Saturday night we all went around and shared any God-given revelation and ideas on how to be more effective, and what we could do to add to this ministry. There were two ideas that were brought to the table. One of these being a reminder of who we are as the children of God:
1. Let us share God's love with those around us without expecting anything in return. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." I am aware that this scripture normally refers to "tithes and offerings," but, the Lord spoke to me and impressed upon my heart that this scripture also refers to giving whatever the Holy Spirits beckons you to give/do, whether it is your love, your time, compassion, mercy, forgiveness - 1 Corinthians 13 says it all - and as we give, we are not to give it because we feel forced to or are under obligation to do so, but, we must willingly and joyfully give as if we were doing so unto the Lord Himself. Everyday we should ask the Lord what we can do to be a blessing, and honestly, just encouraging one another is more of a blessing than one realizes. We can encourage one another in the gifts and/or dreams, that the Lord has engraved upon our heart, to never give up, even if our dreams don't come to pass in our timing or even if the world may say that "you aren't capable of doing such a thing" - that is a contradiction to the beautiful words of God...Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength."
2. Fundraising: If any of you have ideas of how we can raise funds, please feel free to share with us whatever the Lord puts on your heart. As the warriors who we were created to be, who our King has appointed each and EVERYONE of us to be, our desire is to go out, whether it is on the streets of Houston, or wherever the Holy Spirit leads us, and share with the lost and broken the love, freedom and hope of Jesus Christ. We are all an army being gathered by the host of heaven, waiting in great anticipation to take our place in this mighty battle that has already begun, righteousness vs. evil, light vs. darkness. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." We will be marching to the rhythm of His heart beat from nation to nation, shouting out with great triumph as we win back His beloved lands in the greatest victory unknown to man, for HE is the Conqueror! And it starts in Houston!
To be continued...
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Return to me
Hey guys, it's been a while.
I started off with the best of intentions, not knowing if they were true or not, only wanting to be honest in what the Lord was showing me through the Holy Spirit and the life of sanctification. I humbly write this to assure you that even though my complaint has been bitter, the Lord has been sweet. This life we now live by faith is bittersweet. We carry the burden of going forth with the ministry of Jesus, a ministry so profound that not one man could carry it, but God in man can. We each have this unique perspective, which should be cherished among the believers and followers of Jesus one to another. God is blessed in blessing us, but what pleases Him is to reveal His Son in us, truly we are blessed if we have fellowship with Him. Not only that but our fellowship should be with one another, regardless of denomination, for there is no distinction between you no matter how you take the gospel, only that you hear the law of liberty and continue in it, as you have well done.
Now that we have come to an end of the complaint of ourselves, and we have tasted of the honey of His goodness, and it was bitterness to our stomach that we should know "foods for the stomach, and the stomach for foods. But God will destroy both it and them" today is the day of reconciliation. Not the we ever needed to be reconciled to our Lord, for "He cannot deny Himself" but that we need to be reconciled one to another, and set aside petty differences. This is the command that we have had from the very beginning and it stands to this very day. I can not tell you how many times I have complained to God only that He should show me "A better way". What we need is a better way, not a better way to approach doctrines or movements or cultures, but a better way to love. This better way has been there from the very beginning and this generation is beginning to understand that which was spoken of. We must also accept the chastening from His hands as we have accepted the goodness from Him. The sweet and the bitter.
It should come as no surprise to you that you are walking this way, set aside in a foreign land, a foreigner in a foreign land. It should come as no surprise to you that there are giants in this land, and these giants do mean to rip you apart. Don't let them. Your authority is delegated from One Who is over all principalities and powers which have been disarmed anyway, so why do we need to fear them any longer? If we have been tried as if by fire and brought into the holy of holies that we may be shown His ways, and are a royal priesthood and a holy nation then truly we are sanctified and should no longer have need to even mention again that we are being persecuted are are ostracized from the way of the world. Let yourself be ostracized from the religion of this world, for our religion, if it is any, is love.
Often you have heard it said that you must be emptied out of all that you are that you may be filled with Him. This is true, and it will continue on until the day you die. I pray that you will be willing to submit to His grace and great mercies for the past, for since the past is dead it can no linger affect you now. Who you were back then is not who you are in Christ Jesus NOW. If you were something in Christ yesterday, you are no longer that now. You are new, and being made new each day if you continue in Him for this is the law of liberty. You may look in that mirror and instantly forget who you are, because you have clinged to its image not knowing that the image is growing and being transformed at all times into something even greater. He means to kill YOU, because as long as you are you, whatever you may believe yourself to be, there is not a Him.
The day of reconciliation is indeed here. A day in which the we must prepare our hearts for obedience to what the Lord is showing us. We have held onto our old beliefs long enough, and now there needs to be fresh rhema. Not that the old beliefs are dead works, certainly not. A man laid a foundation and he did his work there, so where is the most important place in the house in which the Father meets His children? "I go to prepare a place for you" and "The Lord has prepared a table for ALL nations, a table of the choicest foods and finest of wines". These choicest foods must be fresh, or they will go into rottenness. See the goodness of God! Even rottenness has its place! "Your word has become rottenness in my bones", "The bones you have broken will rejoice!". Sin within me festered up into brokenness, and then the word of God turned it into rottenness, so that what is rotten is dead and gone and since Jesus is seated on the throne in my life what is dead and gone is already atoned for and what has been atoned for, not longer has any part with me.
But, even if I should boast in myself or anything I have done or haven't done, I must boast in this one thing, that the Lord has broken me of all that I am until His work should be perfected in me. I should expect this tomorrow, and the next and the next and I should thank Him for it.
Brothers and sisters, be reconciled to one another. Harbor no grudges or resentments because of ones liberty and anther's persons freedom. Take care of one another, even washing each others feet as Jesus did for us, humbling Himself to the point of the cross that we might do the same and take joy in it. If anyone has wronged you, go to them and make an instant forgiveness, welcome in the Holy Spirit to this scene and the Lord will truly bless what you have done and bring both you and them back into His bosom.
Jesus is faithfully yours
God is love
Be reconciled to one another
For He never left your side.
I started off with the best of intentions, not knowing if they were true or not, only wanting to be honest in what the Lord was showing me through the Holy Spirit and the life of sanctification. I humbly write this to assure you that even though my complaint has been bitter, the Lord has been sweet. This life we now live by faith is bittersweet. We carry the burden of going forth with the ministry of Jesus, a ministry so profound that not one man could carry it, but God in man can. We each have this unique perspective, which should be cherished among the believers and followers of Jesus one to another. God is blessed in blessing us, but what pleases Him is to reveal His Son in us, truly we are blessed if we have fellowship with Him. Not only that but our fellowship should be with one another, regardless of denomination, for there is no distinction between you no matter how you take the gospel, only that you hear the law of liberty and continue in it, as you have well done.
Now that we have come to an end of the complaint of ourselves, and we have tasted of the honey of His goodness, and it was bitterness to our stomach that we should know "foods for the stomach, and the stomach for foods. But God will destroy both it and them" today is the day of reconciliation. Not the we ever needed to be reconciled to our Lord, for "He cannot deny Himself" but that we need to be reconciled one to another, and set aside petty differences. This is the command that we have had from the very beginning and it stands to this very day. I can not tell you how many times I have complained to God only that He should show me "A better way". What we need is a better way, not a better way to approach doctrines or movements or cultures, but a better way to love. This better way has been there from the very beginning and this generation is beginning to understand that which was spoken of. We must also accept the chastening from His hands as we have accepted the goodness from Him. The sweet and the bitter.
It should come as no surprise to you that you are walking this way, set aside in a foreign land, a foreigner in a foreign land. It should come as no surprise to you that there are giants in this land, and these giants do mean to rip you apart. Don't let them. Your authority is delegated from One Who is over all principalities and powers which have been disarmed anyway, so why do we need to fear them any longer? If we have been tried as if by fire and brought into the holy of holies that we may be shown His ways, and are a royal priesthood and a holy nation then truly we are sanctified and should no longer have need to even mention again that we are being persecuted are are ostracized from the way of the world. Let yourself be ostracized from the religion of this world, for our religion, if it is any, is love.
Often you have heard it said that you must be emptied out of all that you are that you may be filled with Him. This is true, and it will continue on until the day you die. I pray that you will be willing to submit to His grace and great mercies for the past, for since the past is dead it can no linger affect you now. Who you were back then is not who you are in Christ Jesus NOW. If you were something in Christ yesterday, you are no longer that now. You are new, and being made new each day if you continue in Him for this is the law of liberty. You may look in that mirror and instantly forget who you are, because you have clinged to its image not knowing that the image is growing and being transformed at all times into something even greater. He means to kill YOU, because as long as you are you, whatever you may believe yourself to be, there is not a Him.
The day of reconciliation is indeed here. A day in which the we must prepare our hearts for obedience to what the Lord is showing us. We have held onto our old beliefs long enough, and now there needs to be fresh rhema. Not that the old beliefs are dead works, certainly not. A man laid a foundation and he did his work there, so where is the most important place in the house in which the Father meets His children? "I go to prepare a place for you" and "The Lord has prepared a table for ALL nations, a table of the choicest foods and finest of wines". These choicest foods must be fresh, or they will go into rottenness. See the goodness of God! Even rottenness has its place! "Your word has become rottenness in my bones", "The bones you have broken will rejoice!". Sin within me festered up into brokenness, and then the word of God turned it into rottenness, so that what is rotten is dead and gone and since Jesus is seated on the throne in my life what is dead and gone is already atoned for and what has been atoned for, not longer has any part with me.
But, even if I should boast in myself or anything I have done or haven't done, I must boast in this one thing, that the Lord has broken me of all that I am until His work should be perfected in me. I should expect this tomorrow, and the next and the next and I should thank Him for it.
Brothers and sisters, be reconciled to one another. Harbor no grudges or resentments because of ones liberty and anther's persons freedom. Take care of one another, even washing each others feet as Jesus did for us, humbling Himself to the point of the cross that we might do the same and take joy in it. If anyone has wronged you, go to them and make an instant forgiveness, welcome in the Holy Spirit to this scene and the Lord will truly bless what you have done and bring both you and them back into His bosom.
Jesus is faithfully yours
God is love
Be reconciled to one another
For He never left your side.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Men after God's own heart.
Forgetting all the mistakes I made in the past, that past that held me as a prisoner and subjected me to it's will. I press on, press to know Him, that know that which has laid hold of me which is the power of Jesus' Resurrection. My heart was tearing apart because of the pain and burden of past affliction and grief. Everyday it comes to haunt me, but like a solid beam of brilliant light ripping through a sea of darkness, this past is held back and I am saved from it because of Jesus brilliance and power to save AND to withhold me. How do I press on? How do I move on? I lay myself down in my brokenness, in His arms.
The one thing that has ahold of me and will not let go, is the same passion which brought Jesus to death on the cross, the same passion brings us to death of this life, and into life in Him. Passion is suffering. Paul said "I suffer all things for the glory of the Lord". To live a life of passion is to live a life of suffering, there is no grey area, there is no in between. Suffering, loneliness, brokenness and poverty, scorn from believers and non-believers. The man who lives passionately will suffer all of these things so that others do not have to. Men like Paul, suffer passion, live passionate lives and bow their knees to Jesus at His beckoning and don't need to be convinced to do so. There is no resistance to the love, the tears, there is no shame in the tears and passionate desire for Jesus. Those who really love with passion will find themselves consumed in every moment with thoughts of their Lord with hearts that beat at every moment to be near a Lord that only demands that you surrender your pain unto Him. They don't need to be convinced to read their Bible more, or to pray 30 minutes once a day, and hope they make it.
"Those who follow me, will suffer passion derision, objection, and subjection to the cross." Life comes through death on the cross suffering for what you know in your heart to be truthful, honest and good. We might have lost sight of all of this as a society, but we will still have one spark of hope if we are calling on Him. All it takes is one spark to ignite all of this dry tinder.
"Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered", there are still those who are enemies of the cross. They did not just exist in Paul's day, and they are in the church. They did not go extinct when Paul, and some are even seem to be God fearing people! It is not the ones who know God's way that are the problem, it is those who seem to know! The real enemy are those within the church who hinder people from entering lives to passionately serve the Lord because these men dont feel "comfortable" with that. They still exist! They hate the tears of lovers of Christ, they hate to see a man or woman shaken by the Lord, and say that they have a demon. They oppress the lovers of God and sell them into slavery to what they think is right for them, for what they are "comfortable" with. They do not recognize the work of the cross in someone and they lash out at others because of this love that has gotten ahold of the lovers of Jesus.
John the baptist was not a voice whispering or talking from the wilderness, he was a voice CRYING from the wilderness passionately preparing people's hearts for the coming of Jesus, and speaking about what was among them, and not for tomorrow. Jesus was there among John's disciples, and John was not looking for escape, he was looking at Jesus. These are the times that we are in now. As everyone spends their time religiously pouring over end time prophecy, which speaks in a whisper, there is a voice desperately crying out to show us Who is among us! We have been missing the work of heart preparedness that the Lord wants to do among us. Men that live passionately for Jesus do not live in the whisper of the end, but in the voice crying about NOW. The end times are not darkness and doom. They are light piercing what is already darkness and doom, a brilliant light that flesh can not stand.
And then when a man sees that all of those things he has lost, given up, surrendered are but rubbish before the Lord, then the Lord can do something in our lives. I can not be molded or shaped into a man of God's own heart without first giving up all that I am, and all that I hold onto "just in case" or " in case of emergency" the things that Paul said "but what things were gain to me" (Phil 3:7) these things are seen for what they are, pure garbage before Jesus. How many can say that as they read these passages in Philippians 3 that they too have come to this place? And how far into this land are we willing to go? Are we just hanging out near the border, in case things get tough and we aren't comfortable? and we don't like it here so we are going to leave this place and go back to what we know already? OR are we willing to take this land without doubting and fear and wandering around for years before we step into our ministry our calling? Have we gotten so spiritually mature in our religious understanding that we no longer need Exodus?
This is what Paul is talking about here. Leaving behind all that he was in "Saul" and all the things that his fellows told him were right and good and true. People talk about how they want to live free, and how they hate slavery, yet when the true freedom shows up they want to murder it. Paul left his "Egypt" which looked good and felt good and gave him a life of prestige and honor among his peers, and riches from those in authority, and went to something better. As it was in the Old Testament, those who hold onto the former ways of fear and doubt will not live to see the promised land, few of the old generation will step into it. The men like Joshua and Caleb that are faithful and are willing to give up all that they believe at any moment, abandoning the old way of doing things and that which they believe makes them who they are in faith, and trust only in Him Who leads, will step into the promises that God has given them for this life.
The one thing that has ahold of me and will not let go, is the same passion which brought Jesus to death on the cross, the same passion brings us to death of this life, and into life in Him. Passion is suffering. Paul said "I suffer all things for the glory of the Lord". To live a life of passion is to live a life of suffering, there is no grey area, there is no in between. Suffering, loneliness, brokenness and poverty, scorn from believers and non-believers. The man who lives passionately will suffer all of these things so that others do not have to. Men like Paul, suffer passion, live passionate lives and bow their knees to Jesus at His beckoning and don't need to be convinced to do so. There is no resistance to the love, the tears, there is no shame in the tears and passionate desire for Jesus. Those who really love with passion will find themselves consumed in every moment with thoughts of their Lord with hearts that beat at every moment to be near a Lord that only demands that you surrender your pain unto Him. They don't need to be convinced to read their Bible more, or to pray 30 minutes once a day, and hope they make it.
"Those who follow me, will suffer passion derision, objection, and subjection to the cross." Life comes through death on the cross suffering for what you know in your heart to be truthful, honest and good. We might have lost sight of all of this as a society, but we will still have one spark of hope if we are calling on Him. All it takes is one spark to ignite all of this dry tinder.
"Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered", there are still those who are enemies of the cross. They did not just exist in Paul's day, and they are in the church. They did not go extinct when Paul, and some are even seem to be God fearing people! It is not the ones who know God's way that are the problem, it is those who seem to know! The real enemy are those within the church who hinder people from entering lives to passionately serve the Lord because these men dont feel "comfortable" with that. They still exist! They hate the tears of lovers of Christ, they hate to see a man or woman shaken by the Lord, and say that they have a demon. They oppress the lovers of God and sell them into slavery to what they think is right for them, for what they are "comfortable" with. They do not recognize the work of the cross in someone and they lash out at others because of this love that has gotten ahold of the lovers of Jesus.
John the baptist was not a voice whispering or talking from the wilderness, he was a voice CRYING from the wilderness passionately preparing people's hearts for the coming of Jesus, and speaking about what was among them, and not for tomorrow. Jesus was there among John's disciples, and John was not looking for escape, he was looking at Jesus. These are the times that we are in now. As everyone spends their time religiously pouring over end time prophecy, which speaks in a whisper, there is a voice desperately crying out to show us Who is among us! We have been missing the work of heart preparedness that the Lord wants to do among us. Men that live passionately for Jesus do not live in the whisper of the end, but in the voice crying about NOW. The end times are not darkness and doom. They are light piercing what is already darkness and doom, a brilliant light that flesh can not stand.
And then when a man sees that all of those things he has lost, given up, surrendered are but rubbish before the Lord, then the Lord can do something in our lives. I can not be molded or shaped into a man of God's own heart without first giving up all that I am, and all that I hold onto "just in case" or " in case of emergency" the things that Paul said "but what things were gain to me" (Phil 3:7) these things are seen for what they are, pure garbage before Jesus. How many can say that as they read these passages in Philippians 3 that they too have come to this place? And how far into this land are we willing to go? Are we just hanging out near the border, in case things get tough and we aren't comfortable? and we don't like it here so we are going to leave this place and go back to what we know already? OR are we willing to take this land without doubting and fear and wandering around for years before we step into our ministry our calling? Have we gotten so spiritually mature in our religious understanding that we no longer need Exodus?
This is what Paul is talking about here. Leaving behind all that he was in "Saul" and all the things that his fellows told him were right and good and true. People talk about how they want to live free, and how they hate slavery, yet when the true freedom shows up they want to murder it. Paul left his "Egypt" which looked good and felt good and gave him a life of prestige and honor among his peers, and riches from those in authority, and went to something better. As it was in the Old Testament, those who hold onto the former ways of fear and doubt will not live to see the promised land, few of the old generation will step into it. The men like Joshua and Caleb that are faithful and are willing to give up all that they believe at any moment, abandoning the old way of doing things and that which they believe makes them who they are in faith, and trust only in Him Who leads, will step into the promises that God has given them for this life.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
There are the radicals
True kingdom radicals are not the people who stand outside of abortion clinics holding signs that condemn people. True radicals are not those who do things for show so that everyone can look at them and say "that is just a bunch of radicals". When we say the word "radical" you almost think of that type of person, and although they do a service in kingdom work, they are not the radicals. John the Baptist was a radical, he would preach repeantance, he was a herald to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus sought those who were hungry for healing, he preached to the brokenhearted and to the lowly. That was radical. "If I can get into the best clubs, hang out with the richest people, drive the nicest cars, make the most money, be the best at what I do", there is nothing radical about that. People all over desire to have that, and honestly most people would jump at the chance to be seen and recognized for who they are and how great they are.
When you see someone that is truly radical, you probably would not recognize it. While John the Baptist was out preaching repeantance and heralding the gospel, everyone else was in the synagouge or they were at religious feasts looking for answers where there were none, looking to man and not to God, because these guys were well dressed.
Someone who is radical for Jesus does not have to go out and show the sinner the picket sign saying "you are going to burn in hell", that is suffering them to come unto Jesus. Those people consider themselves radicals for their ideals. Faith is not in that picket sign and you will see why:
Luke 18:1-8 :
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
What was it that caused justice? what gave birth to it here? No one was outside picketing this womans cause, the woman was going before her judge on her own. She had a cause and she was not radical for man, she was radical for God, what He had shown her was right. There would be so fewer struggles in your life if you could get to the point where you no longer care what man has to say about it, that you hear what agrees with what the Father has already said of Himself. We always go to man, we seek to fit in, to belong to a group and to have a social club. But radicalism for Jesus is "I will not move until He moves, I will not say what He did not say, I will not do what He has not told me to do". Go to those places, the bars, the clubs, the abortion clinics, whatever it is that you feel called to do. Instead of sitting outside with a picket sign, have you tried praying over them? That is real faith, you know that you can make a person feel bad about what they are doing if you can show them a sign that has condemnation on it, or tell them that they will go to hell. But you may not see your prayers go answered. Hate the sin to the point that you can say "I would die to see a sinner saved" and then die to the flesh and it's lusts, there you will see fruit.
Where we get in trouble is in that we do not understand God is as Who He says He is, we understand Him as Who man says He is. We listen to the sermon, and get hurt because the pastor or whomever said something that offended or made us feel confused, so we ran away or we felt betrayed and said "Oh what is the point", when we needed to come before His presence and let His love draw out all that is needed to be worked on. We can not back down. Putting yourself in the picket line does not bring you to a point of loving God. Is it bringing people closer to Jesus?or is it heaping up condemnation.
We are not selling salvation like we would sell cars and we do not have a quota to meet. We are not tricking people into loving Jesus based on guilt, or emotion. Our mission is to be a light, and where there is a light the lost will be attracted to it. We have to see it that way. Jesus said "suffer not the little children to come unto me", that does not just go for children. It goes for those who don't know better, or those who have not been told better, or those who have not heard HIS voice. We can not bring them closer to Jesus by making them feel bad about what they do, yes some conviction is involved but that is the work of the Lord.
The most powerful things are things that can not be tamed by any man. We have a vision of doing that hard work and saying "well no one could tame that horse but me" we have dreams of being that amazing. But we are the ones that are the untameable. God is the only one that can tame us, if we are being tamed by man into acting a certain way, that is not radical. The most powerful things, are things that can only be tamed by God. No man came to John and told Him to eat locusts and honey and wear camel skin so that people would look and say "what a radical he is" God told John that. God tamed him into radicalism. See it is not the same here with God. Man tames things into quiet sheep like submission, and yes we are the sheep of His pastor, but God gave us a personality for a reason. We are not to be sheeple. We do not have to listen to the doctrine of man, or theology of angels even!
Galatians 1:8 -
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
That which was preached was the gospel, and that which has changed your life is the gospel. The gospel is the testimony of Christ, and the testimony of Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Spirit of prophecy speaks only what the Lord speaks, does only what the Lord does. Jesus looked to heal the broken hearted! Or have you not read that? Jesus came to heal the sick, or did you not get that? We have that mission, we have that aim and that goal, it is not found in theology, or doctrine, it is found in purpose. Radicals do what the Lord has told them, even if they heard Him say it only once long ago. They do not need to hear it again, when it comes from the Lord it is His will for you and His desire. Radicals do what Jesus did because they know they are lambs being lead to the slaughter, they are fuel for the fire. Stop worrying about the how to respond to the arguments of an unbelieving world, what they need is to see the fire in the lowly. Those who are great in their own eyes, have to have their mindsets changed, but radicals know they are lowly in the eyes of man, so they are great in the eyes of God. We have to pray for them first, then we can deal with the bondage and the deceits they are living under. We have to pray and pour our hearts out over the lost and then let the Lord do His work on them. If not then we are just "selling cars", getting people saved to reach this quota. That is not our God. Pray, and you will see people saved, pray and you will see lives truly changed. Pray and you will see women with unborn babies suddenly change their minds at the door because believe it or not, the grace of God is still enough for them. How were you saved? When I truly gave my life to the Lord, I was not in a church service, and I was not listening to some preacher, the grace of God was right there for me. "By grace we have been saved" our prayer should be for mercy, and then grace to save the lost. Mercy for the sins that cover a nation, mercy that comes from our thankfulness that we have been taken from the pain and death we were living in, and grace to produce genuine love through salvation.
Ezekiel 33:11
11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
That is what should be said. "The Lord does not desire that you should perish! You know in what ways you are being wicked! He wants you to have life!!!!!!". It says "As I live", as the Lord lives and gives life , He does not desire to see anyone perish. His grace is enough even for the lowliest of sinners. Your presence with prayer is more powerful than the picket sign! Prayer will work more miracles, prayer will reach more people, prayer has no boundaries or borders or any civil restrictions on where and when and how you can preach and protest! They can take away your freedom to meet in the park and talk to everyone about Jesus, they can take prayer out of schools and tell kids that they don't have to stand for the national anthem, and they can try to suppress talking about Jesus, while giving freedom of speech rights to people who will say vile and perverse things, but they can not take the prayer away from your hearts, they can not take away your cries to God the Father for Justice! It is truly perverse when people are willing to talk about perverted, violent and hateful things with each other without offense, yet we can't talk about Jesus.
We declare justice for our nation, justice for those who have cried out for so long, we declare justice in our schools and justice in the streets, outside of bars and dark places, we declare that God is real and we declare Jesus reigns. Nothing can take that away from us.
Other nations, other people have fought for this kind of freedom, but have not gotten it. God has given us this freedom because we honored Him in our struggles, and the word says "He will honor those who honor Him". But what have we now? Our people take this freedom for granted and like all the others throughout history who turned their backs on God, it will not go well for us. Education, and pretentiousness will not keep us safe from it. Education is important, but we have turned into people who are "too intelligent for God", it has become common thought "those who believe in Him are ignorant", and those that don't accept this modern agenda of social progresivism are all intolerable people. We have become so lost. We don't even know where we came from anymore, history is becoming so convoluted. There are two nations of people, one that is serving the Lord and one that is not. The Lord has said that the older will serve the younger, not the older in age but the older in mentality. Those who honor Him are honored, He will restore your youth like the eagles if you honor Him. We will mount up on eagles wings despite the muck ad the mire. Rise up radicals, you are the young!
So far the picket signs and protests have not worked, and the only fruit that has come of it is hate. We need to pray that we can get through with love, setting predjudices aside and reaching the heart of man. We are aiming for the heart, not the head. "Love covers over a mulitude of sins" hate and anger just spawn more sin. But love conquers all.
When you see someone that is truly radical, you probably would not recognize it. While John the Baptist was out preaching repeantance and heralding the gospel, everyone else was in the synagouge or they were at religious feasts looking for answers where there were none, looking to man and not to God, because these guys were well dressed.
Someone who is radical for Jesus does not have to go out and show the sinner the picket sign saying "you are going to burn in hell", that is suffering them to come unto Jesus. Those people consider themselves radicals for their ideals. Faith is not in that picket sign and you will see why:
Luke 18:1-8 :
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
What was it that caused justice? what gave birth to it here? No one was outside picketing this womans cause, the woman was going before her judge on her own. She had a cause and she was not radical for man, she was radical for God, what He had shown her was right. There would be so fewer struggles in your life if you could get to the point where you no longer care what man has to say about it, that you hear what agrees with what the Father has already said of Himself. We always go to man, we seek to fit in, to belong to a group and to have a social club. But radicalism for Jesus is "I will not move until He moves, I will not say what He did not say, I will not do what He has not told me to do". Go to those places, the bars, the clubs, the abortion clinics, whatever it is that you feel called to do. Instead of sitting outside with a picket sign, have you tried praying over them? That is real faith, you know that you can make a person feel bad about what they are doing if you can show them a sign that has condemnation on it, or tell them that they will go to hell. But you may not see your prayers go answered. Hate the sin to the point that you can say "I would die to see a sinner saved" and then die to the flesh and it's lusts, there you will see fruit.
Where we get in trouble is in that we do not understand God is as Who He says He is, we understand Him as Who man says He is. We listen to the sermon, and get hurt because the pastor or whomever said something that offended or made us feel confused, so we ran away or we felt betrayed and said "Oh what is the point", when we needed to come before His presence and let His love draw out all that is needed to be worked on. We can not back down. Putting yourself in the picket line does not bring you to a point of loving God. Is it bringing people closer to Jesus?or is it heaping up condemnation.
We are not selling salvation like we would sell cars and we do not have a quota to meet. We are not tricking people into loving Jesus based on guilt, or emotion. Our mission is to be a light, and where there is a light the lost will be attracted to it. We have to see it that way. Jesus said "suffer not the little children to come unto me", that does not just go for children. It goes for those who don't know better, or those who have not been told better, or those who have not heard HIS voice. We can not bring them closer to Jesus by making them feel bad about what they do, yes some conviction is involved but that is the work of the Lord.
The most powerful things are things that can not be tamed by any man. We have a vision of doing that hard work and saying "well no one could tame that horse but me" we have dreams of being that amazing. But we are the ones that are the untameable. God is the only one that can tame us, if we are being tamed by man into acting a certain way, that is not radical. The most powerful things, are things that can only be tamed by God. No man came to John and told Him to eat locusts and honey and wear camel skin so that people would look and say "what a radical he is" God told John that. God tamed him into radicalism. See it is not the same here with God. Man tames things into quiet sheep like submission, and yes we are the sheep of His pastor, but God gave us a personality for a reason. We are not to be sheeple. We do not have to listen to the doctrine of man, or theology of angels even!
Galatians 1:8 -
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
That which was preached was the gospel, and that which has changed your life is the gospel. The gospel is the testimony of Christ, and the testimony of Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Spirit of prophecy speaks only what the Lord speaks, does only what the Lord does. Jesus looked to heal the broken hearted! Or have you not read that? Jesus came to heal the sick, or did you not get that? We have that mission, we have that aim and that goal, it is not found in theology, or doctrine, it is found in purpose. Radicals do what the Lord has told them, even if they heard Him say it only once long ago. They do not need to hear it again, when it comes from the Lord it is His will for you and His desire. Radicals do what Jesus did because they know they are lambs being lead to the slaughter, they are fuel for the fire. Stop worrying about the how to respond to the arguments of an unbelieving world, what they need is to see the fire in the lowly. Those who are great in their own eyes, have to have their mindsets changed, but radicals know they are lowly in the eyes of man, so they are great in the eyes of God. We have to pray for them first, then we can deal with the bondage and the deceits they are living under. We have to pray and pour our hearts out over the lost and then let the Lord do His work on them. If not then we are just "selling cars", getting people saved to reach this quota. That is not our God. Pray, and you will see people saved, pray and you will see lives truly changed. Pray and you will see women with unborn babies suddenly change their minds at the door because believe it or not, the grace of God is still enough for them. How were you saved? When I truly gave my life to the Lord, I was not in a church service, and I was not listening to some preacher, the grace of God was right there for me. "By grace we have been saved" our prayer should be for mercy, and then grace to save the lost. Mercy for the sins that cover a nation, mercy that comes from our thankfulness that we have been taken from the pain and death we were living in, and grace to produce genuine love through salvation.
Ezekiel 33:11
11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
That is what should be said. "The Lord does not desire that you should perish! You know in what ways you are being wicked! He wants you to have life!!!!!!". It says "As I live", as the Lord lives and gives life , He does not desire to see anyone perish. His grace is enough even for the lowliest of sinners. Your presence with prayer is more powerful than the picket sign! Prayer will work more miracles, prayer will reach more people, prayer has no boundaries or borders or any civil restrictions on where and when and how you can preach and protest! They can take away your freedom to meet in the park and talk to everyone about Jesus, they can take prayer out of schools and tell kids that they don't have to stand for the national anthem, and they can try to suppress talking about Jesus, while giving freedom of speech rights to people who will say vile and perverse things, but they can not take the prayer away from your hearts, they can not take away your cries to God the Father for Justice! It is truly perverse when people are willing to talk about perverted, violent and hateful things with each other without offense, yet we can't talk about Jesus.
We declare justice for our nation, justice for those who have cried out for so long, we declare justice in our schools and justice in the streets, outside of bars and dark places, we declare that God is real and we declare Jesus reigns. Nothing can take that away from us.
Other nations, other people have fought for this kind of freedom, but have not gotten it. God has given us this freedom because we honored Him in our struggles, and the word says "He will honor those who honor Him". But what have we now? Our people take this freedom for granted and like all the others throughout history who turned their backs on God, it will not go well for us. Education, and pretentiousness will not keep us safe from it. Education is important, but we have turned into people who are "too intelligent for God", it has become common thought "those who believe in Him are ignorant", and those that don't accept this modern agenda of social progresivism are all intolerable people. We have become so lost. We don't even know where we came from anymore, history is becoming so convoluted. There are two nations of people, one that is serving the Lord and one that is not. The Lord has said that the older will serve the younger, not the older in age but the older in mentality. Those who honor Him are honored, He will restore your youth like the eagles if you honor Him. We will mount up on eagles wings despite the muck ad the mire. Rise up radicals, you are the young!
So far the picket signs and protests have not worked, and the only fruit that has come of it is hate. We need to pray that we can get through with love, setting predjudices aside and reaching the heart of man. We are aiming for the heart, not the head. "Love covers over a mulitude of sins" hate and anger just spawn more sin. But love conquers all.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Stand up and recieve!
God wants you to get your feet wet. Take a little toe and just dip it in the water, feel how "the water is just fine". God never said to Joshua "Hey Josh, let me tell you what, you want to go into the promised land?" Josh says "Oh yeah Lord" and did the Lord say "well, just pull out the lawn chairs, kick back relax here next to the Jordan and wait for the water to dry up", where would the miracle be in that? How could anyone ever say "I have seen the miracle working power of God" when they were kicked back on lawn chairs next to the brink of the Jordan, sipping on lemonade, waiting for a miracle? What warriors would do that? I can say that I have seen, felt, experienced, and witnessed in others the miracle working power of God because our feet were wet.
In Joshua 3 the Lord said "Now these priests have got to place their feet in the Jordan and then the waters will part" They had to get out there! You see how it should be? "We worked a miracle, hand i hand with our God!" now it can be reproduced. Reproduction of God's will can never be reproduced in you until you first walk in obedience. The miracles can never happen for you, and you can not experience the blessings of intimacy with the Father until you first learn to be obedient.
Ephesians 1:4- "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,". You can read on if you like, but what the Lord is trying to get across to us, "You do not have to love me any more. You can not. I want to love you more! Come close to me, be obedient and come close to me, I got all this love for you and I want to pour it out on you". We keep trying to love Him more, there are conferences and books "How to love God more" there are sermons in multitide and teachings in quantums on this subject. The whole point of God's love, is that we can not love Him enough. We re not in ourselves the source of love, we are not God's love, we represent God's love. It was a relief to me when I first heard that! How many times have you agonized over how you don't think you love God enough? And you prayed and you fasted and you cried out and He taught you to love Him. How did He do that? He didn't say "Ok now if you act like you love me, then you love me" no, it says "before Him in love".
Have you ever been to court? Or watched court television shows? What happens? You stand before a judge and receive your sentence or you get justice, that is what happens, you get what you deserve, or you make sure someone else gets what they deserve. We can now go to John 3:16. Look at this in a new light, stop looking at it the way you used to, trust me there is a mindset there that needs to be changed. God could have judged us Gentiles and non-Gentiles ALL GUILTY. But He didn't, He can not deny Himself. You can read that in 1 Timothy, "He is faithful for He can not deny Himself". God is love, you have heard that you have heard song after song about it. But how has it made you feel? Are you left in the dark? Are you saying you are blessed when in actuality you can not see anything to be so happy about? "Before Him in love" God's judgement on us was love. He poured HIS love out on us, we can only return it to Him. God is the source of love, so if we stand before Him it is to receive that love, that is His judgement.
Why have we received such harsh treatment in life? Why are there still people who call themselves "agnostic"? Maybe it is because they have not met you. That's right, we all say "they just need Jesus" and take a look at yourself. You and I , we are Jesus! OH no that is not blasphemy, look at Galatians 4:19. Remember when Jesus said "no one who has a lamp hides it in under a shade so no one can see it? Let your light shine out to all of man." Jesus also said " I am the light of the world". In the world, what is in us can not be seen except with an x-ray. We could look for a little statue, or an apparition of the face of Jesus in out rib cage, but that is not what Paul meant in Galatians 4:19. If Christ is formed in you, it is so that He can be reproduced in others. We are Christ. I don't care how you want to word that so you are comfortable with it, but that is Who you are here, whether or not you like it. You are Christ. God has always chosen to use man as His vessels. He says "get your feet wet, then you can cross" some were chosen for the fire, some were tortured and stoned (with rocks get your head out of the gutter) and some were crucified and imprisoned because of the gospel.
We should be ashamed. We do not have to do that so we can "love Him more" there is no "I need to love Him more" we need to let Him love us more. I go back to my statement, that is why there are so many agnostics in this world who have still not come to terms with their salvation. There will be no comfort there because it is not about being comfortable, it is not about rationalizing or domesticating or digesting it. There is not bodily function for it. There is no proper interpretation that can bring you closer. A book can inspire you, this blog entry can inspire you, but it is not the source. Have you read "Purpose Driven life"? ok then you should tell me about it, I'm sure it's good. But I know my purpose regardless of whether or not I read that book, who showed me my purpose? "I found that out when I put my feet in the water" oh Jesus. He is all over that, that is what you should be saying. Stop saying "I need to find my purpose" and you can say " I found out when I put my feet on the water"OH Jesus. You got out of the boat and you looked into your Saviors eyes and you knew, you just knew that was it for you. There is no turning back this time, not this time. Maybe Peter had to turn back, but you don't have to! Listen don't read that story as "oh my, if I get out of the boat and onto the water, I am just going to fail like Peter did, so why bother?" NO that is not what you should be saying! You should be rejoicing because you know that Jesus died so that you could RUN on the water, you can DANCE on the water! "OH Lord if that is You! I want to get out of this boat and go dancing with You on that water, I want to go NOW" . It is time. Get your feet wet, testify how the waters were parted. Testify how He loves you so much that even though these trials are constantly coming at you, you know that there is breakthrough afterwards. There is nothing more discouraging to the others around you than to hear you say "Man, I am just going through it" all mopping around sad and angry and hurt because you are learning something. Pick you head up and hold it high! Keep your eyes upon the sky! Oh Jesus, we need to get our feet wet.
That water will never part until you stand up and receive! Throw the lawn chairs away, take off the blindfold and say to the water "Stand up so I can receive!"
Jesus Reigns.
In Joshua 3 the Lord said "Now these priests have got to place their feet in the Jordan and then the waters will part" They had to get out there! You see how it should be? "We worked a miracle, hand i hand with our God!" now it can be reproduced. Reproduction of God's will can never be reproduced in you until you first walk in obedience. The miracles can never happen for you, and you can not experience the blessings of intimacy with the Father until you first learn to be obedient.
Ephesians 1:4- "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,". You can read on if you like, but what the Lord is trying to get across to us, "You do not have to love me any more. You can not. I want to love you more! Come close to me, be obedient and come close to me, I got all this love for you and I want to pour it out on you". We keep trying to love Him more, there are conferences and books "How to love God more" there are sermons in multitide and teachings in quantums on this subject. The whole point of God's love, is that we can not love Him enough. We re not in ourselves the source of love, we are not God's love, we represent God's love. It was a relief to me when I first heard that! How many times have you agonized over how you don't think you love God enough? And you prayed and you fasted and you cried out and He taught you to love Him. How did He do that? He didn't say "Ok now if you act like you love me, then you love me" no, it says "before Him in love".
Have you ever been to court? Or watched court television shows? What happens? You stand before a judge and receive your sentence or you get justice, that is what happens, you get what you deserve, or you make sure someone else gets what they deserve. We can now go to John 3:16. Look at this in a new light, stop looking at it the way you used to, trust me there is a mindset there that needs to be changed. God could have judged us Gentiles and non-Gentiles ALL GUILTY. But He didn't, He can not deny Himself. You can read that in 1 Timothy, "He is faithful for He can not deny Himself". God is love, you have heard that you have heard song after song about it. But how has it made you feel? Are you left in the dark? Are you saying you are blessed when in actuality you can not see anything to be so happy about? "Before Him in love" God's judgement on us was love. He poured HIS love out on us, we can only return it to Him. God is the source of love, so if we stand before Him it is to receive that love, that is His judgement.
Why have we received such harsh treatment in life? Why are there still people who call themselves "agnostic"? Maybe it is because they have not met you. That's right, we all say "they just need Jesus" and take a look at yourself. You and I , we are Jesus! OH no that is not blasphemy, look at Galatians 4:19. Remember when Jesus said "no one who has a lamp hides it in under a shade so no one can see it? Let your light shine out to all of man." Jesus also said " I am the light of the world". In the world, what is in us can not be seen except with an x-ray. We could look for a little statue, or an apparition of the face of Jesus in out rib cage, but that is not what Paul meant in Galatians 4:19. If Christ is formed in you, it is so that He can be reproduced in others. We are Christ. I don't care how you want to word that so you are comfortable with it, but that is Who you are here, whether or not you like it. You are Christ. God has always chosen to use man as His vessels. He says "get your feet wet, then you can cross" some were chosen for the fire, some were tortured and stoned (with rocks get your head out of the gutter) and some were crucified and imprisoned because of the gospel.
We should be ashamed. We do not have to do that so we can "love Him more" there is no "I need to love Him more" we need to let Him love us more. I go back to my statement, that is why there are so many agnostics in this world who have still not come to terms with their salvation. There will be no comfort there because it is not about being comfortable, it is not about rationalizing or domesticating or digesting it. There is not bodily function for it. There is no proper interpretation that can bring you closer. A book can inspire you, this blog entry can inspire you, but it is not the source. Have you read "Purpose Driven life"? ok then you should tell me about it, I'm sure it's good. But I know my purpose regardless of whether or not I read that book, who showed me my purpose? "I found that out when I put my feet in the water" oh Jesus. He is all over that, that is what you should be saying. Stop saying "I need to find my purpose" and you can say " I found out when I put my feet on the water"OH Jesus. You got out of the boat and you looked into your Saviors eyes and you knew, you just knew that was it for you. There is no turning back this time, not this time. Maybe Peter had to turn back, but you don't have to! Listen don't read that story as "oh my, if I get out of the boat and onto the water, I am just going to fail like Peter did, so why bother?" NO that is not what you should be saying! You should be rejoicing because you know that Jesus died so that you could RUN on the water, you can DANCE on the water! "OH Lord if that is You! I want to get out of this boat and go dancing with You on that water, I want to go NOW" . It is time. Get your feet wet, testify how the waters were parted. Testify how He loves you so much that even though these trials are constantly coming at you, you know that there is breakthrough afterwards. There is nothing more discouraging to the others around you than to hear you say "Man, I am just going through it" all mopping around sad and angry and hurt because you are learning something. Pick you head up and hold it high! Keep your eyes upon the sky! Oh Jesus, we need to get our feet wet.
That water will never part until you stand up and receive! Throw the lawn chairs away, take off the blindfold and say to the water "Stand up so I can receive!"
Jesus Reigns.
Monday, June 6, 2011
How often we have trembled
Have you ever had a desire that you trembled for?
So much that you almost fell down where you stand?
So much that it was like it came pressing down on you
From God's almighty hand
This is your word Lord! And I have covenanted myself to it
Your will is my will I will not fear
Therefore I tremble at Your word
It is You Who keep me from stumbling
"Come on son, daughter, did you think I would not take care of you?"
"Do you think I did not hear you? ( I listen to your heart) You believed
my words and I made it so
Like fire from Heaven
and thunder from down below
The word of God will never loose it's power
Now that there are seeds to sow.
He has held me even though I can't stop trembling
He has kept me from stumbling even though
my knees buckle beneath the weight
He has provided an escape even when there seems
to be no hope
In my desperation I have run to Him
I shook in anticipation and trembled at His word
The day of Christ will come, that day will arise even for the most sinful of creatures, for the lowliest of souls.
When was the last time you were so shook up over something you went all "Elvis Presley" saying "uh-huh, I'm all shook up" When was the last time something caused you to tremble in anticipation that would not be quenched until you got the answers? And how often does the word of God become that answer.
Isaiah 66:2- But on this one I will look, On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit who TREMBLES at my word"
What about these times when we were excited for a concert? There is just an energy, isn't there? When we are in the way, when we are waiting in line to get in, standing and waiting with the radicals and the first timers, talking about our respect for the artist. This is the same excitement that God wants to generate within you everyday. He wants to cultivate an intense anticipation for His word in you to the point where you are shaking just to hear it. You are a radical.
The world says God won't, God can't, God isn't, or God isn't doing that anymore. But we know, He is, He can, and He does!
Jude 24- Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."
Joy unshakable though we waver and stutter and stumble sometimes that joy can not be shaken can not be taken. And though we stumble we will not stay down. "My God is more that enough" you say, and you should believe it! "My God provides all my needs" and you need to always see it. "My God He looks after me!" and He wants to show it! He wants to show you how mighty He is and that there is nothing you can't handle cause He fights for you! Joshua said to the Israelites "What have you to be worried about? Do what needs to be done! ONE of you guys puts 1000 of your enemies to flight because our God is mighty and He fights for you!" There is no fear in love, perfect love casts it all out,let go of that which you fear, let go of these concerns and things that you hold onto almost as some sort of identifier of who you are or something you fall back on because you can not fathom that you can deal with the full pressure of it. Do not hold onto these ridiculous schemes and thoughts that maybe just maybe you can have that past again! They are dead and gone! It is in God's hands now!This perfect love that comes from Him casts out all fear, and keeps you locked up in His embrace no matter how hard you might try to fight the truth.
1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you",Rejoice! These might be the only words that you need to hear, but if there is still that doubt that "But what about that time I..." it says " But God is faithful Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able" Stop all of that "but what about how I messed up" God forgives and then He forgets, there is no memory bank of it once it has been forgiven it is gone for good there is no turning back! He is not reminding you of them, it is not perfect love that makes you hold onto guilt and therefore fear over what you might be able to do or how messed up you are or whatever prison that kind of fear and torment has had us in. See the blood of Jesus already tore all of those walls down and removed them entirely from any sort of existence. It is not God Who keeps reminding you of your sins and error, and to make you feel like you have to shed your own blood over the wrong you might have done. That is not God.
Oh thank You Lord! You will keep us from what harms us if we can just trust in You! If we can just put our hope in you, we will not stumble, we will not stay down. You can't keep us down! The world might try to suppress you, might try to make you feel like a fool for the gospel and believing in a Man Who has been dead for 2000 years and will never return. It might get to the point of oppression and finger pointing, the second you open your mouth you might only have the gospel of Jesus to talk about! But what the world needs now is not "love" faux love that does not stick around or take care of you, love that is fear of that person leaving or that thing leaving. That comfort blanket that you used to drag around when you were a child left a long time ago and what you need now is not another source of comfort other that the One Who will never leave you nor forsake you! You are so important to Him that time stopped just so He could see you saved, that complete and total death happened just to see you come back to life! Darkness enveloped Him so you could have light, death and fear eclipsed Him so now you have a way out of everyday temptations, demons and devils tormented at Him so that you could stand strong when they trip you up!
Thank you Jesus, even when all hope is gone, even when all the problems and fears mount up to take us into darkness and fear, even when the shadow envelopes and seems to try to consume us at every turn, and every step we make there are those that wish us harm and death, even when we think we have had all that we can stand, we are broken and trembling at Your word!
Malachi 4:2-
2 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
We have nothing left to fear if we have put our trust in Him.
So much that you almost fell down where you stand?
So much that it was like it came pressing down on you
From God's almighty hand
This is your word Lord! And I have covenanted myself to it
Your will is my will I will not fear
Therefore I tremble at Your word
It is You Who keep me from stumbling
"Come on son, daughter, did you think I would not take care of you?"
"Do you think I did not hear you? ( I listen to your heart) You believed
my words and I made it so
Like fire from Heaven
and thunder from down below
The word of God will never loose it's power
Now that there are seeds to sow.
He has held me even though I can't stop trembling
He has kept me from stumbling even though
my knees buckle beneath the weight
He has provided an escape even when there seems
to be no hope
In my desperation I have run to Him
I shook in anticipation and trembled at His word
The day of Christ will come, that day will arise even for the most sinful of creatures, for the lowliest of souls.
When was the last time you were so shook up over something you went all "Elvis Presley" saying "uh-huh, I'm all shook up" When was the last time something caused you to tremble in anticipation that would not be quenched until you got the answers? And how often does the word of God become that answer.
Isaiah 66:2- But on this one I will look, On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit who TREMBLES at my word"
What about these times when we were excited for a concert? There is just an energy, isn't there? When we are in the way, when we are waiting in line to get in, standing and waiting with the radicals and the first timers, talking about our respect for the artist. This is the same excitement that God wants to generate within you everyday. He wants to cultivate an intense anticipation for His word in you to the point where you are shaking just to hear it. You are a radical.
The world says God won't, God can't, God isn't, or God isn't doing that anymore. But we know, He is, He can, and He does!
Jude 24- Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."
Joy unshakable though we waver and stutter and stumble sometimes that joy can not be shaken can not be taken. And though we stumble we will not stay down. "My God is more that enough" you say, and you should believe it! "My God provides all my needs" and you need to always see it. "My God He looks after me!" and He wants to show it! He wants to show you how mighty He is and that there is nothing you can't handle cause He fights for you! Joshua said to the Israelites "What have you to be worried about? Do what needs to be done! ONE of you guys puts 1000 of your enemies to flight because our God is mighty and He fights for you!" There is no fear in love, perfect love casts it all out,let go of that which you fear, let go of these concerns and things that you hold onto almost as some sort of identifier of who you are or something you fall back on because you can not fathom that you can deal with the full pressure of it. Do not hold onto these ridiculous schemes and thoughts that maybe just maybe you can have that past again! They are dead and gone! It is in God's hands now!This perfect love that comes from Him casts out all fear, and keeps you locked up in His embrace no matter how hard you might try to fight the truth.
1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you",Rejoice! These might be the only words that you need to hear, but if there is still that doubt that "But what about that time I..." it says " But God is faithful Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able" Stop all of that "but what about how I messed up" God forgives and then He forgets, there is no memory bank of it once it has been forgiven it is gone for good there is no turning back! He is not reminding you of them, it is not perfect love that makes you hold onto guilt and therefore fear over what you might be able to do or how messed up you are or whatever prison that kind of fear and torment has had us in. See the blood of Jesus already tore all of those walls down and removed them entirely from any sort of existence. It is not God Who keeps reminding you of your sins and error, and to make you feel like you have to shed your own blood over the wrong you might have done. That is not God.
Oh thank You Lord! You will keep us from what harms us if we can just trust in You! If we can just put our hope in you, we will not stumble, we will not stay down. You can't keep us down! The world might try to suppress you, might try to make you feel like a fool for the gospel and believing in a Man Who has been dead for 2000 years and will never return. It might get to the point of oppression and finger pointing, the second you open your mouth you might only have the gospel of Jesus to talk about! But what the world needs now is not "love" faux love that does not stick around or take care of you, love that is fear of that person leaving or that thing leaving. That comfort blanket that you used to drag around when you were a child left a long time ago and what you need now is not another source of comfort other that the One Who will never leave you nor forsake you! You are so important to Him that time stopped just so He could see you saved, that complete and total death happened just to see you come back to life! Darkness enveloped Him so you could have light, death and fear eclipsed Him so now you have a way out of everyday temptations, demons and devils tormented at Him so that you could stand strong when they trip you up!
Thank you Jesus, even when all hope is gone, even when all the problems and fears mount up to take us into darkness and fear, even when the shadow envelopes and seems to try to consume us at every turn, and every step we make there are those that wish us harm and death, even when we think we have had all that we can stand, we are broken and trembling at Your word!
Malachi 4:2-
2 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
We have nothing left to fear if we have put our trust in Him.
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