Tag Archives: moses

The Lie that You Only Need to be Still

In my teaching “The Staff of God,” I highlighted the passage where God was displeased with Moses’ statement, despite it sounding like a bold “word of faith confession.” The issue wasn’t the confession itself but what it confessed. God responded with irritation, “Why are you crying (i.e., whining) to Me? Take the Staff and divide the waters.”

Moses’ confession was misleading. God was indeed fighting for the Israelites and would continue to do so, but it was incorrect to say, “they only need to be still.” God didn’t command Himself to divide the waters; He commanded Moses to do it. If Moses had sat there “waiting for the will of God,” the Red Sea would not have parted, because it wasn’t God’s job to divide the sea; it was Moses’ job.

Moses was hedging, trying to buy time with a good faith confession, but God had already acted. He had given Moses the Staff of God. Likewise, God has already acted for us. He sent His only Son, who was brutalized, raised from the dead, and seated at His right hand. Jesus took on God’s wrath for our sins, gave us His righteousness, bore the stripes that healed us, took our curses, and gave us the blessing of Abraham. God has made us a royal priesthood, an irrevocable calling, and engraved Jesus’ name and authority on our tongues. What we have is far greater than the Staff of God or Zeus’ lightning bolt. We have the Name of Jesus and the baptism of power in the Spirit.

Moses thought he could chill with a faith-filled soundbite, but God was like, “Bro, grab the Staff and make waves—literally.” Spoiler: Sitting still doesn’t part seas, but swinging God’s power does.

Unlike the faithless of our day, Moses was a friend of God, yet God still grew irritated when Moses lingered, waiting for God to move. Moses held God’s power in his hands. It was Moses’ move, not God’s. It wasn’t time to be still and watch God; it was time to act and command the waters to stand.

So it is with us. The waters are divided by us, not God. When Moses stopped hedging and acted with the Staff of God, the waters parted. Healing will happen when we stop hedging, stop waiting for the so-called will of God, and command it in the name of Jesus. If you wait for God to move, you’ll die waiting. God has already moved.

The faithless amplify Moses’ misleading confession, pumping it full of unbelief. They wait for the will of God, and they wait, and they wait. Nothing happens, for their worldview has no God and no power in it. However, God has already willed our sicknesses onto His Son, stripe after stripe. He has already addressed our sickness problem. There’s nothing more for Him to do for us to be healed. Do you suppose your begging for healing requires Jesus to be re-crucified? Your healing is already accomplished. In God’s thoughts He transferred your sickness to Jesus, who carried it away. In God’s mind, He thinks we are healed by Jesus’ stripes. Who am I to disagree with God’s own thoughts?

The lie is waiting for God to move when He has already moved. Through Jesus’ finished atonement, He placed the Staff of God on our tongues. His command is that we move next. Like a chess game, God has made His move. Now it’s our turn.

The faithless camp out, waiting for God’s will like it’s a cosmic Amazon delivery. Newsflash: God has already shipped the healing, signed, sealed, and delivered on Jesus’ back. It’s already sitting on your living room floor. Open the package. Doing nothing and looking at the box, will not open it.

God’s made His checkmate move with Jesus’ atonement. Now He is sipping divine coffee, waiting for you to slide the bishop and part the Red Sea. Don’t leave Him hanging.

The miracle happens, not when God moves, but when we move, and divide the waters in Jesus’ name. Because God has already moved, the healing happens, not because God will move, but because we will move in faith.

The disciples finally got this. And so, Peter said “what I have I, I give, in Jesus Name, walk.” It wasn’t what God had. It wasn’t what God gave. It was what Peter had, and what Peter gave. He had the Name and power of Jesus, to throw around as Peter wanted. Peter had this because Jesus was sitting at the right hand of the Power. And despite many Christians hating this, Jesus is still at the right hand of the Power. We have the same Name and the same power.

(witty summaries provided by Grok 2025 )

Take Your Choke Points Off

“But Moses responded to the Lord, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power?””
 (Numbers 11:21-23 NLT)

God told Moses that He would feed the Israelites with meat (Quail) for a whole month. Oddly, Moses’ response was that such a thing was impossible even for God. This is the same Moses who performed miracle after miracle and divided the sea with the Staff of God. This is Moses who, as God said it, was a God to Pharaoh. And yet, Moses could not believe God for this miracle food.

I remember Bill Winston in a sermon saying, (as I paraphrase from memory), “God had reached, Moses’ choke point. Moses could believe God for some things, but He could not believe God for this. Take your choke points, off.”

He is correct. Even the heroes of faith still have some choke points where they limit the Holy One of Israel.  No one has perfect faith in this life, but it is our command from God to always live by faith and mature our faith to its greatest heights.  Miracle food in large proportions, for some reason, was a choke point for Moses. It seemed impossible even for God. God rebuked Moses and said, is My arm to short that I cannot do this, or in modern terms, is My power so pathetic to you that I can’t do this miracle? Moses did not doubt God’s willingness to help but His power, and God rebuked Moses for this.

We often combat this abusive doctrine called, “if it is God’s will,” and so we say “God is always willing to help because of His love and because He promise to always provide if we have faith.” However, we can have choke points of doubt regarding God’s power. We might wrongly assume it is about the topic of God’s willingness, when it is really about doubting His power. We all have our own dispositions and weaknesses and strengths. And so it will vary from person to person what might be a choke point of faith. And I will try to use and example that might be more common to all. All Christians have faced those sins that more easily trip them up (Hebrews 12).  What can happen in a besetting sin, is that the experience can distort the mind to doubt God’s “power” to sanctify us.

If a person is blessed to have been ministered healing at their conversion, then asking God for healing would naturally be less of a choke point for them. However, they might find asking God for miracle money, or transmuting material substance to be a choke point of doubt.  Thus, we must find where we choke up with doubt and attack as if it was a cancer on our heart.

I remember Billy in response to Jesus’ statement that “anything is possible for the person who believes,” saying, “James and John asked for seats next to Jesus, but were told those were already reserved by the Father. Therefore, we don’t know if our prayers will be answered because God answers them on the dictates of His own whims.”

We know that apart from extreme examples that are categorically impossible, or violate a command that there are no limits to what we can ask for. Even a fool knows not to ask, “God, I want you to make me immutable and infinite like you, or help me murder my neighbor.” The prayers we see answered in scripture include resurrection from the dead, the multiplication and transmutation of material substance, healing, prosperity, military victory, relationship help, and the list goes on and on. Also, because we understand the blessing of Abraham (which we have in Jesus), which includes prosperity, supernatural health and healing, military victories, fame, glory and excessive fruitfulness in all parts of life, we know that Jesus command to ask for anything and get anything, means what it means.

Billy’s response to prayer, is an example of a person who doesn’t merely have a choke point or two, but who chokes at the entire idea of God helping and blessing them. This is a reprobate mindset. Such a person views God as if God is an outsider. They view God as if they have no Covenant with Him. The idea of Jesus’ Contract in blood, is to remove any “case by case” situation. For more on this see Vincent Cheung, Our Contract, who helped me understand this better. An insider status with God means that we always know how God will relate to us. An outsider status means we do not know how God will relate to us, because it is decided on the whim of God’s choice on a case by case. For example a husband does not decide to love his wife on a day by day decision; no, the contract of marriage means you have made a promise, to remove the case by case, and will always love them. God as removed the case by case, and has promised that if we have faith we will receive what we ask for. This love is only promised to those who God is contracted with. Outsiders of this contract do not have this privilege.

This contract therefore is able to remove all choke points for those with insiders status with God. We already know from the example of the gentile woman, that even without a contract status, faith gives you access to what you ask for. God has a standing contract with faith. However, in our Contract with Jesus, God cuts up His only Son in a bloody mess, and says “I will do what I promise.” There is no room for doubting.  

Removing our choke points is essential if we want to fully obey biblical expansionism in our lives. If we want maturity in expanding our own lives in righteousness and power and visions and expanding the Kingdom of God, we must remove any points of doubts. And doubt here is the key word. Jesus said if you have faith as small as a mustered seed you will command a mountain to move and it will obey you. Any Christian who has lived a few years and has been working on renewing their minds has more than a mustered seed size faith. The reason they do not see answers is because of doubts that gets mixed in with their faith. It is not that they have no faith, but the doubts mixed in is stopping the manifestation. The ins and outs for that, is for another essay; however, remember as you are attacking and removing doubts do not forget that the main focus is always Jesus and His promises, not constant inward self-evaluation.  

We must not put any limits on who we are in Christ and what we can accomplish by faith. Choke points can happen in places such as our vision for our lives. A Christian by faith might finally be out of debt and able to afford a nice home for his family. They even saw some miracles in finances where God helped. They are coasting, and life is good. However, when they were 17 God gave them a dream for ministry and a business that reaches millions of people, and this is still a choke point for them. Some might be enjoying a big house and a family that loves God. But God’s word reminds them if they had enough money to buy 10 big houses, they could give that to godly ministries to help fund the gospel, and for them this financial amount could be a choke point. If we take our eyes off ourselves and think what we could do for the advancement of God’s kingdom, there is always more power, finances and miracles than what we are currently able to do. But God is full of grace. If you seek to believe with no fear, you will find it.

Lastly, if you want to take off the limits and choke points, then you will need to say something with your mouth. Jesus said you will “say,” to this mountain.  Look at the heroes of faith, like Abraham and David. They spoke a confession of confidence in the promise of God. We believe and so we speak. Do not just look at a choke point, speak to it. Say something. Speak the promises of God. Your faith confession is like Moses with the Staff of God. Your staff is your confession in God’s word. Say it. Tell it to get out of your way. Tell the sickness to leave.  

I will let Paul end this with his own exhortation: God answers our prayers exceedingly, abundantly and beyond all that we ask or think. This is how an insider to God thinks about the world and what is available to them in Christ.

The Staff of God

“So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried
the staff of God.” (Exodus 4:20 NLT)

When Moses was worried that the Israelites would not listen to him, God told Moses to throw his staff on the ground. It turned into a snake, and when he picked it up by the tail, it turned back into the staff. Later in Exodus 4:20 the staff is called the “Staff of God.”

This is similar to the king of the Greek god’s. Zeus had his lightning bolt, which was his weapon of power: “the lightning bolt of Zeus.” He was jealous when a person’s eyes lingered too long on his symbol of power. He did not lend his lightning bolt out. Yet, with God, He freely gives Moses His weapon to use as his own. He even told Moses that he would be like God to Pharaoh.  Notice how generous our God is to His children. This is important because in Jesus Christ we have all been given the Staff of God. Moses longed for this to happen, when all the people were given power from God.

Fast forward to when Moses and the Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army was behind them. Moses then began a monolog.

 “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!  Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground,” (Exodus 14:13-16).

Moses was midstride in a monolog about God’s deliverance, when God spoke. Moses, was in essence trying to buy time for God to do something while they were backed up against the sea. Notice what God did not say. He did not say “I will divide the sea.” No, God said, “you, divide the sea.” Are we to accuse God for not being God centered, but I digress. This is like Jesus saying to the disciples, “You feed them.”

God interrupted Moses and said (as I put it into modern terms) “why are you whining at Me! Stop begging and get moving. What is that in your hand? Is it not the “Staff of God” I gave you? This is not My problem anymore. You take the Staff, and “you” divide the sea.”  

The mistake Moses made was thinking he was waiting on God to deliver them with a new download of power, when Moses already had the Staff of God.  He acted like he was nothing, and had nothing, and therefore, needed God to come down and give some present or future help. However, He already had God’s help. He already had God’s power grasped in his hand. God did not need to give Moses power to deliver them, because God already gave Moses His power.

It is good to have passages like this because it reminds us to “stop crying out” like a beggar to God, when God has already given us the power and authority to command the healing and mountain to move. God was not happy with Moses’ flattering speech, “The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Think about that. That is some good theology. Yet, however good his doctrine was, God found it irritating. Again, think about that. Verse 14 is often quoted for promise verses, but in context God did not like it.

Moses said, “God will fight for us.” And God responds by saying, “why are you whining.”

Imagine if I gave you my car and you kept calling me to give you a ride to work. I might find the first time funny, but after the 78th call I would be rather irritated. “Why are you calling me about giving you a ride to work? I gave you my car. You need to get in it, and you need to drive yourself to work. Getting you to work is not my problem anymore, it is now your responsibility to drive yourself.” After a while I would think such a person is missing a few screws and choose to remain silent at their insane requests. As I have heard Andrew Wommack saying in many sermons, “this is why God remains silent at many of your prayers.”

Jesus teaches us a similar lesson Moses learned. When God has already given us the power, we need to stop crying out and start healing the sick, casting the demons, multiplying material substance and making mountains obey us. Jesus says to the disciples, “you feed them,” regarding the feeding of the 5000. Even though Jesus had to multiply material substance to feed the crowd, He expected the disciples to do it. He would not expect them to do it, if they did not have the power and authority to do so. For example, Jesus was irritated when they could not cast out a demon. He said it was because of their unbelief. Earlier He has already given them authority over “all” sickness and demons, “all.” Jesus expects them to do these things because He gave them the ability to do it.

“You divide the Sea, You multiply material substance, You heal the sick, You make mountains obey you.”  This does not sound very God-centered, but it is said by Jesus who was the most God-centered man who ever lived.

Consider what Jesus did not say: “when you face a mountain, cry out to me like a beggar and ask Me if it is part of my will to move it.” No, Jesus said “you” tell it to get out of your way and it will obey “you.” This is not a mere suggestion. Jesus instructs us to command the thing to move. Jesus is not teaching us to ask “Him” to make it go away, but for “us” to speak in faith and make it go away. This is contrary to how many understand faith and prayer.

Jesus said, “you feed them.” Jesus did not say, “cry out to God to feed them.” No, just as He told Moses to divide the water, Jesus commands us to “feed them,” by making material substance multiply in miracle power. Jesus tells us to tell the mountain to move and make it “obey us,” not God. God would not have commanded Moses to divide the Sea, if Moses did not have the power and authority to do it. Obviously, God is the ultimate power for all of this, but the issue is that on the relative level, God has given His power to us. Jesus would not have commanded us to make mountains obey us, by speaking to it in faith, if we did not have the power and authority to do it.

Jesus commands this, because He has already given us His Spirit and authority to do them.  Jesus said that He cast out demons (and healing) by the Spirit of God, not by His own personal Jesus power. This is important because He has also poured on us the fullness of the Spirit, in the baptism of the Spirit. Jesus used the “power of the Spirit” to heal, cast out demons and do ministry. The reason He did it this way, was because He was a man born under the law. He became like one of us. He therefore, ministered as a man, empowered by the Spirit, to do miracle working ministry. He showed the elect how to do it. He has given us this same “power,” and commands us to follow in His same miracle ministry (John 14:12-13, Acts 1:8, 2:39-39). And so, Jesus told the disciples, and those with them, to wait until they were endowed with the same power of the Spirit.

In addition to this power of the Spirit, Jesus has given us the authority to use His name to ask and receive whatever we want (see John chapter 14-16). A shorthand way to use this power and authority is seen in passages like Matthew 21:21. It is praying with His power and authority without hedging. It is praying in absolute confidence in the power, position and authority Jesus has already given us.

We can us this authority for anything we want, because it is guaranteed to us in the Contract made in His blood. However, Jesus also makes demands on us based on this Contract. He commands us to expand His kingdom and tear down the gates of hell. It’s not optional. We expand His kingdom and tear down the gates of hell with the same power and authority He used, but now has bestowed on us through His finished atonement.

The big idea is simple. Every believer has already been given authority to use Jesus’ name, and the baptism of the Spirit is a purchased gift for any believer to receive by faith. God has given every believer the Staff of God, just like with Moses. These powers and gifts of authority is not earned, but given freely through Jesus Christ. They already belong to all Christians.  

Moses wanted to ask God to do something about the sea, but God told Moses to do something about the sea, with the power He had already given him. Jesus teaches us a similar lesson. We cry out for God to do something about feeding them, and God tells us to do something about feeding them.  We cry out to God to do something about healing them, but God tells us to do something about healing them. We are holding Zeus’ lightning bolt in our hands and yet we are still crying out to God to move the mountain, when all we need to do is speak in faith.

Imagine if every Israelite in Moses’ time also had a Staff of God in their hands? It would be like an army of 2 million powerful Gandalfs or wizards. The army of Pharaoh would have been obliviated before they took their 4th step. This is exactly the firepower the true church of God has today in Jesus. But for the most part they look like fools. There is an army of millions and millions of powerful wizards, with the Staff of God in their hands, but yet, they are bowed to the ground crying out to God to give them some power. And despite their good theology in their cries, God is irritated by it.  It’s utterly pathetic.  If they only knew what they had and how to use it, nothing could stand in their way in advancing the Kingdom of God.

This is what Satan truly fears. And he will produce any false doctrine and tradition to convince God’s people they are weak, sinful and endlessly cry out to God, while holding God’s Staff in their hands.

When you pray, believe that life giving waters are already flowing out of “your” belly. Jesus did not promise this would flow out of God’s belly, but yours. See yourself in the Spiritual realm like an empowered wizard in an anime movie. God’s Spirit has already empowered you. When you speak in faith, power is released, every single time. God and His word are one. Thus, when you speak faith filled words, you are releasing God; you are releasing, Power. When you pray, understand that Jesus has already given you the authority to ask and command what you want. When you pray, you are not begging and waiting for God to do something, because He already did something. It’s now your turn, to do something. He already gave you His power and authority. Use it.

Moses did not walk on dry land until he used the Staff of God. Likewise, you will not see the victory you are wanting, until you use God’s power and authority, by speaking and commanding what you want. You are the one holding back your blessing, not God. You are the one preventing the dividing of the Sea, until you use what God has already given you.

If you do not work, then you do not eat. Most, even unbelievers, understand this. Likewise, if you do not open your mouth and command what you want with faith, then you do not get your blessing. Open your mouth today, and start speaking faith filled words.