Hello Family!

I just wanted to share with you a word the Holy Spirit placed on my heart the other day. “We are not walking in love to get from God. We are walking in love to keep the enemy out.”

God in His grace has already provided all we need. He made a covenant with us when we accepted Him, so all provision, healing, and prosperity is there. Peace, joy, comfort, love, and a life filled with His presence is already ours for the taking. So, when we talk about walking in love, our purpose for doing so is not to get these things from God. God is not in heaven looking at us counting every mistake we make out of love. He is not saying, “Oh well, there goes my prosperity for them because they walked out of love.” No, that is not how God works. God is a good God, and He surrounds us with everything good.

God instructs us to walk in love to keep us closer to Him and to keep the enemy out. The more we choose to love, the more we draw closer to God and His ways. Then, the more the love of God flows from us. God has shed abroad love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit so we can have a relationship with Him. He is love and He loves to love us! Glory to God! 

1 John 4:16 

And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

He also instructs us to walk in love to keep the enemy out! Walking in love keeps the enemy from stealing, killing, and destroying. Love is the barrier against the enemy. Love is the forcefield surrounding everything that God has provided for us, and we are protecting the goodness of God from being stolen. The enemy, working through the flesh, is the one who wants to destroy your prosperity. When we choose to step out of love, we give a place for the enemy to step in and try to destroy the promises that God has already given. God is love. Satan is fear. Love is perfect. Fear is punishment. Moving out of love will bring forth fear, and fear is the open door to the enemy. 

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Let this thought be part of your week: “We are not walking in love to get from God. We are walking in love to keep the enemy out.” We choose to keep the enemy out by walking in love.

-Pastor Candace

Good Afternoon, Church Family!

I heard this statement today during my prayer time over you: “I placed My Spirit in you to help see you through.” Glory to God! I am thankful for this! I am thankful for the Holy Spirit Who dwells inside of our spirits, because that means that we are never alone. We always have someone with us, and according to this phrase, He is there to see us through. 

John 16:13 says, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth.” That is what we need, a guide that will guide us into all truth - the truth found in God’s word, the truth that will point us down the right path. If we will let the Holy Spirit see us through, we will not be led down the wrong path and will always walk in truth. 

The Greek Lexicon gives this definition to the word guide: “to lead on one’s way, to teach”. The Holy Spirit is given to us to lead us on our way as we go through life. He is given to teach us in the way we should go. But, we have a part to play. We must let Him lead the way. We get to override the fleshy feelings we are going through and push into the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God has our best interest at heart! He will always lead us to greater glory. The flesh, on the other hand, does not have our best interest at heart. The only interest of the flesh is taking care of the flesh.

So, how do we begin the process of letting the Holy Spirit see us through? We begin by faith, and faith says, “I believe that I will be led by the Holy Spirit concerning this situation. I hear His voice and I am always led by Him.” A lot of times after I begin confessing this over myself, I will remember scriptures concerning the situation. That will lead me to confess those scriptures. 

This process is the beginning stages of letting Him lead me through the situation. If we will give Him an open invitation to join us in the battle we are facing, the Holy Spirit lives to help you!  He lives to guide, direct, teach, and show you the right responses and the right way. He will also help you to discern the wrong responses and the wrong way. He will see you through!

So, whatever you may be facing today, invite Him into the situation. Allow Him to bring peace to your mind. Allow Him to direct you. Allow Him to give you the words to say. Allow Him to bring needed knowledge upon the scene. Allow the Holy Spirit to be who God created Him to be: the Helper you need working through you!

I pray for God’s love and peace to surround you today as you allow the Holy Spirit to see you through!

-Pastor Candace

Good afternoon, AGC Family!

We are another day closer to Pastor Dick Bernal’s visit to A Glorious Church! How many are believing to receive from God this weekend? Remember, it is not the man that is so special, even though he is a great man of God; but it is the anointing from God that has been placed on his life to minister to you! That is what we are thankful for.

Any time you are believing God for something, the key is to keep your faith and hope focused on that promise. One of the enemy’s greatest tactics is to try to come in and tell you all kinds of lies during the waiting process. The more time it takes, the harder it is to stay standing on the word of God. The enemy will try to come in and put doubt in your mind. Just like baking this cake, you have just spent the last 30 minutes waiting for it to bake; and now it’s done! But, now you must wait for it to cool. Ugh. 

This is a good time to meditate on the promises of God! Pull those scriptures back up, and go through them again praising, thanking, declaring, and decreeing what they say over your situation. Mix it with faith and hope. Stir yourself up and get excited about the promise!

In Joshua 1:8 we see an example of this:

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

The word tells us that if we meditate on the things of God, then we make our way prosperous and have good success. The Lord placed on Chip’s heart the phrase, “you have to see it to be it.” Just as God had Abram step out of his tent and look at the stars, God is asking us to step out of our situation and believe in His word. In doing so, in the spirit you are putting icing on your cake. You are creating the finished outcome! Glory to God!!!

I am so thankful to God that He loves us so much that He gave us His word! Without the word, we have no faith or hope. Without the word, we have nothing to battle the enemy with! That word is your promise from God Himself. DO NOT let go of that word! Hold tight to it and rejoice over it!

-Pastor Candace

Good afternoon, Church Family!

Let’s continue to stir up our faith to receive all that God has for us this weekend by baking our cake of faith! Yesterday, we added all our ingredients; now, let’s place it in the oven. During this time of the baking process what do you usually do? (I usually do some other household chores that I am behind on, lol.) But as far as the cake goes, there’s nothing more to do than to just wait for the timer to go off. Even though this is the regular process for baking a cake, it is not the same for the believer! During the waiting process of faith, the believer has a part to play.

So, what is our part? Our part is based on faith and trusting in God’s promises. While we wait, we wait with a confident expectation in what we are believing God for. During our wait of confident expectation, we as believers can apply the heat of praise and worship. The highest form of faith is to praise during the waiting period or during the storm.  

Don Gosset states, “Praise is the passport to blessings and when applied, it opens the gate to the blessings. There is no more worthy entrance into the presence of God than the entrance of praise.” He goes on to say, “Praise precedes victory and nothing so multiplies your faith as praising God: Praise is faith in action, and it lifts our eyes from the conflict to the conquest.” 

So, today during the waiting period from today to Sunday, put your faith into action by worshiping and praising God for what you are believing Him for. If you are believing to be debt free, then say, “I praise You and worship You, Lord, for the promises found in Your word! You are my provider, and I thank You that I am debt free!” One of the statements that I say a lot as I go throughout my day is, “I thank You for being my provider!” And when provision comes in, I spend more time thanking, praising, and worshiping Him for that provision! But, that same spirit of praise should be coming out of your mouth even before the manifestation of the thing you believed for. Remember, it was stated earlier that praise precedes (goes) before the victory! The more you put forth heart-felt praise, the more victory!

Aren’t you so thankful to God for His recipe for life - the Bible? Everything we need to get through every situation in life is found in His word! His word tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Put that cake in the oven today, and just praise and worship God. Sit back in peace, with thankfulness flowing from your heart, and wait with a confident expectation for the timer to go “ding.”

Pastor Chip and I love you all and are praying for you daily!

-Pastor Candace