said, “Let’s count it.” He counted half and I counted the other hal...

Faith Food – June 6 By Rhema Team, Jun 6, 2020 Confident, Knowing Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.  — 2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8 “. . .  We are always confident, knowing  . . . .” I like that! Not  hoping . Not  guessing . Not  maybe so . But  knowing ! Knowing that while “we” are at home in the body, “we” are absent from the Lord. Yes, God’s Spirit is in our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father,” but Jesus Christ, with a physical, flesh-and-bone resurrected body is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. And when “we” are absent from the body, “we” will be present with Him there. Who is “we”? At the time of his physical death, man leaves his body. When he does, he is no less man than when he had his body. I don’t have space here to recount my ...

Health Food – June 5 By Rhema Team, Jun 5, 2020 Enter Into Rest Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  — PROVERBS 3:5 “Your own understanding” is  your own reasoning, your own thinking, or your own head or mind . In other words, you could say, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own  head ”! I think most Christians try to practice that in reverse. They trust in the Lord with all their head and lean not to their own heart. That’s not what God said to do. Hebrews 4:3 says,  “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”  How can you tell if people are believing in their heart or just saying it from their head? The Scripture says that those who have believed “do enter into rest.” Remember, I said that the laying on of hands is a point of contact. That’s ...

Faith Food – June 4 By Rhema Team, Jun 4, 2020 The Inward Man For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  — 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16 The outward man, or the body, is decaying. It’s growing older, just as the house you may live in at 504 Chestnut Street is growing older. But do you know what? You are not getting any older! What does the scripture text say about the real you? Does it say, “Yet the inward man is perishing”? No. “Is decaying”? No. “Is growing older”? No! It says, “. . .  the inward man is RENEWED DAY BY DAY ”! You will never be any older than you are right now! You’re no older now than you were a few years ago. You may know more, but you’re not any older. The inward man — the real you — is renewed day by day! Confession:  I am a spirit being. I am the child of the Father of spirits. The real me is a “hidden man,” an inward man. I am not getting any older. I am an eternal spirit being. I am being renewe...

Health Food – June 4 By Rhema Team, Jun 4, 2020 Faith Is Not Of The Head; It’s Of The Heart For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation..  . — ROMANS 10:10 Something that hinders many people is that they mentally try to believe they receive. They are just imitating someone else. With their mind, they say, “Yes, I believe.” You can usually tell when people are talking out of their mind or when they are talking out of their spirit. You see, your heart is your spirit, and your spirit is your heart. With the heart, man believeth. There will be a lack of conviction—a lack of assurance—when a person is speaking out of his or her mind. There will be hesitancy. When I lay hands on people to be healed, I sometimes say to them, “Will you be healed now when I lay hands on you?” Some people say, “Well, uh, yes, I believe.” But I know they’re not in faith. I’ve had other people say, “I sure will! Just lay your hands on me and watch i...

Health Food – June 3 By Rhema Team, Jun 3, 2020 The Laying On Of Hands Is A Point Of Contact . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.  — MARK 16:18 When my wife and I moved to Oklahoma from Texas, we had to get Oklahoma driver’s licenses. We picked up an Oklahoma driving manual, because in different states, the laws are a little different. Because we already had licenses, all we had to do was study the manual and take the written test; we didn’t have to take the driving test. But I learn a whole lot more by driving— I personally learn a whole lot more by experience—than I do by reading the manual. Also, things I read in the manual come back to my remembrance when I’m driving. The Christian life is the same way. We learn from our handbook, the Bible. But we also learn by experience. The Bible teaches us about the laying on of hands. Any believer can lay hands on you without any anointing—without any kind of feeling—just because the Bible said it. The laying on...

No Regrets Billy Graham's Daily Devotion Jun 02, 2020 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit's power, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. –Galatians 5:25 (TLB) When Bill Borden, son of the wealthy Bordens, went out to China as a missionary, many of his friends thought he was foolish to "waste his life," as they put it, trying to convert a few heathens to Christianity. But Bill loved Christ and he loved men! He hadn't been out there very long before he contracted an oriental disease and died. At his bedside they found a note that he had written while he was dying. It read, "No reserve, no retreat, and no regrets." Bill had found more happiness in his few years of sacrificial service than most people find in a lifetime.  Are you prepared to serve Christ, wherever it leads? Read this message from Billy Graham.   PRAYER FOR THE DAY Help me not to count the cost of serving You, Lord Jesus, but let me be completely yielded ...