New Year’s Resolutions: Aligning the Main Parts of Your Life with God
It’s that time of year again when everyone is making New Year’s Resolutions.
However, so many of us make these resolutions and then fail to move forward on them. I have another concept I’d like to present. It’s as simple as just aligning with God on the main parts of our lives.
There’s a very powerful spiritual principle found in Matthew 6:33 that simply says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all of these things will be added unto you.”
I believe there’s a principle in the Kingdom of God called the power of alignment: Get the main things right first, and then all of the other things will be added unto that.
I pray that as we begin to move into a new season you will begin to align with the kingdom of God. The two main things you have to align with are your time and your resources.
Take a moment to watch this encouraging video about how we use our time and resources to align our 2023 calendars with the Lord.
- Published in Spiritual Growth
Chanukah: The Feast of Dedication
The Feast of Dedication is here!
On the night of Sunday, December 18, the Feast of Chanukah began. This special feast will last for 8 days and will end on Monday, December 26.
While commonly known as Hanukah, it is also referred to as the Feast of Dedication or the Feast of Lights, as the word Chanukah means “dedication” in Hebrew. This feast is about lights, fights, miracles, and most importantly, the God of impossibilities.
After taking back the temple from a Greek invasion, the Maccabees found one flask of sanctified oil in the rubble. They used this oil to light the lampstand in the temple. This lamp stand looked something like a menorah.
They took the one flask, with enough oil to burn for only one day, and lit the menorah. However, God multiplied the oil, and the lamp miraculously burned for 8 days.
This amazing story is why Chanukah is called the feast of dedication and is celebrated with lights.
Sit back and enjoy the video teaching to learn about this feast on God’s calendar and how you can celebrate Chanukah for yourself!
Most of all during the “Feast of Lights,” may our hearts be drawn closer to the love of Yeshua Jesus — The Light of the World.
- Published in Spiritual Growth
The New Month of Kislev
We have just entered into the ninth Biblical month of Kislev.
Kislev means “trust, hope, and security.” God is reminding us that these things are found only in Himself.
We have a choice to trust God. In fact, He desires for us to trust Him in every area of our lives. How do we do that? Just by knowing how much He loves us.
Trust begins by knowing Him. When we know his character, when we know that we are loved by Him, and when we know He is for us then we are able to trust wholeheartedly.
He gives us hope and security, but it only begins when we trust and believe in Him.
Ask the Lord for a fresh revelation of His love and renewed strength to trust in Him as we learn about this new month together.
- Published in Spiritual Growth
Keeping Christ in Christmas: Power to Overcome
There’s an old cliché: “Don’t take Christ out of Christmas.” I’ve been studying the word Christ this season and found that it is mentioned 555 times in the Bible. Five is the number of grace; triple five denotes the grace to overcome. Christ comes from the Greek word Chrístos, which means “anointed one.”
Did you realize there were 5 ingredients in the anointing oil? Five animals that Abraham sacrificed when God made a covenant with him? David chose 5 smooth stones when he killed Goliath. When the Isrealites were called out of Egypt, they were called to walk out in groups of 5. Finally, there were 5 wounds of Christ on the cross.
During this season, I pray we will truly keep Christ in Christmas and realize there is power available to overcome any enemy or obstacle we may face. I’m praying that we receive power to overcome in every area of our lives, live in victory, and enjoy the anointing of Christ.
- Published in Spiritual Growth
Cheshvan: A Month of New Beginnings
October 25 marked the beginning of the Biblical month of Cheshvan. Cheshvan is the 8th month of the Biblical calendar. The number 8 represents new beginnings, which has given Cheshvan the same name: “Month of New Beginnings.”
During this month in Biblical history, the flood and Noah’s ark occurred. This is significant as it offers a clear example of God creating a new beginning. Noah’s name means “rest.” However, he was called to be fruitful and multiply in order to repopulate the land after the flood.
What does this mean for us? Like Noah, the lord is calling us to rise up and release his abundant provision in this season. First, by resting in Jesus and His abundance in our lives, and then rising up, going forth and releasing it.
May God bring your fresh revelation during this time as we learn together the significance of this new Biblical month!
- Published in Spiritual Growth
A Year of Growth: Sowing the Right Kinds of Seeds for a Spiritual Harvest
At Word Alive, we follow the Hebraic calendar, and we’ve just entered the Hebraic year of 5783. This is a significant year because it speaks of the abundance God wants to pour into our lives.
We receive a color from the Lord every year and this year that color is green because we believe it is time to grow. When I began to meditate on that, I came across Galatians 6:7-9 which says,
“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”
I thought it was interesting that the Lord would speak to me about growth in terms of growing weary. I realized that we don’t suddenly become weary, we grow weary. We make choices and sow seeds that lead to exhaustion. I felt like the Lord exploded the revelation inside of me that this year brings so much potential for us to grow, and literally anything is possible if we just sow the right seed.
I began to think about what could be accomplished in a year’s time, and here are a few examples that came to mind:
- Read through the entire Bible
- Learn to play a musical instrument
- Learn a new language
- Write a book
- Loose 20 pounds and get in shape
- Pay off a credit card
We can accomplish so much if we just sow the right seeds. That’s all it boils down to. Decide what you want to do or overcome this year, and start making the right choices and committing to the right disciplines daily. By this time next year, you will reap a harvest.
This is the year to grow. Sow the right seed, and do not grow weary in well-doing!
Watch Pastor Kent’s full message below.
- Published in Spiritual Growth
Isaiah 43: It’s a New Day
Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
It is a new season; it’s a new day. Just as we’re shifting from summer to fall—as seasons shift in the natural realm—seasons also shift in the spirit.
If you drive from Connecticut to New York, you’ll see a big “welcome” sign as you cross the state line but it still feels like you’re in Connecticut because you’ve just crossed the border. It’s the same in the spirit: you may not sense the new day because your circumstances and surroundings seem the same. But when you receive a sign that it’s a new day, if you’ll just keep moving forward and pressing in, you’ll begin to see that you really are in a whole new place.
I believe we are in a brand new day, where mysteries from heaven are being revealed. New revelations from the throne room of heaven are being released. New anointings, mantles, callings and giftings are being manifested. New supply chains and rivers of resource are opening up to God’s people because we are in a very powerful spiritual season.
Good friends of ours and true prophets of the Lord, Paul Keith and Amy Davis, recently came to Word Alive and released a prophetic word that “it is a new day.” They prophesied over my wife Beverly and me, but also for those who are connected to us. This word is for all of us.
Beverly also has a powerful prophetic gift, and within moments of being prayed over, she experienced a throne room encounter, and the whole atmosphere in our sanctuary shifted. Now, we are literally seeing the manifestations of a “brand new day.” New things are occurring.
I pray that as you watch this video, you will have eyes to see and ears to hear that it is a new season for you in your family and your sphere of influence.
Watch this prophetic word, receive the shift in your own life, and be blessed.
- Published in Spiritual Growth
The Power of Repentance
When you hear the word repentance, what comes to mind? For most of us, it means feeling sorry for something we did wrong, but it’s actually much more powerful than that. Repentance comes from the Greek word metamorphoo, which is where we get the word metamorphosis. Just like the process that turns a caterpillar into a butterfly, our struggles are what God uses to bring us to a place of repentance or transformation.
To repent literally means “to go back up”; to go back to the high place. We are in a season of the Hebraic calendar known as teshuva—repentance—and it is a period of 40 days when we look into our hearts and return to God so we can be restored to the high place.
This is a time to celebrate our struggles because they have produced power in us to transform. Jesus said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 3:2). There is a higher way of living, and that is what God is leading us to in this season. Be encouraged during this powerful time of transformation!
- Published in Spiritual Growth
Expanding God’s Kingdom
It’s the month of August, and we are excited about what God is doing! We really believe he is speaking to us about being an epicenter of freedom and transformation. Right now in our world, the Kingdom of God is finding its full expression through a remnant of believers who feel called to expand the Kingdom.
We’ve been through a period of preparation, but in the month of August, we’ll be moving into a time of great expansion. We are praying that you find the full expression of God’s Kingdom in and through your life—that you experience your own freedom and transformation, but also become an agent of change in your spheres of influence. Now is the time to expand the message of God’s Kingdom like never before.
Through some prophetic voices, Beverly and I felt called to start a podcast. We’ll be talking a lot about freedom and transformation, and we hope you’ll check it out on our Facebook page!
- Published in Spiritual Growth
Month of Transformation
The word in the atmosphere right now is transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …”
Daniel Hughes, founder of 7 Springs Ministries, recently preached here at Word Alive, and he talked about the transformation that happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. One interesting fact you may not know is that the caterpillar doesn’t actually change, it liquifies, and it is this liquifying process that produces a beautiful butterfly. It’s a death and a resurrection, just like baptism. When we go under the waters of baptism, there is a death, but then there is a resurrection.
We are believing in this season that there will not only be change but there will be some radical deaths—death to old lifestyles, old habits, old hangups—and there will be a resurrection of new life. We will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are decreeing and declaring that this is a month of transformation for us. We will not be conformed to this world, but we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
View Pastor Kent’s full message below.
- Published in Spiritual Growth