Dig Deep to Stand Firm! with Robert Stearns (Episode 176)

Our Guest: Robert Stearns

Bishop Robert Stearns is the founder and executive director of Eagles’ Wings, a dynamic relational ministry involved in a variety of outreaches and strategic projects around the world. He knows how to stand firm and has ministered in more than 30 nations, with a central focus on the nation of Israel, and is the visionary of “The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.”

Scriptures and Key Points:

Micah 4 NKJV The Gathering of Nations

1 Samuel 3 NKJV God Calls Samuel

The Lord helped me separate the religious, abusive environment that I was in from the reality of Him and His voice.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 NKJV The Parable of the Tares

Hebrews 4:12 ESV For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The Word of God is not the ink on the page.
The Word of God is ultimately a Person.

John 1:1-5, 14 ESV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Logos of the Word must work in partnership with the Holy Spirit in a living relationship.
The Word cuts in both directions.
The Word will always be cutting away at our flesh to bring renewal and growth.
You need a combination of the written Word of God, a relationship with Jesus, and the trusted community of faith.

Proverbs 11:14 NKJV Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

The letter of the law kills.
The letter of the law can move us either into extreme legalism or into a liberty that licenses licentiousness.
If we lose the spirit of the law, we change the meaning to justify our own actions.
We must allow the breath of the Spirit to give us revelation to the Word Himself.
An atmosphere of the presence of God can allow a work to begin internally that leads to freedom.
Our understanding of worship comes from the Jews.

Exodus 3:6 NKJV Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” …

God will skip over all of man’s theology and ideology and draw us into His presence.
As society becomes more toxic and polarized, the sound of God’s Glory in His House will override it all.
We need to be worshiping God in His House.
There is a difference between honoring those who serve and being enamored with them as celebrities.
We need to love being in His presence without giving up our love for getting into the Word.
The first instance of worship was not instruments, but obedience.

“Bananas for Jesus!” – Keith Green

Biblical literacy is deemed necessary right now.
We need to cultivate our ability to wait in the Lord’s presence in order to stand firm.
Our culture is changing our ability to focus and deeply connect.

Psalm 134 NKJV Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!

We are changed when we are engaged deeply in the Lord.
Surface level stuff will only be temporary.
Dig your own well in God. Dig deep.

John 7:38 NKJV He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

We need to learn to wait on the Lord, not just individually but corporately as well.

“Many want an Upper Room experience like on the day of Pentecost, but they’re unwilling to humble themselves on their knees at the cross of Christ.” – Leonard Ravenhill

“Revival is no more a miracle than a crop of wheat.” – Charles Finney

The heart of the secret of the power and the grace that’s on the Jewish people is the principle of Shabbat.
We as the Church need to help the next generation deeply cultivate the spiritual practice of abiding.
If we leave people in the outer court ministry rather than leading them into the congregation and ultimately encouraging them individually to walk into the holy presence of God, we leave them without proper preparation to deal with the issues of life.
If we worship the institution of the Church rather than the God of the Church, we’re going to find ourselves falling short in a time of a world in crisis.
We desperately need the presence of God.

“No leader sets out to fail.” -Doug Stringer

1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

Revelation 2:4 NKJV Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Amos 7:7-8 NKJV Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said: “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.”

Have a healthy fear of the Lord daily to stand firm,

Proverbs 1:7 NKJV The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Zechariah 4:6 NKJV So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

Three Practical Keys to Maintaining the Plumb Line and Standing Firm:

Intentionally steward and value covenant relationships.
1. Roots are hidden.
2. Relationships are cultivated in the hidden places.
A Godly Counselor
1. A safe place to process your soul
Prioritize family and the family altar

“The Kingdom of God is built on relationships.” – Doug Stringer

The enemy will always try to rob us of our time.
Time is one of our greatest commodities.
If we spend our time first with the Lord, then we’re able to give a better quality of ourselves to others.
We each need a day of Shabbat.
You can’t build without a foundation.
Redwood trees have shallow roots but are interconnected with one another.
We need a connection of relationship at the roots so we can stand taller together.

Genesis 32:22-32 NKJV Jacob wrestles with God

Jacob became Israel after he wrestled with God.
Your identity is changed in the wrestling.
In the place of genuine crisis, you need to step into the place of wrestling with God.

“Never trust a spiritual leader who doesn’t have a great crisis of faith, at least every five years or so.” – Rabbi Gerald Meister

If you don’t face a crisis of faith periodically, you’re not journeying; you’re just settling.
Don’t be afraid of asking the deeper questions.
Embrace the wrestling; embrace the journey.
We need great courage and faith to stand firm.
We need to stay balanced in God’s Kingdom, but not balanced with the world.

John 17 NKJV …That they all may be one…

Christ prayed that we would be one.

Isaiah 60:1-3 NKJV Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 40:3 NKJV The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Habakkuk 2:13-14 ESV Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Hebrews 4:14-15 NKJV Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Psalm 91:1-3 NKJV He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High…

Romans 8:22 NKJV For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

Books to help you Stand Firm:

Living Life Well: The Spirit of the Ten Commandments by Doug Stringer

Return to Authentic Christianity by Robert Stearns, Chuck Pierce, and Larry Kreider

Links to help you Stand Firm:

Why the Church Must Invite God Back Into His Own House by Doug Stringer

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Episode #176 Show Notes – Dig Deep to Stand Firm