Destiny Hope Daily

STICK WITH THE PLAN

2010-04-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ~John 3:19

The scriptures make it clear that the world hates Christ. The message of the cross, from the world’s side is this: “Away with this Jesus! We do not want him; we do not want the conviction that his presence brings. We are content to live our lives without him.”

With this being the truth, how in God’s Name can we try to make Jesus acceptable to a world that will accept him only according to their standards? To a world that hates him?

If you’re Wal Mart, it may make sense to ask in a survey: “What do you want us to provide that would make you feel comfortable in our store? But if you’re the church that is found in the scriptures, it makes no sense at all! Can you imagine Peter making the following declaration in the upper room:

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, Men and brethren, I know that Jesus clearly told us to wait here until we are endued with power from on high. But I am concerned about how the people will respond to another just like Jesus. I propose that we go to a church growth seminar, where we will learn how to survey the Romans who crucified him and the Jews who hated him and find out what they want in church.”

It’s clear what they want; they want a Christ that is dead and out of their way! Or better yet, they want a Christ that conforms to their world, one who doesn’t interfere with their lifestyles.

Such a survey would have proved one thing in Peter’s day to the Romans and the Jews: Jesus was still dead and the church that they were being asked to attend was a church with no Presence of God.

There is a survey that God is commanding of his people in these last days: a survey of the scriptures. It is here that you will find that it is not a new word, but an old word that God is speaking. It is here that you will find that the old word is the new word—that which he spoke is that which he is speaking because his word is timeless.

It is here that you will see that when the promise that God gave Abraham and Sarah finally came to pass, it was not a new promise but rather the same promise they had heard in the beginning.

And it is in the scriptures that you will find that the same is true for the church today: there is no new promise of power, there is no new plan. The church is the revelation of Christ on the earth and the plan is for the Holy Ghost to come as the Spirit of revelation and the Spirit of power. Oh, but he has already come, some will say.

Yes, but he is forever coming. Stick with the plan!

ONLY CHRIST CAN BUILD HIS CHURCH

2010-04-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ~ Genesis 16:1-2

If you want to see the church, where it is now and where it has been, you must look to the scriptures. It is here you will find a most detailed picture of the beginning and the ending of the church of Christ and the starting point is Abraham and Sarah. It is here that you will see that the true church, through impatience and the arm of flesh gives birth to an Ishmael church that must be repented of.

Where Sarah said, “It may be that I may obtain children by Hagar”, the margin reads, “It may be that I will be built by her.” This agrees with Hebrews 11:11, “Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed.” One of the meanings of conceive is to lay a foundation. The call is clear: Sarah was called by God to carry the church in her womb and give birth to its very foundation, thus building from the ground up that which is Christ.

The problem then and now is that this church is built on divine promise, not human perspiration. Please understand that I know we have our part to play. We hold out our rod over the Red Sea; we march around the walls of Jericho seven times; we roll the tombstone away from Lazarus’ grave. But we know who is really at work and anything less than His coming on the scene and working through us is a work of the flesh. If you don’t believe this go and find a four day grave, go and rent a backhoe and excavate the body. You will find that the power to remove the headstone is really no power at all!

Sarah referred to Hagar as “my handmaid.” Hagar was something she could control and something she could see. In other words, through Hagar, Sarah could see how this would work and best of all, it was something she could manage with careful strategy . . . and much posting on Facebook.

But this seeing how things can work out in the natural is not faith.

This had been Sarah’s problem all along. For her to come to the conclusion that she couldn’t do it can only mean that at one point she believed that she could produce the promise. She was the right woman married to the right man with the right promise and abounding opportunity. After all, Abraham was “alive” and she was having “periods” and everybody knows that “fourteen days after” is the right time to get pregnant. And above all, they had been in the absolute Presence of God who had entered into covenant with them and told them, “Your seed will be as the stars.”

Surly if God was going to move through her he would have done so by now. And God knows, Abraham isn’t getting any younger . . .

It was from this mindset that “another” church is birthed: We must do something to help God out! Amazingly this new church has none of poor Sarah’s issues. Whereas she had struck out for years, Hagar hits a homerun her first time up. One pitch, one swing, one baby.

What a fast growing church!

And what a despised old wore out church Sarah became with all of her promises that had yet come to pass: “And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes” (Genesis 16:4). There was a spirit operating through Hagar that was screaming out to Sarah: “It’s obvious that your way is a way of weakness. I don’t want to hear nothing you have to say!”

This is, in large part, the church today. How many faithful pastors of small congregations have been surrounded by the four “fastest growing” church’s in America? These new church’s have more members their first service than the old church have after many years of service. How dare you say that it is not of God!

Listen to what one of these “Hagar’s” said when rebuked by someone who dared to question a “move of God” that was led by a man who was drunk and in adultery:

“Lee, I think what you call “the Lakeland disaster” would be disputed by multitudes of people who got healed or touched there. If you are such judge of this what gives you the credentials? What moves of God have you led? What have you built?”

The credentials are the scriptures.

Hey, nobody ever said Ishmael didn’t exist and didn’t look good—in fact he looks a lot like the promise. But the root of this “church” is only skin deep—its origin is in the mind of man and not of God. As such, its error is fundamental: It seeks to change the unchangeable counsel of the Lord. From eternity the call was for Sarah to birth Isaac in the womb of impossibility, not for Hagar to birth Ishmael in the womb of the ordinary.

Are you holding on to a promise of a revelation of Christ that has yet to come to pass in your life, in your church? “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10: 35-37).

HOPE DEFERRED

2010-03-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. ~Proverbs 13:12

The mark of a barren woman is that boundless hope once thrived within your heart. Rachel, as the promised wife—mother— of a nation was full of hope. She was fertile ground for the seed of promise to be sown in. She was greatly loved, she was greatly pursued, she was well favored, young and beautiful.

And she was chosen, handpicked by God to be Jacob’s wife.

This was the revealed will of God. Jacob had been instructed to go and to “take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.” How much clearer could that be? And the purpose was just as clear: Rachel was to be the mother of “a multitude of people” (see Genesis 28:2-3). In this the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah lived in Jacob and Rachel.

No doubt Rachel spoke of “things that were not” as though they were, because the very nature of hope is an expectation that things are going to work out right. They had probably picked out the names of their first five children, especially the firstborn—that was most important. You would have found it impossible to discourage them at this point. Speaking to the “mountain” was no stretch for Rachel’s faith: she owned the mountain!

But sometimes God allows hope to be deferred. And it becomes apparent that you are on a fast track to a slow painful death to hope, in the natural. Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. Everybody seems to pass you by.

To Rachel’s horror Jacob’s firstborn—the heir to the birthright—came through Leah: “And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben.” And then Leah had Simeon, Levi, and Judah. It was beginning to look like Rachel was going to lose her “birthright” to her sister. Sound familiar.

Reckon Jacob noticed?

I think it would have been hard to miss the fact that what Jacob had done to his brother, Leah—through Laban’s sin—was in a sense doing to her sister. Maybe that is why when he was faced with the problem, he got angry:

And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? ~Genesis 30:1-2

One thing is for sure: Rachel was asking the wrong person. Man in his best state altogether can’t meet your deepest need. Only God can. And the truth is, that need is not children or houses or mates or a thousand other things. That need is to know the Lord your God and to find your very existence, the core of your being wrapped up in his will. And His will is for you to be in his presence and to serve him with joy, trusting him, loving him, obeying him.

We know this to be true because "hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Jesus is the tree of life, the highest desire of man.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

2010-03-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. ~ Genesis 29:27-28

Words cannot describe the anguish Rachel felt as Jacob fulfilled Leah’s week. How her mind must have been flooded with questions:

“Why is this happening to me, what have I done wrong? What if Leah gets pregnant . . . Oh my God! What if she is already pregnant . . . we’ll celebrate our one year anniversary with my nephew, which is my husband’s son. That’s just great. Does that make him my step-son? No way would God let that happen, just to think about the possibility gets me depressed. This can’t be right. God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Eve and Maria.”

How Rachel and Leah both suffered because of Jacob’s and Laban’s sinful deception. All of a sudden, they were pitted against one another—maybe this is where the demon of comparison originated.

For Rachel in particular, when her wedding day came seven days after Leah’s, it came with a whimper instead of the anticipated shout. Her brand new “dream camel” now had miles on the motor and less tread on the tires. It would be like buying a log house with five bedrooms for your children that were on the way, only to end up with a used trailer with one bedroom set aside for your husband’s other wife. Or for you to the spend the night in, when it was her turn to be with him, again.

What a mess.

And who says sin doesn’t affect your born again spirit? It affected Jacob’s. Not only his, but his wives also . . . and his sons. This is not to say that God in his infinite wisdom and mercy didn’t redeem the situation, but that doesn’t justify the sin. Neither did the fact that Jacob was a covenant man keep him from the consequences of his actions. Indeed he paid double.

Don't think that is only true in the Old Covenant. It is written in the New Covenant that God is the “God of Jacob” and that he changes not. Neither is He mocked, and what a man soweth, that shall he also reap--and those around him, especially family.

Just ask Jacob or Rachel. Or the millions of husbands and wives who have been divorced in a "Christian" marriage because of another man or woman. Or ask their children. They'll know.

NIGHTMARE ON LABAN STREET

2010-03-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.~ Genesis 29:10

When Jacob met Rachel he was full of the promise of God, a man on a divine appointment with destiny.

1. He had clear direction from his father Isaac: “Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.”
2. He was blessed by his father: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.”
3. He had a God given dream and a direct word from God: “And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.”

You can be sure that this word from the Lord produced faith in Jacob. You can be sure that, having the spirit of faith, he spoke it. And you can be sure the when he saw Rachel that he put the two together: “God has led me the right way! This is my wife, the mother of my children!”

And you can be sure that for the next seven years that Jacob and Rachel dreamed together, planned together, and spoke often of the certainty of God’s blessing on their lives. It was all part of God’s miraculous plan. After all, Jacob was the son of a miracle and the grandson of the father of faith, Abraham. What could possibly go wrong?

Was there anything that he hadn’t told her?

You can be sure that God had seen Jacob deceive his Isaac by pretending to be Esau in order to steal his birthright. And what a man sows is what a man reaps. And the truth is, when Jacob looked at his Uncle Laban, he was looking in a mirror at himself. What Jacob had done to Esau, Laban was fixing to do to Jacob.

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 21And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. ~ Genesis 29:20-23

I believe Laban had this planned for some time and that Leah was probably informed of the switch. Not that she was guilty, she was a victim herself. But I bet you she was more than a little tired of all the talk of Rachel and Jacob this and Rachel and Jacob that. And I bet there was a smug and a smile that came on her face when she realized what was fixing to happen.

And I bet Rachel was devastated. “What! You’ve got to be kidding? He loves me, not Leah . . . THIS AIN’T RIGHT!! NOOOOOO . . .”

A river of tears must have flowed that night with an undercurrent of torturous thoughts of Leah with Jacob. During the seven years he had worked for her,time had flown because of their mutual love for each other. Now it was as if time was suspended because of anguish of heart, a nightmare on Laban Street.

And so begins the diary of a sad barren woman.

GET THE BABY ROOM READY

2010-03-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. ~Isaiah 54:1

To learn what barren means, you need not look any further than Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah. Here you will find that it means to be married to a promise, yet unable to produce, unable to put down roots. And in case the barren needs any further proof of their impotency, they are subjected to the horror of watching their promise prosper in the bosom of their rival’s, Hagar, Leah, and Peninnah.

To be barren is to be desolate, which means: “to be deserted, to be deflowered, to be awestruck.” It is the feeling of, “How can this be happening to me.” The exact feeling Tamar felt when she was raped by her half brother Amnon: “So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house” (2 Samuel 13:20). It also means to be a widow, but in the sense of “dead woman walking.” In other words, Hannah had to watch all of Peninnahs’ kids run around and call Elkanah daddy, all the while her womb was dead.

But her heart wasn’t dead. And in that heart lived a promise that refused to die and in that heart lived a new found strength that relied on God and God alone.

God had her right where he wanted her: “With God all things are possible.”

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. ~Isaiah 54:2-3

This is the word of the Lord: Get the baby room ready, there’s an Isaac coming, there’s a Joseph coming. Get ready! Samuel is on the way: Not one good word of his promise will fail you!

INVESTORS PARADISE

2010-03-10T07:14:00.001-08:00

Her princes within are roaring lions. ~ Zephaniah 3:3

Mike Murdock recently stated that “the next two years will be an investor’s paradise.” I hope he got that through a praying heart instead of a preying heart. I hope that he is not implying for the rich to take advantage of the poor, those who are set to lose their houses and land because of the economic downfall in America with its loss of jobs.

Or maybe he is encouraging the rich to invest in the poor, to give abundantly towards their debt. Maybe give a $58,000 seed faith offering to a struggling widow who is getting further and further behind due to rising utilities and medical bills. Then they would get 58 million dollars back and then they could give that to the poor and soon they would have all the money in the world!

Reckon?

THE PRODICAL SON--BEHIND THE SCENES

2010-03-01T21:39:00.000-08:00

A certain father had two sons. Adam, the younger son, was created from the dust of the earth and placed in the Garden of Eden with permission to eat of all the trees there except for one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was told explicitly: “If you eat of this tree you will surly die.”

One day Adam said in his heart, “My wife has already eaten of this tree. She’s not dead, matter of fact she says it is good . . . and I can’t live without her.” And so he ate and immediately died. Just like God said he would. Just like a flower that is cut and placed in a vase with water. Separated from its root, it is dead, even though it is still green for the moment.

And so the father watched as His youngest son lived in the pigpen of his choice, where there were murders and rapes and adulteries and drunkenness. Soon his heart was filled with adultery, hate, and fear. Anger became his way of living and one day he murdered another man and was sentenced to death. He was lost and undone, blind and crippled.

And unable to come back to the Father on his own.

But there was another Son, Emanuel, an elder brother who was from everlasting to everlasting. This Son was always with the Father and all things the Father had was His. He was one with the Father, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He was a life giving Spirit, before all things and creator of all things. And because the Father so loved the youngest son, he sent Emanuel to the pigpen to talk some sense into the younger son, Adam:

“Adam, be washed from your filth and be clean. You must leave this place and return to your Father.”
“But I don’t know the way.”
“I am the way, the truth and the life,” Emanuel said. “It is only by me that you can return home to your Father.”
“But I’m guilty of murder . . . and I’m bankrupt . . . and I smell like a pig . . .”
“I will die in your place, but you must leave at once and never come back. You will find your Father waiting for you with open arms and a change of clothes . . . and clean water. Tell him that I will be home in three days.”

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. ~John 14:6

REIGN OF TERROR

2010-02-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

The greatest sin ever committed by any man has never found its way to the headlines of any newspaper or as the lead story of Fox News. From O.J. Simpson to Timothy McVeigh to Ted Bundy, none of these come close to being the greatest sin, yet they dominated the news. From 9/11 to the Gulf War to World War 11, even these pale in comparison to what without a doubt is the pinnacle of all sins: the disobedience of a son to his Father:

A massive 10.0 earthquake has struck the Garden of Eden Friday at approximately midnight, inflicting escalating catastrophic damage to the human race as a whole. Authorities report the immediate deaths of the gardens two inhabitants, Adam and Eve and the subsequent death of the whole world. There are no survivors. All symptoms point to food poisoning.

An eyewitness named Michael was quoted as saying, “All of a sudden everything was just falling apart ... there was no place to hide.”

Authorities have confirmed the epic center to be at the root of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, with an extending fault line now running north to south in the human heart. After shocks are expected until the end of time, increasingly worse.

Full scale looting, raping, and murder are reported as commonplace in all directions. The Liaban Terrorist have claimed responsibility for the attack and have declared the world to be now under Satanic Law.

Following the chaos,the owner of the garden made this declaration to the Lieban Terrorist Organization: "There will be another Adam of an altogether different sort. You will give him a heel bruise; He will crush your head." Sadly, after this statement an armed guard was stationed at the entrance of the Garden as man was ushered out with this sad indictment: "Your kind can never come back here again."

Well then, as one man's trespass [one man's false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man's act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men. ~Romans 5:18

BIG BOYS

2010-02-24T00:20:00.000-08:00

I have heard recently that every child is a winner and should never be left behind. When I was growing up it was more like, every child is a sinner, and needs a switch on his behind. “Bend over, this is going to hurt me as much as it hurts you,” was an often heard phrase. “But . . . not in the same place,” was the common tale told by the recipient.

Once, my daddy told my brother Ricky and me to work in the garden. “Pull up weeds around the tomatoes. Do not get distracted and goof off. If you do you’ll get a spanking.”

Somehow we ended up goofy. Here’s the way I remember it:

“Hey Jeb, let’s play baseball.”
“No!” I answered. “We dare not disobey!”
“We won’t play for long,” Ricky begs.
Finally, twisted arm and all, I give in, “Well, okay.”

So we proceed to play and somehow never quite got around to doing what we were told to do. Later that evening, as we went to “Roses” in a 1968 white Chevrolet Impala, Daddy looks in the rear-view mirror and asks, “Did ya’ll work in the garden like I asked you to?” “No sir,” we replied.

“And why not?”

Now feeling some justified apprehension, we hem hawed around and said, “I don’t know. We played ball and just forgot . . .”
“You know what I told you would happen if you didn’t . . .”
“Uhh . . .”
“Well, when we get back home, you are both going to get a spanking. Maybe that will help jog your memory and next time I tell you to do something, you’ll do it.”

Boy did we ever start acting like we had some sense. We were most helpful, most polite, in the store. Surly he would see that it was all just a big misunderstanding. Surly he would forget his promise and see that we were all about wanting to be productive citizens, all about wanting to have a garden he could be proud of. And his boys too, “Daddy, do you think we need to pick up a bag of triple 8 for the Big Boy Tomatoes?

It didn’t work . . . but we worked the next time we were told to. In fact, we were inspired. Who’s to tell what it saved us from later, only God knows.

Come to think of it, you could say we got it honest— our disobedience in a garden. Our great grand-father, Adam, disobeyed his father and caused quite a mess.

Just a little thing, a piece of fruit.

But graves everywhere.

EXCEPT YOU BE CONVERTED AS CHILDREN

2010-02-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

In the innocence that accompanies a young boy, there are many memories I have of my dad that are, in and of themselves, nothing extraordinary. There were trot-lines baited and fished on the Tallapoosa River. Trips to the Montehand Farm to get Bermuda grass hay. There were early morning hunting trips every Thanksgiving for squirrels with stories about Button and Sport, which must have been the greatest squirrel dogs ever.

And yet they were God given because they reveal a father and son relationship, built on absolute trust and confidence with none of the hypocrisy of religious pretense. I wasn’t pretending to love him above girls, sports, and money; this was before all of that entered into my thinking. He had my undivided devotion. There were no rivals. There was no law that said I had to love him, and trust and obey him except the one written in my heart: I was not conscience of there being another choice.

He never gave me a reason to think any other way.

There was no doubt in my mind of his supreme ability to take care of any and all situations. He was the best carpenter; he was the best business man. The best hunter. The best everything. And when he was riding our horse, Zorro, there wasn’t a nickel’s worth of difference between him and Matt Dillon.

Or John Wayne.

His word became the final authority once spoken.“Never leave a nail sticking up in a board for someone to step on. Treat every gun as if it is loaded; never point it at anybody. Never shoot into a squirrels nest. Never climb over a barbwire fence or walk directly behind a cow. Say “yes sir” and “no sir”; “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am” to adults . . ."

And I can still hear him saying to me today, "If you can’t trust your daddy, then who can you trust?”

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ~Matthew 18:3

A FATHER'S LOVE

2010-02-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

Another job title I held at six years old was that of a framing carpenter, as an equal partner in Curwood Jennings and Son Construction. With my five ounce hammer, I helped daddy build a barn on the 100 acres he had bought from Baker Pinkston. For a $100 an acre!

My job description was pretty much the same as when I cut posts: stay in sight and out of the way, bring nails and water, carry on a conversation and ask a lot of questions. This was an important job. It never entered my mind that daddy could have done it without me. And if you want to know the truth, it never entered his mind either.

I belonged there, an express image of who he was.

Somewhere in the process I was told not to get near a board that he had half-way nailed as a brace. Somehow I didn’t quite get what he was telling me, and somehow it fell and then, I got it. Right across the arm. And I thought I was dying and did what all six years old do in that situation: I started crying and running around the barn. Daddy thought I had broken my arm and did what all fathers do that love their sons, especially when they’re hurting.

He chased me.

And somehow I’m getting it, years later, that this is exactly the way our Heavenly Father sees it. It has never entered his mind not to pursue us when we are hurting. He is not some hard man, as some would portray him, “You’re getting just what you deserve; will you ever get it right?”

Never! The scriptures teach us that his heart is bound up in the life of his children, as was Jacob concerning Joseph. We know from 1 Peter 5:7 that he cares for us, that it matters to him what we are going through. From Isaiah 63:9 we understand that in all of our afflictions, he is afflicted with us.

Ultimately, all of this is realized through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As the Everlasting Father, he has pursued us with an everlasting love. When we were hopelessly lost and dead in our sins, he paid the ultimate price for our redemption by shedding His Blood on the cross in our stead. That precious Blood is crying out today, the Life of a Father calling, and chasing a hurting son:

“Be washed in the Blood of the Lamb. There’s work to do! You belong by my side, we’ve important things to talk about!”

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. ~ Jeremiah 33:3

FOLLOWING OUR FATHER

2010-02-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

I’ll never forget cutting fence posts with my Daddy as a little boy of six. It was on the Baker Pinkston “place,” and the tree that yielded the posts was the “incense” cedar tree, which is known for its aroma. Our mode of transportation was a 1957 blue Ford pick-up truck—well known in our circle for never using a drop of oil. The saw of choice was a McCulloch 740, with a bow blade.

My job was simple: stay in sight and out of the way. And to bring water, and saw gas and wedges, which were used to bust the bigger posts into halves or quarters. I was an equal partner in this manly work: fifty pounds of trim muscle!

Looking back, I am sure that I was in the perfect will of God, a boy with his father. There was no place I’d rather been than with my dad. There was no grace lacking for the job at hand, we got it done. There was no pretending I was his son, no practicing of his presence, no doubts about whose voice I was following. There were no fears, no self-imagined greatness, no thoughts of having to earn his favor or his love. Just a boy with his father.

The way it’s supposed to be with us and our heavenly Father.

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children. ~ Ephesians 5:1

DOWN UNDER

2010-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

The gaggle of geese was excited as they flew down for the seminar in Australia. Dr. Luke Downs was the keynote speaker and his message was quite liberating: “Present Truth Destroys Archaic Doctrines.”

“A goose under grace is no longer under the law,” Dr Downs said. “There is therefore no condemnation to a goose who wants to cross the road, whether by flying or walking. . . The important thing that we must remember is our core message: God is a God of love, not hate. There is no need to ruffle feathers because Jesus has paid it all-- his cross crosses out all danger of trying to cross the road . . ."

After the first session,the living large and super-charged geese dispersed for the afternoon break. To their horror, they were confronted by a street preacher named Donald, a feather of a different sort.

"The God of love is also a God of justice," Donald preached. "Behold the goodness and the severity of God--"
"Legalism!" the crowd shouted. "He's just honking his own horn . . ."
"Donald continued, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God. If you fly in the Spirit you will not walk in the flesh . . . What killed a goose a hundred years ago still kills a goose today! DO NOT WALK ACROSS THE STREET!"

So much for not ruffling feathers.

"That does it for me," said Goose Gossage, with his dander up. He had hung on to every word Dr. Downs had preached while rejecting all that Donald had said. " I ain't a going to let that legalistic quack put his guilt on me. I'm trading in my frequent flier miles for some Nike walking shoes . . . see you in a bit."
"Where are you going?" asked his wife Millie.
"I'm walking to the store," Goose said. "Don't worry, I'll be --"

"Let no man deceive you with vain words . . ." (Ephesians 5:6).

MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED

2010-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

It was a precedent setting day at New Canaan nursing home. The votes were in and soon the winners of the "Most Likely to Succeed” would be revealed. Not that everyone was qualified: you had to be over ninety to be considered for this distinction. “Surly they meant 'Most Likely to Decease,” said a grandfather of twelve.

Till now, no one had dared dream there could be any hope for someone seventy years over the age limit for “Egyptian Idol.” Even if they could sing, dancing would be . . . limited, at worse. As a famous preacher once said on T.B.N., “If you haven’t performed your first surgery, wrote your first novel, or won your first case by the age thirty, you never will.”

Good thing God doesn’t watch a lot of T.B.N.

The voice of reason was heard loud and clear through the silence of the no-votes. Only two votes had been cast, from the owner of the home and the recipient's of the reward: Abraham and Sarah. The truth is, it had never entered the heart or mind of man to cast a vote of confidence to the likes of a 100 year old man that was as good as dead. The truth is, it never entered the mind of God that Abraham would fail. From the moment God spoke his promise, success was inevitable.

“As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:17-21).

THERE IS AN END

2010-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. ~ Mark 7:37

How is it that the God who does all things well seems to be doing nothing? We pray and nothing changes and the enemy summons another witness to testify against faith:

“State your name for the record,” lawyer Lydell instructs the witness.
“My name is circumstance.”
“And where do you operate?”
“I operate in the real world.”
“Have you seen this christian ask God for healing and financial help?” Lydell asks.
“Yes.”
“And what happened?”
“Nothing . . . except it got worse.”

There will be no need for us to be called to the witness stand concerning these facts. We can only affirm the truth. But we are not alone. One far greater than us has said as much: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent” (Psalm 22:1-2).

When Jesus cried this at the cross things only got worse.

For the next six hours.

But everything changed during the cross examination, when the Counselor of Truth exposed forever the devils lying portrait of a God who does not answer prayer. When things could get no worse God was doing his greatest work of redemption. The six hours of suffering gave way to an eternity of true blessedness as Jesus brought all who would believe into his fellowship.

It is impossible for the God of love to do nothing in answer to our prayers. The God who moves heaven and earth always works all things together for our good, for those who love him and are the called according to his purpose.

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. ~ Proverbs 23:18

First Church of the Converted Swineherds by A.W. Tozer

2010-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

That prodigal son, look at him. A certain man had two sons and one of them said unto his father, "Give me the goods that falleth to me and he divided unto them, the two of them, the boys, his living. And after a few days the boy left - the younger - and went into a far country and there he spent his substance in riotous living. And when he became hungry and had nothing to eat he went and attached himself to a swineherd and he fed swine. And he was there in the swine-pen and he got hungry because his wages wouldn't buy enough to eat. And it was a humbling thing for a Jew to feed swine.

And one day a man appears - and here I depart from the Scriptures. One day a young man appears and this young man says to this boy who had gone away from home and was feeding swine - he had a bundle of tracts, this young feller, he was just out of Bible school - and he had been taught how to win souls in nine easy lessons.

And he goes up to this prodigal son lying among the swine and he says, "I have good news for you!" And he looks up and says, "Thank God, I need it. I need good news. What is it?" "Your father is ready to forgive you!" "Well," the boy says, "thank the Lord!" "Your father is ready to forgive you; do you believe it?" And the boy says, "Yes, I believe it." "All right now, thank God now, let's bow our heads and you thank the Lord you're saved. You believe the father forgives you. Yes, well, Amen! Now, we'll thank the dear Lord that you're saved. And now goodbye! Don't forget to witness, and sometime I'll be around again."

So this swineherd stays right there in the far country and he gets zealous and missionary and he goes out and he starts to make converts among the other swineherds and pretty soon he has them all believing that the father forgives, and they all do, and say, "I thank God the father forgives." Alright, and then they build a little tabernacle call it the First Tabernacle of the Converted Swineherds. And they all stay right there in the far country; nobody goes home. And that boy is still ragged and dirty and smelly and the people -- the respectable people of the neighborhood - when they pass by elevate their nose and hurry by. And they say, "So persecuted they the prophets which were before us. It is the result of our holy living that they are giving us the cold shoulder."

Then one day while they are singing choruses in this First Church of the Converted Swineherds in the far country a young fellow comes along and asks permission to speak and he rises and says to them, "Put away your sins, ye wicked! Put away your sins! Learn to do good; cease to do evil, be righteous and follow the Lord and do good and you'll be saved." And they pick him up and throw him out and say, "He's a legalist!" and that he 'doesn't believe in grace.' "Why, we're saved by accepting the doctrine." But this young fellow wanders off and time goes on and the fatted calf gets old and dies and the father passes away and the boy stays on in the far country.

Now that's evangelism as it is preached a good deal today in America! It is, "Believe on Christ. Accept Christ and stay where you are!" Now that is excused and explained by a hundred different learned ways but it leaves the sinner in his sins! And the man in his sins will be damned as certainly as the sun rises in the east and goes down in the west!

PROMISED HELP FROM THE LORD

2010-02-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

Psalm 102 is “A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the LORD.” It is impotence calling on Omnipotence. And a road-map to successful prayer— a precedent for all who identify with the psalmist:

LORD, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you. For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals.

My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite. Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones. I am like an owl in the desert, like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.

I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof. My enemies taunt me day after day. They mock and curse me. I eat ashes for food. My tears run down into my drink because of your anger and wrath. For you have picked me up and thrown me out. My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass.

But you, O LORD, will sit on your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation. You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem and now is the time to pity her, now is the time you promised to help. —New Living Translation

A lifeguard will not rescue a drowning swimmer until all self-effort has ceased. Likewise, the lifeguard of heaven waits for us to look to him alone for our help. Is your heart sick with disappointment? Are you withered like grass with no appetite, reduced to skin and bones? All of these represent the clear boundary marks of the Lord’s jurisdiction. They are qualifications of a miracle, building blocks of the broken road that he has blessed.

And travels.

He is on the way with the help he has promised you. Look to the hills from where your help comes from: your help comes from the Lord Almighty! Lift up your head, your redemption draweth nigh!

THE ACTS OF THE IMPOSTLES

2010-01-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely manipulated among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning I am a eyewitness of the following move of God:

It was the kind of revival pastor’s like to relate to their ministry friends:

“We had a Holy Ghost explosion last night! 20 saved and 7 baptized in the Spirit! How many are ya’ll running now?”
“Well to be honest, we are—”
“Do you know a good contractor? Our board has given me the go ahead . . .”

Can you blame the pastor for being exuberant? A statistic quoted by a Pentecostal pastor is infallible. One of the "7 baptized in the Spirit" was a girl Lori and I were living with as house parents. Up until this experience, “Emily Jane” was sexually active and a habitual liar—so convincing that she could persuade you that you did not hear what she said clearly in your hearing.

But that was before the revival, the one where she went up to receive the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues at a fashioned altar:

“Just let go and let God,” Sister Johnson exhorted.
“Hold on and believe,” Brother Bullard encouraged.
“Oh Lord, give her what I got,” Aunt Bessie, intercessor extraordinaire prayed.

In that kind of atmosphere who can’t believe? And it wasn’t long before the sinus’ started pumping and the jaw jiggling began in earnest . . . and then the pastor came by and laid his hand on Emily Jane and . . . she went down like a rock!

And started speaking in tongues as there was some kind of utterance.

Later that night she would say, “It’s been a long time since I have prayed in the Spirit." Three days later I asked her, “Are you ready? It’s time to go to church.”

“No I’m not going; I have to study for a test.”

About a year later she was kicked off the “Ranch” for taking a car to meet a boy and trying to start a family. Two years later she got pregnant and recently she has become an advocate for gay rights.

Please understand: I believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of a heart bent on following Jesus . . . the Wednesday after and forever more. I do not believe Emily Jane received anything other than a delusion.

And a jiggled up jaw.

As pastor B.H. Clendennen says much better than I ever could, “We don’t need no none of that!”

THERE IS NO ETERNAL LIFE IN THE DEVIL

2010-01-28T17:41:00.000-08:00

“And the serpent said . . .” (Genesis 3:4).

Mr. Hugh had money, owned some 250 acres of prime timberland . . . and hoarded every penny he had ever made. Noticing that two of his pine trees were dying, I went to ask him about cutting them for pulpwood. When I arrived at his home, I was led to his bedroom where he lay shriveled up on his death bed:

“Hey Mr. Hugh, how ’bout letting me cut a couple of your trees, I think bugs have got in ’em.”
“Naw, I think I’ll hold on to ’em a little bit longer.”

Before the fall of man in the garden, man’s thoughts were a clear reflection of God’s goodness. His voice birthed within Adam thoughts of peace, righteousness, and joy: all with corresponding actions. When the devil planted his seed of pride and disobedience within Adam, his voice produced thoughts of hate, anger, and greed: all with devastating actions. Along with a maddening pursuit for that which is fading, carried along by the constant flood of filth that proceeds from the devil’s mouth.

This river of evil, though it overflows its banks, has no high watermarks, only low.

What else could the devil produce? There is no eternal life within him; everything he puts his hand to dies and comes to nothing. Concerning that which is good, he is deaf, dumb, and blind and the blinder of all born after him. Which is the whole human race outside of Christ: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1-2).

That is why man must be born again. Only then, empowered by the Holy Ghost, can he choose the “tree of life” over that which is inherently evil, and temporal. Only by the Spirit of Christ within us can we choose that which is eternal.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." --Jim Elliot

EASY AS PRIDE

2010-01-26T18:24:00.000-08:00

Ol’ Ned was about to die of thirst on July 3, 1863. But it was so needless, all the neighbors said: after all, there was a gallon of water sitting before him in the middle of a field.

“Why doesn’t he just get out of that ditch,” Mr. G.I. Dunn said. “God helps those who help themselves.”
“I know I would never put my kids through such heartache,” replied Mrs. Nellie Patufnic.
“It’s obvious he just doesn’t have faith,” Reverend Copenhagen claimed. “I gave him my six steps to six gallons of water in six days and he still just sits there.”

An earth shaking explosion, too close for comfort sent them scurrying for shelter . . . in the foxhole with Ned.

At the Battle of Gettysburg.

Did this really happen? No, but the point is clear: what may seem as easy as pride for you, may be anything but simple for someone else, because of the battle arrayed against them. Paul was hindered from going to Rome while for others it was no big deal to go spend the day at the Roman Mall. David fought battles in his flesh that Saul seemingly never struggled with—it appears that Saul was the husband of one wife. And yet David was "head and shoulders" above Saul in matters of faith and repentance.

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

SELF MADE MAN

2010-01-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not” (1 Corinthians 4:7)?

A certain man who had acquired 60 restaurants was purported to be a self made man. Interesting . . . seems like it would take more than that to join the exclusive club of one.

To be a self made man, there are several things you need to do:

1. Hire someone to kill you and cremate your body.
2. Have a rocket propel your ashes into the distant space.
3. From there raise yourself from the dead.
4. Create an original world with all that is needed to sustain life.
5. Create a new species of man and animals being careful not to copy what God has already done.
6. Sustain it.

Jesus Christ is the only self made man there is, who upholds all things by the word of his power. Every one else is totally dependent upon him.

Even the one who has 60 restaurants.

GOT HINDRANCES?

2010-01-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

“Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles” (Romans 1:13).

Paul’s desire to minister the gospel to the Roman’s was in order to “impart some spiritual gift” that he might have “fruit among them.” For this he had prayed, more than once; but he was hindered time and again.

Too bad he did not know that under the New Covenant you don’t have to put up with such. You pray once, claiming it by faith. Sure the devil hindered Daniel, but that's Daniel, not us. We’re a “New Testament Man.”

If only Paul had been one.

He wouldn’t have been hindered and he wouldn’t have had all this gospel in him that he wanted to share, and he might not have been compelled to write it all down in a letter . . .”

To the Romans.

And then we wouldn’t have known “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Got hindrances?

PENNYCOST

2010-01-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Can someone provide me a link to where I can become a “fan” of the church found in the book of Acts? Are they on Facebook? Do they offer lots of fun for all who would “sacrifice” their time to come? After all, Jesus realizes that they could have gone to the local bar, and instead they chose to come worship him to the tune of songs “you would find on an IPod.” I’m sure he wouldn’t want to disappoint them.

Would he?

Since he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and since it is Jesus who is in absolute control of what is being promoted today as his church, then surly the early church is the model for what we see today:

And when the day of Pennycost had come, there came a sound from corporate America as the best business minds formulated a plan to reach the lost. And those that played in the clubs, and acted in the R rated movies, and manipulated the masses heard the church speaking in their own tongue and glorify the good things of this world.

And Peter lifted his voice and said, “This is that which was spoken from the surveys you graciously answered for us. We are here to provide you with the latest cutting edge technology, the hippest youth groups, and a sound business plan. All guilt was paid for at the passing away of Jesus and he loves you just the way you are. He died so that he could be your leader and financier. Now it might be a good idea for you to make some life improvements, but that is totally up to you. We would never pressure you in any way and you are welcome to serve just as you are according to your abilities.

And the crowd upon hearing this was shocked beyond measure: “Do you mean I can have Jesus and keep all this too?” asked a soap opera star.
“Of course!” Peter assured her. “Come as you are.”
Barabbas Bundy’s mother asked, “My son, Ted, has a burden for young coed’s . . .

Can he teach the college class?”

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

2010-01-13T06:56:00.000-08:00

With his beady eyes darting to either side, Lydel—a crafty old “chicken” snake— sidled over to Adam and Eve in the stillness of the day.
Leaning up against the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he popped in a stick of “Dentyne Fire” and asked Eve, “Has God forbid you to eat the fruit of these trees?”
“Just the one you’re standing under. He said the day we eat the fruit from this one, we would surly die.”
“Die!” Lydel exclaimed incredulously. “Trust me, you will not die; truth is you will become just like God.”
“Well, what can one bite hurt? Looks good . . . feels good . . . hey! This is good.”
“Here Adam, take a bite.”
Adam, who had said nothing to this point, remained sinfully silent.
“Come on sweetie, if you love me, you’ll prove it.”
Adam took the fruit, “Your right, this is great! Sort of tastes like—”
“Honey? . . . what’s wrong?” Eve asked.
“My stomach is killin—”

We are what we eat; what Adam ate has been eating us all ever since. Ever since that fateful day man’s life has orbited around the three things that make up the essence of the forbidden fruit:

1. It became our nature to willfully disobey. This sin is fueled by the hot air of pride that supposes we can be like the most high God.
2. It became our nature to entertain vain imaginations because we lost the eternal image of God. How much of what you think about has actually come to pass? If it has come to pass, how much have you been able to hold onto?
3. It became our nature to choose the temporal over the eternal. From French Fries chosen over celery sticks, to porn over purity, we eat ourselves to a early grave.

The only remedy for this food poisoning is the cross of Christ. The essence of the Blood of Christ is the Life and Light of God: His thoughts, His purity, His wholeness. Be washed in the Blood of Jesus today!

THE IMAGE OF GOD

2010-01-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, Where is your God?" (Psalms 42:1-3).

Not only does the deer pant for the water brooks for the essential need of thirst, the water brooks provides the deer with its only view of itself. It is there, via the reflection afforded by the water, that the deer see’s its own image. Without this grace of nature a doe would never know whether or not she was ready to meet Mr. Buck Masters.

“Then God said," Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .” (Genesis 1:26). Image means, “a shade, a reflection, a representation.” Just as a shadow is silhouette of a tree—its shade—man is made in the image of God. When Adam fell, he along with all of mankind lost this image.

And no longer had a clue as to who he was.

And so began this maddening pursuit of “Looking for love in all the wrong places, Looking for love in all the wrong faces.” This pursuit of fulfillment rarely extends past the theater of mans mind—where images broadcast 24/7—and when obtainment is secured, it is always only so much sand sifting through our fingers.

It is never enough.

And so begat the amazing pursuit of God. He sent his only begotten {unique, one of a kind} Son who was not only the image of God: He was God. This last Adam bought back and restored man to the image of God: And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10). This grace can be clearly seen within the reflection one sees when gazing into the living waters of the Word of God. It is here, and here alone, man can clearly see who he is in Christ and be fulfilled . . . yet ever thirsting for more.

"ARE YOU DESPERATE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THAT CHRIST NEVER FAILS?"

2010-01-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

This, in part, is from Voice In The Gap by Gary Gulledge. for the complete blog go to the recommended link.

This leader of a religious assembly of his day had been brought to the end of himself! His position, his status, nor his ability was able to give him hope!

Read the words: " and when he saw Him (Jesus), he fell at His feet.

Mark 5:22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

As long as we have the slightest possibility of being able to handle the situation we are in, we will continue to try everything we know to do.

People who are desperate are brought to a humbling place where they aren't intimidated by those around them. They are fearful of no man! They regard not their own lives! They are transported out of the many voices and things that get their attention so easily!

"God allows us to be placed in such situations of desperation with the desire to bring us to a surrendered trust to Him!"

What you are faced with right now isn't a happenstance, it has been allowed to come upon you for a purpose.

It may well have been brought on by your own doing, or by someone else but you can be sure that God knows all about every detail of the cause and why is has come!

"God is working in the hearts of multiple millions of people in this very hour!"

Every person will respond in one of two ways: Either their hearts will be humbled in their time of desperation and look to Christ. Or either they will reject Christ and be hardened in their hearts to the purposes of God!

Mark 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

Jairus was humbled, the Bible says that he besought Jesus greatly!

No longer was his response to Jesus passive! It was with great intense feeling that he besought Jesus!

"When we are truly humbled before God , our feeling toward Jesus doesn't remain passive."

In his hour of confusion, Jairus has the ear of Jesus!

His desperation has brought him to the place of total surrender to the source of his need. He doesn't yet have the manifestation of God's supply but he has totally disregarded himself from getting in the way of Christ coming and putting His hands on his daughter!

Oh! Today if we would learn what God is saying to us. If we are just willing to lay our life down and let the life of Christ live in us!

Mark 5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

And Jesus went with him.

If we will get right in our approach to God, Jesus will go with us!

It doesn't matter the greatest of the trouble that you may find yourself in today, Jesus will always respond to a heart that is contrite and when our spirit is broken to do God's will!

No sickness, no disease, no trouble that can pile upon you so high that Christ cannot get to the root of the problem and bring you the answer!

If He's going with you, you must believe!

"Sometimes your need is slow to come, don't lose heart, Jesus is still there!"

EVER SEEN AN ATTITUDE?

2010-01-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen an attitude walk into the room? A teen-age one? One named Sharon? It may fly under the radar of sight but it always reveals itself in delusional discourse:

“Stop treating me like I’m a kid! I’m grown!”
“You’re all of fifteen for God’s sake.”
“You don’t understand me, you don’t trust me!”
“Trust has nothing to do with it . . . look at me—”
“I don’t want to look at you . . . I need my space and—”
“Let me tell you what space is young lady; space is when you pay the light bill, the water bi—“
“All I’m asking to do is see a movie with Booger.”
“What’s it rated?”
“Um . . . I don’t know . . .R?”
“Well you can mark this down, you ain’t and you ain’t seeing that boy!”
You got that right, done seen ’em, Sharon thought. “STOP TRYING TO CONTROL MY LIFE!!!!”
“I’M NOT TRYING TO CONTROL—“
“Mama.”
“What?”
“Um . . . I need $20.”

Have you ever seen an attitude walk into the room? A “grown up” one? One named Jeb? It may fly under the radar of sight but it always reveals itself in delusional discourse:

“I’m going to do this!”
“I’m going to do . . .”

Do I pay the light bill? What I mean is, “Did I create the light and place it in the exactly the right place in the universe so that all might see?

Do I pay the water bill? Did I create the oceans, the rivers, the underground water system, and the rain clouds and the fronts that carry them?

Am I so grown after all?

WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?

2010-01-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (Proverbs 23:7). “The real you is the one that carries on conversations in your mind—very apt to butter toast you have no intention of eating” (Jeb 23:7).

Somewhere this weekend in America, someone is planning to get drunk, act the fool, and commit adultery with someone’s wife. These plans are contained within a very detailed set of blueprints that are rehearsed over and over in the mind—the secret place where all sin originates. This explains the ease with which these sins are brought to "life”.

Practice makes perfect.

There is not one killer locked up in prison that didn’t first murder the victim in their head before actually shooting him dead. Thoughts conceive in the mind and if acted upon become sins in the flesh which affect our spirit, soul, and body, and for which we are responsible. No wonder the first message Jesus preached in essence was: “Change the way you’ve been thinking: My way of thinking—my perspective and power concerning all situations—is available, as of now because I have come to re-unite you to your God.” Apart from him we can not possibly think right because he is the originator of all right thinking/action: “Apart from me you can do nothing.”

Does not the Bible teach that the abstract—lusts, pride, greed, selfishness, envy—leads to the concrete: adulteries, murders, robberies, and fights? Jesus put it this way, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matthew 12:34-35). It is clear that our thoughts become our actions: change what is eating you—your thought diet—and you change everything about you.

“So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of] the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds” (Ephesians 4:17).

You are what you eat, physically and spiritually. You have looked into the world’s greatest mirror when you look into the thoughts of your heart and see the image they reflect.

Imagine that.

What’s in your wallet?

A SIGNS AND WONDERS REVIVAL

2010-01-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

Ron Green was a gifted baseball player with a strong arm, good power at the plate, and a bent for women, gambling and drugs. Ultimately his career was cut short by a shoulder injury; tragically his life was cut short by being framed for a murder he did not commit and cumulative affect of drugs, both prescription and illegal.

Now suppose Ron, right after he hurt his shoulder, had gone to a Signs and Wonders conference. During this meeting the evangelist gets a word of knowledge, “Someone here has a shoulder problem and the Lord wants to heal it.” (He discerns this by virtue of the sudden pain in his own shoulder.) Ron comes forward, the music crescendos, he performs a “throw from left field”, and . . . falls down backwards!!!!

If that’s not revival I don’t know what is. You know what I’m talking about, the kind we glibly report to our friends, “It’s not a revival of people getting born again; it’s a healing revival!”

The evangelist is happy, the dream team is happy, the sheep are fleeced . . .I mean freed, and the devil is calling 911.

Does it get any better than this?

Ron goes on to a productive career and his women and his drugs and his gambling.

But he was healed, right?

Or was he?

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

2010-01-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

The all powerful, all knowing, all seeing God has come to dwell on the earth through his church: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).

This great God, who is the Holy Ghost, has one main focus: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” (16:13-14).

Surly since he is all powerful and no purpose of his can be hindered, there are great benefits to be reaped everyday in the believer. This is beyond dispute and has been proven, beyond theory, in the book of Acts. And since his primary purpose is to reveal Jesus within the believer, it could not be more glorious—everything else must take a secondary role.

This is the rule of God.

But if you look only with natural eyes, you are sure to miss it. Just like Israel missed his first coming because it was looking for a sword of flesh instead of the sword of the Spirit. Because the kingdom of God is not steak and potatoes and an extra large sweet tea; the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. The one satisfies your appetite and leaves you unfulfilled; the other gives you an appetite and leaves you ever craving and thirsting for righteousness.

And filled.

Have you seen the church in Acts? Without a doubt they turned the world upside down, but they never took over town hall—it was Missionary Peter, not Mayor. They healed the sick, even to the point of their shadow and handkerchiefs being a point of contact, but they themselves were beaten and run out of town—I do not see where they ever became Christian celebrities.

For sure God blessed them financially but you can only retain so much when you’re crucified upside down. Guess it ended up the way it started, “Silver and gold have I none . . .”

They saw the miracle of the lame man healed at the gate Beautiful, but only briefly referred to that miracle in the sermon that followed, choosing rather to expound on the absolute wonder of Jesus.

This is the Kingdom of God.

. . . By the way, I’m sure Peter is way past being a mayor now—now that he is in the world to come.

A TURKEY STORY

2009-12-31T06:01:00.000-08:00

Some truths are universal, understood from the least to the greatest: “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and squirts like squeezable mayo, then it ain’t no turkey that you’re dealing with.” This leads to a lesser known equation, “That which is turkey can never equal a duck.” Not that one or two haven’t tried.

And failed miserably.

We once had ducks who thought it no greater pleasure than to leave their quacks behind at the lake to deposit their gifts of fowl fertilizer in our car port. Somewhere along the way a disturbed turkey decided he would take up residence with these demonstrative quackers. Everywhere the ducks went, he was sure to be. Just one of the boys. This was all well and good until that fateful night when Mr. Coyote, the connoisseur of duck delight, decided to drop in for a late snack. One duck, two ducks, three ducks in the water, and one drowned turkey made for a hungry coyute— quite disgusted and vowing to take his tail elsewhere.

I wonder as the turkey wandered off into the depths of the lake did he finally realize, “These web design shoes that I have on does not seem to be working like the ad.... ”

It is one thing for a turkey to try and imitate a duck, do so and he may end up in a watery grave. It is an altogether different thing for man to try and duplicate that which is good. Ultimately this is impossible and to cling to any hope of doing so could lead you to a fiery lake of unending despair: You could sooner make a straw man in the middle of the sun.

We must understand that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Nowhere in the New Testament will you find the scriptures imploring man to follow Jesus as our example. That is more in line with the Old Testament which teaches: "Here is what you must do to be righteous. Live in the exact manner that God Himself would were He in your shoes, and all in your own strength!"

"Yeah right. Only Jesus can do that."

Exactly.

What you will find in the New Testament is the light of God revealing Jesus as our life: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4).

Big difference.

With the one, you’re just another turkey trying to be a duck; with the other, there is a fountain of life ceaselessly flowing in the righteousness, peace, love, faith, and joy that is Christ’s and his alone—that which he promised to be in us, to us, through us.

Will we ever realize that to be a Christian is to enter into the realm where he becomes everything, in reality, which is way past theory? When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost he was not trying to imitate Jesus; Jesus was emanating from him.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Ask the Holy Ghost to reveal Jesus as your very life—that is what it means to follow him.

FROM THE END OF THE EARTH

2009-12-30T05:12:00.000-08:00

I’ll never forget the disappointment etched in the face of coach DuBose after Tennessee had beaten Alabama.

Again.

At the news conference, he followed the normal script, “We turned the ball over, left points on the field, had way too many penalties.” What the cameras never caught was what was really being said in his heart, “Lord I prayed, I took you at your word—what went wrong?”

Mike DuBose had become a man of faith.

What he was learning was God works all things together for our good, but doesn’t overly concern himself with the temporal. He majors in the eternal. So what do you think about God’s delays? A ballgame is one thing, but what about healing for the body or food on the table or sanity of mind?

Psalms 61:2 provides an answer, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” We do not become “overwhelmed” when everything is going our way; we tend to nut up when seemingly everything goes away. When you have come to the end of your world, of what to do and how to do it, God is always there waiting to lead you to the Rock Jesus, whose ways are always higher than yours. He is in control, has been and always will be, and if the scoreboard reads 36-0, he has something higher to teach you.

God knows that since man fell hard in the garden, that he has been obsessed with the terminal and oblivious to the transcendent. The moment Adam realized he was naked, this world became imaginary experts on what was needed most and have steadily degenerated ever since. After all, image is everything—if your not wearing “Fig of the Loon” underwear then you ain’t nothing.

Have you become disappointed in your “fig leaf” apron? God has something far greater in mind. He is building trust, and eternity will reveal that he did everything well in your life. Every move was calculated, every cry heard and attended, every hair counted and accounted for. He is your Heavenly Father and knows and meets your every need: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah” (Psalms 62:8).

God will move in your situation, in His time. For the immediate, he is imparting to you a heart that trusts him.

When it's 36-0.

This is God's super natural work!

SAVE THE GOOSE

2009-12-28T06:59:00.000-08:00

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

When Adam partook of the forbidden fruit he immediately contacted a horrendous case of food poisoning. This death has been passed on from generation to generation causing untold misery for the human race. All the murders, rapes, robberies, and fornication’s that will make today’s headlines have their root in the fruit that Adam ate.

One of the prevailing symptoms of this disease is the maddening and mystifying pursuit of that which is temporal, all the while forsaking that which is eternal. The moment Adam bit into the “apple” it became “sand in his hand.” He chose that which he could never hang onto in contempt of that which he could never lose. For all we know, he made an apple pie to go with the fried goose he was having for supper.

There would be no more golden eggs.

The development of this sin is that everything you see today is from the ground and is sure to return there someday: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Its not that these things are necessarily sin, but our attitude towards them is the culprit.

Are the things that make up most of our thinking really going to matter in a million years?

Save the goose!

Baal Worship

2009-12-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

The following is by Dennis Bratcher and is dealing with Baal worship:

“Yahweh has been experienced as a God of power, the God who fought Pharaoh, who parted the Reed Sea, who led the Israelites through the desert, who parted the Jordan, who brought them into the land by toppling the walls of Jericho and routing the Canaanite and Philistine armies. This led to the idea that Yahweh, the God of the patriarchs, was a powerful warrior God, the God of the desert who could be counted on to march in with his heavenly armies in times of crisis. However, as the Israelites settled into the land, they encountered the fertility cult of Ba‘al. They were easily convinced that while Yahweh may be God of the desert and God of battles and God of power, it was Ba‘al who was in charge of the more mundane aspects of everyday life, such as rain and crops and livestock.

The Israelites never abandoned the worship of Yahweh. They simply added the worship of Ba‘al to their worship of Yahweh (called syncretism). They had one God for crises and another god for everyday life. The actual worship of Ba‘al was carried out in terms of imitative magic whereby sexual acts by both male and female temple prostitutes were understood to arouse Ba‘al who then brought rain to make Mother Earth fertile (in some forms of the myth, represented by a female consort, Asherah or Astarte)”

I wonder if living our every day life as if there was no God, as it relates to his actual influence within our circumstances, is nothing less than worshiping Baal?

THE WORD AND THE TESTIMONY by A.W. TOZER

2009-12-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies" (2 Peter 2:1).

Whatever it may be in our Christian experience that originates outside of Scriptures should, for that very reason, be suspect until it can be shown to be in accord with them.

If it should be found to be contrary to the Word of revealed truth no true Christian will accept it as being from God. However high the emotional content, no experience can be proved to be genuine unless we can find chapter and verse authority for it in Scriptures. “To the word and to the testimony” must always be the last and final proof.

Whatever is new or singular should also be viewed with caution until it can furnish scriptural proof of its validity. Thoughout the twentieth century quite a number of unscriptural notions have gained acceptance among Christians by claiming that they were among truths that were to be revealed in the last days.

The truth is that the Bible does not teach that there will be new light and advanced spiritual experiences in the latter days; it teaches the exact opposite! Nothing in Daniel or the New Testament epistles can be tortured into advocating the idea that we of the end of the Christian era shall enjoy light that was not known at its beginning.

Beware of any man who claims to be wiser than the apostles or holier than the martyrs of the Early Church. The best way to deal with him is to rise and leave his presence!”

THE MARKS OF CHRIST

2009-12-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

The following is from A. B. Simpson’s “The Cross of Christ.”

“Good Richard Cecil once asked his little daughter, as she sat upon his knee, with a cluster of pretty glass beads around her neck, if she truly loved him, and if she loved him enough to take those beads and fling them into the fire. She looked in his face with wonder and grief; she could hardly believe he meant such sacrifice. But his steady gaze convinced her that He was in earnest, and with trembling, reluctant steps she tottered to the grate, and clinging to them with reluctant fingers, at last she dropped them into the fire, and then flinging herself into his arms, she sobbed herself to stillness in the bewilderment and perplexity of her renunciation. He let her learn her lesson fully, but a few days later, on her birthday, she found upon her dressing case a little package, and on opening it she found inside a cluster of real pearls strung upon a necklace and bearing her name with her father’s love. She had scarcely time to grasp the beautiful present as she flew to his presence and throwing herself into his arms, she said, “Oh Papa, I am so sorry that I did not understand.

Some day, beloved, in his arms, you will understand. He does not always explain it now. He lets the cross have all its sharpness. He lets the weary years go by; but oh, someday we will understand and be so glad that we were permitted to bear with him and for him the “brand marks of The Lord Jesus.”

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen” (Galatians 6:14-18).

HIMSELF by A.B. SIMPSON pt. 3

2009-12-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

The word "mystery" means secret; this is the great secret. And I tell you today, nay, I can give you, if you will take it from Him, not from me-I can give you a secret which has been to me, oh, so wonderful! Years ago I came to Him burdened with guilt and fear; I tried that simple secret, and it took away all my fear and sin. Years passed on, and I found sin overcoming me and my temptations too strong for me. I came to Him a second time, and He whispered to me, "Christ in you," and I had victory, rest and blessing.

Then the body broke away in every sort of way. I had always worked hard, and from the age of fourteen I studied and labored and spared no strength. I took charge of a large congregation at the age of twenty-one; I broke down utterly half a dozen times and at my last constitution was worn out. Many times I feared I should drop dead in my pulpit. I could not ascend any height without a sense of suffocation, because of a broken-down heart and exhausted nervous system. I heard of the Lord's healing, but I struggled against it. I was afraid of it. I had been taught in theological seminaries that the age of the supernatural was past, and I could not go back from my early training. My head was in my way, but at last when I was brought to attend "the funeral of my dogmatics," as Mr. Schrenck says, "the Lord whispered to me the little secret, 'Christ in you'; and from that hour I received Him for my body as I had done for my soul. I was made so strong and well that work has been a perfect delight. For years I have spent my summer holiday in the hot city of New York, preaching and working amongst the masses, as I never did before; besides the work of our Home and College and an immense mass of library work and much besides. But the Lord did not merely remove my sufferings. It was more than simple healing. He so gave me Himself that I lost the painful consciousness of physical organs. That is the best of the health He gives. I thank the Lord that He keeps me from all morbid, physical consciousness and a body that is the object of anxious care, and gives a simple life that is a delight and a service for the Master, that is a rest and joy.

Then, again, I had a poor sort of a mind, heavy and cumbrous, that did not think or work quickly. I wanted to write and speak for Christ and to have a ready memory, so as to have the little knowledge I had gained always under command. I went to Christ about it, and asked if He had anything for me in this way. He replied, "Yes, my child, I am made unto you Wisdom." I was always making mistakes, which I regretted, and then thinking I would not make them again; but when He said that He would be my wisdom, that we may have the mind of Christ, that He could cast down imaginations and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, that He could make the brain and head right, then I took Him for all that. And since then I have been kept free from this mental disability, and work has been rest. I used to write two sermons a week, and it took me three days to complete one. But now, in connection with my literary work, I have numberless pages of matter to write constantly besides the conduct of very many meetings a week, and all is delightfully easy to me. The Lord has helped me mentally, and I know He is the Saviour of our mind as well as our spirit.

Well, then, I had an irresolute will. I asked, ' Cannot you be a will to me?" He said, "Yes, my child, it is God who worketh in you to will and to do." Then He made me to learn how and when to be firm, and how and when to yield. Many people have a decided will, but they do not know how to hold on just at the proper moment. So, too, I came to Him for power for His work and all the resources for His service, and He has not failed me.

And so I would say, if this precious little secret of "Christ in you," will help you, you may have it. May you make better use of it than I! I feel I have only begun to learn how well it works. Take it and go on working it out, through time and eternity-Christ for all, grace for grace, from strength to strength, from glory to glory, from this time forth and even for evermore.

HIMSELF by A. B. Simpson

Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.
Once 'twas painful trying, Now 'tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost.
Once 'twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast;
Once 'twas constant drifting, Now my anchor's cast.
Once 'twas busy planning, Now 'tis trustful prayer;
Once 'twas anxious caring, Now He has the care.
Once 'twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once 'twas constant asking, Now 'tis ceaseless praise.
Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.
Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He's mine;
Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored, Safe within the vail.

HIMSELF by A.B. SIMPSON pt. 2

2009-12-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

And now, thank God, I have Him, not only what I have room for, but that which I have not room for, but for which I shall have room, moment by moment, as I go on into the eternity before me. I am like the little bottle in the sea, as full as it will hold. The bottle is in the sea, and the sea is in the bottle; so I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. But, besides that bottleful in the sea, there is a whole ocean beyond; the difference is, that the bottle has to be filled over again, every day, evermore.

Now the question for each of us is not "What think you of Bethshan, and what think you of divine healing?" but "What think you of Christ?" There came a time when there was a little thing between me and Christ. I express it by a little conversation with a friend who said, "You were healed by faith." "Oh, no," I said, "I was healed by Christ." What is the difference? There is a great difference. There came a time when even faith seemed to come between me and Jesus. I thought I should have to work up the faith, so I labored to get the faith. At last I thought I had it; that if I put my whole weight upon it, it would hold. I said, when I thought I had got the faith, "Heal me." I was trusting in myself, in my own heart, in my own faith. I was asking the Lord to do something for me because of something in me, not because of something in Him. So the Lord allowed the devil to try my faith, and the devil devoured it like a roaring lion, and I found myself so broken down that I did not think I had any faith. God allowed it to be taken away until I felt I had none. And then God seemed to speak to me so sweetly, saying, "Never mind, my child, you have nothing. But I am perfect Power, I am perfect Love, I am Faith, I am your Life, I am the preparation for the blessing, and then I am the Blessing, too. I am all within and all without, and all for ever." It is just having "Faith in God" (Mark 11: 22). "And the life I now live in the flesh, I live," not by faith on the Son of God, but "by the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. 2 20). That is it. It is not your faith. You have no faith in you, any more than you have life or anything else in you. You have nothing but emptiness and vacuity, and you must be just openness and readiness to take Him to do all. You have to take His faith as well as His life and healing, and have simply to say, "I live by the faith of the Son of God." My faith is not worth anything. If I had to pray for anyone, I would not depend upon my faith at all. I would say, "Here, Lord, am I. If you want me to be the channel of blessing to this one just breathe into me all that I need." It is simply Christ, Christ alone.

Now, is your body yielded to Christ for Him thus to dwell and work in you? The Lord Jesus Christ has a body as well as you only it is perfect; it is the body, not of a man, but of the Son of man. Have you considered why He is called the Son of man? The Son of man means that Jesus Christ is the one typical, comprehensive, universal, all-inclusive Man. Jesus is the one man that contains in Himself all that man ought to be all that man needs to have. It is all in Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead and the fullness of a perfect manhood has been embodied in Christ, and He stands now as the summing-up of all that man needs. His spirit is all that your spirit needs, and He just gives us Himself. His body possesses all that your body needs. He has a heart beating with the strength that your heart needs. He has organs and functions redundant with life, not for Himself, but for humanity. He does not need strength for Himself. The energy which enabled Him to rise and ascend from the tomb, above all the forces of nature, was not for Himself. That marvellous body belongs to your body. You are a member of His body. Your heart has a right to draw from His heart all that it needs. Your physical life has a right to draw from His physical life its support and strength, and so it is not you, but it is just the precious life of the Son of God. Will you take Him thus today, and then you will not be merely healed, but you will have a new life for all you need, a flood of life that will sweep disease away, and then remain a fountain of life for all your future need. Oh, take Him in His fullness.

It seems to me as if I might just bring you a little talisman today, as if God had given me a little secret for every one here and said to me, "Go and tell them, if they will take it, it will be a talisman of power wherever they go, and it will carry them through difficulty, danger, fear, life, death, eternity." If I could stand on this platform and say, "I have received from heaven a secret of wealth and success which God will give freely, through my hand, to everybody who will take it," I am sure you would need a larger hall for the people who would come. But, dear friends, I show you in His Word a truth which is more precious. The Apostle Paul tells us that there is a secret, a great secret which was hidden from ages and from generations (Col. 1: 26), which the world was seeking after in vain, which wise men from the East hoped they might find, and God says it "is now made manifest to his saints"; and Paul went through the world just to tell it to those that were able to receive it; and that simple secret is just this "Christ in you the hope of glory."

HIMSELF by A.B. SIMPSON pt.1

2009-12-16T06:01:00.000-08:00

I wish to speak to you about Jesus, and Jesus only. I often hear people say, "I wish I could get hold of Divine Healing, but I cannot." Sometimes they say, "I have got it." If I ask them, "What have you got?" the answer is sometimes, "I have got the blessing", sometimes it is, "I have got the theory"; sometimes it is, "I have got the healing"; sometimes, "I have got the sanctification." But I thank God we have been taught that it is not the blessing, it is not the healing, it is not the sanctification, it is not the thing, it is not the it that you want, but it is something better. It is "the Christ"; it is Himself.

How often that comes out in His Word - "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses", Himself "bare our sins in his own body on the tree"! It is the person of Jesus Christ we want. Plenty of people get the idea and do not get anything out of it. They get it into their head, and it into their conscience, and it into their will; but somehow they do not get Him into their life and spirit, because they have only that which is the outward expression and symbol of the spiritual reality.

I once saw a picture of the Constitution of the United States, very skillfully engraved in copper plate, so that when you looked at it closely it was nothing more than a piece of writing, but when you looked at it at a distance, it was the face of George Washington. The face shone out in the shading of the letters at a little distance, and I saw the person, not the words, nor the ideas; and I thought, "'That is the way to look at the Scriptures and understand the thoughts of God, to see in them the face of love, shining through and through; not ideas, nor doctrines, but Jesus Himself as the Life and Source and sustaining Presence of all our life."

I prayed a long time to get sanctified, and sometimes I thought I had it. On one occasion I felt something, and I held on with a desperate grip for fear I should lose it, and kept awake the whole night fearing it would go, and, of course, it went with the next sensation and the next mood. Of course, I lost it because I did not hold on to Him. I had been taking a little water from the reservoir, when I might have all the time received from Him fullness through the open channels.

I went to meetings and heard people speak of joy. I even thought I had the joy, but I did not keep it because I had not Himself as my joy. At last He said to me - Oh so tenderly - "My child, just take Me, and let Me be in you the constant supply of all this, Myself." And when at last I got my eyes off my sanctification, and my experience of it, and just placed them on the Christ in me, I found, instead of an experience, the Christ larger than the moment's need, the Christ that had all that I should ever need who was given to me at once, and for ever! And when I thus saw Him, it was such rest; it was all right, and right for ever. For I had not only what I could hold that little hour, but also in Him, all that I should need the next and the next and so on, until sometimes I get a glimpse of what it will be a million years afterwards, when we shall "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our Father" (Matt. 13: 43), and have "all the fullness of God."

And so I thought the healing would be an it too, that the Lord would take me like the old run-down clock, wind me up, and set me going like a machine. It is not thus at all. I found it was Himself coming in instead and giving me what I needed at the moment. I wanted to have a great stock, so that I could feel rich; a great store laid up for many years, so that I would not be dependent upon Him the next day; but He never gave me such a store. I never had more holiness or healing at one time than I needed for that hour. He said: "My child, you must come to Me for the next breath because I love you so dearly I want you to come all the time. If I gave you a great supply, you would do without Me and would not come to Me so often; now you have to come to Me every second, and lie on My breast every moment." He gave me a great fortune, placed thousands and millions at credit, but He gave a cheque-book with this one condition, "You never can draw more than you need at the time." Every time a cheque was wanted, however, there was the name of Jesus upon it, and so it brought more glory to Him, kept His name before the heavenly world and God was glorified in His Son.

I had to learn to take from Him my spiritual life every second, to breathe Himself in as I breathed, and breathe myself out. So, moment by moment for the spirit, and moment by moment for the body, we must receive. You say, "Is not that a terrible bondage, to be always on the strain ?" What, on the strain with one you love, your dearest Friend ? Oh, no! It comes so naturally, so spontaneously, so like a fountain, without consciousness, without effort, for true life is always easy, and overflowing.

THE OLD CROSS AND THE NEW by A.W. TOZER pt.2

2009-12-15T06:01:00.000-08:00

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)

THE OLD CROSS AND THE NEW by A.W. TOZER pt.1

2009-12-14T17:08:00.000-08:00

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE

2009-12-10T06:01:00.000-08:00

The scriptures clearly foretold before the Lord’s first coming that he would come to His temple and cleanse it:

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. — Malachi 3:1-3

A careful study of the scriptures shows that this was fulfilled by Jesus twice: At the beginning and the end of his three year ministry:

1. “And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise” (John 2:13-16).
2. “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves” (Matthew 21:12). Note that it was the same sin both times.

Just as cleansed the Jewish temple twice he will cleanse the church, which is the temple of his body, twice. The first cleansing took place when Jesus “suddenly” appeared to the seven churches which were in Asia: “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks” (Revelation 2:1— Italics mine). Look at the “cleansing” judgments of the “refiners’ fire:

• Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. —2:5
• Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. —2:16
• Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. —2:22-23
• I know thou works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. —3:1-3
• I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm…I will spue thee out of my mouth. — 3:15-16

How shocking these judgments must have been for all of those who had bought into the teaching that “sin is no longer an issue with God.” There is no way you can reconcile that statement with the Lord who promised to “kill her children with death.” There is not a positive spin you can put on most of the church at Sardis who was declared dead by the Lord who raises the dead: Even the Lord of Life could not find a pulse!

They were spiritually deceased.

Much less can there be anything optimistic about an entire church being vomited out of the Lord’s mouth. How can anyone possibly say that sin does not effect your born again spirit in the light of these scriptures? Was it just their souls and their bodies that the Lord spit out of his mouth? Is Jesus on the outside looking into this church and yet nothing has changed concerning their once saved always saved status? Even if they did not repent? Would repentance be considered a gift of grace to be received or would it be the “legalism of obedience”?

A church under judgment had better repent!

RHETORIC

2009-12-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19).

We live in a time where countless churches’ have embraced the motto, “The same message just a different method.” At first glance this seems harmless. Who in their right mind would ever challenge the validity of using the latest technology? Not me: I’m on the bandwagon.

I even have a “sitemeter” to show me how many millions are not reading my blog!

Here’s the danger: In our quest to be relevant we have embraced rhetoric—reasoning that reaches probable conclusions based upon premises that are assumed rather than proven. For the most part, coming up with new methods is the empty talk of those who would do away with the cross because it assumes that there is a difference between the message and the method.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The message is Christ crucified and the method is the cross; they are one and the same. Its premise is that at the heart of every man is a “Hitler” that must die. This principle is grounded in the fall of Adam, through which the heart of man became desperately wicked: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). The Justice of God demands that this man must die; the Mercy of God redeemed man by sending Jesus as a sacrifice for sin and offering the gift of repentance.

However, the wisdom of man finds this all too rigid. Therefore a new “Posture Pedic” cross is in order—one that conforms to individual sins!

This new scheme never confronts the sinner because the community survey shows that people do not want to be told what they are doing is wrong. After all, everyone knows they are sinners: right?

Wrong, you have bought into rhetoric. No way would those converted on the day of Pentecost knew that they had just murdered the Son of God had not Peter challenged them in their sin. They thought they had done God a service: “And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3:17).

SALMONELLA ASSEMBLY

2009-12-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going” (Proverbs 14:15).

In days marked by deception, we would do well to take heed to what we hear. The modern church is increasingly obese from the intake of cotton candy doctrines and a new desert called “Devil’s Fudge.” These modern delights are causing a pandemic of spiritual food poisoning.

One of the common causes for food poisoning is improper preparation. Eat a hamburger with pink in the middle and you will “run the risk” at the toilet! Proper temperature is vital both in cooking and storage: Make sure the fire is hot enough and the fridge sufficiently cold.

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalms 12:6

Woe to the pastor at “Salmonella Assembly” who serves undercooked “meat of the word”. This pastor constantly offends God because he dare not offend the chicken: Expose a drumstick to an old fashioned “Fry Daddy” and they are sure to never come back! This is all in keeping with Salmonella’s vision statement: “At all costs keep the back door shut—it may be necessary keep the toilet door open.” Never mind the cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, chills, and lack of appetite: there are funds set aside for the escalating “Pepto Dismal” bill.

The true Word of God is prepared in an oven: “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10). This fire consumes that which is of the flesh: “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:13). This fire is not averse to burning up the “wood, hay, and stubble” of mans genius. It offends the temporal in order to reveal the eternal weight of God’s glory.

B.H. Clendennen says tares have to be entertained and saints challenged. Fire does not offend true Christians. It reveals within them the “gold, silver, and precious stones” that is the presence of Christ.

THE TWELFTH APOSTLE

2009-12-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

“For in the book of Psalms it is written, Let his place of residence become deserted and gloomy, and let there be no one to live in it; and [again], Let another take his position or overseership” (Acts 1:20).

The above scripture is quoted by Peter after Judas had lost his apostleship through transgression. The Holy Ghost foreseeing this betrayal from the time of David specifically spoke of “another” to take the position of being numbered with the twelve. Peter was correct in his discernment—there was to be another apostle—but I believe he missed it as to the timing, the method, and who was selected.

“And they accordingly proposed (nominated) two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, You, Lord, Who know all hearts ( their thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, purposes, and endeavors), indicate to us which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and receive the position of an apostle, from which Judas fell away and went astray to go [where he belonged] to his own [proper] place. And they drew lots [between the two], and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to and counted with the eleven apostles (special messengers)” (Acts 1:23-26).

Take a good look at Matthias.

It is the only appearance he makes.

You must understand that this happened within ten days of the Holy Ghost being poured out, signaling the inauguration of both the New Covenant and the Holy Ghost as the conveyor: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:13). The time of “drawing lots” was over; the day of hearing from the Spirit on a continual basis was dawning.

Galatians 1:1 reads, “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…” Known unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world. Paul had already been chosen at the time of Acts 1 according to the eternal choice of God: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me” (Galatians 1:15-16). There was no way Peter could have known this; there was no way the Holy Ghost didn’t know.

By the grace of God Paul was destined to write two thirds of the New Covenant. These scriptures are part of the very groundwork of the church: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20). Where would we stand if not for the foundation of the gospel of grace that came from Paul’s pen? Therefore I am convinced that his name is of the twelve: “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14).

The Holy Ghost is the author and interpreter of the scriptures. He is continually coming from the throne of heaven with explicit directions from the mouth of God. In a time when the scriptures are watered down, twisted beyond recognition, and marketed according to the latest business model, we must look to him as we “rightly divide the word of truth.”

Or else we will anoint the “Apostle Bozo” instead of the “Apostle Boaz.”

HAS YOUR NIGHTCAP BEEN A CUP OF PAIN?

2009-12-04T06:01:00.001-08:00

Psalms 44:3 is the boast of a people who understood that the essence of victory centered on the strength of the Lord: “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them.” These over comers applied this truth to their own situation:

“Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah” (vs. 5-8).

This is a picture of the true church with the correct confession serving the Lord. What follows next is a familiar testimony that serves to baffle even the choicest of God’s servants:

“But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me” (vs.9-15).

Ultimately this is a portrait of the cross: “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter” (v. 22). When you follow the Lord and end up in a situation that is humanly impossible, take comfort that your steps have been ordered by the Lord. If you have been exposed as bankrupt to all who would take inventory of you, you are in excellent company. Jesus was naked on the cross before the world with no way of escape.

When all was seemingly lost God was doing his greatest work.

Take heart that when it appears that God is asleep on the job, He is actually taking things into his own hands. The Psalmist did not realize that his accusing God of sleeping was really a prophesy of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. God was not asleep, He was working. Remember that Jesus referred to death as sleep more than once: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep” (John 11:11). Psalms 13:3 strengthens this: “Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”

“Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise; cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth. Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake” (vs. 23-26).

Jesus was “afflicted and oppressed” at the cross because of our sins. As it were, God “hid his face” for a brief moment: “In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment” (Isaiah 54:8). When Jesus died, he rested in the “sleep of death” for two days, but on the third day he answered the Psalmist’s cry: He arose for our help when he was resurrected from the dead ! When all seemed lost God was recovering all that was lost. Sin had “cast us from his side” but through the Blood of the cross Jesus redeemed us back to God.

Does it look like God has forgotten you and is doing nothing on your behalf? Has there been a “shaking of the head” by those who survey your circumstances: “He said God was going to help him. He needs to get in the real world!” Has there been confusion and has your nightcap been a cup of pain?

Lift up your head: God is about to do his greatest work in you!

PIGWEED BREATH

2009-12-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

Jesus said that the kingdom of God could be likened to a seed. One of the core truths to be learned from a seed is all seeds have a genealogy. You can trace an apple and a thorn tree back to the original tree from which it came. I wrote the following sometime back to illustrate this point:

"My garden has a propensity to grow a lowlife called Pigweed. It is quiet selfish, plots to overthrow the good seed, and will leave you retreating in pain were you to grab it with your bare hand because of its thistles. It has a very filthy mouth, for at its root is a curse.

What you need to understand is this: the Pigweed that flourishes in my garden did not originate there. Its infamous lineage can be traced back to the Garden of Eden to the original “father” pigweed. It was there that it obtained its legal right to be established as a perennial enemy because of the disobedience of Adam, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake…” (Genesis 3:17).

What is true of Pigweed is true of all other weeds that grow effortlessly in gardens everywhere. Coffee weeds, sandspurs, wild onions and the like have multiplied from generation to generation, claiming the ground as their own. As a succession of rulers, as soon as one dies, the crown is passed to the next in line to enforce the curse and reign in place of blessing.

All this is true because the nature of a seed—both good and evil, is to multiply. In other words, any weed seed that you hold in your hand did not originate in your hand; it was multiplied from the original “father.”

This “weed-ology” parallels a more somber truth: The “seeds” of sin that we sow so effortlessly have an author. Words of hate, anger, and deception can be traced all the way back to the mouth of the Devil when he deceived Eve and tempted Adam to disobey. Because of Adam’s sin, the "ground" of mans heart was cursed, and out of the abundance or the heart, the mouth speaks—with putrid “Pigweed” breath.

Sad to say, we are so accustomed to “weeds” in our garden, we consider it normal to “flood” our homes with a steady stream of tyranny. We are professional employers of the wisdom that says that in order to get our way; we must raise our voice in escalating anger, speak words filled with hate and cursing, and manipulate circumstances. This wisdom is of the devil: “But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilsh” (James 3:14-15).

There is nothing innocent about our ungodly anger and the words we use to express it. Words like, “You make me sick; You are just like your mother; You’ll never change,” spring from a counterfeit wisdom that we use to manipulate for selfish purposes. Follow this "river" upstream and you will find that it proceeds from an angry Devil. He is a liar from the beginning to the end: "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood..." (Revelation 12:5)."

As my Uncle Ronny has said, "We don't want to be like a hog eating acorns and never look up to see where they are coming from." Pig Weed breath proceeds from a pig.

Get rid of it!

NO ONE CAN TAKE WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED YOU

2009-12-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

There was a definite sense of excited bedlam as Jesse hurried his sons in their preparations; after all this wasn’t just any old middling preacher that had called them to the sacrifice.

This was Samuel.

“Good grief,” Eliab muttered. “Where is that little squirt?”
“Daaavid!”
“What now?” David asked.
“I thought I told you to have this shirt pressed: You call this ironing?”
“What am I, a maid? Do it yourself!”
“What part of sanctified do you not get? Why can’t you get it through that red head of yours that Pastor Samuel told us not to do any ordinary work: One of us is going to be anointed today.”
“Please forgive me, be it far from me to cause the future king to become unsanct….”
“Quit sassing your brother young man. Just why are you not tending those sheep like I told you,” asked Jesse as he fretted with Abinadab’s tie.
“But all I was tryin……”
“Don’t but me son; I am trying to teach you responsibility. As the younger brother to the future King of Israel you’re going to have to learn some manners!”
“O my goodness: It’s time to go—David, go saddle the camels!”

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. —1 Samuel 16:1-5

Samuel had a clear word from the Lord, “I have chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be King: Go and anoint him.” It is clear from the text that Samuel sent word for Jesse to meet him in Bethlehem in order to have his sons sanctified for the sacrifice. To be sanctified meant among other things to withdraw from ordinary secular work. Where was David in all of this?

Keeping ordinary sheep.

David was overlooked and lightly esteemed, yet chosen by God and heavily anointed. Even Samuel missed it to start off with: “Samuel looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him” (16:6). The word looked is the same word provided: “I have provided me a king among his sons.” David had experienced a face to face encounter with the Lord in which he was commanded to be King of Israel before Samuel ever arrived in Bethlehem. “…the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people…” (13:14).

David had been appointed king before he was anointed king by Samuel: “He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds” (Psalms 78:70). By the time of Saul’s second sin God had given the kingdom to David: “And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou” (1 Samuel 15:28).

The truth is, David did not need Samuel to tell him he was going to be King of Israel: He already knew this from the Lord. Samuel confirmed to David that he would be King. A true prophet does not give direction; he confirms direction—especially in the New Testament. If a “prophet” tells you something that the Lord has not already told you, that prophet is operating in witchcraft.

What great grace has the Lord revealed to you concerning his call on your life? If he has spoken it, he will surly bring it to pass. You may be discounted by all those who know you, but no one can take what God has promised you!

SAINTS WIN! SAINTS WIN!

2009-12-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

The 2009 edition of the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn was decided in the last minutes of the game. It was so stressful that Lori couldn’t bear to watch, instead choosing to fret outside.

Auburn had one last chance to win by throwing a “Hail Mary” into the end zone, and for this particular play I chose to listen to the radio. The interesting thing about this is the telecast is delayed for a few seconds, whereas the radio is more of a live feed. So when I turn to the Alabama network, the last play is in progress while the telecast shows both teams still in the huddle. The point is this: I heard Alabama win before I saw them win. Therefore I watched the last play with supreme confidence.

And joy!

Since Lori missed most of the fourth quarter, we have since watched the playback. Whereas we had been extremely agitated with Auburn’s success the first time, we were amused the second time. No matter how bad it looked we were unmovable in our assurance: knowing the end from the beginning made all the difference.

In the far more serious game of life, many of us are in dire need of a fourth quarter comeback. From an eternal perspective this battle of faith has already been decided. God give us ears to hear the verdict of heaven, and the astounding joy of the cloud of witnesses as they shout over the air waves: “Saints win, Saints win! Not only can we hear this from above: We can read tomorrow’s headlines in “The New Jerusalem Times” proclaiming this more assuredly than “The Birmingham News” account of the win by Alabama.

Jesus, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, lived his life according to this principle:

“And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:36-39).

The greatest miracle is not the calming of the sea; it is the calm of the man that can sleep through a raging storm! Only a man with this astounding peace can speak peace and calm troubled waters. Where did Jesus get such authoritative faith, enabling him to impose his will upon the enemy?

He had gone to sleep listening to “77.7” classic rock! This “faith station” was streaming live from Zion and had the final score of the game way before it was played out on the field. I have it tuned in right now, listen up:

“Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them” (Psalms 89:9).

Jesus heard the calm of the sea before he ever saw it come to pass. Knowing that the outcome was never in doubt, He had perfect peace in the middle of the storm. I am told that in the original Greek that when Jesus rebuked the storm he was saying to the waves, “Shut up! See this muzzle: Put it on— I don’t want to hear another peep out of you!

Lord let us see the end of "our game" from the beginning: “Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11).

A SENTENCE OF DEATH

2009-11-30T06:01:00.000-08:00

About two years ago I made a decision to turn down a full time position in a church to pursue the ministry I believe the Lord has called me to. Today I have scriptural evidence to assure me that I made the right decision and am exactly where the Lord wants me. Behind me is an enemy intent on destroying me; on either side are un-climbable mountains; before is an impassable Red Sea: It is good to be in the perfect will of the Lord!

“For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9; emphasis mine).

Ultimately the Lord is the judge in our trial of faith, and in his mercy he condemns our human strength to death. We have the “sentence of death in ourselves” to keep us from placing hope in our impotence. The battle is the Lord’s and “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). The war we wage is spiritual; were you to drop a million atomic bombs on the devil it would not faze him.

Do you honestly think your “357 Magnum” could ever make a difference?

The Apostle Paul and those with him understood their sentence of death. Sentence here means an answer: "On asking myself whether I should come out safe from mortal peril, I answered, ‘I must die.” Paul asked the Lord in his trial, “What am I to do to get out of this?” The reply was, “You must die to any hope of carnal genius and natural ability.” This is the basis of true faith: an unconditional dependence upon the unseen hand of the Lord — an honest confession that if the Lord doesn't come and take things into his own hands, then we've had it!

Everyone has a breaking point.

Paul said he was pressed — weighted down— above measure. The test that came to the Apostle was “beyond” anything he had ever experienced: It was the “bale of hay that broke the back of the trailer.” He referred to it as trouble, which is the same as affliction in Acts 7:10, when it says that God delivered Joseph “out of all his afflictions.” Just as Josephs’ soul “entered into the iron” during the seemingly endless delay of his promise, Paul likewise “entered in.”

The end result is he “despaired even of life.” Despair means “to be utterly at loss, be utterly destitute of measures or resources, to renounce all hope. The root of this word means “to be without resources, to be in straits, to be left wanting, to be embarrassed, to be in doubt, not to know which way to turn. It is “to be at a loss with one's self, be in doubt and not to know how to decide or what to do: to be perplexed.” These are all qualifications of a miracle: If you can not relate to this, then you are not qualified.

Before there can be a resurrection there must be a death. “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10).

There is always more in resurrection than there is in birth —B.H. Clendennen.

IT IS TIME TO GIVE THANKS!

2009-11-26T06:01:00.000-08:00

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).

It is human nature to take things for granted and truly not to realize the greatness of the power of God already demonstrated. It was power beyond human comprehension that created the world out of nothing and everything in it that lives and breathes. The same power that created the world is the identical command that keeps the whole universe together: The Word of God that is proceeding out of the mouth of the Lord!

Have we stopped today to consider the efficiency and precision with which the Lord commands the world? The rotation of the earth around the sun is so exact that you could set a clock thousands of years in advance and have perfect timing because there is a consistency that God has set in motion. Were he to let go for just one second the whole universe would be thrown out of kilter!

Do we understand that many of Jesus’ greatest miracles were acts of restoration? In these awesome “reinstallation” miracles, the power of God was demonstrated to bring back things to the original state that God had set in order. In the beginning God made the eyes to see, the ears to hear, the legs to walk, and the tongue to talk. When Jesus encountered people with whom these gifts were no longer functioning, he healed them, bringing all back to the original intent.

In other words, when Jesus raised the lame man from his bed, it was the power of God that brought strength to this man’s legs, enabling him to walk. Likewise, when God created Adam, it was a creative miracle that formed his legs and enabled him to walk in the first place! Ultimately, it is the grace of God that enables all of us to see, hear, walk, and talk. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God; this is nothing short of the "amazingness" of the Lord.

This is not to mention the million particulars that must function properly for us to live. The heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, blood cells, intestines, muscles, and brain are all works of God infinitely beyond human strength. Let just one of these become diseased and the body starts to suffer.

On top of this, consider the bountiful provision of oxygen and sunshine and water and food that he gives on a daily schedule. Were it not for his hand, we would quickly perish into oblivion. He provides trees and precious metals and a million other things so we can have houses with furniture and other comforts of life.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it” (1 Corinthians 4:7)? The answer is nothing; we received everything we’ve got.

There is no such thing as a self made man: Never has been, never will be. To truly be self sufficient, a man would first have to have someone kill him and cremate his body. Then he would need to have the dust that he is dumped into out of space. From there it would be up to him to create his life again and a universe and world that would be fully functional—all of this must be original, he can not copy what God has already done!

Ain’t gonna happen.

It is time to give thanks to the Almighty: Happy Thanksgiving!

ONE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH

2009-11-25T06:01:00.000-08:00

“Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed. Therefore sprang there even of one so many as the stars in the sky in multitude, and as the white sand by the seashore innumerable” (Hebrews 11; 11-12).

“There that should do it,” you say to yourself as you carefully set your last tomato plant.
Suddenly, a red Dodge Ram pulls into your yard. As you walk toward the truck to see who it is, the driver rolls down the window and calls your name.
“O My God!” you proclaim—you’d recognize that voice anywhere. “It’s Jesus.”
“How about coming with me,” he asks. “I have something I want to show you.”
“Me……You want….. Me?”
Laughing, Jesus opens the door and says, “Yes, get in.”
Taking Faith 23 north for about eight miles, the Lord takes a right on New Beginnings Avenue. Here he pulls into a 100,000 acre field that sits at the foot of Mount Petition.
“All that you see is mine,” he declares. “I want you to plant this in corn and feed the nations.”
Overwhelmed with faith and joy, you worship him.
“Should I buy the seed in one ton allotments?”
“No need for that,” he says, and hands you one seed.

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground” (Mark 4;26).

God has placed in the nature of a seed the power to reproduce itself in unlimited numbers. From one seed can come trillions of other seed that look like the original, grows like the original, and tastes like the original. The only difference between the original and the trillions is a major one: The original is the root; the trillions are the fruit.

Let’s do the math on one seed of corn. Every country boy knows that one stalk of corn will produce two ears of corn. An average ear will have 820 kernels which times two is 1,640. Plant all these and you will have 2, 689,600. Repeat this a third and fourth time and you will reap an astonishing 7,223,948,160,000 kernels of corn! All from one.

“Now the Lord had said unto Abram… I will make of thee a great nation…unto thy seed will I give this land… that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven” (Genesis12;1,2,7; 22;17).

God builds nations and kingdoms from one seed. He promised a seed to Abraham and from that one seed came forth the nation Israel. Abraham had Isaac who had Jacob, who in turn fathered twelve sons. When Israel went into Egypt they numbered seventy: “And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls” (Exodus 1:5). By the time you get to Hebrews 11; 12, the seed had multiplied to innumerable proportions; just like he promised. All, from David to Paul, from the least to the greatest, came from one.

God is not looking for great strength; He can do all that is written with little strength!

What has he placed in your hand?

FAITH COMES BY HEARING

2009-11-24T06:01:00.000-08:00

O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps. [Psalms 37:23; Proverbs 20:24.] — Jeremiah 10:23 Amplified

I have good news for all that are in the middle of the storm of their lives: God in his wisdom and mercy has directed your steps. As the Omnipotent, Omnipresent sovereign Lord, He has gone before you, has never left you, and is coming to you! Make no mistake about it: Jesus always comes to the rescue of those who call upon his name. There is no power in hell that can stop him from walking on the sea of impossibility to get to you.

The issue is this: Will you recognize him when he comes?

“And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida (It was his direction)…And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened” (Mark 6:45-52).

There is a tremendously important principle being taught here: Faith doesn’t come by seeing; faith comes by hearing. We have thought that seeing a miracle would produces faith. But the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea and it did not produce faith in them.

What’s more, they were “sitting” on a miracle and their heart was hardened instead of believing. Jesus had just multiplied the five loaves and had commanded the disciples to put what was left into twelve baskets. These baskets were in the boat as they struggled to recognize the Lord! Faith comes by hearing the voice of Jesus, not by a bunch of soggy bread!

To teach otherwise is to place you and all who hear you at risk of deception. One of the foundational errors along this line is this: “Young people have to experience something first; then you can teach them doctrine.” This miscalculation is fundamental: It places faith into the realm of what you can see with your five senses—your “natural” eye. The devil can counterfeit a miracle and fool everybody that is basing faith on a sign and wonder — especially young people.

We must learn to lean on his voice: “And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.” They knew him not by seeing, but by hearing! If we can discern his voice in the storm everything will be all right. If we can receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of his word we can reach out and touch the hem of his garment—God grant it unto your servants!

The storm of all storms is fixing to hit: It is time to seek the Lord through the Holy Writ. Isn’t that the last message he left us?

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 3:13).

SOMEBODY HAS BEEN MESSING WITH THE LAND MARK!

2009-11-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

We live in a day where many have lowered the standards of the Word of God in order to not offend the proud seeker. Never mind that the movie “little Johnny” wants to watch teaches him how to murder and rape, and to blaspheme the Holy Ghost, it is not up to us to say he has no business as a professing Christian to watch it.

After all, Jesus wouldn’t want anyone to feel guilty.

Therefore anyone holding to the standards of the word concerning obedience, repentance, and separation from the world are labeled “legalists.” However, at heart those protesting the loudest are also legalists, and out of the abundance of heart they will speak if you “crash their hard drive.” Just run a red light and “total” their brand new Lexus: See if they don't hold you responsible to the law. The weight of what it’s going to cost them far outweighs any apprehension they may or may not have about making you feel guilty.

Consider the bewilderment that would occur if we applied this “user friendly” wisdom to a football game. Since our best running back runs a 12.4 forty and our biggest lineman is 155 pounds, we need to change the following rules:

1. Their will no longer be an out of bounds.
2. You have an infinite number of attempts to get a first down.
3. Since we never cross the goal line, a touch down will consist of crossing the 50 yard line which is the new goal line.
4. Their will be no personal fouls.
5. Their will be no referees.

“Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people” (Isaiah 62:10). Standard means “the level of quality or excellence attained by somebody or something.” This ultimately refers to Jesus and the highway of holiness that he attained for all who would follow him. Since this is obviously over the head of human strength, someone has taken it upon themselves to change the ancient land mark.

“Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28). A landmark is “a prominent object, e.g. a tree or stone that is recognized as marking the boundary of a piece of land.” Ancient means “ancient time, long time (of past) and (of future); It is that which is “continuous existence, perpetual everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity.”

From eternity as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ anchored the “tree” of the cross into the bed rock of truth. This cross of Christ is the standard and boundary of the church. It is rigid in its demands, yet boundless in its mercy. It knows no compromise, but its miracle working power comes short of no promise: All things are possible to him that believes! In short, it brings the proud flesh of the first Adam into the death of Christ in order to raise all of mankind in the last Adam.

How it that what has always been true—the confession and repentance of sins through the Blood of the cross— is no longer in vogue? When did the “rules committee” of heaven convene to change that which has always been considered in and out of bounds? Here are four of the rule changes:

1. Our sin does not affect His opinion of us nor cause Him to withhold His blessing!
2. We don’t have to confess sin in order to be saved, to retain, or to maintain our salvation.
3. In fact, sin isn’t even an issue with God.
4. Sin does not affect your spirit.

I guess you can rape and murder little children and pray down the blessings of the Lord with innocent blood on your hands.

Somebody has been messing with the land mark.

Good thing for them it is no longer sin.

HEADSHIP OF ADAM

2009-11-20T06:01:00.000-08:00

“Wherefore, as by one man {Adam} sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, {in whom — margin} for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12, brackets mine).

Bill McCoy sent me the following word:

“Adam the federal head of the human race was also the seminal head. The word seminal (seed) implies that everyone existed in seed form within Adam, and that he was the head of the human race. We were all in the body of Adam when he sinned, just as Levi was in the body of Abraham when he met Melchizedek: “…through Abraham even Levi who is receiving tithes, hath paid tithes, for he was yet in the loins of the father when Melchisedek met him” (Hebrews 7:9-10).

In that sense, every member of the human race played a part in the fall of man. When Adam sinned we were actually sinning with him.

Adam was also the federal head of the race. In this sense, Adams vote for sin is similar to the vote of a representative. By “Senator” Adams vote, he obligated his constituents for certain indebtness.

While Adam’s disobedience resulted in the human race being plunged into sin, the obedience of Christ (the last Adam) gives Christians the power to overcome sin in their lives (see Romans 5:12 – 21; Genesis 2:24). “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45).

This headship of Adam tells us that we were born of sin / into sin – therefore we must repent of our sins, ask and seek forgiveness from God; live at the Cross, and for me, most of all pray for God’s mercy and grace. Without God’s mercy and the forgiveness through the Cross on my soul, I would still be dead to sin and living in God only knows what kind of life at this point. Let those that have ears hear; we must repent and be forgiven on a daily bases.

The second Adam saved us; the first Adam killed us.”

This is a good word.

It is amazing that we were also in the Last Adam from before the foundation of the world. Therefore when he was on the cross we were in him and thus we WERE crucified with him, buried with him, and raised with him!! We were blessed in him with all spiritual blessings because he to was the "seminal" head. His seed was the Word of God!!!! We were healed in every which way you can be healed by virtue of this union just as we were cursed in every which way by our union with the first Adam.

WAITING ON THE LORD

2009-11-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

A prominent teacher has made the following statement, “Your spirit is identical to Jesus Christ.”

This is to say that your spirit man is “exactly the same as or equal to God, or alike in every respect.” This is because Jesus is and was and will be Almighty God. Another teacher has said, “Whenever I hear God say that I am, I just smile and say ‘I am too!”

I don’t think so!

We are not in any way identical to Christ; we are identified with Christ. Jesus is the creator; we are the created. Of a truth His Spirit lives within us and we are one spirit with him by our union with him. But we do not become him no more than the wife becomes the husband because of her joining together with him. He is everything while we are still poor in spirit and nothing: “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3).

Isaiah 40:31 states, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”. One of the meanings for wait is “to collect, to gather, and bind together — perhaps by twisting.” At the cross of Christ God gathered the whole human race and “bound” us together with three nails. By virtue of our union with him He became a sacrifice for sin and by our union with him we became the righteousness of God.

A simple way to look at this is to compare a single thread to a massive logging chain. One is weak and one is unbreakable and indestructible.

Suppose your life depended on pulling a thousand ton bulldozer out of the mud. Were you to try to pull it out with the thread they would declare you legally insane.

If the thread had a “voice” and affirmed that it was identical to the chain they would proclaim it permanently insane!

However, if you were to twist the thread around the chain, then all of a sudden “Mr. Threadwell” could boldly state: “I can do all things through this chain which strengthens me!” Nothing would be impossible. He will be able to pull many souls to safety, making an eternal difference. He will have power to bind the enemy and plunder his house. He will be known in heaven and feared in hell as long as he keeps the right perspective.

The danger is in the fact that the chain is invisible to the natural eye and it will look as if Threadwell is doing all the work.

But he should no better.

After all, he was threadbare before the Lord found him.

GRASSHOPPERS BY TWO TOUCHDOWNS!

2009-11-18T06:01:00.000-08:00

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).

The writer of Hebrews is referring to the Israelites who failed to enter the Promised Land under Moses. This generation saw the greatness of God’s miracles in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the miraculous provision of food and drink in the wilderness, and despite this, saw nothing but themselves in there hour of crises. Listen to what God calls their evil report:

“But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:31-33).

To get to the heart of unbelief we need to see the root: What is it deep within man that is the foundation of all atheism?

I thought we were talking about unbelief: What do you mean atheism?

The generation that died in the wilderness was practical atheists. Their actions spoke loud and clear that God was no where to be found when they needed him most: “And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (14:3-4). Follow this “fruit of their lips” to its source and you will discover the heart of all unbelief:

Their faith was in their ability.

They accused the Lord of bringing them “to fall by the sword.” The truth is, it never entered into the mind of the Lord for Israel to conquer Canaan with their sword no more than he depended on such to bring them out of Egypt? It was the Ten Plagues that persuaded Pharaoh to let God‘s people go: Not the top ten swordsman of Israel!

Unbelief is misplaced confidence. It is being faithless: a belief that comes from hearing the voice of man rather than true faith which comes from hearing the voice of God. This voice of unbelief is universal and is “omnipresent” in every storm and every point of crises. It is the voice that cries deep within man and says with great conviction: “I do not have what it takes. Who am I to stand up to that which has killed millions just like me; stole from men greater than me; destroyed stronger than me?

God called it an “evil” heart that thinks like this. The word evil means, “Full of labors, annoyances, hardships, pressed, and bringing toils. It is “of a bad nature and is blind." It speaks of the “intense desire” in man to be independent—a “self made” man. This man’s faith is in self effort that drives him: “Try harder, dig in, give it all you’ve got! Make sure you confess the seven steps to success just right!"

After all: If you can think it you can achieve it!

This faith is “of a bad nature.” It is based on the natural assumption that all depends on “might and power.” The truth is, there was no lack of faith in their believing they couldn’t do it; unbelief was believing it was up to them: “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Identifying and even confessing the giants was not the problem; the issue was in not discerning the presence of the Lord and failing to confess what He had say about the situation.

Sooner or later all faith in the natural dies in the face of impossibility; only the “faith of Christ” is eternal. Whose faith raised Lazarus from the dead? Whose faith enabled Caleb to posses what they said was unattainable? “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Numbers 14:24).

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Do not dare leave the Living God and face the giants in your own strength!

By the way, God could have defeated the giants with the grasshoppers.

It would not have been close: Grasshoppers by two touchdowns!

GOD HAS PREACHED YOUR FUNERAL

2009-11-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:3-4).

The Greek word for bless is “Eulogeo” and one of its meanings is to eulogize. A eulogy is a “speech or piece of writing that praises somebody or something very highly, especially a tribute to somebody who has recently died.” Paul, who wrote Ephesians and much of the New Testament, eventually finished the race set before him. Let’s listen in to his eulogy:

“We are here to honor our Brother Paul today, who, had he not answered the call of God on his life, many of you would not be here today. This man did many wonderful works: In the Name of Jesus he raised the dead, healed the sick, cast out devils and fed the poor. Through the ever growing love of God in his life, he won countless souls to the kingdom of God. He suffered much for the cause of Christ, yet none of these things ever moved him from his steadfastness of purpose. By the grace of God, he has left us many letters written straight from the Father’s heart to be a lamp to guide us. As you well know, many Churches are here today that stands as a testament to this man, and testify of him: He obeyed God.”

The amazing thing I want you to see is this eulogy was spoken from eternity, before the apostle had ever done one thing: “…who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…”

God, who declares the end from the beginning, has blessed us in Christ before time ever began. Clearly the scriptures teach that we died with Christ at the cross and spiritually speaking this happened from eternity: “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8”). Therefore, our Heavenly Father "eulogized" all believers “in Christ” before the world was ever formed. This is why Paul could say in Galatians 1:15 that he had been separated from his mother's womb and called by grace even though he had previously been the greatest persecutor of Christ. God had blessed him by "turning him away from his iniquities" and called him with a "holy calling" according to the grace and purpose of Christ "before the foundation of the world."

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Likewise, God preached your funeral before time began and spoke of your end: “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11). I don’t have time here to repeat all of what was said about you, but I will give you the closing words:

“Not one good thing of all that I promised this beloved child of mine failed: All came to pass. As I was with Abraham, Moses, Paul, and even my Son Jesus, so I was with….”

You!

HAVE YOU BEEN TO YOUR OWN FUNERAL?

2009-11-16T06:01:00.000-08:00

"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein" (Jeremiah 6:16).

We do not discover the truth as in searching out a new trail; we discover the truth when we find an old path. It is not new scars in Heaven that assure us of our spiritual and physical healing; it is old scars, that of a Lamb as it had been slain. It is an old path that leads to the cross which in essence became the operating room where our sins were surgically removed, not with a razor sharp scalpel, but with the scourging of a Roman whip and the piercing of three nails. These scars assure us that a New Covenant has been cut which provides everything we need in abundance: The operation was a success.

The life of Abraham provides an excellent commentary on this New Covenant:

“And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son” (Genesis 17:24-26).

God had just reiterated an old, but yet new promise: “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him” (Genesis 17:19). Abraham’s side of the covenant required the obedience of circumcision which was really a confession of utter dependence upon God. This cutting away of strength was a declaration of true faith: “Lord, here is my impotence. I bring to you that which is dead and can only be raised to life by resurrection power.”

Circumcision is God’s blueprint for a miracle: “And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:11). Notice that these instructions came to Abraham at ninety-nine and not when he was eighty-five. This is because at a younger age death had not “set in” to that which was to be circumcised; at ninety-nine Abraham was as good as dead as to his reproduction abilities. The covenant of circumcision was to be an everlasting illustrated sermon entitled, “Impotence Never Meets The Requirements Of Omnipotence!” Circumcision is a sign of death to all hope in the natural and a faith in the supernatural: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).

We enter into worship when we can no longer be tempted to depend on our own abilities to get the job done, and yet believe and move toward a miracle. Abraham at this time could not be tempted to have any more “relations” with Hagar: “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old…” (Romans 4:19). When he could no longer be “moved” to take things into his own hands, God moved and took things into His hands! This is the essence of walking in the New Covenant.

Circumcision is the cutting away of foreskin that which is there by nature: here it represents the pride of natural strength. It is there to protect man’s greatest pride: His ability to “duplicate!” The only trouble is man can never replicate that which is spiritual. He may come close, as Abraham did with Ishmael who looked a lot like Isaac—both were to become a great nation— but God ultimately rejected that which was of natural origin. It is only when we are cut off from natural hope in ordinary resources will God move. Abraham marked this step clearly, “Who against hope believed in hope…” (Romans 4:18).

You must see that before Abraham ever took Sarah to the delivery room, he first had to attend his own funeral!

What happens to a branch that is cut off from the tree? It dies. What happens when you cut off a foreskin? It dies and it will soon start to stink!

When Abraham circumcised his foreskin (and that of his household including Ishmael) it died the death that always comes with separation. Since you always bury the dead I am sure there was a graveside service as Abraham buried his “pride” and brought his own eulogy:

“I remember Abraham well. He was full of promise and full of assurance that he could get the job done no matter the mountains that stood in his way. Here was a man of action! Here was a man of faith! Here is a man that did everything within his power to get God to move in his time and even helped God along the way.

And he thought it had worked.

But here I bury Ishmael and all the hope that had come with him. May God have mercy.”

All that are in Christ are clearly evidenced in the scriptures as being crucified with Christ. Have you been to your own funeral?

DEATH BY LETHAL INJECTION

2009-11-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. —Psalms 5:4-6

Consider the following attributes of God.

1. He hates evil and loves righteousness.
2. He can not lie.
3. He is a God of justice.
4. He is love.

How can you reconcile the truth that God hates all workers of iniquity to the assurance that God so loved the world?

At the cross of Christ: “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24. It is as there that Justice met Grace as the wrath of God was poured out upon Jesus because of our sins. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

It is essential that we understand that the God of Justice never compromised the law found in Ezekiel 18:4: “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Exodus 34:7 declares that God “will by no means clear the guilty.” Jesus the author of the New Testament never compromised concerning this principle: “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27).

Therefore any one who comes to Jesus must understand that as the Living Word of God, Jesus demands your death! There is no plea bargaining; there is no legal loop hole to crawl out of. You have sinned against the Almighty and as such you are an enemy of the state and as such you are herby sentenced to the death of the cross!

The justice of God demands that it be so.

His mercy commands it!

God’s unconditional acceptance of you just as you were was joined with his unconditional command of your “execution” at the cross of Christ. It was there that your sin died of lethal injection of the precious Blood of the spotless Lamb! “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6)

God in His mercy never reconciled your old man to himself; you were reconciled to God as a new man in Christ.

DEAD TO RIGHTS

2009-11-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. —Romans 5:10

Thank God that we were reconciled to God by the Blood of the Lamb: That is beyond dispute. But there is something to be desired in modern thinking if we pass over the fact that we were enemies—somebody who hates or seeks to harm somebody or something. It is a total lack of understanding of the fear of God that teaches contemporary evangelist’s to bring God’s enemies to him and "reconcile" them without any sign of brokenness, or trembling, or sorrow for sins on the part of the new “card carrying” member. These wholesale conversions amount to little more than sharing a recipe that may or may not ever be prepared by the recipient.

A present-day case in point would be the United States government running down Osama Bin Laden and offering him a full pardon of his crimes and giving him full access to our country without any change of condition on his part. “Osama, since you have been reconciled to God by grace, there is nothing required of you: no remorse, no restitution, and no repentance!

An example that I have actually witnessed goes something like the following:

“Hey Sis, do you know Jesus?”
“No.”
“Do you want to know him?”
“I guess.”
All you have to do is repeat the ‘sinners’ prayer: "Jesus, you said in your word that if any man confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, then he would be saved. Jesus, I believe. Forgive me of my sins. In Jesus name amen!”
Praise the Lord Sis: You’re saved!!”

The sinner is the one leading the prayer.

Proverbs 1:7 teaches us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” The fear of the Lord is the manifest presence of the Almighty—initially it is the stark terror of being exposed before him undone and unclean because of sin. It is the sudden dread brought on by an awareness of being in the hand of your sworn enemy whose power it is to destroy both soul and body. Knowledge here comes from the word that means to know intimately as Adam “knew” his wife. If there is no fear of the Lord in a salvation experience, can there be a true knowing of the Lord?

Saul is a picture of a true conversion of an enemy of God coming face to face with the Lord. As an active enemy of the Lord he was “yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples” when suddenly he came into the presence of the Lord. Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me—why are you my enemy? What happens next is a demonstration of the fear of the Lord that marked a brand new beginning for Paul, thus ending his old life: “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Jesus had Paul “dead to rights” and poured out his mercy instead of wrath! But look at Paul’s attitude: He trembled, “shaking continuously and uncontrollably from fear.” He was astonished at the mercy of God, that just as David of old spared King Saul when he could have killed him, Jesus the Son of David was sparing his life.

Paul lives the rest of his life showing the proper response of enemies pardoned by such mercy.

He was dead to rights!

THE BLOOD NEVER DEPRECIATES

2009-11-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

Anyone having listened to the latest teaching on grace could easily come to the conclusion that there are entirely two different God’s in the Bible. The angry God of the Old Covenant has been replaced by the genteel God of the New Covenant. The one was always looking for an excuse to clobber one over the head for the slightest infraction. The other never commands the necessity of repentance based on the personal wishes of those who insist that obedience is now legalism. We are saved by grace and not works. Obedience is clearly a work that you do and to require it as a prerequisite to salvation would be to add to the finished work of Christ.

Or so they say.

Isn't Jesus Christ the revealed Lord of All in both covenants? Does not the Word of God declare in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever?”

Could it be that the God of the Bible has not changed after all?

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7).

God is Holy and a God of justice. All sin must be washed away by the Blood of the Lamb which IS the abundant Mercy and Grace and longsuffering of the Lord. It is clear from the letters to the seven churches’ that if they did not repent of their sins that they would have to pay the wages of sin which is death. I know that this is highly controversial but the words of the Lord—kill your children with death; you have a name that you livest but you are dead; spue you out of my mouth—indicate that He never got the memo explaining today’s grace message. (See the letters to the seven churches’ in Revelation.)

God, who can not lie, will never clear the guilty the way a human judge might arbitrarily free a murderer. The problem with this is the murderer goes free and justice has never been served: The payment of death has not been paid so therefore the murderer is still guilty and innocent blood has not been avenged. Therefore for the guilty to stand in the Lord’s presence would be “to melt like wax” because the wicked perish at the presence of the Lord. It is impossible for it to be any other way: It would be like the darkness standing in the light of the sun at full strength.

When the Lord abundantly pardons a murderer, it is not that he reduces the severity of the penalty: It is because He took the severity of God’s wrath upon himself and satisfied the Justice of God by paying the price of death with His precious Blood! This same exact Blood that bought you is the same Blood that keeps you: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10). We must confess our sins under the New Covenant and repent of them according to what the Spirit said to the churches in Revelation’s.

He is the same God with the same standards. The church of today would do well to realize this and walk in the same reverential fear of the Lord that the Jews walked in. There were certain Names of God they considered to Holy for mortal man to utter.

We should show the same reverence to the Blood of the Lamb!

There is no remission of sin's without the shedding of Blood.

The grace of God freely given to you cost Jesus everything. We dare not demean the Almighty Blood of Jesus!

The Blood never depreciates!

CONVICTED!

2009-11-10T06:01:00.000-08:00

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. — John 16:8-11

Before the Holy Ghost ever represents you as your defense lawyer, He comes to convict you of sin as your prosecutor. The ultimate sin of all mankind is the murder of Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). There is indisputable evidence that places you at the scene of the crime:Your finger prints; your blood; your DNA.

Therefore the Court of Heaven has signed a warrant for your arrest: You are charged with murder—guilt by association. Your iniquity alone was enough to cause the crucifixion of an innocent man---Not only did Jesus die willingly because of his love for you; He died violently because of you.If convicted you will face the death penalty. Someone has to pay the price. To let the guilty go free would be an outrage of justice!

There is a Hell to pay!

I am aware that some teach that this “hell and brimstone” preaching is not needed because everybody knows they are sinners.

Do they?

What a shame that the omniscient Almighty God did not know this and determined that there was a need of the convicting ministry of the Holy Ghost.

Others will insist that the only sin he will convict of is the unbelief of Jesus. This is true but you must understand what that means. To not believe in Jesus is to automatically embrace every sin known to man. He is the only way; He is the only truth; He is the only life: No man comes to the Father except through Him! To reject Him is to embrace the crooked path; the biggest lie; the eternal death known as the Lake of Fire. Nothing good exists outside of His Kingdom of Righteousness: Outside the Blood of the Lamb we all are of the same root of evil that Adolph Hitler was. Outside the grace of God we all would be demon possessed lunatics!

What good in you could possibly keep from such an end? Can you quote one scripture that praises the goodness of man outside of Christ? Can you find any evidence of man ever initiating contact with the Almighty seeking repentance? Is it not true that we need the Holy Ghost to reprove us of sin because no man cometh to the Father except the Spirit draws him?

Reprove means “to convict, generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted. It is to bring to the light and expose, to reprehend severely. It implies the manifestation of the truth of the charge and the results to be reaped.” Shame is not a bad thing within this context: A rapist of a little girl who shows no remorse or shame for his actions would be labeled by even the most liberal as extremely repulsing! The attitude of the tax collector is still the right attitude: “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13)! He had had an encounter with the convicting power of the Spirit of God.

Conviction of sin is the first ministry you see on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost wasted no time getting to the heart of the message: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). They were guilty as charged and could not deny it in the face of such irrefutable evidence. What a startling revelation this must have been: I chose a murderer over the Prince of Life. How could I possibly be more deceived? How could I possibly be more wrong? Uh oh…..I am going to bust hell wide open!!

Men and brethren, what shall we do?

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Jesus Christ was that someone who paid the price of death with His life.He was the only Living Son of Man that could have paid such a price. Only the living can give their life: A dead man has no life to give.

Had the Holy Ghost not come, do you think that the three thousand that repented that day would have known that they were sinners?

INDICTED!

2009-11-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 30:18 declares that the Lord is a God of judgment. This truth of God's judgment has both a positive and negative connotation. For the guilty whose sins have not been repented of and washed in the precious Blood of the Lamb, there is the stark terror of the wrath of God and eternal torment in the Lake of Fire. For the righteous whose sins have been forgiven, judgment is a positive enforcement of all that Christ has promised, in this life and the world to come.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. — John 16:8-11

The text clearly states that the Holy Ghost has come to convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Grand Jury of heaven has convened and found enough evidence against all of of mankind to return an indictment of murder,treason, and other serious crimes against God. Consequently, at some point, everyone receives a summons to appear in court to answer the charges brought against him/her by the Word of God. These charges are very grievous:They all carry the death penalty.

Eternal death.

The word judgment means a separating, a decision given concerning anything, condemnation and punishment. The Greek word translated judgment in John 16:8 is translated condemnation in John 3:19: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Thus the Holy Ghost has come to convince men of their separation from God and the resulting condemnation of eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire if they do not repent.

This convicting ministry of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary for man to be brought back into right relationship with God. Without it man in his fallen state would never realize just how guilty he is and would not understand his need of deep repentance and cleansing by the Blood of the Lamb. Therefore the Holy Ghost has built his case of truth based on the unchangeable Law of God: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). Without this sense of guilt it is impossible for man to repent because he is blind, spiritually dead, and altogether self assured of a self righteousness. Only the Light of the Word of God can bring man to the cry of, “What must I do to be saved?” Without this light we will be like the Jew’s of old that Peter preached to: We will think we have done God a service when in truth we are guilty of the murder of Jesus!

Amazingly this truth has been bypassed by the “Seeker Friendly” church. In there deficient wisdom they seek to reconcile man to God without ever showing mans dire need and imminent danger. If you were to relate this to the medical field, it would be like trying to convince a man to have open heart surgery without showing him his clogged arteries. This would be next to impossible; especially if that man thought he was all right and would live another hundred years.

The sad truth is that man in his fallen state became the “children of disobedience” and as such took on the nature of their father the devil: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Romans 3:12 says man has “become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” This simply means that man became “good for nothing.”

How dare we compromise the ministry of the Holy Ghost and preach to man how inherently good he is when God said he was good for nothing. We preach the "convincing of righteousness" and leave off the convincing of sin and judgment. This is nothing but pride that says we really do know more than the Almighty. B.H. Clendennen says, “Not since the Pharisees called Jesus Beelzebub, has there been a greater insult to the Christ than the so called "user friendly" gospel.” He basically says that to lower the standards of the Word of God to make Christ acceptable to a world that hates him is an abomination to God. Amen.

THE MATRIX

2009-11-06T06:01:00.000-08:00

But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. —1 Samuel 1:5

It is consistent with the teaching of the scriptures to believe that before Hannah ever received the seed of Elkanah, she had received the seed of promise from the Lord. How her heart must have leaped in faith when the Lord assured her that her son would be used mightily of the Lord: after all, Elkanah was a Levite. No doubt she remained strong during the first few years when nothing happened, probably reminding herself of Sarah and Rachel’s testimony of birthing Isaac and Joseph after years of waiting. The trouble with patience however, is that it has a tendency to wear thin.

At some point Elkanah gave up on obtaining children by Hannah which means grace. If it is true that Elkanah married Peninnah in order to have children by her—a compromised grace— how devastating this must have been to Hannah. It magnified her barrenness and amplified her fears that something was obviously wrong with her: “I must be worthless.” This was echoed when Elkanah asked: “Am not I better to thee than ten sons?” What he was really saying was, “Come to grips with the fact that you are barren and appreciate what you do have. Start a new career: Not everybody can have a baby.”

To make matters worse, the yearly trip to Shiloh was the national holiday for Israel. Holiday’s are always extremely difficult for the “have not’s” because those that have tend to take inventory:

“Isn’t he adorable Peninnah!”
“Yes, but after ten sons, I wish I could give Elkie more daughters: He so loves the twins.”
“What color did you paint the new baby room?”
“I got Hannah to paint it for me. She picked out a pretty pink.”
“Oh: Hi Hannah, almost didn’t see you hiding back there. Anything going on with you?”

Year by year this had been going on. Hannah no doubt had voiced her vision: "The next Christmas will be different,” but here she was again. Same song, still out of tune.

Everyone has a breaking point. Hannah’s expectation had suffered postponement after postponement to the point of wounding her heart to the point of death: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12). Sick is translated wounded in 2 Chronicles 35:23-24: “And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded…and he died”. Could this be where God was leading Hannah all along? Is not resurrection only possible after death?

Hannah would later testify that this indeed was the case: “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill…”(1 Samuel 2:6-8). David Wilkerson preaches that God always follows a promise with a corresponding sentence of death upon the very thing He has promised. But the way he says you can know that it is of God, is that it keeps coming again and again, because on the other hand it refuses to die.

Has God shut your womb and brought it to the grave? Womb is also translated matrix: “a situation or set of circumstances that allows or encourages the origin, development, or growth of something.” In God s wisdom, Samuel was growing more and more in Hanna’s spiritual womb before he ever grew in her natural womb. All the suffering, all the heartache, and all the persecution worked together to form a prayer within her that changed everything: “And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head” (1 Samuel 1:11).

What is it that keeps kicking in your matrix? “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine” (Numbers 3:12). Vow to give it back to the Lord and may the Holy Ghost bring glory, honor, and praise to the name of Jesus Christ!!!

THE HANNAH COMPANY

2009-11-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

Elkanah…had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. — 1 Samuel 1:1-2

I believe that Hannah represents the last day’s church that has received a heavenly vision for birthing souls into the Kingdom of God. For the most part, this Hannah Company is represented by Godly pastors with small congregations that refuse to compromise the standard of the Word of God. As Hannah of old was grieved, this remnant of believers are provoked by the Peninnah church that boasts of many children and a miracle a day, but has no discernment of what God is about to do. Like Eli of old, they mistake true unction for being drunk while their “sons” make people “abhor the offering of the Lord.”

Hannah means grace and is a picture of the true gospel of grace. Peninnah means jewel: She looks good but can never accomplish the heart of God because she represents another gospel. The truth is, Elkanah should have never married Peninnah because in the beginning God did not make Adam and Eve and Esther! It was their culture at that time, but it would later be revealed as “ignorance that God winked at” but now commands to be repented of. Therefore in a sense, all of Peninnah’s children that she was so proud of were really the offspring of adultery “They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions” (Hosea 5:7).

Matthew Henry says that “It is probable that Elkanah married Hannah first, and, because he had not children by her so soon as he hoped, he married Peninnah.” Tragically this is much of what goes on today. Godly men who start out with an honest desire to see souls saved lose patience with “Hannah” and turn to the world’s methods. Hannah’s insistence on the preaching of the cross with the Holy Ghost from heaven as the only power that could birth souls into the kingdom was taking to long; Peninnah’s easing of the cross with reference to the Holy Ghost brought results.

And fast.

The only problem was there was no presence of the Lord, only empty boasting of that which would soon fade away: “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble” (1 Samuel 2:3-5).

Are you part of the Hannah Company? Do not be dismayed by the empty confessions of those that boast of there need of nothing. While you may have to confess that you have prayed for years for the same thing, they only have to pray once and confess it is done. While you are praying like the widow woman who kept asking with shameless persistence till she was avenged of her enemy, they are celebrating their superior understanding that places them above Daniel—it took him twenty-one days whereas it takes them only a moment. Satan can not hinder them even though he did hinder the Apostle Paul: “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us” (1 Thessalonians 2:18).

While Peninnah was “living large and taking charge” with no need to pray, Hannah was pouring out her heart to the Lord. Samuel means “asked of the Lord” and represented that which was in the heart and mind of the Lord. Is that your heart? May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ grant you your petition!

EVER HEARD OF SAMUEL?

2009-11-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

1 Samuel 1:1-2 tells of a man named Elkanah who “had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.” The word no here is translated elsewhere as incurable, infinite, and helpless. Her situation seemed absolutely hopeless and terminal with no end in sight. The “natural” evidence her adversary presented in her trial of faith was undeniable: She had gone childless “year after year.” Thank God the Judge of Heaven “overruled” the lesser authority of Peninnah and all she stood for!

Known unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world: You can be sure that God had declared to Hannah the beginning from the end. God had given her a “heavenly vision” through the promise of a son but the “vision had tarried.” With no reservations the scripture tells us that “The LORD had shut up her womb.” Revelation 3:7 proclaims that the Lord “openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.” Notice it did not say that the Lord shutteth and would never open that which He had shut. It says that no man can open what He has shut: Man can never open for you what the Lord has prepared for you! No amount of networking, no working the phones, and no amount of positioning or “aligning” yourself with the apostles of our day will bring it to pass. It is the Lord’s work and in his time no man can stop it! Only the Lord can open the door of your womb and birth the promise He has given you.

Hannah knew that Peninnah’s children could never answer the ministry that God was birthing in her, that which represented the pure Word of God. Peninnah stands for that which comes easy and has never had to endure anything. While Hannah refused to “lower the standard” of true ministry, Peninnah had no trouble adding to the growing numbers of Phinehas and Hophni’s “youth revival” with all of its fog machines and blind faith in the “prophetic” word. Peninnah was in the baby manufacturing business, but only that which is of inferior quality can be mass produced cheaply: Does anyone remember her children’s names? Ever heard of Samuel?

Have you long waited for God’s promises in your life? Do not fret when others seemingly leave you far behind as they build their “mega” ministries. The Lord’s greatest work will be for those who have kept the word of his patience: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37). The Lord will have the final say: “The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that

the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble” (1 Samuel 2:4-5).

“For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off” (Proverbs 23:18).

THE TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH

2009-11-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:—1Peter 1:6-7

We know that in a trial the prosecution presents evidence and testimony from eyewitnesses to convict the defendant of their guilt based on what they have done. A witness never testifies to what he believes is going to happen—if he predicts the future it will be impermissible evidence. Therefore a faithful witness is “somebody who gives evidence after hearing or seeing something."

When it comes to the trial of your faith, the devil will try to prosecute you on a mountain of natural evidence. He will present witness after witness of the sins you have committed, the defeats you have suffered, and the utter impotence of your best efforts. If he can get you to agree with him concerning the undeniable circumstantial evidence of things that are seen, he will win a conviction every time!

Jesus, who is the Wonderful Counselor of Truth who is your sworn Advocate, has a rock solid defense based on eternal evidence. This evidence is “something that gives a sign or proof of the existence or truth of something, or that helps somebody to come to a particular conclusion.” This substantiation is seen through the “eyes of faith” in heaven and becomes the ground of hope that we stand on. Paul put it like this: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”(2 Corinthians 4:18).

It is most vital to understand that the trial of our faith is ultimately tried in the court of heaven as it pertains to us obtaining a righteous judgment and acquittal against the enemy. The last place the enemy wants this trial to take place is in the Court of Heaven because he knows that we are fellow citizens with all the saints and have all rights as such! The devil knows that in the Light of God’s glory his case built on circumstantial evidence will get thrown out every time! God never judges anything based on the flimsy “facts” of circumstances; He judges on the concrete proof of his Word which originates from his mouth and is a done deal. The accuser never wins a case in heavens court because God has already “struck a deal” with Jesus the defense lawyer: A done deal!!

Jesus taught his disciples to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.” If you see by faith anything already done on heaven then you are to pray until it is manifested on earth. In other words, we receive the verdict of truth in our trial of faith in heaven as we hear from heaven what God has to say about it. It is there that we receive a "judgment" against the enemy. We are pray until that “judgment” is executed on earth by the “High Sheriff of Heaven" who has all jurisdiction and authority and power in heaven and earth. Matthew 16:19 in the Amplified puts it like this: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.”

Are you in a trial of faith that is a matter of life and death? As a paralegal to the Attorney of Truth I have good news to bring: I have found a precedent— the doctrine that requires a court to follow decisions of superior or previous courts. This evidence I am about to tell you about has already won in court for a “great cloud of witnesses.” These witnesses have endured their trial of faith and was found to be holy and blameless in Christ before God.

This eternal evidence that wins every case is the Almighty Blood of Jesus Christ: This Blood is surly seen in heaven and speaks better things than that of Abel! This Blood speaks of forgiveness and deliverance from all sin and total healing from all sickness and disease! This is clearly seen as being evidenced by the scars of the Savior. This Blood assures you of blessing when all you can see is a curse; of victory when circumstances shout defeat; of strength in place of weakness! This Blood is one with the Spirit of his Word which testifies of a way through the impossible even to the raising of the dead! Above all, this Blood testifies on your behalf of mercy!

And they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony: You do get to take the witness stand in your own defense. Confess the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God!!

THE D.N.A. OF ABRAHAM

2009-11-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

Abraham at 100 years old was summoned to court to go on trial for his faith. He had spoken with great assurance that he would be a father of many nations and now unbelief was out to convict him of perjury. The prosecuting attorney in this case was a shyster named Lydell Doubtfire. The defense attorney for Abraham was Counselor J. Lamb. Presiding over this case was the Honorable Justice of Peace, whose last name was Grace.

To say that the prosecution was over confident would be putting it mildly. There was some concern when the defense got a change of venue and had the trial moved to New Jerusalem, but a key witness know as Circumstance was ready to testify that Abraham was childless as for as Sarah was concerned. Besides, they had an expert forensics scientist lined up to confirm that Abraham and Sarah were physically unable to bear children: They were both dead. Despite all of this, Counselor Lamb refused to “plea out” and except a lesser sentence concerning Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar.

The first witness for the defense was a man known as the beginning and the end:

“Is Abraham a father of many nations?” sneered Doubtfire.

“Yes he is.”

“Have you any evidence of this?”

“Yes, I have made him a father of many nations, it is a done deal.”

“And just when did this occur?”

“It was finished from the foundation of the world.”

“Why on earth would I believe this to be true,” Doubtfire screamed.

“Because my word is my action: What is done in Heaven will be done on earth” declared the Beginning and the End.

“Can you prove this?”

“Yes, I have a “live feed” from the courts of New Jerusalem. “

Suddenly Doubt and his fiery darts of fear melted in the presence of Consuming Fire as a loud voice was heard in the courtroom saying: “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” These voices were coming from “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”

D.N.A. evidence from the forensic authority concluded beyond a shadow of doubt that ALL of the great multitude came from the seed of Abraham.

THE HOLY GHOST MOUNTAIN MOVING COMPANY

2009-10-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

Before Jesus cleansed the temple a second time, “he being hungry” saw a fig tree and subsequently "cursed” it at its root. The following day when Peter saw it, he said, “Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:21-24).

I believe that Jesus’ words were as silver tried, purified seven times: Every word was measured by the Holy Ghost and anchored in “it is written!” As a man full of the Holy Ghost, Jesus was walking by faith that was ever proceeding from the Father; therefore he spoke in faith that was grounded in the Word of God. Jesus would have never said that you could speak to the mountain and it would obey you if He could not back it up with scripture! This gets it out of the realm of the “mystical” and out of the arena of “inward imaging” and into the solid ground of sound doctrine.

The whole chapter of Mark 11 teaches this principle of Jesus walking in faith that came from hearing the Word of God. Note that from the “Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples” to “find a colt tied.” The disciples did as they were told and found the colt just as Jesus said they would. How did Jesus know to do this? Because the voice of the Holy Ghost within lined up perfectly with the scriptures he had learned. It was written, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9). This was one colt that this man had to let go of!

Why did Jesus cleanse the temple? Was it to make a show or was it sudden impulse? No, it was a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1 “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” Jesus plainly stated his motive when He said, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer" but ye have made it a den of thieves”(Isaiah 56:7). Jesus walked into the temple by the faith of Malachi three verse one and the confidence of Isaiah!

Why did Jesus curse the fig tree when he knew “the time of figs was not yet.” Remember it was fig leaves that Adam tried to “cover” his sins with. Immediately God showed by making him a “coat of skins,” that only innocent blood could accomplish that. Indeed, the Old Covenant of God with Israel was centered on the blood of innocent animals. But this was never God’s ultimate plan and it never produced the desired results in Israel at that time—that will come at the end of the Great Tribulation. That is why it reads, "The time of figs was not yet."

Jesus knew that this Old Covenant was soon to fade away because he was fixing to cut the New Covenant in His Blood! Nothing could be surer than this: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all wrote of the New Covenant to come.! Jesus cursed the fig tree knowing from the scriptures that God could never satisfy his appetite for true worship with types and shadows. God was no longer going to cover mans sin: He was going to cleanse man’s heart and wash away his sins: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). Jesus cursed the fig tree because he was walking in the faith of Jeremiah 31:33!

Now what about this “Holy Ghost Mountain Moving Company? From Mark 11:1 it is clear that Jesus at that time was “headquarted” at “Bethany at the Mount of Olives.” Now I know that "mountain" here is applicable to many things, but Jesus was specifically referencing the Mount of Olives when He taught that we could "speak to the mountain and it would obey."

Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” Romans 10:17 states: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Where did Jesus get the faith to teach his disciples this wonderful truth? Once again He got it from the teaching of the Holy Ghost that was grounded in the book of the Holy Ghost. He had read in the book of Zechariah 14:3-4: “Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” Jesus knew that one day he would come back with the armies of heaven and set foot on the Mount of Olives and that it would “depart all the way to the sea!!(I heard Perry Stone teach this part) This truth had "leaped off the pages" of Zechariah into His heart before He ever spoke it to the disciples!

How did he know he was coming back? Because it is w…………

IS JESUS STANDING OUTSIDE YOUR CHURCH?

2009-10-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. — Revelation 3:14-22

This is one of the most alarming warnings in all of scripture: The hour before Christ’s return to catch away His Bride, He is standing outside the door of His church looking in! He is knocking on the door but they seem to be having trouble hearing him because they are in the middle of a service that is being carried to the world with the latest cutting edge technology. The music is simply too loud and the atmosphere to “juiced” for anyone to be heard knocking on this door: After all, IT IS A HOLY GHOST PARTY! Or better yet, as someone recently described an “unbelievable” move of God: It is a “night club atmosphere.”

Jesus is knocking on the door of this church looking for faith: “… Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8)? What He found was a confession of faith but no possession of His presence—He was not there. What he found was a faith that had begun right but at some point had swerved into error: “ Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm” (1 Timothy 1:5-7). Notice this church is lukewarm which is halfway between hot and cold: They were majoring on half truths.

All of this was a fulfillment of what Jesus had prophesied in Matthew 13:33: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” Leaven speaks of false doctrine and its twin sister pride. It is “hot air” that puffs up and makes something look big but in reality it is grounded on smallness and has no weight of glory. It is also something that lightens the weight or mood of something. Is this not much of the Charismatic church of America, the majority of what is seen on Christian television?

Truly it is time to repent. Jesus does not stand at this door and knock forever: He moves “outside the camp” and calls out to the halt and maimed: “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind” (Luke 14:21). He leaves those who are blind and don’t know it to go to those who realize their deep need of Him!

Is Jesus standing outside your church?

THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER TWELVE

2009-10-28T06:01:00.001-07:00

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).

I believe one of the greatest deceptions in the Body of Christ today is a movement built on the lie that for the church to truly function today, God has had to restore the office of the apostle and prophet as a "modern day foundation" of the church. Where is that in scripture? When did Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of the church ever lose these foundational ministries? If they were lost, does that mean that the church of Finny, Wesley, and Wigglesworth’s time was built on sand? Since these modern apostles rank first in authority, does that mean that David Wilkerson, the founding pastor of Times Square Church, needs to find a modern apostle to submit to so he will come under “proper alignment?”

The scriptures clearly state that the church that Jesus is building sits on a foundation: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21). NO OTHER FOUNDATION CAN BE LAID: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Any apostle or prophet claiming to be a modern foundation of the church is simply a liar: “I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars” (Revelation 2:2). This is because a modern foundation by its very definition would have to be another foundation which equals another gospel.

Many times in scripture the church is referred to the house of God. The foundation this house sits on is the scriptures that came through the ministry of the original twelve apostles minus Judas, plus Paul. The work of these men of God lives on even though they are dead as pertaining to this life. This is because the words they left us were literally the Words of Jesus and were written not only in His Blood, but also the Apostles blood. This “Blood” still speaks in Almighty Power and Authority today: “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). Therefore, the church sits on as it were an eternal and unmovable foundation that has not the slightest crack in it. How is it that God had to restore something that had never been lost? How is it we are still falling for heresy the Assemblies of God rebuked over fifty years ago?

"In 1949 the General Council of the Assemblies of God held in Seattle overwhelmingly approved a resolution that was prepared by a committee that dealt with the Latter Rain Movement. The resolution adopted disapproved of the following practices of the Latter Rain, and the action was made necessary as a result of the movement invading the Assembly of God churches:
1. The overemphasis relative to imparting, identifying, bestowing, or confirming of gifts by the laying on of hands and prophecy.
2. The erroneous teaching that the church is built on the foundation of present-day
apostles and prophets.
3. The extreme teaching as advocated by the "New Order," regarding the confession of sin to man and deliverance as practised, which claims prerogatives to human agency which belongs only to Christ.
4. The erroneous teaching concerning the impartation of the gift of languages as
special equipment for missionary service.
5. The extreme and unscriptural practice of imparting or imposing personal leadings by the means of the gifts of utterance.
6. Such other wresting and distortions of scripture interpretations, which are in opposition to teachings and practices generally accepted among us." -

The truth is the church needs to get back to its foundation and quit going from fad to fad! The word apostle means a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders. I am sure there are apostles today that fit this description such as Barnabas, Timothy, and Silvanus who were called apostles in the scriptures. But these never claimed to be the foundation of the church because the truth is, that was settled from eternity: “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14). There will never be another twelve!!!

THE BATTLEFIELDS SAFER THAN BATHSHEBA'S BEDROOM!

2009-10-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

The word walk here is also found in Galatians 5:16: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Put the two together and you get: “Walk in the good works ordained for you to do and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” To walk in the Spirit is to be occupied with your Heavenly Father’s business; to walk in the flesh is to do everything but that.

Steve Pettis once preached a message along the lines of the safest place to be in God was in the middle of the storm or on the battlefield. The old saying was “idleness is the devil’s workshop.” The wisdom David learned was the battlefield was the safest place to be: Far safer than the roof of his house! When he should have been doing the King’s work by going to battle—walking in the Spirit—instead he “walked” in adultery with Bathsheba. Had he walked in the Spirit he would not have fulfilled the lusts of the flesh.

The greatest sin in this last hour is not adultery, idolatry, or covetousness; the greatest sin is the deception of hearing the word and not doing it. We are called to do the great work of making disciples and this battlefield for souls is the only safe place to be in the coming storm. To not answer the call of the Lord of the harvest now is to commit fornication with the “Call Girl’s” of this world.

The good work that God has prepared for you to do is that of a soul winner. As a born again believer under the New Covenant, God has made you an “able minister” of the Living Word. As B.H. Clendennen says, “Any man or woman that becomes pregnant with the Word of God can birth a church.” God has written many souls upon your heart: It is time for these “children to come to birth.” What greater work could there be than to raise the dead in sin to newness of life in Christ?

PREACH THE WORD AND HE WILL COME

2009-10-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. —Mark 2:2

Jesus Christ was and is the greatest preacher of the Word of God. His mission and ministry to a lost and dying world were accomplished through the foolishness of preaching: “And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities” (Matthew 11:1). Make no mistake about it: You can not separate Jesus’ power from his anointed preaching, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. —Acts 10:38

How was this power released? Through the foolishness of preaching: Jesus preached the Word. You can be sure that Jesus preached from Isaiah 35:5 that “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” How do I know this? Because Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Jesus preached this truth and the blind saw and the deaf heard. How is it that we read that under Jesus’ ministry that the lame walked and the dumb spoke? Because Jesus preached the word: “Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert” (35:6).

Thank God that this preaching ministry of Christ is still the bedrock foundation of the church that Jesus is building: “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Luke and the other gospels was an account “of all that Jesus began both to do and teach;” Acts is an account of all that Christ continued to do. When you read of where Peter and Paul preached the “word of the Lord” it was in all spiritual reality Christ himself preaching through them. Paul confirms this when he testifies, “I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me.”

Any and all church growth “programs” that does not center on “Pentecostal” preaching as the way to grow a church is missing the mark. The preaching of the cross is the power of God and through the foolishness of preaching men are saved. Search the scriptures and you will find that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is all about the tongue of man being “God possessed” to preach the gospel of repentance to a lost and dying world. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost appeared as “cloven tongues of fire and this baptism was immediately manifested: “They spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” What happened next? This same exact utterance flowed through Peter as lifted up his voice and preached the gospel and three thousand souls were saved. This same “utterance of preaching” was poured out again after the healing of the lame man and five thousand more souls was saved. Read all the book of Act’s and you will see this is God’s blueprint for building the church.

The preaching of the word is the manifestation of Jesus that the church and the world most desperately needs: “But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior” (Titus 1:3). Jesus is the Presence of the Living Word of God which is unto us Redemption, Deliverance, Healing, Salvation, Power, and Peace. Preach the Word and He will come! How dare we build according to any other blueprint!

WE HAVE REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH IN LOWS

2009-10-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

"The same things win that always won. And we just have a different bunch of excuses if we lose."—Coach Paul William "Bear" Bryant (1913-1983)

What the great coach was saying is when it is all said and done, it’s all about being solid in the fundamentals of the game. If you can block better and tackle better for sixty minutes, protect the ball and play great special teams, you will win. It is more about Jimmy’s and Joe’s than X’s and O’s! If Coach Bryant was still coaching I do not believe he would be running the spread.

Would to God that the church would walk in this wisdom and get back to the fundamentals of the Book of Act’s. In my twenty-seven years in the church I have seen everything from inner healing to a laughing revival. I have been through the shepherding movement, seen everybody get a personal prophesy, and have heard that when three million Jews left Egypt they all left as millionaires! I’ve lived to see modern day prophet’s and apostles commission a “young champion” evangelist and exalt the man to the point of nausea, only to see the “revival” end in adultery. Now to top it all off I have seen the latest “glory” manifestation: Sudden weight loss—I guess we can pack it on and the Lord will take it off!! One teacher has said we no longer even have to confess our sins; good thing: I don’t know if we’d have enough time.

Just how ridiculous do we want to be? If the world realize what a fiasco much of the “charismatic” church was pulling off, they wouldn’t have time to cover the recent “balloon boy" hoax. We live in a time where the fruits of sin are at an all time high and yet some in the church insist that “sin is no longer an issue” with God. Then why do so many New Testament scriptures have to do with correction of the church? How is it that if God can not lie, and He has said no idolater will inherit the Kingdom of God, we preach that there are “saved” idolaters—sin does not affect your born again spirit? Have we not reached an all time high in lows?

The church in the Book of Act’s majored on repentance, the Baptism in the Holy Ghost, and the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Their repentance was on a daily basis, they were filled and refilled with the Spirit and their preaching and teaching was from heaven—it was not the fabrication of man’s mind. How strange would they have considered a seminar on the newest way to grow a church. Peter pointed men to the Christ that they had crucified with “wicked hands”; today we crucify the truth because we do not want to offend wicked hands!

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
— Jeremiah 6:16

May God multiply the true preaching and teaching of the Word. If we are not preaching and teaching the Word of God may He mercifully kill us!!!

THE END IS IN THE BEGINNING

2009-10-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

"And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground" (Mark 4:26).

Luke 8:11 tells us that “The seed is the word of God.” We know that Jesus is the Word of God who is the beginning and the end all in one. Therefore this proves that the end is always in the beginning as in a seed. In God one is just as sure as the other: “I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

This principle is clearly seen in a seed of corn. Now every country boy knows that corn consists of a stalk, blades, silk, tassels, and the fruit which is a cob, seed, shucks and silk. All of this, including the end which is the full corn in the ear, is in the beginning of the seed. Where else could it possibly be? One seed will produce two ears which will average at least 1400 more kernels which again is the end of that original seed. All 1400 were most assuredly in the one from the beginning!

The word clearly teaches that if you can understand the principles of a seed you can understand the Kingdom of God. This means that if we will look to the beginning we can clearly see the end. The word Genesis means beginning. Therefore, the end can be discerned from the book of Genesis as it is the foundation of all that followed.

I believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in seven 24 hour days. We read in Gen 2:2-3 that “on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” This is both literal and prophetic of that which was to come. Prophetically it has a double reference. First of all, it speaks of the day that Jesus who was God in the flesh, rested as it were in the “sleep” of death on the seventh day after He was crucified on the sixth day.

It also speaks of a seventh day of rest which is to come: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:9). This ultimately speaks of the millennial or the thousand year reign of Christ: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6). This again will be the ultimate fulfillment of Genesis 2:3, “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” How can we know this? Because the end is always in the beginning: It is all there in the book of Genesis which means beginning. Isaiah 46:8 could read like this, “I am God… declaring the end from the genesis.”

David said in Psalms 90:4: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” Peter affirmed this in 2 Peter 3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Therefore, it is not a stretch to look at the seven days in Genesis as prophetic of that which was to come—to see the end from the beginning. It breaks down like this: it was four thousand years from Adam to Christ which is four days. From the time of Christ till now has been two thousand years which is six days. This means that the seventh day—the thousand year millennial—is all but here: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12). Jesus is coming!!!!

THE ROAD OF ENDURANCE RUNS THROUGH THE VALLY OF DEATH

2009-10-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. —Hebrews 6:15

There are some promises in God that can only be reached through endurance. Zacharias and Elisabeth had prayed for years for a son but if you read between the lines you will see that they had stopped praying. Luke 1:7 tells us that they were well stricken in years; they were old twenty years ago: now they are really old! Years earlier the candle of hope had burned brightly on the fuel of Holy Ghost expectation but now all that was left was the ashes of heartbreak and hope deferred: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

When the angel told Zacharias, “Fear not for thy prayer is heard,” he was speaking as it were from the Throne of God: “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand” (Revelation 8:4). What Zacharias had quit praying in time God was still hearing in eternity. In reality his prayer for a son was birthed by the Holy Ghost because the son that was to be born was John the Baptist. God had begun a good work and He was going to finish it the way He has always worked: in the arena of the miraculous.

Known unto God are all of his works from the beginning of the world. All of these works as pertaining to man has to pass through the work of the cross. Before you ever reach the Promised Land you must travel a road called endurance that passes through the valley of death. There are no bypasses on this route. The seed of promise you inherit in the fall harvest always must pass through the winter of reproach before germinating in the spring.

This is consistent throughout the scriptures. There was no way Abraham was going to birth Isaac at eighty-five; Isaac could only come forth at one hundred. God told Abraham that Israel would be in Egypt for four hundred years. Therefore it was impossible that Moses deliver them when he was forty because he was forty years ahead of time. There was no way Joseph was going to get out of prison the “two full years” he hoped he would; his soul must first “enter into the iron. No amount of prayer, no amount of faith and confession, no pleading with God was going to move God’s hand before the set time. All had to endure till the end.

This is good news for those who have endured nights of disappointment, tormented by the question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The word forsaken means to let continue as is or to leave alone. How many nights did Hannah endure alone while Peninnah went on with her life, leaving Hannah far behind? I wander how many times did Hannah’s “phone” ring: “Hey Hannah, this is Penninah: Since you’re not doing nothing tonight, would you mind watching my kids again tonight?”

Have you endured the “dark night of your soul?” Have you watched others celebrate promotion after promotion while you remained faithful with seemingly nothing to show for it? The score board may read 36-0 and the headlines read that your season is over, but I have good news for you: The end of your strength is the beginning of God’s! As one pastor said, “God is looking for someone small enough for him to work through!!!”

STEPS OF FAITH TRAIL

2009-10-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. —Proverbs 23:18

By the time Abraham got to the end where the dirt road of hope turned into the paved road of fulfilled promise, he didn’t look quite as good as he looked some twenty-five years earlier. There were scars of failure and lines of confusion etched in his face. If you do not believe that just listen and you will hear Ishmael somewhere in the background. The truth is, Abraham in blazing the “Steps Of Faith Trail,” had a few missteps along the way. By the time he was a hundred he had placed his hope in Ishmael: “And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee” (Genesis 17:18)! By the time that it was over he knew that God was faithful to his Word: In Isaac shall thy seed be!

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. —Hebrews 6:15

Faith is not only what you believe, it is the trials and tests and successes and failures you endure along the way! Faith is never greater than when it believes in the face of failure. Faith that believes and comes forth out of the tomb of death is the faith that pleases God. This is because faith of this kind has indentified the source of all true faith which is God and God alone! At 85 Abraham still had confidence in his ability; at 100 all confidence in self was gone. Ishmael was something he could do; Isaac was something only God could do.

To understand this better you have to see that it is all about a seed: “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Genesis 15:5). Seed is never planted when it is “green” and full of moisture. It must go through death and dryness before planted or else it will not germinate. In other words, the corn on the cob that you eat and is all juicy is not the seed you plant. The seed that you plant is that which was alive, but is now dead and dry.

Abraham was fully alive in his body when he first received the promise of a son. When Sarah suggested that he have a son by Hagar Abraham never once questioned his ability to make it happen! He was very much alive! You can look all day and at this time you will not find him asking the Lord, “How can this be?” He knew what to do and knew that he could do it!!

Abraham was fully dead in his body when he received the fulfillment of the promised son. This was God’s plan all along: When Abraham no longer could, God would. It was never meant to come to pass because of Abraham’s strength and vitality; it was to be solely based on God who raises the dead! The miracle hinged not on Abraham’s timing but God’s.

SAFE!!

2009-10-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Faith is the confident boasting of the actual existence of truth founded on the rock foundation of truth {the person of God} of things hoped for {the patient waiting of things we have seen coming but are not here yet.} It is the evidence—the proof and conviction given by the light of the scriptures {it is to convince unbelief of its error in the court of truth} of things not seen {as yet in time but must surly come to pass—must be manifested for all to see.} —Hebrews 11:1 (Jeb’s Amplified)

When God speaks to us, his words are words of proof: “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalms 12:6). Since they are eternal words they will always stand up to the test of time. No matter how hopeless things may seem, what God has said must surly come to pass.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen as it pertains to us. However, from God’s perspective it is clearly seen as already done in eternity. That is why when we read the book of Revelation it reads like history when it is actually future. For example, the seals were opened, the servants were sealed, and the devil was cast into the Lake of Fire. How do we know these things? By faith which comes from the Word of God which tells in Revelation 4:1 of “things which must be hereafter.” Isn’t that what faith is, the evidence of things not seen as yet?

Let’s examine Abraham’s calling a little closer in the light of the Word of God that we might have the eyes of our understanding enlightened, that we know the hope of God’s calling on our lives. The Lord of Truth is the Faithful Umpire: He calls it like he sees it and he is always right! He called Abraham a father of many nations from eternity before he was the father of Isaac in time: “I have made thee a father of many nations.” As I have said before, God could say this because in eternity this is what God was seeing:"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). All of these were from the loins of Abraham—spiritually and physically speaking thus fulfilling Genesis 15:5: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”

What has God called you? It may look like you are going to be “thrown out” by a mile at home plate by the “left fielder,” but if God the Faithful Umpire of Truth has called you safe, then you are safe. It may look like you are going to be overcame but I have it on good authority that He has called you an over comer. You may have been called barren but Jesus calls you fruitful. You may have been called cursed but your Heavenly Father calls you blessed!

Here comes the throw….Safe!!!!!

How could you be anything but safe? If anybody has ever been out in left field, it’s the devil!!

THE SCRIPT THE CHURCH MUST FOLLOW

2009-10-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. — Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

God does not speak eternal truths and then they come to pass in time; they come to pass in time because they are done in eternity. Jesus was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” before he was slain on earth (Revelation 13:8). Likewise, the church of Jesus Christ has already been seen victorious in Heaven; we will be victorious on earth: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (19:7-8). The church of the last days has been seen in Heaven and she is everything that the scriptures said she would be! As I learned from Bishop Traylor, the script-ure is the Script the church must follow. What a script! What a director! What a producer we have in the Holy Ghost!

The church that Jesus is going to catch away into the heavens to be with him is clothed with true righteousness. This means that the church has grown up into Jesus in purity and power. It means that in the last hour the same Jesus that was revealed in the gospels and the book of Act’s is going to be revealed one more time!!! I have an irrefutable, eternal witness on this: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27). This is the Word of God that the Holy Ghost heard from the very Throne of God and spoke it to and through Paul (see John 16:13). This is eternal evidence that can not be altered!

“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3). The word “finished” is the same word translated “be done” in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). We are to pray the eternal “evidence” we find in the Word of God from heaven into a manifestation of His Glory on earth. True faith will be to pray until it comes to pass.

The King is calling to all who will come: “Let us go up to a “Mount of Transfiguration” and pray. In my presence not only will you be changed from glory to glory, I will multiply my words and your house will be saved. You will become all that is written concerning the church, the very reflection of my glory!!"

THIS IS AMAZING!!!

2009-10-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. —Revelation 19:10

The word testimony is translated witness elsewhere and comes from the word translated witness in Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The words testimony and witness speak of someone taking the witness stand in a trial to tell under oath the things they have seen and heard. This is then known as evidence which is “something that gives a sign or proof of the existence or truth of something, or that helps somebody to come to a particular conclusion.” “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

It really goes without saying but a witness on the witness stand reports only that which is historical fact. Consider a prosecutor asking:

“Mr. Smith, did you see the defendant kill somebody?”
“Yes.”
“When did this murder occur?”
“It happened two years in the future, October 14, 2111!!!!”

This in the natural would be impermissible evidence, but this has always been the case when Jesus takes the witness stand. I believe that Jesus with uplifted hand stood in eternity and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth: So be it because I AM THAT I AM!!! “For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 7:21).

From eternity Jesus prophesied the beginning—Genesis—to the end—Revelation: “I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10). All that you read within the pages of the Bible was a done deal before time began. Therefore God speaks with more accuracy concerning that which is future than the most accurate history book concerning that which is past. You could sooner change the Civil War than change this book!!

God’s Word and his action are one. All prophesy in spiritual reality was not a foretelling of things that would happen but rather an eternal proclamation of that which is already done! As B.H. Clendennen has said, “God never starts a thing till he has finished it!!

Consider God’s “prophesy” to Abraham from eternal evidence. When John the Apostle “stepped” into eternity he saw evidence of Abraham’s seed—both spiritual and natural. He saw the redeemed “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” He witnessed 144 thousand descendents from Abraham sealed by God. Above all he saw the Lamb of God which is Jesus Christ who was the promised seed. All OF THIS HAD ALWAYS BEEN IN GOD’S ETERNAL VIEWPOINT!!!

When God promised Abraham that He would make of him a great nation and that in him all families of the earth would be blessed, He was simply WITNESSING to Abraham what he was seeing in eternity: "I have made you a father of many nations (this is past tense). What God was saying was this: “Abraham, I am worshiped by a “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” They worship before my Throne as we speak and everyone of them descended from your loins. Therefore I assure you that if you can count the stars which no man can number, then you can count your Seed!!!!!

This is amazing! What good word has he "witnessed"to you?

IS AMERICA SODOM'S GRANDDAUGHTER?

2009-10-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine,Bill McCoy, sent me the following word that he received on September 30, 2009:

For I alone am over the earth – it obeys my every command. These earth quakes are from me – my wrath upon the wicked nations of the earth as it was fore told by my Son in Matthew 24. The Lord says, “Repent oh evil nation and change your ways unite with my land and people – or woe to those things to come upon the U.S. It mocks me while it serves the world – abortions, homosexuality, the laws of the land that dare ban me from my children and creation. For your nation has turned its back on me and shakes its fist at my Throne. I see all, I know all – Repent and be saved – continue and my wrath you will see – as it was in the days of Noah, the days of MY prophets – then all will know I Am that I Am – the Mighty El-Shaddai.”

Many will automatically dismiss this because of a false teaching that says that God is no longer the God as revealed in the Old Covenant when it comes to his wrath. They say God used to be angry and he used to judge nations, but now that entire wrath was placed on Jesus at the cross. As one teacher says, “God is no longer angry; he’s not even in a bad mood! There is no way God is going to judge America and if he did he would have to apologize to Jesus!” This man says the problem is we do not let the Bible get in the way of our thinking:Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this.

First of all God in his wisdom left us the whole Bible, not just the New Testament. When Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16 that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” he was referring to Genesis through Malachi because at that time there was no written New Testament. Secondly, it is a gross misrepresentation of God to paint him as this angry Lord who was always looking for sin so he could punish. The truth is, the blood of millions of innocent lambs and other animals was shed to cover sins in the Old Covenant because God is a God of mercy: “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live” (Ezekiel 18:23)? Furthermore, God is revealed by David as “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psalms 103:8).

What saith the scriptures? “If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it” (Amos 3:6)? Who overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah? “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6). Notice it said example, not an exception. Notice that it is recorded in the New Testament. The problem is that this is not the image of God that we want people to see so what do we do? We change his image: After all, don’t we know best?

Who said God was no longer angry? He is not angry without cause and he is not angry with those who are in Christ, but for those who reject the poured out Blood of the Lamb and refuse to obey the gospel, the scriptures teach that there is a present wrath: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Paul speaking of the Jews said in 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16: “Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”

God judged the nation of Israel severely some forty years after the New Covenant began for rejecting Christ: “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7). If he destroyed Jerusalem, and if judgment must first begin in the house of God, will he not judge America? Are we not murderers of millions of innocent babies? Do we not worship with Sodom: “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Ezekiel 16:49-50)? Is America Sodom's granddaughter?

JUDGEMENT

2009-10-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. —Hebrews 12:25

The scriptures state that the church of Jesus Christ is presently gathered in the assembly of all assemblies: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem….To the general assembly and church of the firstborn….” (Hebrews 12:22-23). The keynote speaker is none other than Christ and his text is the New Testament, “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (12:24).

If you are having trouble getting into this service, I have the exact directions for you. Open your Bibles. If you will look by faith, you will notice an audio and video plug that will enable you to hear and see all that your Heavenly Father is saying and doing. In other words, every Bible comes with “headphones” that enable you to hear Jesus as he expounds his Covenant: “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Likewise, it comes with a direct “satellite” feed that enables you to see all that God is doing: “For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel” (John 5:20).

Do you really want to know what God is saying? Let’s listen in as he speaks: “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:26-27). This shaking begins in the House of God: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17). God is fixing to tear down every pulpit that has preached doctrines that have originated at best in the mind of man, and in reality spewed from the father of all lies.

Where does this shaking end? Let’s go towards the close of the “service” as Jesus is declaring his warning of judgment: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning” (Revelation 18:4-9).

Church in America: Hear the Word of the Lord. We have mocked God our last time! I write this on a day when gays and lesbians marched on our capital and chanted, “Obama, let our mama’s marry our mama’s.” However, this is not the greatest sin committed today. The greatest sin committed today was in the churches, as the pulpit was filled for the most part by preachers who gave no warning of imminent judgment that always falls on a nation whose cup of iniquity is full. We have become like Eli who refused to correct his son’s as they committed fornication in the very House of God and caused men to “abhor the offering of the Lord.”

David Wilkerson has warned for years of seeing American cities on fire and the President not knowing what to do. Perry Stone has likewise warned of an attack on a major city. B.H. Clendennen has quoted a man who chooses his words very carefully, that something major was going to happen in thirty days. Many others have warned of a nuclear attack that comes from Russia. I hope they are wrong; I hope I am wrong.

Could it be that God sealed our fate on September 28, the Day of Atonement? According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a "book" on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. The ten days leading up to the Day of Atonement were supposed to be days of deep soul searching and repentance. We have not repented: How then can we as a nation escape the wrath of God Almighty?

Jesus is the only "Ark" that is going to float in these last days. In him there is safety and peace from all storms that may blow. He always makes a difference between the righteous and the unrighteous.

NO COMPROMISED BRAND

2009-10-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

If I were to write a truthful account about some of the things I like and don’t when it comes to eating I would definitely include the following:

1. There is to be Heinz ketchup on the table: Do not give me a compromised brand!
2. Do not overcook the steak: A little pink in the middle will be just right.
3. Make sure the potato is fully cooked.
4. No mustard. No pickles.
5. Sweet tea is a must because there will be no unsweetened tea at the marriage supper of the Lamb!
6. Top it off with a strawberry pie, homemade ice cream, and a sweet watermelon!

Now if you invite me to eat and you serve according to the above list, I promise you I will “manifest” every time! There will be no struggle to do so no matter how many times you put me to the test because it is who I am. This being true today, it was true yesterday, and it will be true ten years from now if I am living. I hate pickles; I love ketchup! You could write otherwise but it would simply be a lie.

Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is the way; He is the truth; He is the life. He is holiness; He is divine healing; and He is divine habits! He is Redemption, Deliverance, Peace, Light, Salvation, And the Resurrection! He loves righteousness and he hates iniquity. He is the God of Love as well as the God of wrath to those who refuse to be washed in the Blood of the Lamb. You could write otherwise but it would simply be a lie!

You can see this over and over in the Word of God. When Jesus is confronted with the situation of his disciples being in the middle of the sea during a storm, we see him manifesting who he was—no struggle whatsoever: “And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea…” (Mark 6:48). Jesus was simply manifesting what he had already declared on his “menu” in Psalms 77:19: “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.”

We are invited in this last hour to eat at the Lord’s Table. If we will study his word we will know what he desires to feed us daily and he will manifest to the world one more time all that is written in the scriptures. There will be no struggle or sweat to do so no matter how big the test, because he is the way; he is the life; he is the truth. He is who he is: How dare we serve a compromised brand!!!!

SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED BY THE HOLY GHOST

2009-09-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. — John 16:12

One rule in the study of the scriptures is this: while the applications can be many, the interpretation is one and can only be one. The Bible interprets the Bible. There is no need to err therein because the Author of the Word has come to teach us all things: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26)).

What are the “many things” that Jesus had to say to the church? Words of Life from the very Throne of God: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:13-14). The Words that Jesus was talking about is what we know as the written New Testament!

How did the writers of the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John remember the Words of the Lord? The Holy Ghost brought all things to their remembrance,"He...will bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you"(John 14:26). Where did Romans, Revelation, Galatians, 1 Peter, and the rest of the New Testament come from? The Spirit of Truth heard these words at the Throne of God and spoke them to Peter, Paul, John, and the others and they were faithful to write them down.

Is God still speaking today? Yes, but only that which is in absolute harmony with the scriptures! Even at that, you could transcribe word for word that which is true but you will NEVER add another book to the Bible: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18).

The Church of Jesus Christ was birthed some two thousand years ago by an Anointing that is Eternal and has been in building ever since. This anointing is one and the same with the Voice found from Genesis to Revelation. The true church will recognize no other voice because it believes that ALL of the New Testament should be in Red Letters for it is truly that which is proceeding from the mouth of the Lord!In other words,Jesus had many things to say in John 16:12 and now we know what he was talking about if we will study our Bibles.It is a living foundation that has been signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Ghost once and for all!!

TALK ABOUT BAD BREATH!

2009-09-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

2009-09-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone—Ephesians 2:20

The church of Jesus Christ as of September 23, 2009 is one and the same with the church birthed on the day of Pentecost: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Therefore their can only be one foundation which has already been laid.

This foundation has its roots in the Old Covenant starting with Moses and ending with Malachi, true prophets who faithfully proclaimed the coming of Christ. You must remember that at the time Paul wrote this , the scriptures that he referred to was the Old Covenant—the New Covenant was still being written. Make no mistake about it: The prophet’s Ephesians 2:20 is referring to is Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others. These are prophets that passed the test of Deuteronomy 18:20-22:

“But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

How is it that most of the “modern prophets” of our time have failed this test miserably and yet are still proclaimed as true prophets? They readily admit that they have spoken lies from time to time but it is now under “grace.” Isn’t it amazing that they want the authority of a prophet but not the accountability.

“Oh, but you don’t understand, there are signs and wonders done by these men, this proves that they are of God!” Listen to what Deuteronomy 13:1-3 says, “ If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, AND THE SIGN OR THE WONDER COME TO PASS, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” The Word is not ignorant of the fact that signs and wonders can occur but warns that you had better discern between “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

That which is of the Holy Ghost is and always will be Christ centered; it decreases man and increases Jesus. There is nothing innocent about false doctrine and false prophets! At the very root of what they are and teach is an exaltation of man. It is man centered and it is not of the Lord—truly a non-profit organization!

NO OTHER FOUNDATION!

2009-09-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Without sound of hammer, unperceived by the world and without any self promoting press release; the greatest move of God known to man is taking place: “And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1Kings 6:7).

To understand the greatest move of God, you must see that it is not something the Lord is beginning; it is something he is finishing: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it”(Zechariah 4:9). The greatest move of God is simply the house of God —the church which is inhabited by the Spirit of God. Jesus, the chief cornerstone of this house, began building this house some two thousand years ago and it is nearing completion: He will soon bring forth the capstone!

Some two thousand years ago Jesus Christ the Son of David, the lowly Carpenter from Nazareth, began building the church with three nails and a cross: “He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:13). He laid the foundation with his own spotless Blood which He shed in our stead. This church is in “no way a human institution” as A.B. Simpson has said. Therefore it is as Eternal as his Almighty Blood and therefore it can not be altered from the blueprint clearly revealed in his Word.

This house of God that is being built is the greatest move of God known to man: “The house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries” ( 1 Chronicles 22:5). Solomon asked, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth?” Behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built thee?” The house that Solomon built was a
type and could never fulfill the reality or even comprehend the greatness of the actual truth that God himself would dwell in his Church: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16)?

Nothing could possibly be greater than this. Who alone could build such a glorious house that is full of the very Presence of God? Jesus. Who laid the foundation? Jesus. Who is going to finish it? Jesus.How is he going to finish it? By his all powerful hands according to the Heavenly blueprint revealed in his Word.

Here is another question of utmost importance: Can there be, or is there a need for another foundation to be laid? NO, NO, AND A Thousand times NO: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). This being true, how is it that we have a major movement in the United States built on the erroneous teaching that the church is built on the foundation of present-day apostles and prophets? Anyone claiming to be such is in heresy and of the spirit of error!!!

Something more exalted than His Name!

2009-09-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Apostle Paul had an amazing conversion: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven” ( Acts 9:3). This Light was nothing less than the Lord Jesus Christ who revealed himself to Paul as the God of all mercy. Later we read of Paul receiving a direct visitation: “ And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11).

These experiences along with Paul being taken up to the third heaven were irrefutable proof of the resurrection of Jesus given to the Apostle. However, when Paul made his defense of the gospel in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he does not offer these TRUE spiritual experiences as the foundation of what he believed. He referred to something even greater and more exalted than the Name of the Lord— the written Word of God!!!

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. —Psalms 138:2

This is absolutely amazing! Paul does not say, “Jesus is alive because I saw a Light!” As true as that was,he refers to something even more sure: “ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

The scriptures are the true revelation of the Living God. All direction individually and corporately must find there origin rooted and grounded in the eternal truths found within its pages, are else shipwreck is unavoidable! Do you want a word from God? Go to the Rock! Go to the scriptures !!

Take heed that no man deceive you

2009-09-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. —Psalms 119:89

One of my absolute convictions is this: The Bible has already been written and published by the Holy Ghost and no man can alter the truth found within its pages. It says what it means and means what it says. 2 Peter 1:20 says that “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” In simple terms this means that we had better find out what the Word really teaches because it is a done deal. A trillion “modern day” prophets could agree and teach that the scriptures are saying a certain thing, but unless what they are saying is in harmony with the teaching of ALL the scripture they are wrong! Take heed that no man deceive you.

Someone has well said that in the beginning God made man in his own image and now man has returned the favor! We have made a God that fits the image we feel best suits him. Sad to say, all of this man made interpretation has left us reflecting the very world that we were commanded to forsake. May God have mercy and open our eyes to see that we “art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Truly He is calling the church ONE LAST TIME to “hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”---Revelation3:20

NOTHING

2009-08-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

The scriptures tell us that if any man thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself. Do we really believe this estimation of the non-existence of our strength? Or do we have a preference for our own ability to get things done—just try hard enough and we can make something happen.

To be nothing means that we add no weight of character to the mix. It means that if Jesus on his way to raise up Jairus’ daughter from the dead had invited you to step on a pair of scales with him, you would add nothing to the weight registered. If Jesus weighed two hundred pounds, you and him together would weigh exactly two hundred pounds—not one ounce more!

This absolute nothingness that we are can be attributed to the greatness of the fall of man suffered in the Garden of Eden. It was there that man became totally bankrupt because it was there that we were separated from God. In and of ourselves it is not in us to bring about one plan and purpose of God. If it took only one straw to break the devil’s back, as a group we do not have the strength to lift that straw!

Jesus is truly the only way, the only truth, and the only life! He must be made manifest in our lives or all we will have is a manifest mess! Lord give us this attitude:

Here I am, send me
Though there’s really not that much I can do
What I have seems so small
But I want to give it all to you—Kieth Green

DENY YOURSELF

2009-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24

What does Jesus mean when he says, “You must deny yourself?” Does he mean that we are to reach way down and run the extra mile when we do not feel it is possible, or perhaps deny ourselves an extra trip to the buffet bar? Maybe he is talking about rising early in the morning to pray, thus denying that extra hour of sleep we need. I believe all of these may be the end result of the interpretation of what it means to deny ourselves, but the truth is, men have done all of these things and never once done it with anything but natural strength.

If you really look at what is meant by taking up your cross, you will see that the invitation is to do the impossible. The cross meant absolute death—how is a dead man going to follow anyone? The answer is only by faith in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ: Jesus did not die alone, neither was he resurrected alone—He included us.

To deny ourselves therefore must mean that we have an attitude of complete dependency on the person of Jesus Christ; we must not lean on any supposed strength of our own. It means to recognize what we can and can not do. If I was to ask you to read Matthew 16:24, you would have no trouble doing so. However, if I was to ask you to tell and interpret the dream President Obama will have two years from now, you would “deny yourself” and claim it is impossible. If I was to ask you to float down a raging river, you could do that; if I asked you to make the raging river to flow UP a mountain, you would “deny yourself.”

When it comes to living a life pleasing to God, we must once and for all realize that it is ONLY in Christ living in us that this is possible! We must deny any self righteous attitude that allows us to think we can defy the scriptures that teach, that apart from him, we can do nothing. After all, it is much more possible to turn a raging river upstream than it is to live a spiritual life leaning on mere human strength. Jesus come live in me!!

MESSAGE OF THE CROSS

2009-07-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 1:18 in the Amplified says, “ For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

One of the messages of the cross is that an empty cross—He is no longer there—and an empty tomb, means that there can be no empty heart in a believer—He must be there in reality or it was all in vain.

The message of the cross is that the FATHER of Glory so loved the world—me—that he sent his ONLY begotten Son that I might truly experience his presence on a day to day, and hour by hour basis. I must experience the fact that God loves me greater than Jacob loved Benjamin, of which it is written, “His life is bound up in the lad’s life.” I must know that IN CHRIST, He loves me as He loved Jesus!!

The message of the cross is that of saving grace: God took things into his own hand. From its inception to its completion to its glorious outworking of resurrection life, it is all about God taking the first step toward man. After Jesus had risen from the dead, who approached whom? Did the disciples seek the Lord in great faith, or did the Lord seek the disciples knowing they had no faith?

He sought them. It must be the same with us or else, we to will demonstrate to the world that our God is dead. We must experience the same grace the apostles experienced if we are to walk in the power of the gospel. Jesus having made a way for us, must reveal himself to us by taking our hand and leading us every step of the way. This is how Peter, James, and Paul made it; it is the only way that we will make it.

The Holy Ghost Landscaping Company

2009-05-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. --Ezekiel 36:34

In the right season, there are great possibilities for change concerning gardening. It matters not how long a certain piece of ground has brought forth nothing but thistles, within three days their can be a total transformation. What has always been passes away and the unfruitful ground becomes a place of new life.

Given the right resources, an acre of land that is overgrown with kudzu, poison oak, thorn trees, and snake berries, can be utterly transformed into peach trees, apple trees, tomato plants, corn, and watermelons. All you need is a bull dozer, backhoe, front end loader, dump truck, and a John Deere tractor with all the implements and you will change the landscape:

I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water: “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.-- Isaiah 41:18-20

We are the church of the Living God: We have the right resources. We have the precious Blood of Jesus for emptying of selves and cleansing, and we have the mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost for empowering and harvesting! It matters not how long Joe Smoke has been doping and Sister Delilah prostituting: The Almighty Blood of Jesus Christ immediately cleanses from all sin. He will transform all who repent and surrender all to Jesus, from selfishness to holiness. What are we waiting for?

For to long the church has been as a group of men hired to clear the forest of giant trees, that meets every day on a massive bull dozer. Every day they meet and form committees to search out the best way to move out the trees and clear the ground, all the while sitting on this dozer. There has even been a split within this group as they argued about the best way to sharpen their old single bit ax! What an outrage! What disobedience! What sin! Did I mention that multiple lives were depending on this land being cleared?

When it’s all said and done; it has already been said and done. Jesus has once and for all dealt with the deep rooted tree of sin in our life: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). By the planting of himself, he has uprooted sin in man and made it possible for him to be an altogether new creation: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This Holy seed of Christ, when planted by the fire of the Holy Ghost in an awakened and repentant heart, is guaranteed to germinate!

It is time to change the countryside! The Lord is sending laborers to work in his business: " The Holy Ghost Landscaping Company." The pay is out of this world!

This Ain't No Baby Formula

2009-05-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

I have a two step formula for true success: Hear the voice of the scriptures and obey the voice of the scriptures. In doing so you will truly embrace Jesus and all that is in his heart, because as Hugh Von Railey has said, “ From Genesis to Revelation you will find Christ in every page!

“And he (Jesus) saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:15-18).

When the Heavenly Father revealed to Peter this glorious truth of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that it was of the same Spirit that breathed the scriptures to men of old: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). You can not separate what God has said in the Word from who he is. He is the Word upon which the church is built, is being built, and will be built. The God that is revealed in scriptures is the Lord that will be revealed in the last hour to the church and through the church.

Thank God for the priceless treasure of his Word!! The written Word of God is one and the same with the voice of Truth that will bring the true church into unity and victory: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5). Just as a river flows continuously, bringing wetness to everything it touches, the Word of God flows from the mouth of the Lord and brings faith to everyone who hears and obeys.

There is no uncertainty about the course from which this river of life flows: It is the scriptures. Know them and according to 2 Timothy “The man of God becomes perfect.” The word perfect here means “to be completely qualified” and comes from a word that means “right now, at this moment.” It is closely related to a word that means, “One in which all the parts are complete or whole and what they are supposed to be, so that they might serve their destined purpose!” The church that truly divides the word of truth and makes it the basis of all that they do and DO NOT DO, will in this hour without fail serve their destined purpose—they will make disciples of all nations.

You will understand this when you see that opposite of the word perfect is “crippled and maimed.” There are multitudes as of this moment in the valley of decision that are crippled and maimed because they do not know the Living Word, Jesus Christ. To know God today is to know that his heart goes forth to such as these, and thus he equips us with the sword of the Lord, sending us into his harvest: “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind” (Luke 14:21). These crippled will be made whole because of the God breathed scripture that will be flowing out of the mouth of his servants!! This will come through soldiers of the cross because this ain't no baby formula!

What Do You See Your Father Doing?

2009-05-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

After Jesus healed an impotent man of a thirty-eight year infirmity he spoke the following:

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. —John 5:19-21

We know that Jesus the eternal God has always been one with the Father. As the Son of God, he has always seen what his Father was doing, but this is not the position he took as he walked this earth—he took upon himself the form of a servant. Jesus as the Son of Man walked as our example: He did all that he did as a man full of the Holy Ghost and taught of the Holy Ghost. He did no work outside of that which was revealed to him by the Spirit through the scriptures. It was in Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel and David that he saw his Father do works that only God could do: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalms 119:18).

Jesus understood the absolute impossibility of circumstances changing the eternal truth of God’s Word. Circumstances said that this impotent man could not walk, The Word had declared in Isaiah 35:6, “Then shall the lame man leap as an hart.” The Word of God is as unchangeable and powerful as the Lord Almighty is!! You can not separate the two because they are One Spirit. What God has said is what God has done: His speaking and his action are one. When Jesus told the impotent man to “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk,” He was not quoting what God had said in Isaiah 35, he was revealing the truth of what God was saying and doing in him at that very moment:“The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). Jesus through his virgin birth had become the Word of God made flesh: Everything that he did was a revelation of that which had already been revealed to the Prophets. It was impossible for it not to come to pass!

Nothing of his power has been diminished in the church today. We are to walk as he walked in absolute assurance that faith in his living word brings. Jesus lives and continues his ministry of all that is written in and through his body, which is the church. We have been given the wonderful power and authority of his exalted Name. To go forth in the Name of Jesus is to walk in all that he is and all the he is doing right now! It is time to pray in the wonderful Name of Jesus all that we see him doing in the scriptures: It is truly all that he will bring to pass! To see it in the scriptures surly means that without fail, we will see it come to pass in Dadeville, Jackson Gap, Alex City, and wherever he sends us!! What do you see your Father doing?