Hello,

Do you know that as a born again spirit-filled believer you are known in the spirit realm? The demons know those who walk in authority. The seven sons of Sceva were attempting to exercise authority in a name that they did not have authority to use because they were not in covenant with Him. They were operating in the flesh. Our battle is not with flesh and blood and cannot be waged in the flesh.

“Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” Acts 19:16

As I was sharing that, the Lord dropped in my spirit, “If you minister in the flesh your flesh will be exposed.” Theirs was both spiritually and in the natural. We have been given the Helper, the one along side, to empower us for a battle that cannot be won in the flesh. To walk clothed in the Spirit is spiritual warfare.

Just a thought from my sermon a couple of weeks ago. I love it when God does that while I’m preaching. A word from the Lord is always more effective than the best, most inspired sermon. Be blessed today and remember you are known in the spirit realm, but best of all you know Jesus.

In His love,

Herb Dean

Dear friends,

It is my hope that you are doing well. It has been since last year that I have sent anything out. I pray that the year 2008 has been a blessing to you thus far, and that even as eight is the number of new beginnings that there are great things being birthed in the spirit realm for the people of God. As always I hope that this short teaching will be an encouragement to you.

I am thankful for the numbering of chapters and verses in the Bible and I am sure in God’s sovereignty He had something to say about that, but sometimes I wonder why they ended chapters where they did. You know in Paul’s writing he didn’t break up his letters, yet how many times does the first verse of a new chapter start with the word “therefore” and then we have to read the end of the previous chapter to see what it was “there for”. Sometime back I was reading Matthew 9:37,38 “Then He said to His disciples,” The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Then in the very next chapter Jesus sent the twelve out into the harvest. Jesus practiced what He preached. We don’t know that there was any time lapsed here between Jesus saying what He said in chapter nine and what He did in chapter 10. Chapter 10 begins with “And”. Jesus gave them authority and sent them out with this commission, Matthew 10:7,8, “and as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” This was the model Jesus used in ministry. He taught and He demonstrated. He told the disciples to preach the kingdom and demonstrate it.

I believe there is another model here as well. Pray and go. We must be willing to put legs to our prayers. Praying for laborers does not exempt us from being laborers, no more than giving to missions funds exempts us from being a witness. I personally cannot pray that prayer without saying, “Here I am Lord, send me.” I know a number of years ago, I was asked to consider a pastorate in a region where it is extremely cold seven or eight months out of the year. I hate cold weather and it was an area of which I was not particularly fond. I was not going to even consider it until I heard the Lord say,”Will you go wherever I send you.” I immediately said,”Yes, Lord”, and sent in the necessary information. They called someone else and I was glad, but I knew the Lord had tested my heart. I don’t know whether or not the disciples prayed to the Lord of the harvest for laborers, but if they did, they received an immediate answer, “Go!” If we stopped reading in chapter 9 we missed Jesus’ response to His own declaration.

Another great example of Jesus declaring something in one chapter and demonstrating it in the next is in Luke chapters 18 and 19. The rich young ruler came to Jesus and left sorrowful for he was unwilling to part with his riches. Luke 18:24-27 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” In the disciples’ eyes being rich was the blessing of God and if one blessed of God could not enter; then who could? Apart from faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, no one can be saved. It is impossible for any man to enter the kingdom of God apart from God. That is true whether rich or poor, but there is the tendency for a rich person to be self-sufficient and unaware of their need for God.

One day as I was reading chapter 18 in Luke and went on into chapter 19, the Lord showed me something. Chapter 19 starts with the story of Zacchaeus, the wee little man that we all sung about when we were in Sunday school. Luke 19:3 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. Notice Luke said he was rich. We could have assumed that by his being chief tax collector that he was rich, but Luke makes it a point of emphasis. Don’t you find it interesting that a morally good, rich, young ruler had rejected eternal life for riches and prompted a statement from Jesus of how difficult it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God and in the very next town there was an infamous, rich tax collector up a tree to see who Jesus was. Here was an awesome object lesson for His disciples. Zacchaeus didn’t know it but he was plant from God about to be ambushed. Luke 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ” Zaccaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Notice that Jesus knew his name and that Jesus said I must stay at your house. Jesus had come to demonstrate that God can put a camel through the eye of a needle, that a rich, dishonest man who quite probably obtained much of his wealth deceitfully could enter into the kingdom of God. Luke 19:9,10 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Where sin abounds grace does much more abound. That which is impossible to men is possible to God.

I hope that was an encouragement to you. If you would like, check out our new web site. The most recent Kingdom Keys will be available there and you may also listen to sermons recently preached by myself or my fellow elder Joe Senter. The website is: evergreenfamilyfellowship.org We want to be a blessing to you.

In His service,

Herb Dean

Dear friends,

It is my prayer for you that the Christ of Christmas is filling you with Himself and that His joy in you is full.

May the Lord bless you exceedingly in the coming year, that it would be a year of increasing revelation of Him and His kingdom and may you prosper in every area of your life. We pray that 2008 will truly be a year of new beginnings. It has been on my heart to express this sentiment to our friends and to share a brief Christmas message. I want to thank you all for your encouragement and prayers in this past year. God bless you.

Wise Men still seek Him.

I am sure that most all of you have see that statement written or posted somewhere. It impressed me the first time I saw it and I have appreciated its meaning, but I never really thought a great deal about the men in the scripture that we call the “wise men”. These men had seen a sign in the heavens and came seeking the newborn king. They journeyed to Jerusalem in search of this king. Notice their question to Herod in Matthew 2:2 ,”Where is He that is born king of the Jews, for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. They weren’t just looking for a great king; they were looking for a specific king, the king of the Jews and they were seeking to worship Him. Notice that their search began in Jerusalem and they went to the current king. It would seem fitting that a king would be born in the lineage of the king and in his palace.

Matthew 2:4 And when he (Herod) had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. It was obvious that Herod knew the king they were seeking was the Messiah. Chief priests and scribes were given the news that the Christ was born, yet they sought Him not. Worse yet a jealous, paranoid king would seek to put the Messiah to death. Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem to find Him so that He could destroy Him.

When they left the king, the star which they had seen went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. vs. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Joy to the world, the Lord has come! They were truly joyful they had found the Messiah. These were men of great faith. They had made a distant journey seeking the Messiah. These men knew that they had found the one who was to come. They were believers. When they saw the young child they fell down and worshiped Him. They presented their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. vs. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. God spoke to these men. He knew what was in Herod’s heart.

Here are couple of thoughts that came up as my son and I were talking and I was writing. My son made the point that the scribes and religious leaders received word, but did nothing with it. They chose not to seek the child, but the wise men believed to be Persians were gentiles and they diligently sought the Messiah. Those who were supposed to know the truth rejected it. Herod heard the truth and was threatened by it. The others who received the word were the lowly shepherds who were considered among the lowest strata of society. Yet, it was the lowly shepherds and the Gentiles who sought the Messiah. Is. 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

It is indeed a true axiom that wise men still seek the Lord. There are many promises to the seeker.

Jeremiah 29:11-13; Matthew 6:33; Luke 11:9; just to name a few. The wise men were men of faith and they should be an example to us today in our pursuit of God. Remember Hebrews 11:6 For without faith it is impossible to please God for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. If we seek Him , we will find Him and as He told Abraham, ” I am your exceeding great reward.” May God grant to you an ever increasing revelation of Himself in this coming year. Be blessed.

In His love,

Herb Dean

Dear Friends,

I hope that God is filling you with His joy and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit. I have been teaching some foundational truths at church. I believe that God has shown me some things during this study that I felt I should pass along. Forgiveness is an essential part of the Christian walk, both giving and receiving. Offense is a serious issue in the lives of many Christians. Many are held captive by prison bars forged in the pit of unforgiveness because they cannot forgive. They are forfeiting their inheritance because they cannot receive from God because they are holding on to offense. I hope this teaching will exhort Christians to forgive as we have been forgiven.

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:21-23

Could it be that Jesus has given authority to His people to forgive sin? Many would say that it is blasphemous to think that way and would make applications that would even deny the suggestion that God had given such authority to men. We may say it was only for the apostles. I believe that there is much of the scriptures we do not receive or do not walk in because we don’t believe God would give us that much authority. What was the resurrected Lord, who had just died for the sins of the world, saying if He was not giving us the authority to forgive? Could it be that God is not free to work in the lives of those who we won’t forgive? If we have authority to forgive; we also have the power to retain. With the authority to release comes the authority to keep bound.

In Matthew 18: 21-35 Jesus gives one of His “the kingdom of heaven is like…” parables. Rather than type all the scripture I’ll briefly give the gist of the parable. A servant was forgiven an insurmountable debt by the king and then went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a relatively small amount. When his fellow servant could not pay him, he threw him in debtor’s prison. When the king found out how he had treated his fellow servant, he was angry and turned him over to the torturers until the debt be paid There was nothing mentioned of the fellow servant, so we must assume he was not released from prison. Jesus said, “So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” If we do not forgive we can keep others in prison as well as ourselves.

If we have been crucified with Christ and the crucifixion provided forgiveness for sin, then by virtue of our position in Him not only were the sins we have committed put on the cross, but the sins committed against us were put on the cross as well. By refusing to forgive we are denying our position in Him. We have failed to appropriate the work of the cross.

The cross was both vertical and horizontal. God made provision not only for our being reconciled to Him, but that we might be reconciled to others. We have been given the grace to be ministers of reconciliation.

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5:18,19

“Reconcile” in one meaning of the word means to balance the books.

“Our certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us was nailed to the tree”. Col. 2 :14

When Jesus said, “It is finished.” The Greek word means “paid in full.” As ministers of reconciliation we do not impute the trespasses of others against them. As I was meditating before doing this teaching Sunday, I heard the Lord say, “If a man thinks he is right with me and is holding offense toward others he deceives himself.”

It is by His grace that we have been made ministers of reconciliation and if we do not walk in forgiveness we fall short of that grace allowing opportunity for a root of bitterness to spring up in us which affects everybody around us. C-Hebrews 12:15

In closing, know this, that there is not anything that you have done or that has been done to you for which the finished work of Jesus Christ is not sufficient. Praise God for his infinite mercy.

May you continually experience the abundant grace of our Lord.

In His service,

Herb Dean

Dear friends,

I pray that you are well and growing in the reality of His presence. One of the operative principles of the kingdom of God is the principle of sowing and reaping. It is so often used in reference to money and sometimes to the extreme of manipulating people to get a bigger offering. It applies across the board in every area good or bad. If we sow mercy; we reap mercy. If we sow love; we reap love. If we sow judgement; we reap judgement. We reap what we sow; we reap later than we sow, and we reap greater than we sow. I felt impressed today to share a testimony that might encourage someone who may be going through a crisis of faith or a financial struggle. God’s word is true and He is faithful. I hope this blesses you.

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:19

I had been preaching out of Philippians 4 when I felt impressed of the Lord that we needed to put these things in practice by giving to another church. It was clear that the promise which is so often quoted was given to a group of people who had sown sacrificially to meet the needs of Paul and his ministry. I knew a young pastor who had started a church and most of his members were college students. I am sure most of you know that most college students do not have an abundance and most have little or no income to give from. They were struggling financially. We were a new church as well, meeting in a Days Inn and we didn’t have an abundance of money either. I shared what I felt the Lord was telling me to do and my people were agreeable. We took up an offering for this other church. I, personally, was paid at the end of every month and I had almost run out of money before I had run out of month. My family had practically no money to give and I sacrificially gave almost all I had left. I gave 20 dollars. We collected a total of 120 dollars. It wasn’t much, but we didn’t have much.

The next day I went to the pastor’s home and gave him the check. The young pastor teared up when I handed him the check and tears came to my eyes as well as a sweet presence filled the room. God honored our sacrificial gift. No amount of money could have equaled the richness of that moment. I left broke in terms of finances, but with joy in my heart money could not buy. If that were the end of the story, it would be enough, but that was only part of what happened. The next Sunday an elderly lady who would visit our church every now and again came. She was a dear precious saint of God, an intercessor who spent many hours in prayer and knew the voice of her Lord. After the service, she came up to me and stuck a wad of cash in my hand and asked me to pray over it. She was giving this money to me in obedience to the Lord. I didn’t know how much it was and after we prayed together she left and I counted it. It was 130 dollars. God had provided for the rest of our month. I was humbled and touched. I knew that for this lady that was a lot of money. She and her husband lived on social security and what he could earn from a few odd jobs. I knew this was a sacrifice.

I saw the lady a couple of weeks later and she said that she wanted to share something with me. She had some friends to call her and ask her to go shopping with them . They told her they needed to buy a refrigerator and would like her advice as to what kind and style would be best. They looked at a number of refrigerators and my intercessor friend gave them counsel on each one. They finally came to one that she felt would serve her friends well. Her friends then asked her, “Would you like one like this?” She said she’d be very happy with one like that.They said, “It’s yours.” She was so excited. Her refrigerator was very old and she said she had laid hands on it and prayed for it on more than one occasion. God is faithful.

That is as far as I can carry the story, but knowing God I’m sure the ones who bought the refrigerator were blessed as well and probably the ones God used to bless them were blessed and so on. God has given us a gift that will never stop giving. Some might say, I’ve sown and I’ve not reaped. Remember, you will always reap later than you sow. It may be a season, but we have His promise. Be not weary in well doing for in due season you will reap if you faint not.” Gal.6:9

It is my hope to day that I have sown a blessing in your heart. God bless you.

Herb Dean