Just A Thought

THE LAST REVIVAL

By David Wilkerson

The New Testament church was born in a blaze of glory. The Holy
Ghost came down upon it with fire, and the first Christians spoke
with tongues and prophesied. They experienced smiting conviction,
and multitudes were converted. They broke out on the right and
on the left and were greatly enlarged. The fear of God fell upon
them and upon all who saw them. There were signs, wonders, and
miracles. The dead were raised. Fearless evangelists went every-
where preaching the Word. Jails could not hold them. Storms
could not drown them. When their possessions were seized, they
continued to rejoice. When they were stoned, hanged, burned or
crucified, they went out singing and praising God. It was a
triumphant church, unafraid of Satan, irreverent toward idols,
unmoved by plagues or persecution. It was a blood-washed
church, living and dying in victory.

What is the last hour church going to be like? How will the church
go out in its final hour? Will it go out as a fat, prosperous, self-
seeking church, counting heads, getting out the vote? Will it be
just a handful of true believers holding on, watching death and
apostasy eat away at it like a cancer? Will the last day church
live in dread and fear as AIDS and other plagues ravage the
masses? Will fewer and fewer overcome the world? Will coldness
and apostasy leave it weak, mocked, and powerless? Will the
church go out of this age full of hypocrisy, with great praise,
worship, and prayer meetings where unclean hands and impure
hearts offer strange fire?

To be sure, there is going to be a great falling away or apostasy.
There will be spiritual harlotry on all sides. Because sin abounds,
the love of many will grow cold. There will come deceivers,
teaching doctrines of demons. People will have itching ears and
will flock to hear soft preaching. Deceptions will get so bad that
even the elect will be tested severely.

But the church of Jesus Christ is not going out with a whimper or
a limp. It is going out victorious, with joy unspeakable, riding a
river of peace. It is going out in freedom from all bondage, with its
foot on Satan’s neck. And every member of this true church will
live and die without fear. The tempter’s power will be broken.
Christians will be holy and will tear down idols. They will be just
as strong in the Lord as the first Christians.

Is there going to be a great ingathering before Jesus comes? Can
we expect to see one last powerful out pouring of the Spirit, greater
than anything in history? Is it not said that only a remnant will go
on with Christ? Does not Joel prophesy “to the remnant which the
Lord shall call?” Is it not true that at present only a small remnant
wants to hear about holiness? We need to understand what is
meant by “a remnant.” It is true that it will be but a small
percentage compared to the billions of people on the earth. But
even 10% of New York City would be over one million overcomers.
The remnant also means “that which remains of the original.”
Those who sew understand that a remnant is a piece of the original
cloth. A remnant church is one which has the same character as
the original New Testament church.

A Great Revival of Righteousness is Coming

I want to make a statement with the greatest spiritual authority
possible; I make it backed by a covenant as sure as the one made
to Noah. There is going to be a final, midnight hour revival, one
which shall break forth on all sides. Zion will travail and many,
many children will be given to her. There will be great singing and
shouting, and Zion will say, “Where have all these come from?”
It will be a revival of righteousness.

I have heard old-time preachers speak of a last revival for years.
One dear friend has been preaching it for over 60 years. Now the
young preachers are praying for revival; they want to see God
work in this day, not just read about it in books. It is not enough
to simply preach on past revivals. Why pray, why seek revival,
if it is not promised in the Bible? If the Bible says we are beyond
hope, let’s just evangelize and preach, and not be concerned
about results. But, if revival is promised, Christians need to see
it, lay hold of it, and pray with faith knowing that God has
promised to do it. Is it in the Word? The promise is found in
Isaiah 54. This is one of the most important chapters, in God’s
Word for this generation. We are clearly told here what God
intends to do with His church, His people, in the last days. This
chapter prophesies what is going to happen at Times Square
Church, as well as everywhere else there are hungry hearts. It
will happen in Russia, in China, in every land, every island of the
sea, from the North Pole to the South.

The church is going to experience an undeserved outpouring of
love, mercy, and kindness. It is going to come in a time of great
affliction, with a tempest raging, with anxiety on all sides, when
society is being tossed about. God swears he is going to reveal
Himself in great kindness: “…But with everlasting kindness will
I have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer… My kind-
ness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my
peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you” (Isaiah
54:8-10). What God is saying to the church, He is also saying
to individual believers. God is speaking to those “…afflicted,
tossed with tempest, and not comforted” (Isaiah 54:11). Is that
you? Are you experiencing a sudden, violent disturbance? Yes,
this includes the economy. It also includes the alarming world
situation.

God Will Have An Overcoming People

But God’s greatest concern is for those who have at any time
been His beloved, even backsliders and those overcome by a
sudden, violent storm of temptation. His promise is to those who
are right now in great affliction, tossed in a storm, not comforted,
hopeless, helpless, and lost. God is going to woo back to Himself
a backslidden, forsaken people…

-Read the rest at the link below-

http://www.tscpulpitseries.org/english/1980s/ts880411.html

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THE “ELIJAHS OF GOD”

by Leonard Ravenhill

To the question, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” we answer,
“Where He has always been-on the throne!” But where are the
Elijahs of God? We know Elijah was “a man of like passions as
we are,” but alas! we are not men of like prayer as he was. One
praying man stands as a majority with God! Today God is
bypassing men – not because they are too ignorant, but because
they are too self-sufficient. Brethren, our abilities are our handicaps,
and our talents our stumbling blocks!

Out of obscurity, Elijah came on to the Old Testament stage, a
full-grown man. Queen Jezebel, that daughter of hell, had routed
the priests of God and replaced them with groves to false deities.
Darkness covered the land and gross darkness the people, and
they were drinking iniquity like water. Every day the land, fouled
with heathen temples and idolatrous rites, saw smoke curling
from a thousand cruel altars.

Elijah lived with God. He thought about the nation’s sin like God;
he grieved over sin like God; he spoke against sin like God. He
was all passion in his prayers and passionate in his denunciation
of evil in the land. He had no smooth preaching. Passion fired his
preaching, and his words were on the hearts of men as molten
metal on their flesh.

Brethren, if we will do God’s work in God’s way, at God’s time,
with God’s power, we shall have God’s blessing and the devil’s
curses. When God opens the windows of heaven to bless us,
the devil will open the doors of hell to blast us. God’s smile
means the devil’s frown! Mere preachers may help anybody and
hurt nobody; but prophets will stir everybody and madden
somebody. The preacher may go with the crowd; the prophet
goes against it. A man freed, fired, and filled with God will be
branded unpatriotic because he speaks against his nation’s sins;
unkind because his tongue is a two-edged sword; unbalanced
because the weight of preaching opinion is against him. Preachers
make pulpits famous; prophets make prisons famous. The
preacher will be heralded; the prophet hounded.

Ah! brother preachers, we love the old saints, missionaries,
martyrs, reformers: our Luthers, Bunyans, Wesleys, Asburys,
etc. We will write their biographies, reverence their memories,
frame their epitaphs, and build their monuments. We will do
anything except imitate them. We cherish the last drop of their
blood, but watch carefully the first drop of our own!

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THE LUKEWARM

by Leonard Ravenhill

Elijah made it as difficult as he could for the Lord. He wanted fire,
but yet he soaked the sacrifice with water! God loves such holy
boldness in our prayers. “Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession.” (Psalm 2:8)

Oh, my ministering brethren! Much of our praying is but giving God
advice. Our praying is discolored with ambition, either for ourselves
or for our denomination. Perish the thought! Our goal must be God
alone. It is His honor that is defiled, His blessed Son who is ignored,
His laws broken, His name profaned, His book forgotten, His house
made a circus of social efforts.

Does God ever need more patience with His people than when
they are “praying”? We tell Him what to do and then how to do it.
We pass judgments and make appreciations in our prayers. In
short, we do everything except pray! No Bible school can teach
us this art. What Bible school has “prayer” on its curriculum? The
most important thing a man can study is the prayer part of the
book. But where is this taught? Let us strip off the last bandage
and declare that many of our presidents and teachers do not pray,
shed no tears, know no travail. Can they teach what they do not
know?

The man who can get believers to praying would, under God,
usher in the greatest revival that the world has ever known. There
is no fault in God. He is able. God “is able to do according to the
power that worketh in us.” God’s problem today is not communism,
nor yet Romanism, nor liberalism, nor modernism. God’s problem
is – dead fundamentalism!

“So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will
spew you out of my mouth.” – Rev. 3:16…

Sin today is both glamorized and popularized, thrown into the ear
by radio, thrown into the eye by television, and splashed on popular
magazine covers. Churchgoers, sermon-sick and teaching-tired,
leave the meeting as they entered it – visionless and passionless!
Oh God, give this perishing generation ten thousand John the Baptists!

Just as Moses could not mistake the sight of the burning bush,
so a nation could not mistake the sight of a burning man! God
meets fire with fire. John the Baptist was a new man with a new
message. As a man accused of murder hears the dread cry of
the judge, “Guilty!” and pales at it, so the crowd heard John’s cry,
“Repent!” until it rang down the corridors of their minds, stirred
memory, bowed the conscience and brought them terror-stricken
to repentance and baptism! After Pentecost, the onslaught of
Peter, fresh from his fiery baptism of the Spirit, shook the crowd
until as one man they cried out: “Men and brethren, what shall
we do?” Imagine someone telling these sin-stricken men, “Just
sign a card! Attend church regularly! Pay your tithes!” No! A
thousand times no!

“… If in our cultivated unbelief and our theological twilight and our
spiritual powerlessness, we have grieved and are continuing to
grieve Thy Holy Spirit, then in mercy spew us out of Thy mouth!
If Thou cannot do something with us and through us, then please
God, do something without us!”

-From Leonard Ravenhill’s classic book, ‘Why Revival Tarries’.

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PROPHECY OF COMING REVIVAL

Smith Wigglesworth

Smith Wigglesworth (1859-1947), who is known as the apostle of
faith, moved in true healings and miracles and even raised people
from the dead, according to many reports. Shortly before he
passed into glory he prophesied:

“During the next few decades there will be two distinct moves of
the Holy Spirit across the church in Great Britain. The first move
will affect every church that is open to receive it, and will be
characterised by the restoration of the baptism and gifts of the
Holy Spirit.

The second move of the Holy Spirit will result in people leaving
historic churches and planting new churches. In the duration of
each of these moves, the people who are involved will say, `This
is a great revival.´ But the Lord says, `No, neither is this the
great revival but both are steps towards it.´

When the new church phase is on the wane, there will be
evidence in the churches of something that has not been seen
before: a coming together of those with an emphasis on the
word and those with an emphasis on the Spirit.

When the word and the Spirit come together, there will be the
biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nations, and indeed,
the world have ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival
that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these
shores, even the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals of former years.

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The VALUE of A SINGLE BELIEVER

By David Wilkerson

One Saturday evening, I walked down to Times Square as it bustled
with tourists and others doing holiday shopping. It is estimated that
at rush hour, nearly a quarter of a million people pass through that
area. As I stood there, I prayed while watching the masses of people.

At one point, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, “David, take a look
at these throngs. Multiply them several times, and that’s how many
of my people died in the wilderness. Out of all those masses, only
two entered into my rest, Joshua and Caleb. Everyone else died
before their time, in despair and unbelief.”

The thought was overwhelming to me.As I watched the crowds, I
realized they all had the gospel message available to them at
any time, through television, radio, literature, even free Bibles in
their hotel rooms. If only they wanted to know, they would be
told that the same God who performed miracles for ancient Israel
does the same for all who love Him today. Yet these don’t want
to know Him. If they see someone handing out a gospel tract,
they race by and wave him away. They have no gods but pleasure,
money and possessions.

Suddenly, I began to see the value of a single believer in God’s
eyes. And I hear Jesus asking the same question today: “When
I return, will I find faith in the earth?” (see Luke 18:8). I see Christ,
the searcher of men’s hearts, scouring all these venues, and finding
few who truly love Him. I see Him searching college campuses,
asking, “Who here will believe Me?” I see Him searching
Washington, D.C., for those who would accept Him, and finding
few. I see Him searching entire nations, and finding only a remnant.

Finally, He searches His church, looking for servants with a true
faith. Yet, what He sees breaks His heart, grieving Him deeply. I
hear Him cry as He did over Israel, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . .
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
(Matthew 23:37).

As a minister of the Lord, I bear my Shepherd’s burden. And I feel
His grief. Right now, I hear Him saying, “Even in My house, I find
so few who have faith. Many of My own children, including My
shepherds, faint in their times of trial. They don’t trust Me for their
families, their jobs, their futures. Indeed, many have made their
choice.”

So, what about you? The Lord comes to all of us, asking, “Will
you believe Me? Do you trust Me? When I come, will I find faith
in you?” How will you respond?

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WE JUST NOT MISS THE MESSAGE

by David Wilkerson

Ministers and theologians everywhere are saying, “God has nothing
to do with disasters. He wouldn’t allow awful things to happen.”
Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. This kind of thinking
is causing our nation to rapidly miss the message God wants to
speak to us through tragedy.

The fact is, we have to have a word from God. Like many pastors,
I’ve wept and grieved over awful calamities. I’ve sought the Lord in
prayer and through His Word. And I want to tell you, I’ve experienced
a grief that’s even deeper than the mourning for innocent people
dying. It’s a grief that says if we miss God’s message, if we turn
a deaf ear to what He is loudly proclaiming, then much worse is
in store for us.

The prophet Isaiah speaks directly to what we’ve experienced.
If you object to using the Old Testament for examples, consider
Paul’s words on the subject: “All these things happened unto
them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Paul
makes it clear that the examples of the Old Testament reveal just
how God moves in times like ours.

At the time that Isaiah prophesied, God had been dealing patiently
with Israel for about 250 years. The Lord had sent “light afflictions”
upon His people, calling them to repentance. He was trying to
woo them out of their brazen idolatry and back into His blessing
and favor.

All the prophets throughout the years had spoken to Israel the
same essential word: “Humble yourselves.” Scripture says,
“They served idols . . . yet the Lord testified against Israel, and
against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying,
Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and
my statutes” (2 Kings 17:12-13).

But God’s chosen nation rejected His call to repentance. “They
would not hear, but hardened their necks” (17:14). These people
mocked the prophets who called them to humility. And, instead,
they “followed vanity, and became vain . . . and they left all the
commandments of the Lord their God . . . and sold themselves
to do evil in the sight of the Lord. . . . Therefore the Lord was
very angry with Israel” (2 Kings 17:15-18).

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POWERFUL PARABLE: Take A Look!

Author Unknown

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect
rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from
Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire
the great works of art..

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son
went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while
rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved
deeply for his only son.

 About a month later, just before Christmas,

 There was a knock at the door. A young
man stood at the door with a large package in his hands…

He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but
I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many
lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet
struck him in the heart and he died instantly… He often talked
about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this
package. ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but
I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’

The father opened the package. It was a portrait
of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the
way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the
painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes
welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to
pay him for the picture.. ‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your
son did for me. It’s a gift.’

The father hung the portrait over his
mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to
see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other
great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential
people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and
having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of
the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the
bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?’

There was silence…

Then a voice in the back of the room
shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.’

But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody
bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’

Another voice angrily. ‘We didn’t
come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh’s, the
Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!’

But still the auctioneer continued.
‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’

Finally, a voice came from the very
back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and
his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting…’ Being a poor man, it was
all he could afford.

‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’

‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.’

The crowd was becoming angry. They
didn’t want the picture of the son.

They wanted the more worthy
investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. ‘Going
once, twice, SOLD for $10!’

A man sitting on the second row
shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’

The auctioneer laid down his gavel.
‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’

‘What about the paintings?’
·
‘I am sorry. When I was called to conduct
this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will… I was
not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the
painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that
painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

The man who took the son gets everything!’

God gave His son over 2,000 years ago
to die on the Cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message
today is: ‘The Son, the Son, who’ll take the Son?’

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THE CHURCH MUST NOT COWER!

by Connie Giordano

“There is a time for the preachers of the gospel to show  as much
of the boldness of the lion as of the  wisdom of the serpent and
the harmlessness of the dove. When the adversaries of Christ’s
cause begin to be daring, it is  not for its advocates to be timid.
While there is any hope of working upon those that oppose
themselves they must be instructed with meekness, but, when
that method  has long been tried in vain, we must wax bold, and
tell them what will be the issue of their opposition. The impudence
of the enemies of the  gospel, instead of frightening should rather
embolden its friends; for they are sure that they have a good cause,
and they know in whom they have trusted to bear them out.”
-Matthew Henry.

Acts 4:13 says  – “Now  when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John…”
Acts 4:29 says  – “And  now, Lord, behold their threatenings:
and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may
speak Thy  word.”
Acts 4:31 says –  “…and  they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 9:27 says –  “…how  he had seen the Lord in the way…
and how he had preached boldly…”
Acts 9:29 says –  “And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord
Jesus…”
2 Corinthians 3:12 says  – “Seeing  then that we have such hope,
we use great plainness of speech.”
Philippians 1:20 says  –  “…that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but that with all boldness…so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body…”

What the Church needs more than ever is boldness – boldness
to speak “as they ought to speak” (Ephesians  6:20).

What  we – as individual believers – need is the  boldness that –
…is evident to all
…is given by the Lord in answer to earnest  prayer
…comes as a result of being filled with the  Holy Spirit
…results from having a revelation of Jesus  in one’s life
…causes us to use “great  plainness of speech”
…and brings honor to Christ.

We  must not allow anything to stand in our way of  speaking
the Truth for God. The sinner is bolder than ever in his blatant
sin – and getting bolder every minute. The Church  cannot and
must not cower or hide. We must not allow any form of criticism
or confrontation to stop us. Instead,  we should allow the Holy
Spirit to turn it all into more fuel for our fiery zeal.

Matthew Henry said it in this way – “Suffering in a good cause
should rather sharpen than blunt the edge of holy resolution.”

Oh  Saints of God! It’s time like never before to sharpen the
edge of our sword! Let’s be determined to speak the truth and
stand for righteousness against the floodgates of Hell –  no
matter who likes it or is offended!..

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THE MIGHTY WELCH REVIVAL of 1004-1905

by Oliver W. Price

During the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts
was repeatedly awakened at 1:00 a.m. He met with God until
5:00am. The Welsh revival followed. Churches were packed for
prayer meetings. In a prayer meeting for young people, Pastor
Joseph Jenkins asked for testimonies. A young girl named Florrie
Evans, who had only been a believer a few days, rose and with a
trembling voice said simply, “I love Jesus with all my heart.” The
other young people’s hearts were melted. A powerful spiritual
awakening that brought 100,000 people to Christ was under way.

On November 7th, 1904 Moraih Chapel was filled to capacity for
a prayer meeting that lasted until 3:00 a.m. Soul winning spread
through the coalmines. Profane swearing stopped. Even the miners’
horses were puzzled when their masters stopped cursing. Orders
to the Bible Society “for Scriptures from Wales during November
and December, were over three times the amount for the
corresponding months of 1903…” The Times said this resulted
from the Welsh revival, adding that this demand showed no sign
of falling off.

“The mighty and unseen breath of the Spirit was doing in a month
more than centuries of legislation could accomplish” the pastor of
Saint John’s-Wood Presbyterian Church declared on Sunday,
January 1st, 1905 according to the London Times.The Welsh revival
“had a great effect” in healing spiritual carelessness among Christians
and “the growing bitterness which has accentuated our unhappy
divisions”, the Bishop of Bangor declared on January 2nd, 1905.
He called “congregations to meet together often for united prayer.”

The Times added that “the religious revival in Wales continues…
with unabated zeal.” Huge crowds were attending the meetings.
Bible verses covered the doors down in the coalmines. “At
Swansea the Poor Law guardians…dealt with revival cases in
which people…have taken their parents from the workhouse. The
Welsh revival movement has shown no sign of flagging…”, The
Times pointed out on January 10th. Entire congregations were
on their knees in fervent prayer and “for the first time there was
not a single case of drunkenness at the Swansea Petty Sessions.”

The Times observed that “The whole population had been suddenly
stirred by a common impulse. Religion had become the absorbing
interest of their lives. They had gathered at crowded services for
six and eight hours at a time. Political meetings and even football
matches were postponed…quarrels between trade-union workmen
and non-unionists had been made up… At Glyn-Neath a feud had
existed for the past 10 or 12 years between the two Independent
chapels, but during the past week united services have been held
in both chapels, and the ministers have shaken hands before the
congregations.”

The Salvation Army set apart January 19th, 1905 for a day of
confession, humiliation, and prayer throughout England, Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales. All day prayer meetings were held in many
of the principal cities of the British Isles, according to the London
Times. The meeting was marked by “fervent prayer and any one
who felt called upon to pray.” Fires of spiritual revival and moral
recovery were spreading.

The revival fires burning in Wales in 1904-05 spread through
England, Ireland and Scotland. Prayer meetings multiplied. As
many as 2,000 attended a prayer meeting in the city of Bradford.
In the City of Leeds, Samuel Chadwick reported that his church
was never empty all day…

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THE PURGING OF THE CHURCH

by David Wilkerson

Who is the man or woman of God who has power? Is it the one
who can heal the sick and raise the dead? Is it the one who can
best talk in tongues and prophesy? Is it the one who draws the
most people and builds the greatest church? No! The one with the
power – is the one with the purity! “… the righteous are bold as a
lion.. ” (Proverbs 28:1 KJV)

The prophet Malachi prophesied of a supernatural purge coming
to God’s house.

“… the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple…
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 fuller’s
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 KJV)

This is a dual prophecy. He speaks of Christ’s first coming, and
also of His second! He will come again suddenly, as a thief in
the night. But first, He will purify His Church.

We are not ready for the coming of Christ! Is this the Church
triumphant? Covetous. divorcing, depressed, worldly-minded,
grasping for materialism and success, competitive, lukewarm,
adulterous, rich and increased with goods, unaware of spiritual
blindness and poverty, pleasure-loving, recreation-minded,
consumed with sports, politics, and power – is this the Church
Jesus is coming for? Simply coping, filled with fear and anxiety,
satisfied only to have good health and happiness?

My Bible says He is coming back for an overcoming Church! A
Church without spot or wrinkle! A people whose affections are
on things above! A people with clean hands and pure hearts. A
people who are looking for His coming! A people with a “new
Jerusalem state of mind.”

The question is no longer, “What can my faith get me? What
miracle will He perform for me?” The question now is – “How shall
I stand before Him? How shall I make it at the Judgment?” ” . . .
who shall stand when He appeareth?” (Malachi 3:2 KJV)

The question is no longer, “How do I feel – how do I get happiness?
How do I get the desire of my heart?” The question is – “Can I
withstand that moment when I stand before the Judgment Seat
of Christ? How can I withstand when I’ve lived so carelessly, so
selfishly, so neglectful of His great salvation?” The central issue
now has nothing to do with this world at all. At issue is – “HAVE
I NEGLECTED CHRIST in THIS MIDNIGHT HOUR?”

The purge is going to begin in the pulpit! ” . . . He shall purify the
sons of Levi… ” (Malachi 3:3 KJV) God is going to accomplish that
by “turning up the heat.” God is going to make things so hot, so
fiery, so intense, God’s men will be driven to their knees! This is
the fire of the Holy Ghost! It is the fire of persecution. It is the fire
of tribulation. The fire of unbelievable hardships, ridicule, gossip,
financial problems. He is going to shake everything that can be
shaken! He is going to shake, and scrub, and burn, and purge –
and purify!…

God also promises to bring down the strongholds of the enemy!
He is going to once and for all let the devil and the world know
who has the power!

If God is about to do all that the prophets predicted He would –
WHAT a GLORIOUS FUTURE JUST AHEAD!

— A purged, purified ministry!

— A Church that God is calling back to repentance and holiness.

— A people washed, cleansed – offering praises in true righteousness.

— A revival among our young people! Drug strongholds coming down!
Alcohol and divorce no longer prevalent among God’s people.

— The sound of prayer – intercession!

–A people of God who will discern between the holy and the unholy!

— Everywhere, God’s people turning again to the Word.

— A tested, tried people, once again devoted to the Person of Jesus Christ!

— His Person being lifted up to draw all men to Him!

— Christ no longer the stranger in our midst, but CROWNED – PRE-EMINENT!

— A Pentecost that truly exalts the name and power of Jesus Christ,
the Lord of all.

*****************************************************************             

TWO OLD WOMEN AND MIGHTY REVIVAL

by Duncan Campbell

 There are two things that I would like to say in speaking about the
revival in the Hebrides. First, I would like to make it perfectly clear
that I did not bring revival to the Hebrides. It has grieved me beyond
words to hear people talk and write about the man who brought
revival to the Hebrides. My dear people, I didn’t do that. Revival
was there before I ever set foot on the island. It began in a gracious
awareness of God sweeping through the parish of Barvas.

Then I would like to make it perfectly clear what I understand of
revival. When I speak of revival, I am not thinking of high-pressure
evangelism. I am not thinking of crusades or of special efforts
convened and organized by man. That is not in my mind at all.
Revival is something altogether different from evangelism on its
highest level. Revival is a moving of God in the community and
suddenly the community becomes God conscious before a word
is said by any man representing any special effort.

Now I am sure that you will be interested to know how, in November
1949, this gracious movement began on the island of Lewis. Two
old women, one of them 84 years of age and the other 82-one of
the stone blind, were greatly burdened because of the appalling
state of their own parish. It was true that not a single young person
attended public worship. Not a single young man or young woman
went to the church. They spent their day perhaps reading or walking
but the church was left out of the picture. And those two women
were greatly concerned and they made it a special matter of prayer.

A verse gripped them: “I will pour water on him that is thirsty and
floods upon the dry ground.” They were so burdened that both of
them decided to spend so much time in prayer twice a week. On
Tuesday they got on their knees at 10 o’clock in the evening and
remained on their knees until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning–two
old women in a very humble cottage.

One night, one of the sisters had a vision. Now remember, in revival,
God works in wonderful ways. A vision came to one of them, and
in the vision she saw the church of her fathers crowded with young
people. Packed to the doors, and a strange minister standing in
the pulpit. And she was so impressed by the vision that she sent
for the parish minister. And of course he knowing the two sisters,
knowing that they were two women who knew God in a wonderful
way, he responded to their invitation and called at the cottage.

That morning, one of the sisters said to the minister, “You must
do something about it. And I would suggest that you call your
office bearers together and that you spend with us at least two
nights in prayer in the week… Well, that was what happened,
the minister called his office bearers together and seven of them
met in a barn to pray on Tuesday and on Friday. And the two old
women got on their knees and prayed with them.

Well that continued for some weeks–indeed, I believe almost a
month and a half. Until one night… one young man, a deacon in
the church, got up and read Psalm 24. “Who shall ascend the
hill of God? Who shall stand in His holy place?  He that has clean
hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity
or sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing (not a blessing,
but the blessing) of the Lord.” And then that young man closed h
is Bible. And looking down at the minister and the other office
bearers, he said this- “It seems to me to be so much humbug
to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting,
if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.” And then he lifted
his two hands… and prayed, “God, are my hands clean? Is my
heart pure? ” But he got no further. That young man fell to his
knees and then fell into a trance. Now don’t ask me to explain
this because I can’t. He fell into a trance and is now lying on
the floor of the barn. And in the words of the minister, at that
moment, he and his other office bearers were gripped by the
conviction that a God-sent revival must ever be related to holiness,
must ever be related to Godliness. Are my hands clean? Is my
heart pure? The man that God will trust with revival – that was the
conviction.

When that happened in the barn, the power of God swept into the
parish. And an awareness of God gripped the community such
as hadn’t been known for over 100 years. An awareness of God –
that’s revival, that’s revival. And on the following day, the looms
were silent, little work was done on the farms as men and women
gave themselves to thinking on eternal things gripped by eternal realities.                       

 ****************************************************************************

 A MIND TO WORK

David Wilkerson

Prayer and humility, along with a hatred for sin, produces a “mind
to work.” “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together
unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah
4:6). True revivals of holiness always produce workers. Books and
seminars and lectures don’t-but revival does!

When God is doing something genuine among His people, Satan
conspires against it. “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat,
and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the
Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and
that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against
Jerusalem, and to hinder it” (Nehemiah 4:7-8).

The enemy became very angry and conspired to come up against
them to fight and to hinder! His tactic was to secretly infiltrate the
body by sneaking up on them unexpectedly. “Our adversaries said,
They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among
them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease” (verse 11).

They planned to bring into their midst a secret army of pretenders
in disguise. The enemy had no sudden, open, frontal attack, but
rather said, “We will come in the midst among them!” The tactic
was inside sabotage! The enemy said, “They will never know it
is happening.” And Satan’s strategy has never changed. Even
now he is sending his “angels of light” into gatherings worldwide
with doctrinal sabotage and seductions.

How can we detect them? What is our safeguard? “Nevertheless
we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them
day and night, because of them” (Nehemiah 4:9). The key here
is an intense hatred for sin, true brokenness, fervent prayer and
constant vigilance-along with staying saturated with the Word of God.

Beloved, allow the Holy Spirit to probe your heart very deeply and
very thoroughly, that you may walk wholly blameless before the
Lord in this late hour.

***********************************************************************

                     DON’T GET STUCK IN BABYLON

                                      by  David Wilkerson

Babylon is falling! That merchandising world of greed and self is
collapsing. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of their sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

We have so spiritualized Babylon that we have missed a simple,
fundamental truth. It is spoken of in Revelation 18 and includes
“delicious living” and “making merchants rich” (see Revelation 18:3).

There is nothing wrong with merchants becoming rich. But Babylon
represents a spirit of greed-a spirit so powerful, so evil and driving
that it says, “People don’t count. All that counts is the bottom line
on the balance sheet!”

Merchants will weep in that day of terror, not for the multitudes
who are burning in a holocaust but because their money machine
is gone. Wall Street has been called the nation’s “greed capital,”
but this spirit is not limited to location. It is sweeping society in
general – even the Church!

The Holy Spirit is saying, “Don’t let your greed make the merchants
richer. Don’t get carried away with the spending and the debt.
Curb your appetites. Enough is enough! Get off the Babylonian
greed-mill. Shake off the spirit that lusts for riches and more and
more things! Do not partake of the sin of Babylon, which is
merchandising with a spirit of greed.”

What an awesome preparation: Jesus wants me with Him! Since
the day He left the earth, He has been preparing for my coming to
meet Him in heaven.

Thank God for one more great preparation! Jesus said, “I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).

I am deeply strengthened by such love. He is preparing for me
and I, in turn, desire to prepare for Him!

************************************************

POWERFUL PARABLE

Author Unknown

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect
rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from
Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire
the great works of art..

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son
went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while
rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved
deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas,

There was a knock at the door. A young
man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..

He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but
I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many
lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet
struck him in the heart and he died instantly… He often talked
about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this
package. ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but
I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’

The father opened the package. It was a portrait
of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the
way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the
painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes
welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to
pay him for the picture.. ‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your
son did for me. It’s a gift.’

The father hung the portrait over his
mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to
see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other
great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential
people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and
having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of
the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the
bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?’

There was silence…

Then a voice in the back of the room
shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.’
·
But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody
bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’

Another voice angrily. ‘We didn’t
come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh’s, the
Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!’

But still the auctioneer continued.
‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’

Finally, a voice came from the very
back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and
his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting…’ Being a poor man, it was
all he could afford.

‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’

‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.’

The crowd was becoming angry. They
didn’t want the picture of the son.

They wanted the more worthy
investments for their collections.
·
The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. ‘Going
once, twice, SOLD for $10!’

A man sitting on the second row
shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’

The auctioneer laid down his gavel.
‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’

‘What about the paintings?’
·
‘I am sorry. When I was called to conduct
this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will… I was
not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the
painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that
painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

The man who took the son gets everything!’

God gave His son over 2,000 years ago
to die on the Cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message
today is: ‘The Son, the Son, who’ll take the Son?’

***************************************************

THE COST OF SPARING THE GOOD THINGS

by Rodney W. Francis

In 1 Samuel 15 we have the revealing story of the cost of not fully
obeying the voice of the Lord. The first king of Israel, Saul, was
instructed by God to “Go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy
all that they have, and do not spare them” (v.3). Saul heard what
God had spoken to him, yet we discover that he was only partially
obedient to the command. As we read through the chapter we
discover that Saul’s decision to “spare the good things” was to
prove very costly for him and his people.

When Samuel the prophet was sent to reprove Saul, we find
that Saul was confessing that he had indeed obeyed the Lord.
But he was in deception ~ the good things of the Amalekites
had deceived him. You will also notice that Saul was hiding
behind a form of spirituality by declaring that they had spared
the good things to “sacrifice to the Lord” (v. 15). How
interesting that human nature seeks to cover its disobedience
to God by declaring the result of that disobedience is “for the
Lord”!! But God is not mocked, and God is not fooled by
our covetousness and desires for “sparing the good things.”
It is recorded: “But Saul and the people spared Agag (king
of the Amalekites) and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the
fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling
to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless,
that they utterly destroyed” (1 Samuel 15:9). As a result, God
said to the Prophet Samuel, “I greatly regret that I have set up
Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has
not performed My commandments” (v. 10-11). Saul paid a huge
price for his disobedience that day:

1. He lost his anointing

2. He lost his respect, and

3. He lost his kingship (ruling authority).

Things changed that day for Saul because of his pride in thinking
he knew better than God. Like most disobedient leaders, he blamed
the people for his rebellion against the voice of the Lord.

The “good things” that he spared were the very things that found
him out ~ the “bleating of the sheep” (v. 14)!

In summing up His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made this
statement to His listeners: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’
and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:47). He then went
on to tell us of the wise and foolish man. The wise man was wise
because he listened to Jesus and obeyed what He said; while the
foolish man only listened to Jesus, but did not apply and do what
He said. The difference between the two men was success for
the wise man and total loss for the foolish man. Maybe the foolish
man “spared the good things”, like Saul did?

The foolish man paid a very high price for his disobedience!

This is a huge challenge and lesson for every Christian today. So
many of us are wanting to have the “good things” of life, but if God
has asked us to sacrifice them for His sake, then we need to do
that, because God always has our best at heart ~ He wants us to
enjoy the best, but with His way of providing it, and in a way that
He gets the glory. This message explains one reason why the
Christian Church seems to be so powerless in these days ~ not
much anointing, not much respect, and not much authority. We
have spared the good things ~ things that God wants us to give
up for Him. We have compromised with the ways of the world,
and it has cost us dearly. In Christianity, “having the best of
both worlds” does not work! God is trying to get us to the place
where we will totally trust whatever He says to us, and that we
will obey Him without question ~ because we have learned that
“the Word of the Lord is right”; that there is nothing more sure
and accurate than that which God speaks. But we have to trust
and obey what He says in order to see the fulfilment of His
promises to us! And that means a total commitment to
whatever He says.

GOD TESTS Our COMMITMENT

We need to know that God does test our commitment to Him.
When we say that He comes first in our lives, then He will test
us to see if we really do put Him first before anyone and
everything else. When we demonstrate to God that He is, indeed,
“Number One” and we value Him above all else, then He can trust
us with assignments that clearly show the handiwork of God that
are accompanied by supernatural signs, wonders and miracles.
Let’s face it:
If we have the Living, Supernatural Jesus Christ residing within
us, then surely there should be some evidence of a Supernatural
God at work in and through us??!!

The world is sick of religion ~ it is crying out for a demonstration
of the risen, Living Lord Jesus Christ manifest in and amongst His
people. If we do not learn this lesson, then we will go the way of
Saul and finish up with nothing of eternal value to show for our lives.
Let the voice of God guide you into all truth, and into a life of total
commitment that has no regrets!

**************************************************8

SPEAK UNTO US SMOOTH THINGS!

David Wilkerson

A man recently wrote the following to our ministry: “I don´t know
who put me on your mailing list, but please remove my name
immediately. I can´t stand your gloomy gospel and your hammering
against sin. None of us is perfect, not even you. I´ve had it with
your King James gospel of doom.”

Isaiah spoke of this kind of response: “This is a rebellious people,
lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: which
say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto
us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Get you out of the way” (Isaiah 30:9-11).

The word “smooth” in this verse means “nice, flattery.” The people
of Israel were saying, in short, “Don’t tell us any more bad stuff.
Describe how we´re going to prosper, how great things lie ahead
of us. If not, then get out of our faces.”

No believer who hides sin in his heart ever wants to hear a holy,
sin-exposing word. That person will always flee the Holy Spirit´s
voice of truth. And he´ll turn to some preacher who is soft on sin,
offering smooth talk and flattering prophecies.

So, you ask, what hard message did God´s voice deliver to His
people on Mount Sinai? He said simply this: “I am the Lord thy
God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house
of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou
shalt not make thee any graven image. . . . Thou shalt not bow
down thyself unto them, nor serve them” (Deuteronomy 5:6-9).

Here was the pure, unadulterated word of the Lord, coming directly
from His mouth. It should have sent the people flying to their tents
to smash their graven images. It should have stirred their hearts
and brought them to their knees. But instead they cried, “No more
thunder, fire, shaking. No more audible voice speaking to us. Give
us a spokesman who is like us, and let him speak to us. Then
we´ll hear and obey.”

******************************************************

HOLY DESPERATION

by Carter Conlon

You and I are living in what I call “an hour of holy desperation.”

Our society is degenerating very rapidly, and horrific crimes are
occurring so often that we are becoming dulled to it all. The
abnormal is becoming normal; evil is becoming good. As you
look around perhaps you wonder, “How do I fit into this moment
in time? What can God do through my life? And if He is going
to do something, why is it that my prayers, that I know are
according to His Word, have not yet been answered?”

To help address some of these questions, let´s look at
another time in history when a desperate hour came upon a
nation. The book of First Samuel speaks of a season when
there was no clear word or vision. The priesthood that was
supposed to represent God was instead deeply compromised
(see 1 Samuel 2:22-24, 3:1). God´s character, purpose, and
mind were hidden from the people, leaving them without
answers to the questions in their hearts: “What is happening
in our society? Where are we going?”

This situation was very similar to the day in which we live
when it seems as if the presence of God-His power and
provision that we have known throughout our history-is
suddenly gone. It appears that the enemies of God now
have the upper hand, dictating to us when we can pray,
what we can teach our children, what is right and what is
wrong. As a result, a deep cry is beginning to form in the
hearts of the people.

Psalm 107 speaks of these seasons of holy desperation that
recurred throughout history. The psalmist describes a people
who were wandering, hungry, fainting and held captive. It was
a time marked by a foolish handling of the truth of God. Yet it
is in these very moments of desperation that the general
population begins to cry out to God, as is beginning in our day.
There is a cry rising in this generation-a cry not necessarily
heard by the natural ear, but God hears it. It is like the time He
came to Moses and said, “I have heard the cry of the people
and I have come down to deliver them” (see Exodus 3:7-8). In
other words, I have heard their groans of hopelessness. Today
the Lord hears the cries of those whose dreams have been
shattered, of parents whose children have gone astray, of those
who ask, “What happened to us?”

“I have surely seen the affliction of my people . . . and have heard
their cry” (Exodus 3:7).

*************************************************

GOD’S SPECIALISTS

by A. W. Tozer

Great industrial concerns have in their employ men who are needed only
when there is a breakdown somewhere. When something goes wrong with
the machinery, these men spring into action to locate and remove the
trouble and get the machinery rolling again.

For these men a smoothly operating system has no interest. They
are specialists concerned with trouble and how to find and correct it.

In the kingdom of God things are not too different. God has always had
His specialists whose chief concern has been the moral breakdown,
the decline in the spiritual health of the nation or the church. Such
men were Elijah, Jeremiah, Malachi and others of their kind who
appeared at critical moments in history to reprove,  rebuke and exhort
in the name of God and righteousness.

A thousand or ten thousand ordinary priests or pastors or teachers
could labor quietly on almost unnoticed while the spiritual life of
Israel or the church was normal. But let the people of God go astray
from the paths of truth and immediately the specialist appeared almost
out of nowhere. His instinct for trouble brought him to the help of
the Lord and of Israel.

Such a man was likely to be drastic, radical, possibly at times
violent, and the curious crowd that gathered to watch him work
soon branded him as extreme, fanatical, negative. And in a sense they
were right. He was single-minded, severe, fearless, and these were the
qualities the circumstances demanded. He shocked some, frightened
others and alienated not a few, but he knew who had called him and
what he was sent to do. His ministry was geared to the emergency, and
that fact marked him out as different, a man apart.

To such men as this the church owes a debt too heavy to pay. The
curious thing is that she seldom tries to pay him while he lives, but
the next generation builds his sepulcher and writes his biography, as
if instinctively and awkwardly to discharge an obligation the previous
generation to a large extent ignored…

********************************************

WOULD THE EARLY CHURCH RECOGNIZE THE AMERICAN CHURCH?

by Marcus Yoars

Would the modern American church even be recognizable to early
followers of Jesus?

By today´s standards in the American church, Jesus wasn´t cut
out to be a pastor, nor would His ministry be highlighted as a
model for church planters. Consider these facts:

Jesus had the greatest preaching, teaching and healing ministry
in history. Thousands came to hear Him, followed His every move
and lined the streets to get a glimpse of Him or simply touch Him.
Yet amid His rock-star popularity, He intentionally offended
religious leaders, challenged potential mega-donors and weeded
out casual followers with tough teachings. Not exactly the
textbook strategy you´d find today to grow your church, much
less your Facebook likes and Twitter followers.

After Jesus spent three and a half years ministering to thousands,
His church consisted of only 120 disciples gathered in the upper
room. And even that was a low turnout, considering He had
appeared to more than 500 people after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:6).

But we know the rest of the story: how the 120 quickly became
3,120 and grew daily to where even unbelievers credited Jesus´
followers as those “who have turned the world upside down”
(Acts 17:6). The truth is, we know that Jesus´ divine church-
growth tactics surpass all others-with the proof being a global
church that, 2,000 years later, refuses to die while it works to
fulfill His Great Commission.

Why, then, do we in the 21st-century American church focus
on all the elements that Jesus didn´t? He focused on training and
equipping 12 disciples; we focus on growing our crowds and
spheres of influence, regardless of whether those people follow
Jesus. He preached an uncompromising message of truth; we
sugarcoat the gospel until we´re saccharine-high on deception.
He walked among His enemies in love; we ostracize our
enemies by blasting them for all their sins.

Indeed, most of the U.S. church is enamored with size over
substance and microwave growth over true reproduction. Research
shows that while 235 million people call themselves Christians,
only 40 percent of those meet regularly with fellow believers and
only a fourth (at most) read the Bible on a regular basis. It´s time
we discovered the marks of the real church, measured by Jesus´
standards rather than our own trendy metrics. So what are those
elements? Here are just a few.

1) Love.  Jesus defined a premier characteristic of His church in
John 13:35: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love for one another.” If we can´t even love fellow believers-if
we skewer each other over theological differences and cultural
preferences-how can we expect the world to want what we have?
Transforming the world with God´s love starts right where we are,
on the home front, as we learn to love each other as Christ loved us.

2) Prayer.  Jesus was constantly communicating with the Father,
listening for His thoughts and seeing where He was already moving.
Luke´s Gospel shows that little happened in Christ´s life without
Him first praying. Why, then, do most church gatherings today focus
so little on prayer? In trying to be culturally relevant and seeker-
sensitive, we´ve conveyed that this essentiality of our faith-both
individually and corporately-is secondary. That can´t be if we want
to mimic Jesus.

3) Persecution. We in the West equate religious freedom and the
lack of persecution with blessing. Yet when you look for the most
powerful churches in the world, where the Spirit moves freely and
in fullness, you´ll always find persecution. It´s time we wake up
and realize that persecution galvanizes and unifies the body of Christ
like few other pressures. Remember, Jesus promised persecution to
those who truly follow Him (Matt. 5:11-12; John 15:20). When was
the last time you saw this promise fulfilled in your own life or church?

4) Power. Jesus also promised that His followers would do greater
works than He did (John 14:12)-a promise sealed by the gift of the
Holy Spirit to empower us. Wherever the early apostles and church
went, the miraculous followed. Though there have been seasons of
Holy Spirit revival in our nation, even charismatic churches today are
de-emphasizing such things as praying for the sick, demonic
deliverance or the prophetic. Making room for the Spirit´s
supernatural movement isn´t an option; it´s the mark of those
who truly follow Christ.

**************************************************

“WOE to THOSE WHO CALL EVIL GOOD”
by Darren Smith

I am sickened at the state of this country and truly sad that it’s at
a point of no return. The tide has turned and those who seek
justice and righteousness are no longer the majority. Now we are
at the time to confess that we let America and what she stands for
slowly slip away while we sought after comfort and prosperity and
self fulfillment.

Our land has become a place of greed and self promotion, shallow
and spiritless. I know as soon as I send this out many will
say to “remove me from your list” or call me unpatriotic, but I’m
beyond the point of restraint and holding back words because they
are controversial and offensive. Political correctness means nothing
to me and I will not be quiet any longer.

Isa 5 is a perfect picture of America today – a nation that lost it’s
soul. We need to admit where we are and what we have become
and quit walking in step with the false notion that we are a “just
nation”. I want to start with the gay issue that dominates our media
today. The very fact that you can’t say that being gay is against
God’s Word is ridiculous, but now as a nation we call – in fact we
promote homosexual activity – call it good. Woe unto a nation
that calls evil good!

I don’t hate homosexuals at all. In fact we reach out to them with
Christ, but I cannot condone their behavior and I will never call it
good when God says it is wrong! Lets move on down the list of
indictments.

Abortion is considered birth control, not murder. Again – our
nation calls it good for women to be able to choose whether
to have a child or to kill it. The argument is that a woman
should have a right to have control over her own body. But
the very reason they use is faulty at the core. If a woman
has a right to choose what she does with her own body
then why does this nation’s laws have her arrested for being
a prostitute? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying prostitution
is not wrong, but if you are going to hold the position that a
woman has the right to control her body, then be consistent
with what you believe.

The sad truth is that abortion is a several billion dollar industry
that has bought our leaders and they have spent billions
spreading lies with their partners in the media to numb your
minds. Abortion is murder, cut and dry, and its effect on devaluing
human life cannot be reversed. I have met and prayed with scores
of women that themselves were victims of abortion. I have never
met one that was glad they chose to abort, yet as a nation we
call abortion good. Woe unto a nation that calls evil good!

We still say that we are a chosen nation, even though we
have the highest rates of drug use in the world, the highest
alcohol abuse rates in the world, and the highest crime rates.
Do you realize that you are more likely to be killed in Chicago
and many other major cities than you are in a war zone?

What we are seeing is the breakdown of society playing out
before our eyes. The cheapening of life and the increase of
people with no compassion for others multiply at a mind
blowing rate. Why? Because we call evil good and woe is
befalling us as we speak. Yet we as a people are too busy
seeking comfort and entertainment to open our eyes. We
are far more concerned with sharing our opinion on
Facebook, while we post selfies and try to make our life
look interesting to others.

How did we ever come to a point where selfie could ever
become a word – much less an action – we take pride in?
Jesus tells us to be selfless and not to promote our self
with things. People should find us interesting, if we belong
to Christ, because of our love and our actions. We are at a
point in our land where you can’t hold a conversation with a
person because they can’t look at you for looking at their
phone.

We celebrate bad behavior by making people famous and wealthy
because we like to watch their bad behavior on TV to entertain
ourselves in a righteous land. Could the Kardashions or Pdiddy or
any others of the hosts be a role model? Would Jerry Springer or
any of the other freakshows get any airplay?… Woe unto a nation
that calls evil good!

We celebrate greed in our nation by our fascination with the
wealthy. Would you trust Donald Trump with your kids? We
give the greedy a prominent position in society because of
what they have and because we are jealous and want or even
think we deserve to have it too.

We have gone so far that we have modeled our churches
after the world and the world’s business plan – the bigger, the
better, the more comfortable, the more holy we are. But truth
can’t be found in this model, nor can courage, just more
entertainment. We even treat the rich better than others so
we can gain from them. Jesus said in Luke that you cannot
measure a man by the abundance of his possessions. But we
still do.

As a nation, we try to tell the rest of the world how to act
when we are a total mess ourselves. We even export our
greed as well as our false doctrines to anyone who will listen.
I will close with this last point. If God’s people would stand for
truth and justice, no matter what the personal cost, we would
make a difference. If men who say they are called to preach
would preach truth instead of feel-good humanism and
prosperity, a fire would ignite that could not be contained.

What has brought us to this point is conforming to the world
instead of conforming to Christ. There is no difference in the
modern church and the world. They are one in the same. The
modern church just feels better about itself after hearing the
motivational speech and the upbeat music a couple times a
week. A real preacher – preaching and living the Gospel – will
cause a stir every time he speaks, instead of not rocking the
comfortable boat he is cruising in.

I really don’t care if you think I’m too radical or that I’m unpatriotic.
I cannot yield to this false system any longer. I will not defend
the actions of a nation and government that has turned it’s back on
God, nor will I defend a church system that has done the same. I’m
looking for people who feel the same way and are willing to stand,
take action and live the Gospel. We can’t wait any longer to act
but nothing good comes without a fight. We need to network
together and make a difference.

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A PLACE OF TRIAL

David Wilkerson

Many believers arrive at places of trial and testing. Sometimes the Lord brings us to places similar to Marah, where the waters of life are bitter (see Exodus 15:22-23). And once there, we too face unfulfilled thirst, nagging questions and grave doubts. You may protest, “No you can’t compare me to those idolatrous, fornicating Israelites! You can’t say I’m like them!”

But the poor Israelites did not recognize these things about themselves; they did not realize what was in their hearts until their time of testing came. I believe the same is true of God’s people today. The prophet Jeremiah writes, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Remember, these are the same people who would later tremble before the Lord at Mount Sinai after hearing His commandments. They would quickly answer, “Everything God has said, we will do. We’ll obey every command!” And the Israelites sincerely meant every word they said. They were full of the fear of God, and were convinced they would not fail to honor Him. But they had no idea what was in their hearts; in truth, they were spiritually bankrupt. You see, Israel was living off the experience of their pastor and teacher, Moses. They had not faith of their own and when God removed Moses from their midst,they backslid within forty days!

The same thing happens with many Christians today. When they hear God’s Word preached, they eagerly pledge to obey it with all their hearts. But in reality, they are living off someone else’s experience. They feed on teaching tapes, seminars, the revelations of their pastors–a d they have no deep experience of their own with Christ.

Beloved, you cannot get God’s true revelation from someone else. A preacher can stir and inspire you, and you may learn to spout biblical precepts. But until you have your own experience with Jesus and develop a history with Him, you cannot know Him. His word has to work its way into your heart until it becomes a living experience.

Just a thought…

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FOR ALL SAINTS

by Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray, who lived from 1828-1917, was an amazing writer, and the older he got, the more he felt the burden to write books that helped people understand the Bible better. His books and other writings are found in Christian libraries all around the world today. Below is a short excerpt from one of his books.

“O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.” (Psalms 25:2-3, NKJV)

Let us now, each one forgetting himself, think of the great company of God, and the saints throughout the world who are all waiting on Him. And, let us all join in the fervent prayer for each other: “Let none that wait on You be ashamed”

Just think for a moment of the many waiting ones who need that prayer, how many are sick and weary and alone, and feel as if their prayers are not answered. They sometimes begin to fear that their hope will be put to shame. And then, think of how many servants of God, ministers or missionaries, teachers or workers, of various name, whose hopes in their work have been disappointed, and whose longing for power and blessing remains unsatisfied. And the , too, think of how many who have heard of a life of rest and perfect peace, of abiding light and fellowship, of strength and victory, and who cannot find the path. With all these, it is only that they have not yet learned the secret of full waiting upon God can never be in vain. Let us remember, all who are in danger of fainting or being  weary, and unite in the cry, “Let none that wait on You be ashamed.”

If this intercession for all who wait on God becomes part of our waiting on Him for ourselves, we will help to bear each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

There will be introduced into our waiting on God that element of unselfishness and love, which is the path to the highest blessing and the fullest communion with God. Love to the brethren and love to God are inseparably linked. In God, the love to His Son and to us are one: “that the love wherewith You have loved Me may be in them.” In Christ, the love of the Father to Him, and  love to us, are one: “As the Father loved Me, so have I loved you.” In us, He asks that His love to us be ours to the brethren. And how can we, day by day, prove and cultivate this love except by praying daily for each other? Christ did not seek to enjoy the Father’s love for Himself; He passed it all on to us. All true seeking of God, and His love for ourselves, will be inseparably linked with the thought and the love of our brethren in prayer for them.

“Let none that wait on You be ashamed.” Twice in the psalm David speaks of his waiting on God for  himself; here he thinks of all who wait on Him. Let this be the message to all God’s tired and weary ones, that there are more people praying for them than they know about. Let it stir them and us in our waiting to make a point of at times forgetting ourselves, and to enlarge our hearts and say to the Father: “These all wait upon You, and You give them their meat in due season.” Let it inspire us all with new courage–for who is there who is not at times ready to faint and be weary? “Let none that wait on You be ashamed” is a promise in a prayer. “They that wait on You shall not be ashamed!” Form many a witness, the cry comes to everyone who needs help–brother, sister, tried one, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart; wait, I say on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you that wait on the Lord.”

Blessed Father, we humbly beseech You let none who wait on You be ashamed; no, not one. Some are weary, and the time of waiting appears long. And some are feeble and scarcely know how to wait. And some are so entangled in the effort of their prayers and their work, they think that they can find no time to wait continually. Father, teach us all how to wait! Teach ujs to think of each other, and pray for each other. Teach us to think of You, the God of all waiting ones. Father, let one that wait on You be ashamed! For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Just a thought…

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ARE YOU DISCOURAGED?

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore a d worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: (He will do it every time)!

“You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it has ‘t moved.” Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, “Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough.”

That’s what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take this troubled thoughts to the Lord.

“Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in Your Service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done.

Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed.

But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard.

Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.”

Author Unknown

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but when you don’t see the mountain move, don’t assume that nothing is happening! Your view is NOT the omniscient view! God sees things much differently than we do! God has it all figured out; in fact, has had it all figured out since before the foundations of the Earth were laid! He has planned well and all He asks of us is for us to obey Him. Then, it doesn’t matter if we don’t see that rock moving that we’ve been pushing, because that’s God’s job…not ours! Trust Him!

Just a thought…

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WOULD YOU BE BITTER?

Jake Geier

I had a thought yesterday as I was reading from the book of Daniel. Early in the first chapter of Daniel we find these words:

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and nobility—young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. (verses 3-5, NIV)

Anyone that has read the story of Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (their Babylonian names) knows of their commitment to God and the miraculous intervention they experienced when they refused to worship the golden image King Nebuchadnezzar set up. Nearly everyone also knows the story of Daniel and how he was delivered from the lions when King Darius was deceived by some very jealous men who wanted to see Daniel brought down from his position. In Daniel’s case, as with his three friends, Daniel refused to obey an order that was intended to supercede his own commitment to his God. The king could not break the law he himself had set in motion, leaving Daniel at the mercy of some starved lions for the night.

We know the stories and they make us feel good because we see how God intervened for these committed servants of God. Very few, however, remember that these young men likely had been forcefully made into eunuchs at the order of the Babylonian conquering king, Nebuchadnezzar. The Bible does not speak of this, but historically this is what was done by conquering kings. Some of the royalty of the conquered nation would be taken and made into eunuchs for service in the king’s palace. These men, once they had been castrated, could then serve as guards for the king’s harem and could be trusted to serve as personal aids to the queen or other important women of the kingdom’s administration. They also served as specialized slaves. These men generally lived in much better circumstances than others of the conquered peoples.

The question that crossed my mind was: I wonder if Daniel was ever bitter? He was taken as a teenager. He had lived as privileged royalty in Israel. He would have looked forward to adult life, not only as part of the royal court, but also eventually with his own wife and children. This is the natural goal of most every young man. I know that was the biggest goal of my own life when I was a young man. I loved children and I could not wait until I was married and had seven children of my own. This was what I had wanted from high school on.

So, was Daniel angry and bitter? The Bible does not tell us. We do know, however, that Daniel lived a life that God was able to use. When we read the Biblical accounts of the people God used throughout history, we find almost all of them having made disastrous mistakes. King David, the prophet Moses, Abraham, the Apostle Peter, nor Paul the Apostle would ever have been voted the most likely to succeed by their religious peers! Daniel however probably would have–if the kingdom of Israel had not fallen to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

I’m sure the whole life-changing chain of events rocked his world, as it must have his friends’. But, if there was any bitterness, it did not last. Daniel allowed God to be sovereign in his own life and served him through the lot in life that had been handed to him. Because of his submission to God, he was able to live out the life that God intended for him to live. God was able to put him into a powerful position under King Nebuchadnezzar, King Belshazzar, both leaders of the Babylonian Empire, and then King Darius of the Medes and Persians. What a career! Yet, it could not have happened if Daniel had allowed himself to be bitter and fight with God over the lot that had become his life, bitter at the loss of the life goals he himself must have had before the exile of Israel.

We find the story of Joseph, the eleventh son of the patriarch Jacob, to be very similar. God had a great plan for Joseph, a plan for great influence. Could he have fulfilled God’s plan if he had stayed angry and bitter at having been “cheated” of the normal life he had envisioned? I think not.

We all face similar detours from our own plans.  We can get stuck in the rut of crying, “God, why did you allow that to happen to me?” Or we can ask: “How can I best fulfill Your sovereign plan, given the circumstance I face?”

We all have the choice of facing our circumstances and dealing with them, either by becoming bitter or accepting the situation for what it is and seeing how it can make us better. Which is it for you? Have you allowed the tough experiences you have had to go through make you bitter? Or, have you allowed them to make you better?

The Apostle Paul wrote this to the Romans:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 he wrote:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  (NIV)

Jude wrote in verses 24-25:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy–to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our LORD, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Know that whatever you are facing in this life, God has a plan for you that includes blessing now and in eternity.  It’s His plan for you, and He will complete it as you allow Him to work in and through you in the circumstances.

Just a thought…

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NOT SO BAD

Anne Geier

I had a conversation with a relative recently. I can’t say how the topic came up, as our family knows the dangers of discussing politics or religion, but we ended up debating the hereafter. It’s probably the first time we have had this discussion and I had assumed all these years that we held some of the same beliefs about heaven and hell, sin and salvation. I believed that we all sin at some time in our lives and that makes us people in need of a savior. He believes that he is basically a good person, with a good heart (and he is!) and that is good enough.

I believe he was wrong.

But, I was wrong, too.

I have realized that sin does not mean we are bad. It just means we are human, but it doesn’t mean we are bad. Lying, stealing, gossip, immorality, and on and on do not make us bad people. I and some of my best friends are guilty of some or all of those and we are not bad people. We are good people with friends and family, joy and happiness, and a lot going for us. Yeah, we have trials and sorrows and grief and guilt, too. But if you asked anyone to describe us, we would be called “good people.”

Because, even though we have all sinned, sin does not make us bad!

No. Not so bad. Not bad at all.

Sin just makes us DEAD. Really, really, truly dead.

Sin is the reason that all of us eventually die physically. It also makes us spiritually dead even while we are still living physically. There is only one cure for dead, both physically and spiritually……the power of resurrection. And there is only one source for that power. That source is a Person. And that Person doesn’t care how bad we were, how bad we are, or how bad we will become. He doesn’t care how dead we are. He doesn’t care how mulitiple are our sins. He loves us so much that all he cares about is making a way for us to live again. He does not want us dead. He wants us alive for eternity with him. So He made a plan to break the law that has ruled mankind since the Fall of Adam. He broke the law of sin and death.

See, the law of sin and death is that IF you sin, you MUST die. Cause and effect. Conversely, if you don’t sin, you can live forever. Try it. Go one lifetime without sinning and you get to bypass the grave. If you DO sin at any time, you are right then and there dead spiritually. And you must die physically too. According to this law, everyone who has ever lived and who is now dead, sinned. That’s everyone.

Everyone except Him. You know His name: Jesus. He lived a totally, absolutely, completely and perfectly sin-less life. He earned eternal life by living a perfect life in human form, totally without sin. BUT, rather than collect His reward of living forever, He CHOSE to die physically in our place. He died even though he had not earned death. He died undeservedly instead of us deserving death for our sins. His innocent death paid the price demanded by the law of sin and death. He died, even though he was innocent, and that broke the law that demanded that sin result in death. That law is no longer in effect. And the proof of that is that He rose from the dead by the Power of God. He lives. Still. Both physcially and spiritually. He is alive.

So now, sinners no longer HAVE to die spiritually and we CAN live for all eternity.

But there’s a catch. I said that the law is no longer in effect. But the truth is, it is no longer in effect only for those who accept the substitute death of the Perfect One for his or her own spiritual death. Jesus died and rose again to break the law of sin and death once and for all. But he won’t force us to live, won’t force us to accept His death in our place. We can stay dead if that is how we want to spend life and on into eternity. We have a CHOICE. It’s a simple choice of opposites: Life or death; perfect love or all-consuming hate; heaven or hell (both of which are very real places both physically and spiritually).

Think about this. He knows we are dead even if we don’t realize it. We think we are alive, but He knows what real life truly is, and He has paid for us to know it too. The problem is that dead people have a hard time seeing the way out of their own graves. But even that problem is not too big for Him. He tells us through the Bible, through His Holy Spirit, and even through other people, that no matter how dark our grave might be, we can see His love and His plan and His all consuming hope that we will choose Him, choose life, choose the salvation that He bought for us by His incomprehensibly horrible, ugly death, covered in every sin that has ever been or ever will be committed.

When we choose to say yes to Him and come out of the spiritual grave that is our only reward outside of Him, we become reborn into a new spiritual life that will never, never end. Eternal life with God, with the One who loved us enough to become fully human, die at the hands of his own creation, so that sin will no longer have power over us. Jesus is the Way.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.    Acts 2:2    

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.    Romans 10:9  

It’s just that simple.  It’s just the first step in a life-long and eternity-long life with the One who created you, will always love you, and is offering to be with you in this life and through eternity, to never leave you, to never give up on you.  To save you from the law of sin that leads to death.

I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life. I Timothy 1:16

Just a thought…

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BEING SALT AND LIGHT

Jake Geier

In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, one of the statements He made was, “You are the world’s light–a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see.  Don’t hide your light, let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your Heavenly Father.”  Matthew 5:14-16  (Living Bible)

When I started this short thought, I had one thing in mind, but by the time I finished with the Scripture, I had a whole different thought come to mind.

Here is just a thought to think about as we live our lives.  The world we live in is getting wound up tighter and tighter, with the stress level rising to a seemingly intolerable level. Is there a way of making a difference in people’s lives who we come in contact with that will point them to the One that can give relief?  This relief may not come immediately nor will it likely come through a sermon given by us when we happen to feel more holy than normal during the week.  What shines the most brilliant in the eyes of people in our troubled world is a life lived in the contentment and peace of God.  This means that we truly live under the direction and control of our Lord–even during the most trying times.

There are numerous passages in the New Testament describing the life which has accepted the actual Lordship of the Master Jesus.  Many claim to be Christ-followers, but a whole lot less really fulfill what He taught. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that we will be perfect on the other side and it is unrealistic to really live the life that Jesus asked us to live. Sad, because it is a lie from the fallen one himself.

Jesus described a life that evidences a peace that passes all understanding. Was He telling the truth, or was He just speaking in unreachable platitudes?  Just for the sake of example of what I’m trying to say, is it truly realistic for God to expect us to actually practice brotherly kindness? Should we seriously put the needs of others ahead of our own?  Are we really required to discipline our own fallen nature so much that we don’t capitalize on the opportunities always coming along as we rub shoulders with people; perfect opportunities to set them straight–to OUR way of seeing how things ought to be?

Does God really expect us to humble ourselves so much that we don’t point out others faults–usually conveniently in front of others?  Whether we realize it or not, we put others down to elevate ourselves!  But, we usually show our own lacks and flaws more than we manage to expose the ones in others we feel so driven to point out.  We don’t realize how foolish and hypocritical we show ourselves to be at those times.  Not only do we likely have problems in the same or similar areas of our own lives, but we show a pride and arrogance that is an offense to the very Jesus we claim to love and follow.

Do you know, the ones we quite often belittle the most are the very ones that are either our spouses or other close family members.  If we truly love others as Jesus requires, we will be imitators of Him in how He treated others, and not just pretend to do so to impress others with our spirituality.

The Book of Philippians in the New Testament tells us that we need to take on the same attitude that Jesus Himself demonstrated.  He, who was the Creator of the entire universe, humbled Himself in such a way that no one ever felt ill at ease around Him–except for those who saw themselves as better than others–especially the religiously arrogant snobs.  Jesus never displayed true anger with anyone except the religious leaders who were leading the blind over the cliff–either by their man-made requirements or the lack of teaching the people the whole counsel of God.  God said that His people were destroyed because of a lack of knowledge.  This is what Jesus found with the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees in the first century.  This is also what is present at the end of the age we live in today!  God is calling us to become the REAL DEAL.  Bickering couples do not represent their God well.  Religious phonies don’t either.  Then there are the great religious gatherings, including denominational conferences that are often dominated by those who have their own agendas–usually involving money and power. God help us!

So how about those of you who are married?  Do others really see true love between you and your spouse, or do they see one or the other putting their mate down for one thing or another?  How does that show the love of God to those around us??  So what if you think you are the more perfect one!  God probably has a much different view of what your attitudes, agendas, or motives really are.  He isn’t fooled and there will be a time when all things are brought into the open, and we will have to answer for our bad attitudes.  Better to correct these things now!

Let’s show the world what a true belief in Messiah Jesus does to change us from the cantankerous or selfish people we used to be.  It’s high time to be genuine people of God who determine to become a mirror image of His love to the human race–even those who we happen to live with!  Jesus genuinely loved the most unlovely!!  He was attracted to the outcasts!  We must do the same.  Treating our spouses should be a given.  God is a God of great patience and enormous love.  That is how we should become. It does reach the desperate world around us…

Love genuinely every day!

Just a thought…

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GOD’S HEARTBEAT

Jake Geier

I remember going to a special conference years ago and the keynote speaker spoke for about an hour or so driving in what God’s heartbeat is.  This is about the only thing I remember about the whole conference, is the title of this sermon and what he hoped to drive home to the crowd.  At the climax of his sermon I remember him taking his fist and thundering down on the pulpit again and again, each time leaning into his mike and saying, “Souls, Souls, Souls”.  I never forgot this.

I was thinking about this a couple days ago and came to the conclusion that in a way this is also the mantra of the devil!  He has a hatred for human souls like no human being can even imagine.  It is a supernatural hatred so deep, we have no way of even comprehending it.  God on the one hand has such a love for the human race that He made provision Himself to redeem as many as will accept the free provision made by Jesus on the cross 2,000 years ago.  Satan on the other hand wants nothing more than to totally obliterate the human race in his quest to defeat the very God that created him–and us.

I bring this all up because I’ve been reading a book by Tosca Lee  called, “Iscariot”.  I am only half-way through and I don’t know where it ends up, but one thing that has really grabbed me is how much Jesus loved people.  The thing is, He gravitated to those that were throwaways to the society of the day, and especially disdained by the religious leaders.

We read in the Bible how Jesus was constantly being accused of hanging around with those that were despised; those that were untouchable because of disease; those who had ruined their lives through an immoral lifestyle, etc., etc.  He was ridiculed for letting Himself be “touched” by the “scum” of society.  Jesus let a woman wash his feet with her tears who had a bad reputation.  Another time He let a woman empty a very expensive alabaster jar of pure nard on Jesus’ head.  He called a hated tax collector to be one of His disciples.  He spoke with a Samaritan woman when that was unheard of.  There is not room enough to mention the multitude of times He proved His love for those that no one else had any love for.

This brings me to us today, especially if we claim to be followers of this very same Jesus. It is easy for us to go through all the motions of being “spiritual”.  We can even go to church every Sunday, sing all the songs, clap along with everyone else, give into the offering plate, often quite proud of ourselves for how much we do for our church and for the Kingdom of God, yet if the truth were known, many have an arrogance that has us looking down on those that we see as less than ourselves.

I had that burned out of me when I was a young inexperienced pastor in a troubled neighborhood in Northern California.  I had been called to the home of a man that was heavily intoxicated, and asked to help him find answers to some very difficult life-controlling problems.  After he–and his wife began to unload their life story on me and all of the huge mistakes made, including the fact that he had two wives, I had the thought cross my mind which said, “How can anyone allow themselves to go this low?”  The Lord spoke to me so abruptly and definitively that I never forgot what He said, nor how I felt when He said it.  He said, “Don’t you ever say that about another person I send you to! Except for my grace, it could be YOU.”  Believe me, I never let that thought stay in my mind again.

I spent about five years doing services in the Santa Rosa, California rescue mission.  One of the things I did which other visiting speakers did not do, was to go into the big dining hall in back afterwards where everyone got a meal who attended the service.  I made it a point to join the people and ate with them.  I was shocked to find that not only were there people who had never made anything of their lives, the drug addicts, prostitutes, people just out of jail or prison, but there were also people who had been professionals.  There were ex-doctors, ex-attorneys, ex-professors, and representatives from most other professions.  These people had lost everything, one way or another.  All their prestige, their power, their money, their influence, their reputation, was gone.  The Lord showed me that He loved them just the same!  In God’s eyes, the lowest of the low was considered worth dying for by the Son of God.  If that is the case, I need to look at them the same way God does.  In later entries to this “Just A Thought” page, off and on I’ll share a few of the unique experiences I was humbled to have with many of these very lost people, and what I saw God do for them.

Let’s remember Jesus’ attitude when the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him in John 8.  The Scribes and Pharisees wanted Jesus to condone having her stoned to death for her sins.  Jesus, after writing in the sand for a bit (probably the names of the men that had spent time with this same woman they were accusing!), said to them, “Anyone here that has not sinned, go ahead and throw the first stone!”  There were no takers!  Jesus loved her and restored her with God.  We are all sinners saved by grace.

Just a thought…

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GOING WITH THE FLOW

Jake Geier

A number of years ago I had an interesting experience while teaching a Wednesday evening Bible study in the church that I was pastor of.  The church was not all that big so I was easily able to see anything and everything that was going on.

My habit was to sit on the spinet piano after leading the worship with a music stand in front of me for my notes and teach.  This made it more informal and I had good interaction with the people.

I remember using the text of John 4 where the story is told of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, which happens to be one of my favorite New Testament stories.  As I was getting ready to read the story before making my comments I heard a man coming up the street in the direction of the church bellowing at the top of his lungs. It was quite noticeable because we had the back door of the church open as it was pretty warm that day.

I did my best to ignore the distraction even though it got louder and louder as he came closer to the church.  As he got to the front of the church he decided to take a sharp right turn and walked right into the back door of the church.  He was a big man, in his twenties and had blood all over his face.  One could also smell the alcohol clear up on the platform.  Fortunately he didn’t walk up the aisle but just sat down in a back row of chairs behind the church pews.

The first thing he did as soon as he sat down was to belch, and it was a real prize-winner! The congregation was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop and the only noticeable reaction from where I was at, was that one of the little old ladies turned around to lgive him a dirty look for his rudeness.  I couldn’t help but smile because I knew her well and she could hold her own with anyone, even at her 80 years or so.

The second thing he did as I proceeded to read the passage out of John 4 was to interrupt while I was reading and say, “ANYONE CAN STAND UP THERE AND READ THAT!”  This is because I had gone ahead and stood so as to be prepared for anything that could happen unexpected.  I had had five years experience doing services in a city mission in Santa Rosa, California and had had plenty of bizarre happenings!

So, to make a long story short, one member of my board of elders offered to take him into a back room until the teaching was over but I knew that would not turn out well.  He was not likely to cooperate and someone would get hurt.  The LORD urged me to just go ahead and teach.  So…I did…and this man continued to interrupt every three or four minutes and I’d have to either answer his questions or find a way to get him to settle down.  This went on for about 40 minutes or so, going back and forth from the story in John and handling whatever our visitor decided to challenge with.  It actually turned out to be a good experience for the congregation that had gathered that night.

At the end of the teaching I had a closing prayer and I saw that our surprise visitor sat down and stayed there until everyone was gone except for me, my associate and his wife–as well as one of the bigger guys of the board in case there was a need to intervene with Barry (as I later found was his name).

When everyone was pretty much gone he came down to the front and started to talk.  I found out that  he had just beat his wife that evening and then because of his guilt, went down to one of the many taverns near the church and took everyone on he could engage in a fight in order to make himself pay for what he had done.  They apparently abliged him.

As he told the story, he began to cry.  He then suddenly stopped and as he looked around at everyone, said, “If any of you tell anyone that you saw me cry, I’ll KILL you!  I have a reputation to uphold!”  I tried not to laugh at the irony of what he said and concentrate on his problems instead.

After his cloaked threat, he went back to telling his sad story.  The end result of him beating his wife was that she left him–rightfully so, I might add.  At this point, he wanted to know how to make a change in his life before he killed someone.  That is why he had taken that hard right hand turn as he was lumbering up the street, although he didn’t know it himself at the time.

We talked and then prayed with him, taking as much time as he needed, and then I gave him a ride home. The reason for this story is just to show that things in our lives are not coincidental–especially if you are a servant of the Most High.  Opportunities are presented to us sometimes in the most unusual ways and it is a shame if we miss them.

At the close of this age, there will be many of these events where people’s lives intersect with the family of God. Watch for them and see what God does!  He is really good at how He arranges events.  All He asks of us is to “Trust and Obey”, as the old hymn says.  You and I were put on this earth for such a time as this.  Let’s do what the Bible says and “Redeem The Time, for the days are evil.”  Jesus is coming…and SOON…

Just a thought…

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THE GREAT DELUSION

Jake Geier

I have referred to the subject of the “Great Delusion” off and on; in fact have written some blog articles addressing the issue.  For this short “thought”, I have no intention of going into detail concerning the subject.  I do however want to include a disturbing quote I ran across–one which I will not likely include on my “Quotes” page so that no one thinks I happen to agree with what it says.  This is how it reads:

“Christians will not immediately need to renounce their faith in God simply on the basis of the reception of this new, unexpected information of a religious character from extraterrestrial civilizations.  However, once the ‘religious content’ originating from outside the earth ‘has been verified’, they (Christians) will have to conduct ‘a re-reading (of the Gospel), inclusive of the new data.”

This happens to have been written by a high-ranking cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.  It was written due to the full expectation of the Vatican of a very soon disclosure of contact that extraterrestrials are expected to make with earth.  In fact, it seems that there are many within the Vatican that will admit to having had contact already and are discussing how to combine belief systems, not only of all of earth’s religions, but also belief systems of e.t.’s under one umbrella–the mother Church of Rome.

Not only did Jesus warn of the delusion coming at the end of the age, but so did the Apostle Paul.  In 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12 it reads like this:

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.  They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

In Jude, verse 3, Jude gives the reason for his short book.  He said this:

“I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”

We live at the most deceptive time in history and it is only going to get much worse. Never has it been more important to know our God; know His Word; and be living the contrite, humble life as God expects out of true believers in the Messiah Jesus who is about to invade planet Earth–first by pulling His faithful ones out, and then at the setting up of His Kingdom in Jerusalem at the end of the Great Tribulation.

Let’s finish well!!

Just a thought…

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VISION VS. ENTHUSIASM

Jake Geier

The story of Israel being delivered from Egypt is not the important part of their story; it is what they were delivered for.

So many of us have settled to “preach” just the “coming out” side–salvation from sin, from the world.  This is good, but only a part of the whole.  As a result we are so limited. We come to a standstill, in a realm of limited life as the Lord’s servants!  They came to a standstill, in a realm of limited life and power and influence, because their vision was so small.  Isn’t this quite often true of us?  Each of us must have the purpose of God’s Son revealed to them.  Otherwise, we only experience “enthusiasm” and never get hold of true “vision”.

How many of us have really been given a “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of His, having the eyes of our heart enlightened?”  Many will recognize this coming straight from the Apostle Paul’s writings in the New Testament.  The reason it is so important is because most of us just don’t go near far enough in our commitment and relationship with the One who paid the ultimate price to set us free.

Those that are truly fulfilled are those who are living in the good of the Lord’s complete sovereignty.  It is in the realm of His complete Lordship. How easily many of our lives are side-tracked simply because we are not desperate enough to pursue Him more!  We are caught in things which limit–things which may very well be good, even having something of God in them, but which none-the-less are things that limit us, and do not represent a wide-open way to all of God’s purpose.

There is a vast amount available to us in the Kingdom that we have never suspected, because we’ve let ourselves be sidetracked by things of the here-and-now, usually having little or no significance to what our journey is all about as we pass through here on our way to eternity.

Just a thought…

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NOTABLE INSCRIPTION OF A CATHEDRAL IN LUBECK, GERMANY

Jake Geier

While listening to one of several well-known expositors on the Bible yesterday, he brought up an inscription on a cathedral in Lubeck, Germany.  I myself had an opportunity over a decade ago to spend nearly two weeks in Germany, visiting my second oldest son, who then lived in Darmstadt.  I had taken the trip with my father and during some of the times that he spent time visiting with his siblings who were still living, I had the opportunity to do some exploring, even taking a short train trip to the town I was born in.

They must have known that their long-lost “son” was coming back home for a visit and so threw a huge celebration in the town square!  There were kiosks all over the place displaying all kinds of wares, mostly lots of specially home-brews of Germany’s famous beers!  There was lots of noise, laughter, and activity.  There was a large stage where all kinds of musical groups played, everything from techno music, to heavy metal, to polka–including the accordians and lots more.

Obviously I had not announced my coming to Alfeld, and the big celebration had nothing to do with me, although it makes for some good humor when telling about my trip!!  It was actually a yearly event that I happened to run across while taking the jaunt into my birth town to see if the hospital which I had been born in was still there.  It was.

I did note something interesting to me, because one would probably not find this here in the US.  The celebration center was ringed by old stone churches and several of them had beer advertisements fastened to the sides, as well as other things.  I have no judgment to make concerning any of this, but found it interesting enough to take a few photos, which I still have.  I was reminded of this when I read the inscription he made available, and I wrote it down.  This is what he found on the side of this great old cathedral.

“Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:

Ye call Me Master and obey Me not—-Ye call Me Light and see Me not—-Ye call Me Way and walk Me not—-Ye call Me Life and choose Me not—-Ye call Me Wise and follow Me not—-Ye call Me fair and love Me not—-Ye call Me Rich and ask Me not—-Ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not—-Ye call Me Noble and serve Me not—-Ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not—-Ye call Me Might and honor Me not—-Ye call Me Just and fear Me not—- If I condemn you, blame Me not.

These words at the very least were rather thought-provoking.   “Religion” as I have said many times is worthless because it only provides a venue for people to join another club, hardly different from any other fraternal organization.  God hates religion and Jesus demonstrated when he walked up and down the nation of Israel 2,000 years ago.

Jesus loved people and didn’t care how badly they had destroyed their lives.  He had the cure, and incidentally, the cure had to do with following the first half of each and every phrase contained in the inscription above–instead of ignoring them.  Jesus is still the same as He was while visible on earth for 33 years, although He is no longer limited to the terrestrial realm as He agreed to with full agreement and backing of the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It was done purely for the salvation of mankind.  The only thing left is for man to agree to God’s terms and accept the free gift of forgiveness, which wipes the stained slate CLEAN–no penance, and no purgatory to find out if it “took”!   Yet, so few will humble themselves to accept this great gift which entitles one to the eternity in heaven that God had originally designed for the human race.  The alternative is not something that God desires for any of us, yet He gave us “free will” and will not force us into making the right decision.  But…all of us must make that decision–for or against God and His plan for you and me.  If we decide against God’s requirement for freedom, thereby knowing that hell is the only other realm to spend eternity, God will honor the choice.

Please don’t miss your opportunity to ensure your relationship with the One that created you for true relationship with Him.  Invite Him to be LORD of your life.  You can’t go wrong.  Being forgiven is one thing, but letting Him help you through life by guiding you, is another.  This is why the old hymn was written many years ago, “Trust and Obey”. Time is out, we are the terminal generation of this age, and the door of escape from the terrors ahead is beginning to close.  Jesus is about to judge a rebellious planet, and then He will become KING of this world, and He will rule from Jerusalem.

Just a thought…

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NOT EVERYTHING THAT LOOKS LIKE FAILURE REALLY IS

Jake Geier

I was thinking back a few years to a man that I had spent quite a lot of time with.  He worked for me in a factory that I was plant manager for.  One day Gary stopped me as I was walking by and said that he heard that I was pastor of a little church in town.  I confirmed this and then he asked to drop in for a visit.

I didn’t think too much of this at the time but then when Sunday came around, I saw him sitting in the back.  As we were all mingling afterwards, he asked me if I had the time to answer some of his questions, and I agreed to meet him.  What started as one meeting over coffee turned into dozens of meetings over a whole lot of coffee.  We sometimes talked for a couple hours before agreeing to meet again.

Making a long story short, Gary was balancing out in his own mind the teachings from the Bible versus the teachings of an eastern cult called “The Holy Order Of Mans”.   The more Gary and I talked, the more he lit up with understanding.  We also became pretty good friends.

I got a call from Gary one day and he told me that he had made his decision on which way he felt he should go.  Well, I was glad to hear this because I was really looking forward to him becoming one of the family of believers in Jesus, the Messiah.  But what Gary said, sucked the air right out of my lungs!

Gary told me that his decision was to become a follower of this eastern cult.  He said that he had thought it through thoroughly and thanked me for all the time–and coffee.  After questioning him a little, I knew that no amount of talking was going to change his mind. I had to let him go.

I’ll have to admit, I struggled and I struggled with this.  I tried to think of what I may have missed in our talks.  What else could I have said?  How could I have approached it better?  Where was my mistake?  I even prayed that God would show me, but He was seemingly silent, and Gary was gone.  As it turned out, I never heard from him again, even at work.  He had packed up and moved to San Francisco to go join this group.

Some time later I read a Scripture in Isaiah and without expecting it, found my answer. Here is Isaiah 55: 10 & 11:

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my Word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The Lord spoke to me right as I read this passage and said:  “There is your answer about Gary.  I did not require you to “save” him.  I only asked you to share my Word with him to help him make his decision.  By me saying that my Word would not return void, it means that it will bring a person to a point of decision.  You did your part as I asked and Gary responded as my Word requires.”

I was astounded, but so very much relieved…and I learned a lifelong lesson that was a comfort many times in the years that followed.  My job is to share God’s Word, and do it well, and let the Spirit of God do His own work with it.

Just a thought…

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TIME

Jake Geier

I ran across a quote by a theologian which was written somewhere around 1870 or so.  It struck me enough that I uploaded the quote in the “Quotes” section of this blog, and will use it here for a short thought.   The quote is labeled “The Law of Satan”, and goes like this:

“That we seek all our pleasures in, and fix all our heartfelt hopes upon this present age over which he presides; and that we use our best endeavors–by various means of sensuous and intellectual occupations and delights, and countless ways of killing time which he has provided–to keep our thoughts from ever wandering into that age to come which will see him a fettered captive instead of a prince and a god” (George H. Pember)

I couldn’t help wonder how the “ways of killing time” in 1870 compare to 2013!  They had very primitive communications, at least by our standards.  There were no televisions, stereos, computers, I-pads, telephones-much less cell phones, smart phones, etc.  I could go on and on.  I still remember having a very primitive “rocket radio” when I was a kid. Because my folks didn’t want me listening to rock & roll music (like what was becoming available in the late 50’s), I hid it under my covers in order to listen.  My mother used to come in and always caught me because I had to attach a wire from the radio to the metal on my bedroom window as an antenna.

In order to make this short, here is my concern today.  We have so much entertainment available today that no time is left for the things in life that really matter–especially God. Our kids are hooked on every type of game machine there is.  If it’s not an X-box, then there are hundreds of smart phone applications available.  Our kids don’t see parents who discipline their lives; why should they?  In fact, most younger adult males have become as much video zombies as today’s generation of kids.

Bottom line is this:  We need to get control of the priorities of our lives and turn them into the control of our God, who we claim is our Lord and Master.  Is He really??  If He was, He would have the #1 spot.  We are quick to defend ourselves and say that He is, but…sadly, for most of us, God gets our left-overs, and very little at that.

God loves us so much that He will pull all of the props out from under us, so that we become desperate, if necessary.  He does this in the lives of individuals, but it will now happen to our nation.  America is in the condition it is because the church has not done its job.

The year 2012 was a year when many things shifted, but mostly behind the scenes.  This was politically, internationally, economically, in the world of religion, as well as other areas.  The year 2013 will morph into a year of vengeance.  There will be war; there will be political and national upheavals; famine, disease, pestilence, and great poverty will become more the norm around the globe than we’ve ever seen.  The cosmic threats the Bible warned about are just now making themselves known.  Climate changes and earth changes are beginning to cause much fear.  Great, great events are in store for THIS year, and God is allowing them for His own purposes.   As I write this we are right in a seeming lull-if you can call it that.  It will not last.  This is the time to take God’s Word serious when it says:

“Be very careful then how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5: 15-17)

In conclusion, keep living with plans for the future, but be READY to be stolen out of this world at any minute now.  This means that you need to be on “hearing terms”!  God MUST be #1 on your priority list.

Just a thought…

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LOVE

For years, as a young adult and on, I would pray: “Lord, teach me to love.”  I question if I have learned much in the 40-some years since I started praying that.  But if I have learned nothing, or too little, it is not because the Teacher lacked any ability to teach.  Am I just a slow learner, or am I missing something?  I think it is a bit of both, but mostly the latter.  I have tried everything I know to be a better lover of people.  Empathy, patience, self-discipline, tongue biting, etc., etc.  Still, I don’t love the way He loves.  I don’t have that same compassion or acceptance, or generosity that He showed when he was here in the flesh. I do not esteem others higher than myself. I am definitely missing something.

Maybe I have been praying amiss all this time.  He will not teach His kind of love. It simply cannot be taught.  I am, as long as I am in my flesh, absolutely incapable of learning that kind of love for others.  But that does not exempt me from loving them as He loved.  It just means I’m going about it wrong. I am trying to love like He loves, instead of letting Him love like He loves and getting myself totally out of the way so that that love shows through.

I still do not know how to do that.  So it occurs to me that my not knowing how to do it is actually the point He is trying to make with me.  Maybe I can never love like He loves unless the focus of my love is only Him.  To just love Him. He will not teach me to love so that I have a skill I can use.  That would be putting the skill of loving others on a pedestal too high.  Like making healing a focus instead of the Healer.   Like making love the focus instead of the Lover.

I have no idea where this is going to lead me, but I think He is going to do something new.

Just a thought…

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WHAT DOES GOD WANT FROM US?

Paul Olsen

Having been affiliated with the busyness of the church lifestyle most of my years, I’m familiar with the pressures and the stigmas associated with being that ‘good church member’ so many of us have either wanted as a pastor, or been immersed in as that member.  Churches seem to always be short on helpers and so those who are prone to volunteer often end up with multiple positions.  Of course there is certainly nothing wrong with having a servant’s heart, but it is easy to get bogged down and burdened with a sense of duty.

One of my all-time favorite passages comes from an encounter Jesus had with his disciples.  It’s located in the book of John, chapter 6 and verses 28 and 29.  This is how it reads in the NIV:  ‘Then they (the disciples) asked him (Jesus), “what must we do to do the works God requires?”  Jesus answered, “The work of God is this; to believe in the one he has sent.”

Take note of the word usage of ‘work’.  Just like today, the disciples were wanting to get busy and cover the ‘check-out’ sheet that Jesus surely had for them to do.  Teach Sunday school, lead the children’s church, clean the church, commit to a work day, help bake for the  bake sale, works, works, works.

The one thing that too often gets missed here is that we spend so much time doing the horizontal stuff, that we forget the most important and that is the vertical, our relationship with God.  What I see Jesus declaring here is rather profound.  No wonder he responded so positively to Mary as she washed his feet while Martha was so busy teaching Sunday school and getting ready for the potluck.  Many have questioned that over the years because Martha was doing the ‘works’.  Well, Jesus was acknowledging the more important singular ‘work’.

Are we in touch with God to the point where we truly believe in the one he has sent?

Just a thought…

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EVERYTHING FOR LIFE AND GODLINESS...

Jake Geier

As I sat in the stillness of the early morning, I turned to 2 Peter, first chapter.  I have read them many times over the years as it is a favorite passage of mine.  The apostle Peter was someone I can relate to.  He had such a talent of putting his foot in his mouth–not always taking the time to think through what was about to come flying out of his mouth.  I’ve done that so often, especially when I was a younger man.  But in this passage Peter is not young, neither is he immature.  He knows his time left on this earth is short and he wants to remind Christ-followers of some things that are simple, yet overlooked.

Verse 3 says we have been given everything for life and godliness.  The way I understand this, it means everything for our physical living and our spiritual walk with God.  In verse 4 he reminds us that we can walk in the divine nature.  We miss this way too often.  He then lists some qualities that should be part of our nature as Christians. We excuse ourselves by saying that we are just human.  Not good enough if God says we can live with His divine nature showing through in our everyday lives.

Peter goes further and says that if we see to it that these things listed in verses 5-7, we will not fall.  That’s quite a statement, don’t you think?  Then in verse 10, he emphasizes that we should make our calling and election sure.  Wow.  That makes it sound like I could blow it!  In fact, chapter 2 speaks of false teachers and the damage they do.  I find it interesting to note that verse 15 says these ones mentioned, have actually left the straight way and wandered off to follow the ways of Baalam in the Old Testament.  This is the story of a prophet that was offered great pay to speak against God’s people so that they would fall to the power of a foreign king.  God used a donkey to speak to Balaam with the voice of a man. It’s a great story if you have the time to read it.

I also find it interesting that earlier in chapter 2, Abraham’s nephew is mentioned as a “righteous” man.  Yet, when reading about Lot’s life, which is intertwined with Abraham’s movements for several chapters in Genesis, Lot seems a rather weak-spined individual. These false teachers however mentioned by Peter are described as having left the way of God!  This tells me that I need to be sure to discipline myself, as the Apostle Paul said, so that after walking with my Lord for all these 57 years now, I don’t become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27).  I’m not trying to open the age old controversy of eternal security and the difficulties in defining “predestination”, but Paul’s statement is a rather sobering thought, for sure…

Just a thought…