By REV. TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
CHEROKEE PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH
Read Isaiah 61
“I believe,” said Pastor Melton, “This battle has already been won by Him. I’m a winner! Give Him your broken heart, for He was sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to set the captives free, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
“Just as Jesus read these verses before people in the synagogue, He had come…” ’To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. (KJV)’. “This is Who He is,” declared Pastor.
“We are to be the ones to build up ‘waste places, to repair the wasted cities, the desolations of many generations, that He may be glorified,’ with our good fight of faith. Man of God, woman of God, our God doesn’t lose anything. God knows how to hold onto even our parents who may already have gone home a few weeks early. We know exactly where they are.
“God is the ultimate Bookkeeper. He even has a Book in His Word named Numbers. He knows the score. He even knows the number of hairs on our heads. The numbers for each of us are recorded in our own book in heaven, written down for us. God has said that, ‘For your shame you will have double for your trouble’. It is tough to be only in a process, but the knowing that waiting in the wings is our blessing, with our oil of joy, helps.”
“The impossible happens and we will know that in all these things we are more than conquerors. Finish in the same mindset, just like you are beginning. Shout with the victory before it comes to pass. Peter denied Christ three times, but he also was one who was filled with the Holy Spirit in a moment, like the other disciples. We’re about to get more that we had.”
“Twelve years ago a Jewish doctor walked into an office and told us that my kidneys were not functioning, that I would die in three days if I left the hospital, that I would be on dialysis for the rest of my life.
“I told him, ‘I serve a God who heals,’ and left the office. I’m still here to testify of the Lord’s bringing my healing at that time, and can tell you that the doctor got saved, too. These are the spoils of victory. You can make a bet on things like this happening, it’s a sure thing!”
“Mindsets will have to change. While working in a homeless shelter we found that there was actually one who was a multimillionaire living there. He would not buy either shoes or socks because he was afraid to spend any of his money. He was afraid that his money would just ‘go away’. He had what we could call a ‘poverty mindset’. It had messed up his thinking.”
“Even within the church, we still have to learn how to think right. Sin has always managed to make one’s thinking sick. The natural mind, being carnally-minded, has to be trained, at least, to think God’s way, and quit sinning. Those who are selfish are not thinking God’s way. To be blessed by Him, we must change our thinking and our ways, becoming more like Him. We must change our responses to better align with His teachings. We also need His help to benefit from a real change in our heart attitudes. Just in getting saved, we can realize that it’s not to be just our ‘fire insurance’, it must bring a change to our whole way of thinking. Otherwise, the devil constantly will tell us, ‘it didn’t take, and we’ll believe it.’”
Read Romans 12:1-2; and Romans 8:6-10
“We are each a spirit, attached to a soul (mind, will and emotions), dwelling in a body. Carnal mindsets and fleshly bodies, can hinder the growth of our spirit man. The spirit of man, when it has been saved, has been perfected. But, fleshly bodies aren’t, and neither is the minds’ thinking. Our minds’ thinking must be renewed by the reading and studying of the Bible and talking it over with God in prayer. It can mean life-long joy! He knows everything!
