Breakthrough Believers

Sermon by Pastor Alex

God never loses a battle. The Bible says, with a flick of his finger and the breath of his nostrils He wins battles. This is the God we serve and He is preparing us to take back His kingdom, to walk victoriously over every challenge that comes our way. 

He says we are his weapons of war. 

The attitude of David must be in our hearts. As the whole Israel army stood paralyzed by the fear of Goliath, David knew whom he represented. He said – Who is this filthy giant coming against the Army of God? He displayed the kind of courage mentioned by Paul in Romans 8 – If God is for us, who can be against us? Victory belongs to God. It is decided and brought about by God.

We are now going into the nitty-gritty details of our spiritual walk because God is meticulous in His work . Before we go on the offensive, we must build our defenses well.

Brazil has one of the most skillful soccer teams in the world. They are expected to win every World Cup. In all their winning years, they had very strong defensive players. A strong defense means there is no vulnerable spot in us that the enemy can exploit. 

The best offense is a strong defense. 

Let’s look at the Holy Spirit led Churches of Antioch and Thessalonica to strengthen our defenses.

The creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God in the last generation. Sons of God are mature sons with the key characteristic of being led by the Holy Spirit in every aspect of their lives. They are a breed of breakthrough believers who are a fore-shadow of the type of believers that will rise in the last generation.

The last days’ church will operate in and through the Holy Spirit. They will walk in stature and in complete submission to the Holy Spirit. 

That is why we have been learning how to structure

1) Our lives to allow unhindered space for the Holy Spirit to work

2) Our church leadership to allow the flow of the Holy Spirit’s leadership

Who is the Holy Spirit to you? Is He the president or the resident of your life? 

Resident implies He is just a spectator in your life and you are moving by your own will and desires. President implies He is the one giving directions. With this in mind, consider how the churches operate in India. Several things have been watered down when compared to the churches in Antioch and Thessalonica.

What we do in the coming days will determine whether Holy Spirit-led churches rise in the places that God has put us in. 

First, let us get a few commonly used terms clear in our minds. 

1. What do we mean when we say – we need just one touch from the Lord?

In the context of sickness, it means healing. In trials, it means a Word from the Lord that will bring in illumination. Most times it means a fresh encounter; a fresh impartation that will hit your spirit and life. If it is an encounter from God it will change something irreversibly in your life. It could be your walk with God, obedience, passion; something will change irreversibly in your life in that encounter. If it is only an experience; we go to a meeting, we experience the presence of God, we cry, we fall, roll on the floor but after a few days, we return to normal. There will be no deeper impact. It was merely an experience. When we talk about one touch from the Lord it can mean any one of these things. 

2. When we talk about anointing – it means the empowerment of the Spirit to move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit

This is not the measure of being led by the Spirit. It is merely the expression of the gift. 

3. In-filling of the Holy Spirit

Every time we go through a testing or trial we need an additional measure of grace from God. For this purpose, during personal or corporate worship God pours out a new measure of the Spirit. It can come to fill you with faith, strength or hope.

4. Life in the Spirit 

It means the Holy Spirit can exert control over your mind, will, and emotions and influence you freely. It’s not just hearing from God but Him operating through your various faculties – mind, will, emotions, speech, and thinking patterns. 

Romans 8:9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.). Let’s zone in on – you are no longer under the control of human nature or the flesh but you are under the control of the Spirit. Before we were born again we were operating on our will, desires, and wants. But when we got saved, a new way opened up to come under the control of the Holy Spirit.

The word “Control”, is a very strong one. It means the power to direct people’s behavior. To fulfill God’s calling on our lives and to reach our true potential we must transit to be under the full control of the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

There is a choice here – we can either ‘set our minds on what human nature wants’ or ‘what the Spirit wants.’ We can choose to depend on the Holy Spirit. There is a process here. As we continually make choices to submit to His promptings and reminders, He begins to exert more and more control over our mind, will, and emotions. All these are the seat of our decision-making. Every time we choose to obey His voice He brings us one level higher. He helps us overcome one level higher until His influence begins to increase within our thinking process, our emotions, and our will. When this process is at maximum level, at optimum, He can express Himself fully and freely in our lives. 

This process takes different time lengths in different people according to our level of hunger and obedience.

James 1: 13-15 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 

This process is in the context of sin. But it also applies to every act of decision-making. How we weigh and decide is our choice. We can choose whether we want to go according to our self-centered nature or according to the Spirit.

The early church is a good example of lives that were controlled and influenced by the Holy Spirit. They were breakthrough believers.

Romans 8:19 For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.

This will be fulfilled in our generation. Hence, the impact of the work of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives will be greater than what we saw in the early churches.

Those breakthrough believers had no leader or guide. They were left alone yet they did great exploits even under great persecution. Who was their guide? Who taught them? Who counseled them? The answer is the Holy Spirit. 

Breakthrough believers were open to being trained by the Holy Spirit

We are not undermining the role of the five-fold ministry because God brought the five-fold later to establish proper doctrines. But our focus is on they were open to being trained by the Holy Spirit. One of the main tasks of the Holy Spirit is to prepare the church as a Bride. He builds each one according to the assignment that God has kept for them. Without the outworking of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will never become the product that God meant us to be. 

Isaiah 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous;

they will possess the land forever;

they are the branch of My planting,

the work of My hands,

so that I may be glorified.

Titus 2:11,12 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age, 

He teaches us to say No to the things of the world. 

He trains us to be productive. Because Jesus says we will produce much fruit and fruit that will last. It is the Holy Spirit that outworks that in our lives. 

John 15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 

1 John 5:4 For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

He trains us to be overcomers. By our faith, we will overcome the challenges that come in our life. He also trains us for specific battles we will face in our assignment and our race. God trained David as a young boy to fight a lion, then the bear, and then when David was ready He sent him to face the giant. In the same way God prepares us in different phases. If we are still struggling with the lions, we cannot face the bears. If we are still struggling with the bears we cannot move on to face the giants. As we keep obeying the Holy Spirit we rise in these levels. He brings us from strength to strength and victory to victory in every area of our lives.

Holy Spirit is committed and faithful to see that we overcome every level until we reach our true potential.

That is why what’s happening inside of our lives is more important than what’s happening in the world. The work of the Holy Spirit is the key that determines how far we will go and what will happen in our lives. Pandemic can come and go. Covid 21 may come. Covid 23 may come. It’s not our concern. It will come and go. We just protect ourselves.

Our priority must always be to finish the assignment and race that is prepared for us. Because that is how God is going to judge us – How we lived our lives and whether we fulfilled everything He has called us to do. 

If there is anything important in this season it is the awareness of what God is doing inside you and is speaking to you. Whatever happens through your life, healing, someone getting blessed, all this is the mercy and grace of God. The same people who praise you today can stone you tomorrow. All it takes is one offense.

Don’t measure your life by how many people are blessed through you. The true measure of you is what you allow the Holy Spirit to build inside you. That is your value – What He builds inside you. 

Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you.

To instruct is – What to do

To teach is – How to do

To advise is – When to do 

So in every aspect of our lives the Holy Spirit is ever ready to instruct, to teach, and to counsel how to move from one level to another. 

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Isaiah 11: 2

This is talking about the Holy Spirit. It is not the seven spirits of God. What do all these mean? It refers to insight, hindsight, foresight, revelation, understanding, and wisdom from God. When we have access to all these things through the Holy Spirit in our lives is there anything too hard for us to overcome? It is one thing to buy a sim card for your phone but if you don’t activate it, it is of no use to you. The same principle applies to the Holy Spirit in our life. Whether it is in ministry, family, needs, fears, emotions, He wants to bring us step by step to victory in every area. If there is no growth then there is stagnancy.

If we are not breaking through it means we are not giving Him space to teach us how to overcome. Everything God touches has a breakthrough from one level to another. 

1 Chronicles 14:11 So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there; and David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.

It means God of Breakthrough.

One of our friends is a TV star who was addicted to gambling. He went into debt of about 3.5 million USD and lost all his contracts. He was at the point of committing suicide. Then he found Christ and in a short period of 6 years, God showed him step by step how to pay off all the debts without borrowing money from anywhere. He started with commercials. He got some money. God advised where to invest that money. Slowly God taught him how to come out of his debt completely. Nothing is impossible for God. God used what was in his hand to solve his problems. 

Many times our fears, anxiety, and impatience override what God wants to do in our lives. Some people pray and wait for the situation to change. They forget that the Holy Spirit is waiting on the sidelines to guide them to total victory.

He is the Holy Spirit. He loves and cares for us the same way God the Father does. Are we ready to wait and listen to Him?

In the world, the secret of success is what you know and who you are connected to. But as believers the secret of success is inside us, waiting eagerly for us to ask and engage Him. When God says I don’t give you the wisdom of the world but the wisdom from above He is talking about the Spirit of Wisdom living inside us. 

Proverbs 1:23-27 “Turn to my rebuke,

Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you.

“Because I called and you refused,

I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

And you neglected all my advice

And did not want my rebuke;

I will also laugh at your disaster;

I will mock when your dread comes,

When your dread comes like a storm

And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,

These are the insights into the feelings of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Wisdom and He calls out to us and gives us advice. When we choose not to respond this is how He feels. When we don’t pay attention to His words and neglect His advice, calamity will come; so will distress and anguish. 

Proverbs 1:32 For the faithlessness of the naïve will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

This describes 2 types of attitudes in people – the waywardness of the naïve and the complacency of the fools. 

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Hosea 4:6

They are naïve because they are ignorant of the ways of God. 

2 Timothy 3:5-7 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

People who only have a form of godliness, keep on learning but never grow. They listen but don’t apply hence don’t grow. 

2 Timothy 4:3,4 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Naïve people always listen to only what appeals to them; what their itching ears wants to hear, what their heart wants to hear. They don’t run after truth. 

Proverbs 19:2 Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs.

They rush into things without thinking of the consequences. They are very impulsive. They disregard/don’t seek/ don’t pay attention to God’s counsel. They are led by emotions rather than by what God is saying. Solomon said because of the waywardness of the naïve they are not able to break through into the things that God has prepared for them. 

Next comes complacency of fools – They become too familiar with God.

When we are too familiar with God we operate in the sin of presumption. Definition of presumption is to act without the commission or authority of God.

That is, you never heard that from God but you think you can go ahead and do it and God is obligated to support you. Many times as pastors we want to push things forward using our personality, tempers, and other manipulative ways to bring the people where we want them to be. We do it because we want it done in a certain way at a certain time. God would not have approved of it but we do it because we feel it is best for the church. We rationalize this behavior thinking since we are doing it for the church it must be correct and somewhere along the way God will meet up. This is the complacency of fools. 

One of the good examples of this is Solomon.

1 Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

Solomon loved God. He had 2 visitations from God. 

In 1 Kings 11 we see, God advised the Israelites not to intermarry with the other tribes but Solomon went ahead disobeyed that 1000 times over. We can wonder how the wisest man in history could do such a foolish thing. It was not a problem of lust. If it was so, he could have had all the women in his kingdom. It was simply a political move. In those days, there were two ways to increase your territory – by war or by alliance of marriage. By marriage your territory increased and you also had peace because someone from that territory is married to you. Solomon thought he was too smart for God. According to him it was a wise move but in the end, it destroyed his relationship with God.

1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of his father David had been.

It is not enough if you start strong. You must finish strong. 

The other aspect of the complacency of fools is – where our security and hope lie. If our security lies in our strength and wisdom, the people we know, our riches etc., we are building on shaky foundations. Sometimes, when something goes wrong we immediately go around and ask the whole world for help/solution but we don’t have the patience to listen to what God is saying.

Proverbs 1:33 “But whoever listens to me will live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

Our trust in God and the Word of God are the only things that will carry us through till the very end.

A person who listens to the Holy Spirit will be secure from all fear of evil. Who has the blueprint of your life? He does. Who is God’s answer to your problem? He is. 

Breakthrough believers have a resilient mindset

Psalms 73: 16,17 When I thought of understanding this,

It was troublesome in my sight

Until I entered the sanctuary of God;

Then I perceived their end.

When we enter into the presence of God, He changes our perspective. When our perspective changes we discover joy, power, and strength to continue in the race. Breakthrough believers pursue purpose at all costs. They know how to overcome challenges and continue to stay on course. They know how to receive revelation, understanding, and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. They have a radical lifestyle. A radical lifestyle changes the prevailing standard. In Antioch where they were preaching the gospel, something stood out in their lives. The life, love, and power of Christ were flowing from them. They were called Christians – “Little Christs”. 

How do we get a resilient mindset? The 1st thing we want to look at is receiving the proceeding Word – the Rhema word and then progressive revelations. 

Acts 11:20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

When they were scattered everywhere they were moved by the Spirit to preach the gospel to the gentiles. We see this pattern of the Holy Spirit in Acts 16, when Paul wanted to go in one direction the Holy Spirit gave a vision about the Macedonian man who called him. Then the whole direction of their journey changed. It was from the proceeding word of the Holy Spirit because it was something that was never done before. 

Acts 11:27-30 Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. And to the extent that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brothers and sisters living in Judea. And they did this, sending it with Barnabas and Saul to the elders.

Holy Spirit revealed there was an earthquake coming and they began to prepare accordingly. The proceeding word came and the progressive revelation also came instructing them about what to do. 

The proceeding word is the starting point of what God wants to do.

Sometimes, when we are praying to God for something and we receive a Word, without waiting to understand what the next few steps are, we take the word and run. That is why sometimes we run ahead of God and we don’t see the results we want to see. 

Holy Spirit has the blueprint for your life and your church. If He speaks and you don’t understand, just wait. God has no problem in communicating in a way you understand. That’s why sometimes when you think you received something from God and you are confused, you got to ask yourself – “How can God tell me something I don’t understand?” Either He has to give you a progressive revelation or you misinterpreted/misheard it.

The real danger is if we move without understanding, Then we will try to “help” God fulfill what we think He wants us to do and we create an Ishmael like Abraham and make a mess for ourselves. 

The Pharisees were experts in the Word of God and they knew every prophecy regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. They had the proceeding Word. Yet when HE was walking among them they could not recognize the fulfillment of all those prophecies in His life. Why? What jammed that proceeding Word in them? 

What jams the frequency of the proceeding word when it comes to us? 

1. Our expectations. In the Pharisees’ case, it was their expectations. They couldn’t accept that the Messiah was a poor carpenter’s son. So our expectations may jam the frequency of what God is speaking to us because we only pay attention to what appeals to us. 

2. Our ambitions. When our heart is set on certain things we may miss what God is trying to say to us or do through us. 

3. Wrong understanding of doctrines. Sometimes our understanding of doctrines can also affect the way we receive the proceeding Word. One good example is the word “Ekklesia.” When people use this word and break it down to its core meaning in Greek it is “called out ones”. Then they begin to interpret the word according to that meaning. They go into an understanding of being called out – from darkness to light, from sin into freedom. Their frequency goes into that angle. What they don’t realize is that the word “Ekklesia” is not a Christian word. It is a political term that refers to noblemen in the city who come together to plan for the development and well-being of the city.

If our understanding of doctrine and scripture is flawed our receptivity to what God is saying will be jammed because we don’t register what He is speaking.

Eg. If your doctrine is pre-tribulation rapture when God speaks to you about preparing the people for what is coming ahead, it won’t register in your mind because you assume before all these things happen we will be “raptured” out. 

4. Our fears can jam the proceeding word. God may speak to us something and if it is something we fear we will automatically reject it and look for substitutes. Our fears produce 2 responses to God’s word. It will give excuses or look for substitutes/alternatives. God has a proceeding word for every area of our lives. It will set in motion things to bring breakthroughs and victories but we must have the patience to wait for Him to give us progressive revelation. Patience is a discipline. 

What do we need to allow proceeding Word and progressive revelation to pattern our entire life? – Deep conviction. 

1 Thessalonians 1:5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes.

So we want to zero in on the words – full conviction. The Thessalonians had clear, unshakable convictions of the gospel. They were left alone as a new church. Despite all the persecution they held onto their faith because they had unshakeable convictions. They became an example to the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. 

So what should our unshakable convictions be?

1st Conviction – We are the finishing generation. If this is the final 20 years of our lives before Jesus comes back, what kind of lives should we live? 

2nd Conviction – Church will rise in stature and maturity in our generation. What should we do to facilitate that? 

3rd Conviction – We will see the manifested sons of God rise in our generation. A generation of believers who are led explicitly by the Holy Spirit; a church led explicitly by the Holy Spirit.  What should we do to give complete access to our lives and church to the Holy Spirit? This leads to the next thing. 

4th Conviction – The church will become a hub of divine activity because everything is organized and orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. 

5th Conviction – We are called and chosen to be the end-time leaders. That means God knows we have the capacity, the capability, and everything to lead this last generation. 

6th Conviction – The kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord Christ.

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

No matter what we see happening around us from now till the coming of Jesus, we walk in this conviction, He is coming back to reign over all the earth. 

7th Conviction – The oath we took when we started this Kingdom Leaders Fellowship.

We will influence every domain, impact every generation, transform our nation in our lifetime.

Whatever we can we will do based on the resources and the doors that open. If we are a leader in these last days these convictions must be embedded and engraved in our hearts and lives. 

In Hebrews 11, it talks about the cloud of witnesses, the men of faith. When they look at our generation will they call us a generation that had these unshakable convictions or will we be a generation that broke down halfway? Only time will tell. 

Breakthrough believers put the Word above everything else

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

Their attitude towards the Word was as if God was directly speaking to them. How deep the Holy Spirit can work in us depends on how deep the Word is deposited in our spirit. This depends on our attitude towards the Word. 

Psalms 138:2 I bow down toward Your holy temple

and give thanks to Your name

for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness;

You have exalted Your name

and Your word above all else.

God honors His word more than His name. In some versions, it says equal to His name. That’s the importance God places on His word. They treated every Word, whether preaching or reading as God speaking to them. 

What is our attitude towards the Word? 

Psalms 119:72 The Law of Your mouth is better to me

Than thousands of gold and silver pieces. 

Psalms 119:20 My soul is crushed with longing

For Your ordinances at all times. 

Job 23:12 I have not failed the command of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

These scriptures are not to make us religious and holy. It is to evaluate our attitude towards the scriptures.

Is the Word that important to us? More than gold and silver? Causing our soul to be crushed in longing for it? Treasured above our necessary food? 

Isaiah 66: 2 “For My hand made all these things, So all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But I will look to this one, At one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.” 

God dwells with those who tremble at His word. 

Psalm 119:61 says I stand in awe of your laws. 

Why should we stand in awe? Because Matthew 10:28 says to fear Him who can destroy both spirit and body. Disobeying God is far more fearful than disobeying men. 

Do we have reverential fear for the Word or is it just another religious book? Why do we go to the Word? Is it to gain more knowledge? Is it to prepare a message? Is it a religious obligation? 

The scripture says man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word is the material the Holy Spirit gives to build our lives. That’s why, how the Word goes into your heart is very important.

When we say God is our first love, it means His Word and His Presence are our first love.

When the Thessalonians said they treat the Word of God as God speaking to them it meant they would treat it with a humble and contrite heart, trembling and showing absolute obedience because it was God speaking to them. So we are not talking about doing quiet time or reading plans. When we say God is speaking to us we are saying we believe that God will bring it to pass no matter what, we have no doubt.

Psalms 119:36 Help me focus on your Word and keep me away from selfish gain. 

The Word selfish gain here means covetousness. Covetousness takes our focus away from God’s word. 

Ezekiel 33:31 says they come and hear the Word but their hearts are far away because their hearts are covetous. 

Colossians 3:16 says that covetousness is idolatry. 

Acts 24:25, 26 talks about Felix. The first time Felix heard the Word of God from Paul it brought fear into his heart. Later it says he was hoping to receive a bribe from Paul so he sent for him to hear him speak. When he heard the Word of God initially, fear and reverence came into his heart but later the greed and covetousness in him overrode that fear. 

Sometimes when we go through situations and struggles, our heart becomes hardened to the Word of God. We don’t believe in the power of the Word, we don’t believe in having reverence for the Word. Eventually, other things can override our love for the Word. So it is important to evaluate our attitude towards the Word. How the Word enters our hearts is very important.

It is not how much we know the Word, it’s how much the Word has gone through us and transformed us. 

Psalms 119:130 When the Word comes it give light and understanding to the simple. 

So it is not about knowing what Paul said or quoting the Bible. There must be something happening in our hearts. 

1. When the Word comes it brings revelation and understanding

Sometimes people have the same understanding of the scripture even after 5 years which means no revelation and understanding has come into their spirit. There is no depth of the word. They just take the word at surface level. 

2. When we read the Word insight must come

 Insight means – what does it mean to me? 

3. We must receive wisdom to execute

We must know what we need to do next. 

Knowing the Word alone is not going to bring us anywhere but revelation, understanding, insight, and wisdom to execute must come.

The religious spirit focuses on the activity – I do my quiet time, I do my Bible study, I study Greek and Hebrew. It focuses on the activity.

A spiritual person focuses on how deep the Word goes to change and transform.

We must go back to the place of revering the Word of God. What is our appetite for the Word of God like? What is our attitude towards the Word of God? Is it more precious than gold and silver? Do we long for His word at all times? Do we long for understanding and insight?

This is a season when God is looking at our attitude and appetite for the Word of God. 

Breakthrough believers were bold and fearless

They were bold and passionate in what they did. 

1 Thessalonians 1:8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place, the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything.

They were amid persecution but the Word went out everywhere because they were bold and passionate. They were so excited about their salvation that they spread the good news everywhere. They couldn’t keep it within themselves. They couldn’t keep silent in the middle of great persecution. 

Jeremiah 20:9 But if I say, “I will not remember Him Nor speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am tired of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.

This is what happens when the Word within us is active and we cannot contain that life within us. We cannot keep it to ourselves. It is like a burning fire in our hearts. Everywhere the Thessalonians went they were passionate about sharing what God was doing in their lives. At some point in our lives, there would be a confrontation between our values, our principles and our faith, and the things of the world. That’s when the work of the Word and the work of the Spirit will be expressed through our lives. The quality of the work will be exposed. It will be seen clearly whether the Word and the Spirit are alive and active in our lives or have our hearts become fearful and squashed. Boldness in the Biblical sense is not a personality trait. Some people are naturally very bold. In the Biblical sense, it means Spirit-empowered courage and conviction

If we have a Spirit-empowered conviction we are not fearful or shy to talk about it.

Even though there are 365 “Fear Not” scriptures in the Bible, great promises like “When God is with us who can be against us?” if we are not empowered by the Holy Spirit we cannot live out this truth. We know from the life of Peter, James, and John, they were frozen by fear and ran away and denied Jesus fearing arrest and punishment. But once filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 they began to preach boldly and even when they were arrested they were not fearful but joyful. 

In Acts 4, when they came out of prison and related to everyone what happened to them, the young church realized the implication of being a Christian. It was either persecution or execution. 

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

There was a fresh infilling of the Spirit upon their lives and the rest is history. It changed their whole lives. They became bold and they went forward despite the persecution and threat of execution. The secret was Spirit-empowered conviction. 

In summary, what do we learn from these breakthrough believers?

1. They were open to being trained by the Holy Spirit. 

2. They had a resilient mindset. Nothing stopped them. 

3. They had a radical lifestyle. They moved by proceeding Word and progressive revelation. 

5. They had unshakeable convictions.

6. They honored the Word above everything else. 

7. They were fearless in the face of persecution. 

This was their life structure. This is the fore-shadow of the generation that will rise in the last days, in our time. 

If you look at all 7 points the common denominator is the infilling and the outworking of the Holy Spirit in their lives. It will produce a life submitted and led by the Holy Spirit in all aspects. Remember when we say “Led by the Spirit” we mean life in the Spirit not just hearing from the Spirit. 

What is the starting point? The choice we make – Where do we set our mind? Because if we set our mind on the Spirit and give Him the freedom to work in our lives He knows the blueprint for our lives, the challenges we will face as an individual, as a leader, as a pastor, as a church and He will prepare us and build us to face and overcome everything. The Holy Spirit will accomplish everything that is designed for your life if you set your mind on Him.