Sunday Outline – July 30, 2023
This past Sunday, Pastor George ministered,
“The Principle of Total Immersion.”
This year the anointing of God is stronger than in the past, as Holy Spirit has been preparing both the speakers and those in attendance for what lies ahead.
A word from the Lord through Sister Billye Brim —
Believers Conventions – Saturday, August 10, 2002
“Believers Conventions have taken on a new dimension with this one. They have moved into a new realm and upon a higher plane. They will be more important than ever. They will gain in importance and place in the finishing of the Glorious Church and her race. It will be more important than ever that they are held. And, that they are well attended by believers whom I will draw.
Believers must hear things about how to walk the last steps of the way. Yes, you will be changed from glory to glory, from day to day, from moment to moment.
And each Convention will be higher and will aspire unto a higher glory and a higher manifestation of God. Believers Conventions have attained a first phase level. But now they will go to another level.
And so, I place a stamp of approval upon these Conventions, as a place where I will show you how you can walk in the glory and have things right. You are the temple in which my glory doth dwell. You are the temple in which my glory doth swell.
Where you go in the darkness of this hour, you will shine and glow with my glory and my power. You have heard it said, but now will believe it. The Believers Conventions will help you to see it, to believe it, to receive it, and to be it — the manifestation of the glory of God.
We are carriers of God’s glory – Our prayer is “Fill me up!”
Giving:
For EMIC sowing into the SWBC, we started with sowing $100,000. The following year was $250,000. sowed towards the budget. The next was $500,000., followed by the next year of a million towards the SWBC budget.
Last year, along with this year EMIC covered the entire SWBC budget cost.
Brother Jesse Duplantis shared with Pastor George that whenever you give, you need a buffer, as you shouldn’t give everything you have. You need a storehouse with money in the storehouse for God to bless. God can't multiply when you have given everything away for Him to multiply!
As you step out in faith, be careful to maintain the vision of what God has spoken to you. It is easy to veer from where you started and end up in something totally different, no longer a part of what Holy Spirit intended. As you stray from the vision, your vision will be lost if you don’t speedily return.
Psalm 1:1-3; (NKJV)
“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”
Delight =
His desire, longing, and passion are in the Word.
Fill your life up with the wisdom of God, and remain focused.
V. 2 (AMPC)
“He habitually mediates, ponders, and studies by day and night.”
V. 3 (AMPC)
“Everything he does shall prosper and come to maturity.”
Joshua 1:8; (NKJV)
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
V. 2 The Lord is encouraging him. Be strong as the opportunity to be weak is always close by.
V. 7 Prosperity, “there you go” – keeping a divine focus.
- Fear was completely flushed out.
- Joshua’s mind was renewed to God’s Word.
Total immersion is the renewing of your mind and the enlarging of your capacity for faith.
Romans 12:1-2; (NKJV)
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
It can be crazy in this world, but do not let your guard down and be conformed…
A major benefit of total immersion, when it is on the Word of God, is the renewing of your mind.
Conformed (in the greek) =
To comply with the rules, standards, and ways of the world.
Transformed (in the Greek) METAMORPHOO =
Undergo a complete change in words, thinking, and actions.
V. 2 (JBP)
“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands, and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”
Renewing our minds causes us to become skillful in the Word of righteousness.
We renew our minds by constant exposure to God’s Word.
The Lord spoke to Brother Copeland early in his ministry regarding the importance of renewing the mind through total immersion.
Quotes from “The Blessing of the Lord” book by Kenneth Copeland.
For the Word to produce results in your life, you must give it your attention by spending time studying and meditating on it.
“How much attention do I have to give it, Brother Copeland?”
“That depends on the kind of results you want.
Ten percent Word will produce 10 percent results.
Fifty percent Word will give you 50 percent results.
One hundred percent Word will give you 100 percent results.”
When I first began learning about faith as a student at ORU in 1967, I needed major results fast. I jumped in at the 100% level. I used a technique I read about that the US government used to train translators during World War ll called, “Total Immersion.”
At the beginning of the war, there wasn't time for translators to become fluent at the normal rate. To speed up the process, they were surrounded 100% by the language they were learning.
Research proved if they didn't hear or speak anything but that language, it literally made new grooves in their brains, and they became fluent in six or fewer weeks.
While thinking about that, the Lord spoke to me. “Son, if you will do that — if you will totally immerse yourself in the Word and give yourself to it for just a period of a week, it will change your entire future. It will change the direction of your life.”
Your faith will rise to a new level; and as you daily move forward, your faith will never go backward.
I put this to the test. With my Bible, a notebook, and a few tapes on faith by Kenneth E. Hagin, I set up a study in our garage. The only time I came out was to periodically eat or to go to sleep.
By the end of that seven-day period, the Word became the solid foundation of my life. The Word changed my thinking. It revolutionized the way I saw things. From that time, faith became my way of life.
The Purpose of a Believer's Convention is Total Immersion.
Here’s the secret to moving forward in God’s plan:
- Total immersion in the Word.
- Praying in the Spirit.
- Being obedient to the directions Holy Spirit provides.
Are you determined to get the Word of God on the inside of you? You may need to make a renewed determination to stay focused.
Quotes from a SWBC Interview with Brother Copeland.
The Lord spoke to me about conducting meetings where people would totally immerse themselves in the Word of God. The Lord said that there were those who are hungry enough to sit under that kind of intense exposure.
If people would totally immerse themselves in God’s Word for one week, they could accelerate the renewal of the mind process. Their intensive exposure would flush out fear and replace it with faith. They could go from the milk of God’s Word to the meat in a much shorter period.
The longer they remained in that atmosphere, the more sensitive they would become to the voice of the Lord and the leading of Holy Spirit. Answers would come quickly. Direction would manifest clearly.
Brain Folds and Neuroplasticity
[Diving deeper into Brother Copeland's comments on Total Immersion.]
In humans, the lobes of the brain are divided by several bumps and grooves. These are known as gyri (bumps) and sulci (groves or fissures). The folding of the brain, and the resulting gyri and sulci, increases its surface area and enables more cerebral cortex matter to fit inside the skull.
When a certain thought is repeated often enough, it forms a groove. Future thoughts automatically return to the familiar grooves in the brain.
As these grooves deepen over time it takes greater effort to change those ways of thinking. Imagine the damage that’s created when we accept facts that are contrary to the truth of God’s Word. They will have an impact on what we believe and consequently how we operate when we step forward in faith.
Neuroplasticity, the scientific term for the biblical "renewed mind," is the brain's ability to restructure itself after training and practice, thereby creating new neuropathways. Neuroplasticity is what makes change ("transformation" as indicated in Romans 12:2), and development possible. It is a scientific fact; and no longer considered a myth, theory, or conjecture. By scanning the human brain using fMRI (functional MRI), science can view changes in the human brain and see how it is restructuring as the individual is “renewing their mind.”
As we daily build a deeper fellowship with God, based on our relationship with Him; we will experience greater degrees of His peace, joy, and love. We are building new neuropathways. Old neuropathways that we were, become "a road less traveled" in our minds. Issues and wounds, hurt, anger, depression, habits, and addictions will be dismantled and unable to remain in our renewed minds. We can no longer say, "I'll never change" or "I'll always be this way". A gracious, loving Father, who gently guides us by His Spirit (John 16:13) assures us that change is, and has always been, possible.
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