“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

Foundation Scriptures: Psalms 42:1-2, Psalms 63:1, Psalms 36:7-9, Psalms 34:8, Isaiah 55:1-2, Matthew 5:6, John 7:37-38, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 22:17

As the heart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?  Psalms 42:1-2 AMP

1.  Spiritual hunger is the number one ingredient for revival and the only way to receive anything from God.

1. Spiritual appetite is something that needs to be developed, cultivated, and protected. It determines how hungry you are for the things of God.
2. As with natural things, your diet—what you put in your mouth—dictates what you will be, so it is with spiritual things. You are what you eat! If you eat junk food, that is what you will be hungry for—that is what you will crave. You will not have an appetite for the things that are good for you and nourishing to your body. As a result, you will be sick, have health problems and die prematurely. If you make a habit of eating good, healthy, wholesome food, you will have an appetite for more good food and your body will be healthy and strong and resistant to disease. You will live longer and will have a good quality of life.

?  Body: A healthy body: healthy heart; strong constitution; no health problems; etc. An unhealthy body: sickly; anemic; high cholesterol; heart conditions; cancer, pain; etc.

?  Spirit: Eating good spiritual food will produce a healthy heart—free, filled with joy and peace and all of the nine fruit of the Spirit. Eating spiritual junk food—giving in to the appetites and lusts of the flesh—will produce a sickly heart, filled with anger, bitterness, covetousness, strife, and all the 17 works of the flesh.

2.  What must you do to develop a hungry heart?

1. Strip away everything that would clog up your heart, hinder you, and cause you to lose your hunger for God and for what is good.
2. Take a critical look at how you use your time.

?   What is your daily routine?

?   How much time is wasted time: TV; movies; sports; friends; restaurants; Internet; computer games; etc?

1. Get rid of spiritual junk food.

?   False doctrines

?   Wrong associations; bad influences

?   Wrong choices; wrong living

1. Pray; spend time in the Word of God; meditate on the Word; be filled with the Spirit; be  led by the Spirit.

3.  Ask yourself: Am I hungry for God with a passion?

1. If yes: protect your heart and your mind so you stay that way.
2.  If no: ask yourself what you must do to cut the spiritual junk food out of your life.

4.   Always: be humble; be repentant; allow God’s Word to correct you; make straight paths for your feet; God’s Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.

O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.  Psalms 63:1 AMP

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. 8 They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.  Psalms 36:7-9 AMP

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.  Psalms 34:8 AMP

Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing]. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy].  Isaiah 55:1-2 AMP

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Matthew 5:6 NKJV

Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! 38 He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.  John 7:37-38 AMP

And He [further] said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I [Myself] will give water without price from the fountain (springs) of the water of Life.  Revelation 21:6 AMP

The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.  Revelation 22:17 AMP

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

Foundation Scriptures: Mark 16:15-20

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.  Mark 16:15-20 NKJV

After Jesus rose from the dead, and before He ascended to His seat at the right hand of the Father, He sent the disciples out to do His work. He commissioned them to preach the gospel to every person, to get them filled with the Spirit and to heal and deliver them. The key to the signs and wonders and miracles was the preaching of the Word. The signs followed the Word of God! God will not confirm your opinion – He will only confirm the Word.

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree [the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter]. 12 Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it.  Jeremiah 1:11-12 AMP

The Lord is not fast asleep – He is active and alert. He is ever watching over His Word to perform it. God’s Word is not like the words of man, which fall to the ground. God’s Word is active, alive and full of power.

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12 AMP

The power of God is in the Word of God!

For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.   Isaiah 55:10-11 AMP

God’s Word is like the rain, which comes down to water the earth and produce food and seed, bringing life and blessing everywhere it falls. You never see land that is well watered, that does not have grass and trees and food growing, supporting and sustaining life. The desert areas of the world are that way because they have no rain to bring life to the ground. In the same way, wherever God’s Word goes, life is produced. God’s Word does not just fall to the ground – it is never useless or ineffective. Whatever God pleases, will be accomplished through and by His powerful Word and whatever He sent it to do it will do. Not only will His Word produce exactly what He sent it out to do, but it will prosper and be multiplied!

The Lord said to Moses, Has the Lord’s hand (His ability and power) become short (thwarted and inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word shall come to pass for you or not.  Numbers 11:23 AMP

For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.  Isaiah 66:2 AMP

Moses got into trouble with God because he asked too many questions after God had already answered him and told him everything he needed to know. He doubted God’s ability to use him for His purposes. If God tells you to do something, it is because something is going to happen as you obey His Word. It doesn’t matter if it makes no sense to the natural mind; it doesn’t matter if you feel worthy or not; God’s Word will produce and prosper when you act on it. Remember, God will not confirm your opinion or your own idea – He will confirm His Word!

We need to have a much greater respect and regard for God’s Word. We should tremble at God’s Word – not in fear, but in utmost respect. We should surrender ourselves – our will and our destiny – to His Word. God’s Word is worthy of our full attention and complete obedience at all times. Only then will we be blessed and prosperous in all that we do.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised.) Hebrews 10:23 KJV

Hold fast to the profession of your faith – your faith in Jesus and in the Word of God. The word “profession” means to confess; to promise; to acknowledge; assent; to give thanks. It is a weighty thing – a covenant affirmation or acknowledgement. It’s not a flippant thing to say, that has nothing to back it up. It is a serious and committed statement. The dictionary meaning of profess or profession is: a declaration; to lay claim to; to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge; to affirm faith in or allegiance to. Confess means: to admit as true.

Almighty God means everything that He says. He never wastes any of His words. His words have power to create and to command and to bring to pass. He created the entire universe with His words: “Let there be…” Isaiah 55:11 KJV says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” If He makes a promise, He is faithful to also keep it.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:8-10 NKJV

Salvation does not come through the works we can do – it comes through faith in Jesus’ substitutionary work. We receive salvation by believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth. It is not good enough for someone else to pray for you – you need to willingly pray the prayer with your own mouth. Our words, spoken in faith, have the power to change our eternal destiny.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV

Every tongue will soon confess Jesus as Lord – whether they want to or not – because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Better to confess Him now and be saved than to die without Him and be made to bow your knee and confess Him later, even though it’s too late for you.

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Hebrews 3:1 KJV

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Hebrews 4:14 KJV

Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. When we profess Him and His word, He works on our behalf. Hold onto your profession. Do not back of due to pressure or persecution. Never be ashamed of Him. Confess Jesus is Lord and never change your confession – never confess anyone else as Lord – never deny Him. Eternity hinges on your profession.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 KJV

Fight the good fight of faith. A good fight is a fight that you win! Lay hold on eternal life. You are called to be a person of faith and you are intended for eternal life. With your profession you are saved; with your profession of faith, you receive everything that you believe is yours according to the Word of God.

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33 NKJV

Jesus is your Advocate before the Father. If you confess Jesus before men, He will confess you before the Father. If you deny him – with your mouth – He will deny you before the Father. The words that come out of your mouth determine your destiny. Jesus is committed to you – be committed to Him!

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:15 NKJV

God comes to live in the person who confesses that Jesus is the Son of God.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 2 John 7 NKJV

Those who do not confess that Jesus came in the flesh are deceived and deceivers. They are anti-Christ – against Christ.

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Titus 1:15-16 KJV

You are in very big trouble with God if you say that you know God, but you behave like the devil. In this case, your mere words are not enough – your heart and deeds must line up with your words.

With your words, you shape your life and direct your path.

I love my pastors. Working with them is great, I am learning from them from a leader’s point of view. Last week our leadership fasted and it was amazing! We all fasted together and encouraged each other.

I have been preaching the gospel as a lay minister for a number of years before school at RBI. I knew I needed assistance to go to another level in my ministry the Lord.
When I launch out on my own I will continue under the covering of the River and be an extension of the river, as I preach the great Gospel commission.