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BOOK TITLE: PLANS, PURPOSE AND PURSUIT

AUTHOR: Kenneth E. Hagin

ABOUT AUTHOR: Kenneth E. Hagin

Reverend Kenneth Erwin Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas. Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bed-fast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.

In August 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God’s Word. Jesus appeared to Reverend Kenneth Hagin eight times over the next several years in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Rhema for Today.

In 1968 Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith. That magazine, now produced nine times a year, has a circulation of over 200,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated worldwide more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Kenneth W. Hagin, Lynette Hagin, Craig W. Hagin, and several other authors. Faith Library Publications also has produced millions of audio and video teachings.

Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include Rhema Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Revs. Kenneth and Lynette Hagin; Rhema Correspondence Bible School; Rhema Alumni Association; Rhema Ministerial Association International; the Rhema Prayer and Healing Center; and the Rhema prison ministry.

LEAD #1: EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOUSE.

Let’s see what Psalms 127:1 says:
Except the Lord built the house, they labor in vain to build it.

Notice in this scripture, that they did build the house. They got it built, all right, but their labor was all in vain because the Lord wasn’t in it.

There are times a man’s plan will be good, perhaps scriptural, and yet, not God’s plan for them simply because they’ve not heard what God has to say about such a particular plan.

This is one reason the move of God, the depth of the flow of the spirit, and the fullness of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost in men is limited.

Many times, people and ministries fail because they have the wrong plan, purpose and motive.

This is why you must ask God whether what you’re doing is his plan for you.
When your plans and purposes are in line with God, they will succeed.

Don’t just do things because you feel that’s the way it ought to be done. Instead, take time to find out what God wants done.
Hear from heaven for yourself.

Being out of the will of God brings dissatisfaction. If correction isn’t made on time, you’ll reap the consequences of such disobedience.

Get God involved in whatever you are doing. Find out what His plan is before you ever begin to build.

When you get down on your knees and find out for yourself what His plans are, because He will put His approval and His blessings on His plans, it works so much better. It will almost work like clockwork.

There are times God will show you his plan for you, but you perceive in your spirit that the time to kick start isn’t immediately, in a situation like this, wait till it’s the appropriate time.

LEAD #2: WHAT’S YOUR PURPOSE.

God gives men his plan, but men’s purpose most times are wrong.
Men’s purposes and pursuits are not lined up with God’s plans and purposes for the fullness of his blessing.

It’s possible to have the right plan with the wrong purpose.

We are not to put on a demonstration, we are to allow the demonstration of the Holy Spirit.

If people don’t know what they are praying for, how will they know if they get the answer?

Some rush to the altar to surrender their lives to Christ, yet they don’t know why they moved forward In the first place.
Their purposes were wrong and they didn’t even know it.

When man’s purposes are wrong, the blessings of God can be limited. God’s blessings and His stamp of approval can only be given in a limited way when we are not in line with His plan. Get God’s plan! It’s the best!

God hasn’t got any “get-fixed-quick” plans. The new birth is instant, but spiritual growth is not. Spiritual development takes time.

The things of God still cost the same price they did years ago. They never go up in price and never go down in value.

Failing to follow God’s plan and to move with Him, kills the move of the Spirit. Then the church gets dry, dead, and dull, and splits in three or four different directions.

When we pursue God’s purpose in spiritual matters, then we know what to do in each service.

When we pursue God’s purpose rather than our own, the Holy Spirit is free to move in our midst. He can accomplish more in five minutes than we could accomplish in five years!

LEAD #3: WALKING IN THE LIGHT.

Many churches and ministers don’t prosper because they deliberately ignore God’s plan spoken to their hearts by his spirit.

Be aware that when the light of God’s word comes, it shows us God’s plan for each one of us.

The entrance of God’s word gives light.

The light of God’s Word reveals God’s plan for the individual believer and God’s plan for the Church!

The reason some people are just
partially blessed, blessed
only in a limited measure, is because they’re just partially walking in the light of what God has for them.
Others refuse entirely to walk in the light.

It’s not enough simply to have God’s plan in a directional sense.

You must also walk in the light of His Word which has already been revealed to you, practicing it in all areas of your life and ministry, and you must continue to walk in any further illumination which He gives you.

The plan of God won’t be fulfilled in your life, even though you may have clear direction concerning the future if you refuse to obey His written Word.

Let’s never reach the point where we become complacent about practicing the Word of God in our lives.

Let’s never get so comfortable where we are unwilling to change in order to move forward with God. God will always be moving forward.

LEAD #4: REVERENCE: KEY TO GOD’S PRESENCE AND POWER.

Prayer isn’t about ‘give me, give me’ all the time as people think.

Prayer is fellowshipping with God.

One type of prayer is praise and worship.

Let’s see what 1 Timothy 2:8 has to say.
KJV: I will therefore pray that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting”.

( This above Scripture is what the Holy Spirit said through Paul)

The only instruction we have in the New Testament about what we are to do with our hands, is to lift them up.

The world claps; Saints praise.

To clap is to applaud.

There is not one scripture in the New Testament about clapping.
The Bible says in Psalm 47:1:
KJV: O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.’

Clapping in this verse denoted an attitude of victory; it was not a form of praise.

That is the only time clapping before the Lord is mentioned, and that is in the Old Testament.

There are also some occurrences in the Old Testament where people clapped their hands for other reasons, but it had no connection with the worship of God. Then there are also scriptures about the waves and the floods clapping their hands, but you understand, that is figurative language.

This doesn’t mean clapping is wrong in itself.
It’s ideal to distinguish between clapping which is a natural expression of this world, and the raising of our hands which is a scriptural expression of the realm to which we as believers belong.

We also need to identify when to clap and when to lift our hands in praise. Clapping at the wrong time can cause the anointing to lift from a service.

Clapping in the midst of the Spirit’s manifestation displays irreverence for Him.

If what you’re saying is by the unction of the Spirit, people need to hear it. And there should be enough respect for the Holy Spirit not to interrupt Him when He’s moving.

There are times when we applaud a speaker to let him know we’re glad he’s come.
It is a gesture of welcome after he has been introduced, and it’s strictly on a natural level.
That’s all right as long as it’s not overdone.
We’re not worshiping or praising the speaker.

There is a movement of the Spirit of God that God is wanting on this day.

God is wanting to do something for us today!
Let’s not hinder Him.
Let’s just cooperate with Him and let’s be reverent.

For when we reverence God and give Him the honor and worship due unto Him, His Presence will fill the place where we are gathered.

It is His Presence which will meet the deepest longings of our hearts and set the captives free.

LEAD #5: BE BEING FILLED- SPEAKING.

New Testament accounts, the people spoke with tongues after the Holy Ghost came upon them.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking is the New Testament pattern.
Let’s see what Ephesians 5:18 and 19 has to say.
KJV 18: And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

KJV 19: SPEAKING to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Notice the key words in this passage: “… be filled with the Spirit; speaking…” (vv. 18,19).

The way we maintain a continual infilling and maintain our walk in the Spirit is through speaking divinely inspired utterances to the Lord.
This is one form of New Testament worship.

Let’s see what Colossians 3:16 has to say.

KJV: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, SINGING WITH GRACE IN YOUR HEARTS TO THE LORD.

We are to speak to ourselves. This is something we are to do in our own personal, private life in communion with God.

Many times, God will give you a psalm in your private prayer life just for your own benefit.
On the other hand, a hymn is a song of praise and worship addressed to and directed toward God.

A spiritual song is a song that brings forth the revelation of the Word that the Holy Spirit has given you.

Colossians 3:16 has this to say.
KJV: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

That doesn’t necessarily mean just the written Word.

They didn’t have a written New Testament then. The Bible is talking about the Word that the Holy Ghost brings to you. It may be a scripture, a word of encouragement, or a word of exhortation, etc.

If speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is God’s plan for believers living under the New Covenant, then should we not determine to pursue that plan?

You can stir up the Holy Spirit yourself within your own spirit by praying in other tongues.
After you pray in other tongues for a while, then you can begin to speak to yourself “… in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” as recorded in Ephesians 5:19.
That is how you enter into New Testament worship.

LEAD #6: DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT WORSHIP.

Let’s see what 1 Corinthians 2:4 has to say.
KJV: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

The Holy Spirit demonstrates Himself in
1 The power gifts,
2 The utterance and revelation gifts,
3 He manifests Himself in demonstration through the ministry gifts.

It takes faith to speak in psalms.
The whole Christian life is a faith walk, for without faith, it is impossible to please God.
If He gave you the whole psalm at once, you’d be walking by sight and you couldn’t please Him by reciting it.

As you begin to practice praying at length in other tongues, you will fine-tune your spirit to the Spirit of God.
You see, psalms come out of your spirit where the Holy Ghost resides.
He is not in your head, and your head has nothing to do with helping you “make up” psalms.
Psalms are not of human invention, but come by the Holy Spirit’s unction.

Step out in faith, and speak what you are given.
If you will exercise faith in this area, it will enrich your life spiritually.
You’ll move up to another dimension, a higher level spiritually.

True New Testament worship includes the presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God.

Renewing our minds is not an option if we’re going to be true New Testament worshippers.
A transformed mind is part of the spiritual worship we are to offer up to God.

KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE BOOK ????.

✍???? Being out of the will of God brings dissatisfaction.

✍???? When your plans and purposes are in line with God, they will succeed.

✍???? It’s possible to have right plan with wrong purpose.

✍???? Get God’s plan! It’s the best!

✍???? When man’s purposes are wrong, the blessings of God can be limited.

✍???? Prayer is God’s plan.

✍???? Spiritual development takes time.

✍???? The new birth is instant, but spiritual growth is not.

✍???? God hasn’t got any “get-fixed-quick” plans.

✍???? The things of God still cost the same price they did years ago.

✍???? Failing to follow God’s plan and to move with Him, kills the move of the Spirit.

✍???? When we pursue God’s purpose in spiritual matters, then we know what to do in each service.

✍???? The entrance of God’s word gives light.

✍???? The world claps,”Saints praise.”

✍???? Clapping in the midst of the Spirit’s manifestation displays irreverence for Him.

✍???? clapping is a natural expression of this world while raising of our hands is a scriptural expression of the realm to which we as believers belong.

✍???? A transformed mind is part of the spiritual worship we are to offer up to God.

✍???? True New Testament worship includes the presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God.

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