My favorite passage on love is first John, chapter four. If we love one another, then that’s how we know that God lives in us. If we don’t love each other, then God does not live in us. That’s a simple sign as to whether we are living with the Lord reigning in and through us. Are you loving one another? What does love even look like?
 
Love involves forgiving one another, and showing grace. Paul says that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more (Romans 5:20).  So, if love means forgiving and giving grace, then that means we are also dealing with sin and offense. However, showing mercy and grace to one another does not mean that we lay our hearts out as a stomping ground. Did you know that love also involves rebuking? 

So, what happens if you obey the Lord in rebuking, but the offender does not repent? Scripture addresses this. Proverbs 29:1 says, “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.” Romans 2:8 says, “for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” There are serious consequences to an unrepentant heart, but notice that God is also slow to anger. In fact, “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4b).
 
Scripture tells us what God will do with the unrepentant heart, but what are we to do? Love requires us to do very difficult things in certain situations. In one particular situation, Paul tells the church at Corinth not to fellowship with a man in their church involved in incest (a case where even the pagans thought vile.) Paul tells the church to, “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord (1 Cor. 5:5).” Do you see the love in this command? The end result is actually eternal salvation! 

Grace does not always have to do with sin. In fact, the majority of learning how to love has to do with adjusting your own expectations of your own unrealistic idea of people. Our expectations, personality differences, and level of understanding for relationships can more often than not, get in the way of growing closer and living in harmony. So, love goes beyond sinning against each other. Love means loving when we don’t always agree with each other! Yes, I know, it’s not easy. If we consider Jesus as our model, then we can succeed. Can you imagine how Jesus felt? He was fully human; he had all of our temptations and walked in all of our limitations. Yet, at the same time He was fully God. He knew all things, and He created all things. He could technically override anything, but He chose to lay His life down and did nothing without Holy Spirit and Father. He walked in perfect love, whether it meant rebuking or forgiving. He did a lot of both!

Jesus must have felt like such a foreigner. Jesus said, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Jesus is basically saying that this is not His home. Can you imagine His expectations of people? How many times was He disappointed, yet chose to love? Jesus is the Word in flesh! Can you imagine knowing ALL things and literally being truth, and living amongst so many deceived people? Jesus modeled a life that we CAN walk. It will not be easy, but it IS possible to love the world by walking in the power of the Spirit.

Repent or repentance occurs 61 times in the Bible.  How often do you hear of this word in your church?  I just listened to a sermon by Francis Chan and I was intrigued by his take on churches counting decisions made for Christ as salvations. I do believe there are many genuine salvations where God the Holy Spirit convicts of all the sin in a person's life and he/she makes that decision for Jesus to be their Savior (Jesus is the one who does the saving).  I do believe that it may take time for that person to make Jesus their Lord. However, I would like to take a closer look at repentance. From my observance I rarely hear a pastor tell the congregation to repent and humble yourself; come to Jesus for salvation. Pastor Francis made a very good point about the idea of a decision for Christ. We make decisions on a daily basis. We even make decisions that involve ongoing commitment, especially on New Years. But how many of those decisions quickly fall to the wayside. Church, let's do what John the Baptist, Jesus and His disciples did; let's call people to repentance and salvation.

Let's take a closer look at the word repentance:

Isaiah 30:15
For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
            “In repentance and rest you will be saved,
            In quietness and trust is your strength.”
            But you were not willing,

The prophet Isaiah shares the Words from the Lord speaking to Israel's sin. The Hebrew word is transliterated as shuwbah (שׁוּב (H7725).  

​withdrawal, or retirement. Conversion.

Many believe repentance is a painful thing, but Isaiah couples repentance with rest. When God shows you your sins, it's not just a sorrowful moment. Rather it's a moment of admitting how sinful of a person I am, and how much I need to rely on God.  It's understanding the free gift of Jesus through God's mercy and grace. Coming to repentance is peaceful, and that's what we are all looking for in this life. Ask God to show you your heart and the ways in which you are not pleasing to Him, and repent. You will receive peace in repentance, as you rely on God continually after.

Matthew 3:8
“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’;

John the Baptist is speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees' who are Hebrews clinging to their birthright, rather than repentance and clinging to their God. The word for repentance is metanoia (μετανοέω (G3340). 

a change of mind

This is good, however I'd like to take a look at the adjective that precedes repentance which is "keeping with" (axios, Probably from ἄγω (G71). 

weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much
befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing
of one who has merited anything worthy

John the Baptist is correcting the Hebrews who already claim God as their savior, however they are not clinging to repentance.  They do not count repentance as having much value "keeping with". They do not correspond with (keeping with) repentance. In other words, they are not lining their life up with repentance, and they are not counting it worthy for salvation. 

Many American churches today do not count repentance as having much value.  Could it be that the present day American churches are similar to the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day?

When John the Baptist would baptise the people, he would have them repentant of their sins. I like Merriam-Webster's definition of immersion (baptism). It describes immersion (baptism) as a the action of immersing someone or something in a liquid with deep mental involvement. 

Luke 5:32
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

This is a beautiful picture of the grace in which Jesus extends.  Grace is extended to all (sinners), but not all receive the grace that is extended.  Luke is counterposing the groups of people, the righteous and the sinners, the ones who forgo God's grace and the ones' who receive God's grace.  The sinners who humble themselves and repents are the ones who are saved. Many people today are deceived in thinking that all should receive God's grace. Many times Christians disrupt God's workings by not allowing His wrath to fall on the righteous (the ones who think they are good enough or think they don't need God.) God's desire is for all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).

There are actually two baptisms that Jesus makes available to believers.
Acts 19:1-7
Paul (...) found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

My point is acknowledging the significance of the water in baptism. First it's a symbol of cleansing, ultimately it's a supernatural transformation by God. The water is the symbol needed by human minds that can't comprehend the spiritual realm quite yet. The baptism of repentance is near one's salvation, at an amatuer Christian state.  As Paul describes this stage as being fed with milk. He describes the more mature believers being fed, with God's Word, with meat. During Holy Spirit baptism, there is no need for a physical symbol like water. The supernatural occurrence (after being desired by the one receiving the power) has no other physical symbol other than the laying on of hands.

Repentance should be taught as a basic fundamental Christian need that is an ongoing process, keeping with repentance as in Matthew 3:8.

PRAYER:
​As I sit here with my thorn in my flesh (seizures), trying to type. I pray, "Lord please speak to whoever is reading this. Give them understanding and remove the scales from their eyes that has been blinding them from your truth. I pray they would understand the significance of repentance and turn their life over to you. God we are nothing without you, and sometimes you make things very uncomfortable to allow us to see the important things in life.  All of this world and everything in it will be destroyed one day.  Push us to cling to heaven and release this world to dust and eventually destruction.  Open our eyes to discern what is sin. Sin in your eyes is different than what the world defines to be sin. Help us to know the difference. Lord push us to do what we are called to do. Strip us of everything if you have to. Lord all we need is you.  We are nothing without you. Our life is but a speck in time. We are here today and gone tomorrow, and tomorrow I want to be with you in heaven, not in hades with Satan." I pray all this in the Worthy, Mighty Name above all Names, Jesus Christ.


Proverbs 30
O God, I beg two favors from you;
let me have them before I die.
First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
​For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?”
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

All of this post is based on the working Bible Study by Kelly Minter.

We are studying the book of Nehemiah in our women's Bible study.  Nehemiah was a Jew but born in Persia during the exile of the Jews to Babylon.  He inquired of a brother from Jerusalem about how they were doing.  With the sad news about the broken walls there, he sat down and wept, prayed, mourned and fasted for some days.  His heart was broken before the Lord. 

A lot of times we do not want to know what is going on in someone's life, because we may be held responsible to do something.  Nehemiah asked. And he had a broken heart for the Jews / his relatives.
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What is God calling you to do?  you don't have to leave your homeland to help. The needy and poor are right in your hometown.  Jesus said, "You will always have the poor among you."

Have you or your children ever had passion for a sport or activity?  You don’t have to push them, because they have passion for it.  Just like the Super bowl players. They have such a passion for the game they have worked harder than any of the other players out there to be where they are.

On the other hand, do you have a child that was especially gifted in a certain area?  Did you have to push them? Well this one hits home in our family.  We’ve seen a rare gift of music in Lilli since she was 2.  She had a cheap princess piano and she would learn Mary had a Little Lamb.  She would also sing entire songs remembering every rest, every word and singing it acapella.  In Kindergarten we put her in piano and she enjoyed it.  Then when we had moved, we took a break but then switched teachers.  She would at this point, begin to fight us.  There were crying matches every week between Sarah (my wife) and Lilli.  Do you push or don’t push?  We knew the talent she had, but we were unsure.  FINALLY, Sarah and Lilli were in a crying screaming frustrating match, and Lilli is crying out, “I want to quit!”  So finally Sarah said, “Okay, then quit.”  Lilli in her tears seemed to sit back with relief, however her stubborn cry turned into a truly sad state.  She replies to Sarah (exact words), “Okay, this is really weird” (silence for a few seconds) “You’ve never let me quit before.”  With love and relief in her eyes Sarah bends down to her level, hugging her, “Okay baby, I’ll never let you quit again.”  We were able to find out later that the reason she wanted to quit was because the rhythm tests were overwhelming.  The funny thing is, she was beating out ages from 9-60!  Her “fear” overpowered her “passion” for piano.  But there was an easy fix: Her teacher split the ages, not to make the younger ones so frustrated. 
 
Sometimes God takes you to places you’ve never been because he knows the gifts He’s given you.  But it gets too hard and uncomfortable.  And you get scared, making it easy for you to back down. Your passion for Jesus is overpowered by fear.  Sarah always says, “The devil is at the root of all fear, except for godly fear.”  The enemy doesn’t want you to have the blessing that’s on the other side of that fear.
     2 Timothy 1:17 - For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
 
 
 
Pastor Rick Warren wrote,
            The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go, "I’m going to do something with my life today." Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. 
The Bible tells us that we’re to seek God passionately. We’re to love God passionately. The Bible says that we’re to serve and obey God passionately. We’re to trust God passionately. Then as if you didn’t get the message, in Colossians 3:23 He says "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men." He says I want you to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me.
Here’s the amazing thing. In America it’s ok to be passionate about anything except God. That is not politically correct -- to be passionate about God. I can be passionate about movies. I can be passionate about sports. I can be passionate about politics. I can be passionate about fashions and clothes. I can be passionate about restaurants (and some of us really are). But I cannot be passionate about God. That’s a no-no.
 
If I could think of any person in the bible with passion, I quickly think of Peter.
We are going to look at his life and skim through a few stories by paraphrasing, that will land us to the denial that happened, not one, not two, but 3! Times.  Peter goes from the most passionate, to the most fearful.           

The transfiguration of Jesus

• Matthew 17:1-8 | Mark 9:2-8 | Luke 9:28-36
• 3 disciples go up with Jesus when He transfigures into a heavenly bright light.  Moses and Elijah appear talking to Jesus.  Who do you think speaks up with “passion”?  Peter.  He says, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  They didn’t need tents, but Peter passionately wanted to help!  The other two didn’t step up.  Regardless of whether it was what God had intended, Peter tried to help.  But before he knew it, the scene was over and Jesus was left there in front of him. 
  • Peter never built the tents, and he selflessly offered for them and not himself.  Jesus never corrected Peter; He just told them not to tell anyone.  So Peter’s passion wasn’t right or wrong, but he was the only one who stepped out.

 

Peter’s Denial
John 18:15-27 | Luke 52:54-62 | Mark 14:66-72

• At this point, Jesus has already told Peter that he would deny him 3 times before the rooster crows.  Peter just can’t imagine this happening; his passion for Jesus was so strong.  As they were carrying Jesus to the cross, what creeped in?  FEAR.  Who is behind fear?  The devil.  3 times Peter denies Jesus.  3 times, during the worst part of Christ’s journey, Peter rejects Him.  There is no other disciple besides Judas Iscariot that denies Jesus the way that Peter does.  But God knew.  God knew before it even happened.  God forgave him before it even happened.  How do we know this? Because in Matthew 16:18, Jesus says to Peter, “ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Jesus stated this before the resurrection and the denial.
  • You see, God knew Peter would fail, yet God set the entire church on Peter’s shoulders.  Just to emphasize this even further.  After the resurrection Jesus appears specifically to Peter and asks him if he loved Jesus.  3 Times he does this.  3 times he denied him.  3 times Jesus responds, “Then feed my sheep.”  Feed my sheep reiterates Peters calling and 3 times Peter is forgiven.  3 times Peter is told to move forward, be Jesus’ Rock.  Basically, I know fear brought you down, but keep pushing past the fear and do what I called you to do.  I called you to build my church.  Feed my sheep means to give God’s word to Jesus’ followers. 
• Now Jesus goes to heaven in order to send down the Holy Spirit.  So, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes down with fire.  Who do you think stood up and led the crowds, teaching and preaching, baptizing and defending?  ….. PETER.  That day 3,000 people got saved and became followers of Jesus.  Peter’s passion was revived!

SO WHAT!?
Application:
Have you ever felt like God was calling you into an area of service, giving or change, yet fear crept in?  I know my wife has been fearful of teaching Sunday school.  Carlee was fearful of speaking in front of others.  I’m certain Kenneth was fearful after leaving his nice secure salary to step out in faith to build Commissioned. I was fearful of giving my first real tithe.  If you are passionate about something for God, you better know that fear will creep in.  When you see that, I hope you remember this sermon with expectation.  That way you can identify and push through to get to the blessing that God has for you. 

Nail your fear, anxiety, depression to the cross.  

Satan is at the heart of all sin
(1 John 3:8).

Neil Anderson explains what I have been trying to put into words for such a long time.  And he does it in one small 8 word sentence.  It blows me away how on point he can be.

1 John 3:8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were not inclined to sin until the enemy, the devil, came in the form of a snake and lied to them. He knew what to say to cause them to think about themselves and not about God (our fleshly (selfish) life enters). But would they have sinned on their own, without the tempter? I personally don't think so. Imagine a world that was full and perfect.  There sat one, just one tree. God's one and only rule in the entire Garden was not to eat from this tree.  God was not secretive about what would happen. He said, "You will surely die." In other words, "You will cease to exist." I don't know about you, but I would follow that one rule. Wouldn't you? Not only did God give them every single thing they needed, but they walked and talked with God. AND... they didn't have to work. They tended to all the animals with a joyful heart (no animal would run from them or eat them etc.) The animals were companions. Do you have a dog or a cat? They are your companion and you enjoy him/her. We are getting a puppy soon!

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25
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Imagine the classic story Snow White, taken from the idea that if you would eat from a specific tree/fruit then you would die. The mean ugly witch wanted to be like Snow White, as satan wanted to be like God. The witch disguised herself as a lovely lady, as satan disguised himself as one of the animals of the kingdom The snake was not so creepy with legs; none of the animals were creepy. Do you think that Snow White would have taken the apple if she knew it would make her die? Let's take it further, do you think she would have taken the apple knowing it would kill her if the witch walked right up to her undisguised, telling her the truth of the fruit? Or what if that lovely lady told her the truth, would Snow White take it from the lovely lady? I think you know that the implication here is, no she would not have taken the fruit. The truth would set her free. Sound familiar?

The end of the story of Snow White comes with a similar ending, as Prince Charming saves Snow White and brings her back to life. Jesus does this for us. He brings us to life and frees us from the power of sin.

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed

So, if the truth is that Jesus has set you free, then why do we still sin? Even beyond that, why do many continue to be enslaved by sin? 

It starts with satan's lies (entered into your thought-life), and taken action by your selfish desires (the flesh). The truth is that you are free, but you believing the lies, and acting on them enslaves you to sin. However, God's grace goes beyond your sin, so salvation is secure. However, you will live a defeated Christian life. On the contrary, if you believe God and stay in obedience to His Words, you will live free and victorious lives.

Don't keep eating the apple that leads to defeat.

Bear the fruit of the vine that leads to victory. 

John 15:5  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Again, Satan is at the heart of all sin.  
Do not be fooled by his crafty lies, that even look good and smooth. Remember, he comes as an angel of light. This means that he mimics the truth, making it look like the truth. Sometimes he actually tells you the truth and coerces you to sin. The truth in the garden was that Adam and Eve would know good apart from evil. God was protecting them from that. But satan enticed them with that truth, by saying, "you will know good from evil".

Satan is at the heart of all sin. Tell him to leave, in Jesus name. Simply speak it aloud, and he has to flee. You don't even need to pray it. Only one time does Jesus say that a particular stronghold needed prayer. Use your faith and speak aloud against the devil's schemes. First identify the lie, and speak truth against it. The thing is, you need to know God's word to speak truth. This is why it's so important to read and study His word. It is food for your soul.

Satan is at the heart of all sin. He doesn't want you to know that!

Jesus is speaking these words to a crowd.  To break it down, Jesus is saying, "If you want to know the heart of a person, just listen how he talks, what he talks about, etc."  He's not just saying a little of their heart is revealed, but rather the majority of his heart is revealed.  

He starts off by explaining with the understanding in their culture which was farming.  If a tree is rotten from it's roots (the heart), do you think it will produce fruit or good leaves? No.  On the other hand, if the tree is hearty and by a stream of flowing water and nutrients, it's heart will be very good.  What kind of fruit will this tree produce?  Amazing, luscious fruit good for eating.  Likewise, a person's heart will produce good or bad fruit.  

In conclusion, what is your heart producing?  Think about your speech.  What comes from your mouth?  Are you building others up, or breaking them down with your words?  Do you gossip about others?  Jesus says he is the bread of life and He will give living water that never runs dry.  The only way to be fed, is by reading and practicing God's word in your lives.  An outflow of life and good fruit will come from your mouth.

Lord I ask you show me the places in my heart that need to be covered with your bread and water.  Please reveal to me the words that I speak that aren't pleasing to you.  Convict me of sin that keeps me from your blessings.  If we think we don't sin then we are utter fools, but we should strive and strive to be more like you, having an abundant heart of love and compassion.  Thank you Jesus for all that you have done, do and are.  In Your name I pray Amen.

Job 2:7-10

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

"shall we not receive evil?"

Strong's Definition:
רַע raʻ, rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong.

I really like Matthew Henry's comment:
Shall we, guilty, polluted, worthless creatures, receive so many unmerited blessings from a just and holy God, and shall we refuse to accept the punishment of our sins, when we suffer so much less than we deserve? Let murmuring, as well as boasting, be for ever done away. Thus far Job stood the trial, and appeared brightest in the furnace of affliction. There might be risings of corruption in his heart, but grace had the upper hand.

When you realize the weight of your sin and the price that our own God, Jesus Christ paid for OUR sins, then holding fast to that reality means grace will win every time.  Jesus died for you and I, so that we can live eternally with Him forever.  So 70-100 years or less of adversity, doesn't compare to the eternity of billions, trillions, infinity living in heaven in perfection with our Father.

On the flip side, sitting in your misery cursing God, or relying on your self with pride and never humbling yourself to the fact that you can't save yourself, will only get you that same amount of time.... infinity, in hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It doesn't matter how bad it is, hold your head high and know that your heavenly Father who loves you, has already won the fight.  Yes, past tense, the cross finished the fight for your life.  Now the battle we live everyday is to expel the lies of the enemy and stand on the truth, which is the Bible. Stand firm in the truth, resist the devil, and he will flee.

Isaiah 5:20-23

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!

Word Study on Woe
Hebrew word: הוֹי | Transliteration howy
Of threatening / Destruction
A prolonged form of הוֹ, which means sorrow.

My comment: We must be aware of what we consider good and bad, dark and light.  Everything that we consider good or bad must run it's validity through the Lord by confirming in the whole of the Scriptures.  We must not take one verse out of the whole Bible and claim it.  For example, the above on wine and alcohol could be read incorrectly.  If wine were evil, do you think Jesus would have turned the wedding water into wine?  Of course not!  This Scripture is about boasting in pouring heavy amounts of alcohol and wine down one's throat.  It's the same as money.  Money is not bad in itself as it is necessary to live. However, the love of money is what is idolatrous (raising itself above God).

1 Timothy 4:4
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Let's recall the 10 Commandments - The second commandment is "Do not make Idols"
Idols are anything that raises itself above God.  Therefore ANYTHING that you hold to a higher value than God is idolatrous and therefore wrong, bad, bitter, evil etc. 

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:15-23

Word Study: Fruit
Vines Expository Dictionary
metaphorically,  of works or deeds, "fruit" being the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisibly, the character of the "fruit" being evidence of the character of the power producing it, Mat 7:16. As the visible expressions of hidden lusts are the works of the flesh, so the invisible power of the Holy Spirit in those who are brought into living union with Christ
Galatians 5:22, the singular form suggesting the unity of the character of the Lord as reproduced in them, namely, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance," all in constrast with the confused and often mutually antagonistic "works of the flesh."

The "S"pirit is the Spirit of truth - Only comes from the workings of God, therefore obedience to God's voice.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

So how do we know we are hearing and obeying God's voice?

How do we hear God's voice.  

1. We listen to Him speaking to our heart/spirit  "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Romans 8:16
2. We test every word that we hear by making sure it lines up with Scripture.   "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
3. God did not mean for us to go through life alone.  We can confirm God's voice through a friend or pastor from church.  “God’s intent is that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.” Ephesians 3:10         

Notice how many times Jesus or one of his followers cast out a demon spirit with a simple command.  It is only mentioned once where I can find that it takes prayer to cast out a certain "kind" of demon.  What a simple way that the Lord gives us His authority to minister to others.  Have faith and command the enemy to leave.  And continue to resist at his trying to return.  
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Casting: ἐκβάλλω ekbállō, ek-bal'-lo; from G1537 and G906; to eject (literally or figuratively):—bring forth, cast (forth, out), drive (out), expel, leave, pluck (pull, take, thrust) out, put forth (out), send away (forth, out).

Matthew 4:14
Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan!...

Luke 11:14
And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.

Matthew 8:16
When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.

Mark 1:34
And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Luke 4:41
Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.
Greek ἐπιτιμάω (epitimaō) - Rebuke in order to curb ones ferocity or violence - restrain - to keep one away from another

Mark 1:39
And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.

Luke 13:32
And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.'

Luke 4:35
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

Matthew 8:32 And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.

Mark 5:8
For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!'

Luke 8:29
For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. 
    Demons can drive someone to physically move away

Mark 9:25
When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again."

Mark 7:26
Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

Matthew 8:31
​The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine."

Matthew 9:33
After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
    Demons cause illness

Mark 16:9
Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

Matthew 9:34
But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
    Demons lie and deceive

Matthew 12:24
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."

Matthew 12:27
"If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

Mark 3:22
The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."

Luke 11:15
But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."

Luke 11:18-19
"If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges.

Matthew 12:26
"If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

Luke 11:20
"But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Matthew 12:28
"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Acts 16:18
Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”

Mark 9:28
And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Conclusion:
When it will not leave with a command in the name of Jesus, then we must pray it out and ask Jesus to send it away.  
However, the majority of the time, a simple command in the name of Jesus Christ will force the demon away. We must use the authority Christ gave us if we are to minister fully in His power.  He expects us to drive out the demons.  

Mark 9:17-29
 “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
Jesus says about not casting out the demon.

Let's not be faithless, let's do the work of the ministry that God has called us to.  The fullness of the ministry, which means to share the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out the demons -- all in his name.

Matthew 10:1And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
Mark 3:14-15
And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.

Luke 10:17-20
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

We don't find joy in that authority of the demons, but we find joy in the gospel.  The authority over the demons is simply to minister to others, so they can live victorious Christian lives.