12-24-2016         NO GREATER LOVE

No greater love.  John 15:13 tells us that no man can express a greater love than he lay down his life for his friends.  Jesus came into this world over two thousand years ago to do just that – and more.  

While we were yet sinners (separated from God) God s showed His love towards us as Christ died for us (on the cross) (Romans 5:8).  And He showed us the relationship He wanted with us when He explained to His apostles and disciples (John 15:14-17) that He doesn’t want ‘just’ servants, but He wants friends (like David and Johnathan, 2 Sam.1:26), someone He can share His thoughts with and who will share our lives with Him. 

This is Jesus who was with the God and was God (John 1:1), who was made flesh and lived among us and the disciples saw His glory as the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14).  So Jesus became a ‘man’ under the law to redeem us from the law (Gal. 3:13) by being born a human (Gal. 4:4-6) to deliver us from the bondage of the law.  He had everything in heaven, yet He came to earth to bring us back into eternal fellowship with the Father (Romans 10:9).

He did this by going to the cross for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin (Heb. 9:22), becoming cursed for us so that we might attain righteousness and have eternal fellowship with the Father (Gal. 3:13). 

But we know that Jesus not only died for us, but overcame death and the grave (1 Corinth. 15:55-57) and ascended to the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:55) and is patiently waiting to come back for all His brothers and sisters (the church) so we can be with Him forever and ever (1 Thess. 4:13-18). 

So how do we return this love to Jesus?

We read the bible to show ourselves approved (2 Tim. 2:15).   There are many voices in the world.  If we don’t learn something about the nature of God, how can we know what voice we are hearing?  Samuel had to learn to know that it was the voice he was hearing in the night (1 Sam. 3:1-11).  We learn how God interacts with us, comforts us and guides us through reading the bible.

There are three ways in which we can read the bible:

Content – From Genesis to Revelation, what’s in the bible?  We learn the stories of the bible, about creation, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, King David, King Solomon, Jesus, the apostle Paul and etc.   We may not understand all that the stories mean or involve, but we do become familiar with them so we know what has happened in the bible and have an idea of how God has dealt with man in the situations.

Depth – What lessons can we learn, should we learn, from reading the bible?  How to speak, how to act, how to interact with other people and the world around us, who is God, who is Jesus (really), our relationship with HIm and so forth.  We begin to understand the meaning of the contents and truths of the bible, how they impact us and how we can apply them to our own lives.

Revelation – A much deeper insight into what God wants us to learn from His written Word.  Our relationship with the world around us.  Our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  Our relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ and the role of the Holy Ghost in this relationship.  How we can walk with the Father/Jesus through the Holy Ghost. The apostle John reminds us that Jesus said and did a whole lot more than what is recorded in the bible (John 21:25), so we know that there is more to learn that what is literally written in the bible.

As we learn about God, we need to become familiar with how to communicate with Him.  Communication is how we build relationships.  If we don’t talk with someone, we don’t learn anything about them, things they like, their interests or their basic nature. 

To develop our relationship with God, we need to learn about Him, not just in reading the bible (that’s just the beginning) but really to get to know Him and we call our communication with Him “prayer”.

Communication (prayer) is a two way street:

Us petitioning God – What’s on my mind?  What needs do I have?  We can bare our hearts, our thoughts, our needs: money, guidance, help, to God even though our heavenly Father already knows our needs are (Matt. 6:8) He still would like us to honestly, sincerely and plainly, verbally express (speak out loud) those needs to Him and ask.  

God speaking to us – God answering our prayers.  God answers prayer three ways: 

The bible:  We may not be able to ‘hear’ God’s voice so Father will speak to us through His written word (the bible), giving us the answer we need. We have a problem, the Holy Ghost will lead us into the bible showing us the answer we need.

The world around us:  He may provide circumstances, situations or people who will express the answer to our prayer request.  We just need to look and/or listen and to receive His response to our prayer through the things around us.

Personal Revelation:  As with Samuel (1 Sam. 3:7-10), God may speak to us directly, or put a thought in our heart or mind (the Holy Ghost lives within us (John 14:16-17), which is His response to our situation.  And this response WILL BE consistent with the truths of the bible, so we have the assurance we are hearing from God.

So we find that God can answer our prayer by sending us into His written word, things or people around us or by speaking directly to us through thoughts or ideas expressed using an audible or internal (thought or feeling) or external voice.  Now I personally have yet to experience an external voice from God, but I’ve talked with those who claim this experience.  I cannot divide yea or nay so I accept their testimony based on their relationship with the Lord.

            There are four aspects to our ‘prayer life”

                        Praise and worship

Our prayers life should always include praise and worship.  Acknowledging God for who He is, His characteristics, qualities, His love as expressed towards us (Psalms 34:1).  We enjoy others giving us praise for the good things we do for them or for our successes in life.  We get that from our heavenly Father – He too enjoys our acknowledging His works in our lives (Rev. 4:8).

                        Thanksgiving

We should continually thank Him for all that He has done and does do for us (Psalms 50:14).  How do we feel when our children (or anybody) thanks us for something we’ve done for them?  God relishes the fact that we appreciate what He has done for us, as well.

                        Our petitions

God wants us put our request before Him (Phil. 4:6).   As we’ve already said, He knows our request before we even ask Him, but there’s just something about speaking them out before Him.

                        Our listening to the Creator of heaven and earth

Once we’ve had our say, we need to ‘zip our lips’, sit back and listen for whatever revelation Father has for us (Job 37:14, Psalms 46:10).  What does He have to say that He wants us to know?

All of this is our following the lead of the Holy Ghost in building our relationship with our heavenly Father so we can walk with Him and talk with Him in the cool of the evening and hear what He has to say to us.  Having a true relationship with our Creator.

All of this is how we can show our love to God in appreciation for His giving us life and the promise (not just hope) of eternal fellowship with Him, through Jesus Christ (our Lord) and sealing us with His Holy Ghost – for ever.

God showed us His great love by giving us His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, on Christmas Day.  We can return our love to/for Him by living for Him in this world.  John chapters fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen give us a good start on how to live for Father through Jesus Christ.  We remember that God is love (1 John 4:7) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) so we can be a true beacons of his love to a lost world (Matt. 5:16). 

No greater love?  God, the Father, towards us and us returning that love to Him to the best of our ability and God helps us here too.  Apart from Jesus we can truly do nothing (John 15:5) but in Him we can do all things (Phil. 4:13).

Amen.

12/10/2916   Little Boy(Girl) Lost
                   

We are spiritual beings living in a physical body and the nature of our spirit is determined by our relationship with the Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Every living creature has a spirit of ‘life’ (Gen. 2:7), not eternal life but that which gives us breath and animation (being able to move about), but nonetheless what we call life.  One of two things can happen to us as we age, I didn’t say mature, I said ‘age’, get older.  We can ask the Spirit of the living God to enter our hearts and become a viable part of our lives or we can reject God’s Spirit and try to make it on our own where we live out our lives living in our own strength or a demonic entity may take up residence within.  In either case, the end will eventually lead to all sorts of havoc – promiscuity, violence, despair, or more.  Those who reject Jesus do become the devil’s playground.  When the devil dangles those temptations, we jump, to whatever enticement he has set before us – in our own strength, but when an evil entity enters into our hearts and takes up residence, our bodies become controlled by that spirit (John 8:42-45).

Even if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we need to start growing or we may become stagnant.  Stagnant means no Spiritual growth (1 Corinth 3:1-3).  We quench the Spirit by not allowing Him to function in our lives as God intended (1 Thess. 5:19).   Even though we are saved by faith we keep God’s laws (to truly love) we obey God’s laws, not because we ‘have to’ but because we ‘choose to’.  We have the hope of salvation, but when we become stagnant, we stay ‘spiritual babies’ until Christ’s return.  

When we don’t accept Jesus, we leave ourselves open to any outside influence, including uninvited entities coming into our hearts.   Look at the world around us.  It has gone totally bananas!  Aside from ‘terrorism’ people are killing people Irregardless of race), there is theft, sexual promiscuity and so on.  God does not force Himself upon us and when we reject Him, He leaves us to our own devices and that means being open to any influences the Evil One decides to inflict (on the unsaved).   If we’re honest, the world’s a mess – a big mess.  And at the bottom of that mess are demonic entities under the guidance of Satan himself (Rom. 1:22-25).

Read the following scripture, on your own, to get a little better understanding of what the bible says about spiritual warfare.  Now, there are more scriptures than these, but this should give you an idea and you can always research further, just remember to read the entire account.

Mark 5:1-13                 “Legion”

Mark 1:39                    “Casting out devils in a region”

Luke 11:14                   “The ‘dumb’ devil”

Acts 16:16-18              “Spirit of divination and Paul”

Matt. 12:25-29            “Who casts out devils, Satan or God?”

Matt. 8:16                   “Cast out spirits by His Word”

Luke 4:33-36               “Authority over unclean spirits”

Mark 7:25-30               “The Gentile woman’s daughter (scraps)”

Acts 19:13-16              “Sons of Sceva”

But spiritual warfare is just the foundation, not the meat, for what I really want to talk about at this time.  I want you to understand that there are opposing forces in this world.  Oriental philosophy may call it “ying and yang”, “light and dark (white and black) or some may even all It the ‘ever present’ battle of good versus evil (“may the force be with you”).  Many religions deny the existence of God or Satan but that doesn’t make it so.  In fact, Satan thrives in the lives of those who refuse to believe he exists.  But the battle goes on as Satan continues to try to undermine the things God does (Rev. 12:7-9).

But all of this is just the intro to what I really want to talk about –“the little boy (girl) lost”.  “Wait” you say. “Why did you put girl in parenthesis?”  God is always projected in the masculine (I know the arguments).  God created Adam (man) then took a rib from Adam’s ‘side’ making Eve (woman), thus making man and woman equal in position BUT not in responsibility (are you listening men?).  This is all I’ll say about this (Gen. 21-23).  If you challenge me or think I should talk about this later, send me an email for this is a topic all unto itself.  My email address is at the top of the blog if you want to contact me and my google has a ‘translator’.  I haven’t used it yet but I’m willing to give it a shot if necessary.

Now, “Little boy (girl) lost”.  If you follow me at all, you’ve seen that I liberally use scripture references to support what I say, but on this topic I haven’t seen any scripture, per se, so what I say here is by ‘permission’, God’s permission.  What I put in the blog may not always be all that there is to say on a subject, but it is factual (that’s why I use scripture).  However, this an area that doesn’t fit the mold, but, by the grace of God, this will give you something to think about. 

There is a spirit called an ‘orphan spirit’.  The first time I even heard the term was about five years ago at a conference I went to and there was a class on the ‘orphan spirit’ so I thought I’d take it.  I didn’t realize what Father would be opening me up to, as I continued to grow.  It was a good class and the instructor shared what he understood.  It was good and I received it but since that time Father has opened my eyes up tremendously to that area of our lives so what I share today, if you will, is not only by permission, but revelation and personal experience as well.  Don’t read just the two following verses I cite here but the surrounding ones as well.  John 20:30 “Truly, Jesus did many other signs and wonders in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book” (John’s gospel) and in John 21:25 “And there are many other things that Jesus did that if every one should be written down, the world could not contain all the books in which they would be written,”  So we see that Jesus said and did a lot that we don’t have ‘immediate’ access to but according to John 20:31, we have enough information to gain access into eternity.

So, just what is the ‘orphan spirit”?  How do we come by it?  How do we know it when we see it?  How do we get rid of it?  That’s what I want to talk about this time.

How do we get an orphan spirit?

The orphan spirit enters a person’s life via some sort of traumatic experience.  It doesn’t matter how great or how small that experience may actually be but it is major to the individual.  It doesn’t matter how old or how young the individual is.  It is an event in one’s life that the individual cannot or will not cope with:  loss of a parent or dearly loved one, abuse – verbal or physical, rape, witnessing extreme violence. , maybe even ‘simply’ just being left alone (abandoned) – no support system.

Nature

The orphan might actually seem to be a help initially because what it does is set up defense barriers to help us cope with the situation.  This might seem good, but the defense mechanisms are all ‘internal’, God is not a part of this support system at all.   There is a dual nature inside the individual – introvert and extrovert.  Truly an introvert because of insecurities, there has been no foundation for building confidence.  There is ‘no’ or a ‘weak’ support system to foster self-confidence so the orphan helps the introverted person to create protective barriers – “I’m really OK”, “It’s not my fault” etc.  Yet, the individual seeks and desires acceptance, attention and love and seeks to fill that void in his heart.  Often, trying to fill that void results in ‘acting out in various ways, to get attention.  The gloves come off as the orphan helps the extrovert to fill the void in any way, acting out (class clown or the ‘bad boy’ always in trouble), becoming promiscuous thinking that ‘love’ (sex) is the answer.  Afraid to ask for and receive attention but doing almost anything to get that attention, even to being destructive. 

Yet this spirit is not an indwelling spirit.  If you will, it sits on your shoulder, whispering into your ear what it wants you to do and because these suggestions seem to ease the pain of the trauma and we listen and do. 

Recognition

How can we recognize the orphan spirit?  Because all the defense mechanisms are internal, one of the first things the orphan will do is affirm that the individual is really OK, within himself.  It soothes a shaken and/or shattered ego.  It needs reaffirmation – “Good boy!”  You can do it!”  And you may say but those are natural encouragements and you’re right but the orphan spirit HAS to have that reinforcement – for survival.  Though the orphan seeks these positive reinforcements, because of the introverted personality, they seldom really come.  Yes, it’s always nice to hear encouraging words, but for the orphan, they become a necessity in life. It HAS to have it so it seeks those reinforcements.  It will all but die without those reinforcements. 

The orphan will crave attention any way it can get it, whether blatant or subtle.  The orphan spirit says “Look at me!”, “Watch me!”, “Focus on me!”  It has to broadcast accomplishments (see, I really am somebody).  It has to be the center of attention, that’s part of the reaffirmation.  It may brag about accomplishments (real or perceived) especially when compliments don’t come from outside resources.  And in seeking reaffirmation and acceptance, the orphan becomes controlling.  If the orphan is ‘in control’, “nothing else can hurt me).

Influence

Because it is a controlling spirit, the orphan spirit drives to control the situation, any situation, so that nor more hurt comes to the individual.  This controlling nature can become ‘overbearing’ to those around the orphan for it (the orphan) NEEDS to take charge as part of its self-protection mode.  

Danger

The big danger with the orphan spirit is not the spirit itself, per se, but that it opens the door for other, truly evil, demonic sprits to enter the individual which, of course, will lead to more corrupt and perverse attitudes and actions and here, I’m implying outright possession of the individual and blatant promiscuity, violence and so forth.

Good riddance

I mentioned that the orphan is not an indwelling spirit.  This means it can’t be cast out, but rather it has to be loved out.  We need to fill our lives with God’s love to the point that there is “No room at the inn” for the orphan spirit in our lives.  We can’t continue to entertain it’s suggestions but ignore them and replace the elements of that spirit with God’s love in and through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

We need to identify those areas of our life which the orphan spirit influences.  Then we bring God’s love into our hearts by yielding those areas to Him (of course, through Jesus) and continue looking for more areas to yield even as we see victory in some areas, to assure all areas are clean.  We give those areas to God, through Jesus Christ and leave them with him.  Sort of like acknowledging, confessing, repenting and setting our sins behind us (Isaiah 38:17).  And when the enemy reminds us of what ‘used to be, we remind him that we have already given those areas to God and stand firm in what God has given us (Ephesians 6:13).

When the orphan has no more footholds, which is true with any spirit, we achieve victory.  Then we continue to fill our hearts with God’s love and word so to keep those doors closed.  We don’t want to fall into the trap of the swept and garnished house (Matt. 12:43-45) where the spirit returns.

11/26 Church reconstruction

                        

                                               

                       The starting point, three stages of construction and finally breath of life 

Jeremiah 1:13-16        And the word of the Lord came to me (Jeremiah) a second time saying “What do you see?” and I said “I see a boiling pot facing north.”  And the Lord said to me “An evil will come upon the inhabitants of the land from the north.  I will call the families and kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they shall come and each one shall set his throne at the gates of Jerusalem, against all the walls and against all the cities of Judah.  And I will speak my judgment against them touching all their wickedness, those who have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods and who have worshipped the works of their own hands.”

Ezekiel 37:1-14            The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me (Ezekiel) out in the spirit and set me in the midst of a bone filled valley.  Then He caused me to pass all around them and there were many bones in this open valley and they were dry. 

Then the Lord said to me “Son of man, can these bones live?”  And I answered “Oh, Lord, only you know.” 

And again He said to me “Prophecy to these bones and tell them ‘Oh, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live.  And I will lay sinews upon you, lay flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I was commanded and lo, as I prophesied, there was a noise and there was a shaking and each bone come into is proper place, bone upon bone.  And as I watched, sinews (Strong’s 1517 thong, tendon) and flesh (Strong’s 1320 nakedness, self) came upon them and skin (Strong’s 5785 leather, hide, naked) covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then He said to me “Prophecy to the wind, prophecy, oh man, and tell the wind ‘Thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, O, breath and breathe upon these slain that they might live.’”

So I prophesied as He commanded me and breath came into them (the dry bones) and they lived and stood up on their feet and they were an exceeding great army.

Then He said to me “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel and behold, they complain that their bones are dry and our hope is lost for we are cut off from our parts.  Therefore tell them that I say to them ‘Thus says the Lord God, behold O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of those graves and I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And when I have opened your graves, you will know that I am the Lord, for I have said it and I have done it.  Says the Lord.’

Of course, Father is speaking to Israel in these two passages but He tells us that the principle still applies today.  His wrath is going out against the disobedient (Jeremiah) and today, that’s not just the world but Israel and it includes todays New Covenant Church, the church of the New Testament because we have not completely followed His word – as we should.

But, more importantly He is telling us He is repairing, reconstituting today’s church (Ezekiel) so we can perform and function as He has always intended.  He is restructuring His church, bringing us up out of darkness and bringing us into His glorious light and we will know that HE IS GOD.

Father’s reconstruction or resurrection of the church

For centuries, the church has hung on by its spiritual teeth, hanging on to the ‘hope’ of eternal spirituality with God because we have confessed Jesus with our mouths and believe God raised Him from the dead.  These are the dry bones the church has existed as since shortly after the apostolic period.

The following passages give us a little deeper insight into the church happenings since Jesus, issues that still persist in today’s New Covenant Church, the church of e New Testament.

Revelation 2 & 3

            Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7)

God tells the church at Ephesus: acknowledges their works, ministries, patience and not putting up with evil, they’ve discover false apostles by trying them and have not faltered in service

However, they have left their first love (God), for if they don’t return to how they lived at first, their candlestick will be removed.  (They had forgotten about living for God).

            Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11)

He knows their works, trials and poverty,

but they have allowed blasphemous Jews into their midst.  (False teachers)

            Pergamos (Rev. 2:12-17)

I know your works, where you live and where Satan’s seat is. They have held to the faith, not denied His name, even to the martyrdom of Antipas

However, they’ve allowed those who teach false doctrines into their members, allowed stumbling blocks, eaten things offered to idols and committed fornication. (False teacher & ungodly practices)

            Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29)

                        He says I know your works, love, service, faith and patience

However, they have allowed a false prophetess to teach, seduce and commit fornication with the members and cause them to eat things sacrificed to idols. (false teachers, loose living style – unmarried sexual activity and ungodly actions)

            Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6)

Watch, strengthen what you have and which are ready to die.  Some walk in white

Because works have not been perfect before God.  I will come upon you like a thief in the night because you don’t watch. (hearts have strayed, right actions, wrong reasons)

            Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13)

I know your works, set an open door before you for you have a little strength, kept my word and not denied My name.  You have kept the word of My patience.  I will bless you for your faithfulness. (good actions bring good rewards)

            Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22)

                        I know your works

However, you are neither hot nor cold so I will spew you out of My mouth.  You are self-sufficient and don’t even recognize your own shortcomings.  Try you works in fire and I will bless you and will chasten (refine) you in MY love.  (knowing the word of God but not taking a stand for it.  Our hearts shall be tried and if they are truly pure, we will stand, if not we will fall away like followers did in Matt.6:60-66)

Also, note, that Paul’s letters to the churches: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians and the Hebrews nor to overlook the letters to Philemon (a Colossian slave owner) and Timothy (evangelist & Bishop at Ephesus).

As the angel did with John in Revelation, Paul always commends the good being done, but then addresses the ‘deficiencies’ noted.  God is doing the same today.  In Ezekiel He notes that the ‘Dry Bones’, the very rudiments, basics, of the church have ‘hung’ in there maintaining Jesus is Lord and the resurrection, but there have been occasions against today’s church as well. 

For nearly 700 years, Father has been addressing those deficiencies and is now breathing (true) life back into His church.

An earlier impetus for church growth may have been Wycliffe’s bible, originally translated 1380-1395, circulated & reedited in early 1400’s).  The bible was aimed at laity (the common man) and was declared heretical because it was not authorized by the church, nor was Wycliffe clergy.

So starting there and scanning the major movements in the church over the centuries we see

Protestant Reformation (1500 -1600’s) (sinews, tendons and ligaments)

Holiness Movement (1700-1800’s) (flesh, muscle)

Pentecostal Movement (1800-1900’s) (skin, outer covering)

Apostolic/Prophetic Movement (1900-2000’s) (true breath of life

Look at the centuries covered here, when the influence of Wycliffe’s bible is factored in the 14^th, 15, 16^th, 17^th, 18^th, 19^th and now the 20^th centuries can be counted, making this the 7^th century Father has been reconstructing His church.  Until Wycliffe, the Catholic Church and the Latin Vulgate were the core of Christianity.  The Wycliffe bible started shaking things up, a shake up which hasn’t stopped, even today.

Through Ezekiel (Ezek. 37:1-14) God shows how He has been  ‘remanning’ His church by taking dry bones, placing connective sinews to those bones so they can hold their proper place in the body.  He then adds muscle so these bones can move and be effective.  He then adds an attractive outer layer of skin so those old bones look like a body.  Finally He has Ezekiel to command the four winds to bring the breath of life into those old bones and they stand up and live.

Take note of the sequence used in Ezekiel.  God adds substance to the foundation, the dry bones, then he adds flesh or the very essence of a man, then He adds the skin, a covering form man’s nakedness

If you will, Wycliffe’s bible brought attention to those old bones in the valley.

The Protestant Reformation added ligaments, sinews and tendons so those bones could stay connected in their proper places.

The Holiness Movement added some muscle to those bones so they could move – the meat, for living a holy life for God.

The Pentecostal Movement added the skin covering.  With the ‘Baptism’ of the Holy Ghost, the church started looking like it was supposed to.

Through the Apostolic/Prophetic Movement, the church is realizing it needs to have “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”.  It’s not just doing works living a good life,  nor just speaking in our spiritual language (tongues) but it is indeed moving into a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father communing in Him, abiding with Him and realizing that this can be realized through Jesus Christ through obedience and surrender to the Holy Ghost, allowing Him to fully operate in our lives, not quenching Him (1 Thess. 5:19).

The early church KNEW who Jesus was and for a season lived like it.  But just as Paul had to write letters to remind the fledgling churches not to lose faith, man has slipped away over the centuries, eventually into the falling away mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:3.  Now, grant it, we haven’t seen the revelation of the son of perdition, yet, but the foundation for his coming is being laid – big time. 

Over the past several centuries Father has bought His church from bare, dry bones as the church has always known that Jesus is Savior, identifying and bringing our ‘bones’ into proper alignment and connecting them (sinews), through the solidifying of our foundation of faith to today by giving our faith the ability to be put into action (flesh), through to where He is breathing His Spirit back into His church (skin) so His church will come to know that He IS God and He can do ALL that He said He could/would from the beginning and that He desires a most intimate relationship with each one of us, individually.

God created all that is in six days and on the seventh He ‘rested’ and saw that which He created was good.  Well, it was ALL good until Adam & Eve disobeyed Him.

But Father has been reconstructing His church now for 600 years and we are now in the seventh.  What does the number seven mean?  Completion!  Spiritual perfection!  We are in the seventh season of reconstruction.

This is the season God is maturing His church so we can start acting and living like we truly know who He is, who we are and that we can now have a solid relationship with Him and in Him through Jesus Christ because the Holy Ghost is alive, well and operational within us (this is a growing season).

I’ve heard in some quarters that Jesus can’t come back until the world is ready to receive Him.  Excuse me!  If we could make the world acceptable to Jesus, why would we need Him to come back?  What Father IS doing is preparing His church, His body, His bride so no one will get left behind when the bridegroom does comes (Matt. 25:1-13).

Things are coming to culmination and awesome things are going to start happening.  But, where awesome things happen, so does awesome resistance.  So for awesome things to happen, God’s children need to be awesomely prepared – and that is exactly what God is in the process of doing.  Preparing us to be ready to meet Jesus when He does return so none (of His church) will be left behind.  Amen

11-12-2016

ENTERING INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

When the time comes, exactly who will actually enter into the kingdom of God?

Jesus clearly defines, in the gospels, that there are those who think they are heaven bound but don’t have, or even come close to what they think they have. 

God tells us in Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord searches the heart, tries the reins and gives to every man according to his ways and the fruit of his doings.”  In other words, God knows our hearts, our intents, and ‘tests’ us to see if we are true and when we are, the fruit of our labor will bear it out.

And Jesus comments, in part, in Luke 15:16 “You are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts …” 

God knows our hearts!  He know our thoughts and what we need, even before we ask (Matt. 6:8).  ‘Nuff said?

OK.  God knows our hearts, but let’s take a look at some passages that show that what is in man’s heart is reflected by his actions.
  

Matthew 7:21-27

This passage starts out with Jesus declaring “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of God”.  Many will say “haven’t we prophesied, cast out devils in your name and done many wonderful works?  And Jesus will reply to them “I never knew you, you who work in iniquity.”

Seemingly harsh words but Jesus goes on to say “The man who hears my sayings and does them, I will compare to the wise man who built his house upon a rock.

Jesus goes on to speak the parable which compares the man who built his house upon a rock and the man who built his house upon the sand.  Obviously, the man who built his house upon the sand had no real foundation (in his life) so when troubles came, his house fell.  But the man who built upon the ‘rock’ withstood tribulation because his heart was wise in the Lord. 

This is like the man who does all the right things to look like he’s saved, gone through all the right motions, but he has no real love for the Lord.  He has no true foundation in his life.  Only the actions he ‘performs’.  Consider Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:5-24) who was among the crowd in Samaria where Philip preached.  Peter and John came up to lay hands on the believers (of whom Simon was one) that they might receive the Holy Ghost.  Simon, seeing that by the laying on of hands brought this about, thought he could purchase this power but Peter told him (among other things) that his money would perish with him unless he repented the idea.  Simon said the right things, did the right things but he didn’t really understand.  His heart was still far from God.

Matthew 25:41-46

Verse 32 says the king gathered from all nations and separated them, one from another as one would separate sheep from goats.  Having welcomed the sheep into the kingdom of God, the goats were put on the left hand and the kings says

“Depart from me you who are accursed into the everlasting fires which is prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Whoa!  The king gathered all those who were dwelling in His kingdom and says this to the goats?  Isn’t that discrimination!  Read on.

The king goes on to tell them that when he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick or in jail they (the goats) did NOT minister to him.  Just like the priest and the Levite in the ‘Good Samaritan’ (Luke 10:30-36) who bypassed the man who was robbed and beaten as he lay on the roadside.

Jesus goes on to tell the goats “Because you did not do it to the least of these (children in the kingdom of God), you did not do it to me.”

James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that faith without works is dead (James 2:20).  As James explains to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (James 1:1), we show our faith by ministering to others (especially God’s children), otherwise our ‘faith’ has no witness and it is self-contained and people don’t see our witness because we ‘do’ nothing to show them.  Ergo, our faith is effectively – dead.  In the goats, Jesus tells us that the goats did nothing to show their faith and in this it wasn’t because their faith was dormant, it truly just plain wasn’t really there – they didn’t know Jesus – at all.  Not really, even though they were ‘in church’, they were just ‘bench warmers’!

Jesus expects us to minister to those whom He puts before us.

Matthew 15:1-9

Jesus becomes a bit more blunt in speaking to the scribes and Pharisees.  These men knew the law, but they worked the law to their own advantage.  But Jesus told them that they stole from their parents, justifying the act because it brought them personal gain.

Jesus reminded them of Isaiah’s prophecy “The people draw near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”

A people who praise God and say all the right things but their heart has no clue who He is.  Everything is done for personal glory and for show.  Look at me!  Look at how great I am!  They like the best seats in the church and all the praise for what little they actually do (Luke 20:46-47) While they cheat people ‘blind’.

All show and no go and for what?  So people will glorify them.  Who should get the glory? (Rom. 11:36), God!

And these people think that they are heaven bound because they say and do all the right things.

Matthew 25:1-12

Ten virgins were awaiting the bridegroom.  All took oil IN their lamps, but only five took extra.  As they all slept, the call came out “The bridegroom is coming!” and they all woke up.  Five trimmed their lamps with the extra oil they had and those lamps kept burning brightly but the other five found that their lamps had gone out and they had no oil with which to relight them.  They tried to borrow oil from the five who were ready to relight their lamps but were denied.  Again a seemingly harsh move by the five ‘wise’ virgins but look at verse nine “… no, unless there is not enough for us and you …”.  In other words, if we loan you oil none of us may have enough light to go out and greet the bridegroom.

The five foolish virgins went out and bought more oil but by the time they returned home, the prince had already come and returned to His home with the five wise virgins.  And what happens in verse twelve with the five foolish virgins when they came and knocked on the bridegroom’s door (yes, they knew where he lived)?  They asked to be let in and he said “truly, I don’t know you.”

The five foolish virgins assumed their oil would last until the bridegroom came and, apparently, didn’t bother to check their levels before going to bed so they might replenish the oil in plenty of time, if necessary.  They weren’t prepared when the call came out that the bridegroom was on his way.

In summary

The man who built his house upon the rock might be likened to a person who goes into a church founded and based in our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The man who built his house on the sand may be likened to a person who goes into a church which does not preach and teach the resurrected son of God, Jesus, neither does he search to find out for himself, but leaned on his own understanding.  And when the test came his house fell.

The goats discover that all they were doing was ‘putting in time’ in the church they attended because they didn’t put into practice what God teaches us thereby exposing a heart not truly committed to Jesus.

The scribes and the Pharisees represent those who are in the church, have no clue who Jesus really is and do things solely for personal recognition.

The virgins?  Do we toe the line and make sure we are always prepared to be received by Jesus?  Living for Him?  Doing for Him?  Or do we expose the true feelings of our heart and figure that there is always time to get things right before He returns to take us home?  Or do we run the race as if we expect to win it (1 Corinth. 9:24)?

In each of these examples, they all ‘knew’ that their eternity was secure but discovered that God looks at our hearts and just as Isaiah said – they say and do all the right things, but their hearts never took time to know Me, so they missed the mark.

So how do we make sure that we are on the right track?

Luke 8:21

The bible tells us that we are Jesus’ brothers (and sisters) (Romans 8:29) and in Luke, Jesus clearly defines who His relatives are “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and DO IT.”

Just hearing the Word isn’t enough.  Even knowing scripture forward and backward isn’t enough.  Jesus expects us to be true witnesses for Him (Matt. 28:19-20).

The gospel of John, chapters fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen talk about our brotherhood with Jesus, how we can and should be one with the Father through Him.  The scribes and Pharisees were proof positive that it takes more than ‘just’ knowing about Jesus (or scripture) to gain entrance into the kingdom of God.  Remembering Paul when he declared that he was a Pharisee among Pharisees (Acts 23:6, Phil. 3:5), he knew the law but didn’t attain salvation until he learned to live it through Jesus Christ.

 We, as Christians, have to live for Jesus, with Him and in Him.  Jesus wants us to be one with Him as He is with the Father so we all can be one (John 17:21).  When this is our goal in our relationship with Jesus and we pursue it, the rest will fall into place – as we grow.

Let us not be slack in our walk with Jesus, but diligent, giving our hearts to Him, totally, so when we stand before Him (2 Corinth. 5:10), we will hear “… Well done, good and faithful servant …” (Matt. 25:21) because our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 20:12-15, Rev. 21:23-27).

10-29-2016 God establishes our rulers

                      

                       Prayer                                        Voice

How many of us regularly pray for the leaders of our towns, states, provinces or countries?  How many of us realize that no matter where we live, our mayors, governors, national level representatives, our presidents (I speak as an American) or heads of state are placed in position by our sovereign God.  That is no matter by what procedure they think they have gained their position, God set the stage for them to be where they are.  To illustrate what I mean, I’d like to use the book of Daniel and king Nebuchadnezzar.  Then I’d like to share what our responsibilities are in respect to these men and women in authority over us with several passages from the New Testament, which apply, no matter where we live.

Twice, Daniel was summoned before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to interpret dreams the king had dreamed.    

Our first situation is the statue of gold, silver, brass, iron and clay (Daniel 2:1-49).  Nebuchadnezzar was troubled by the dream which he couldn’t remember so he commanded his magicians, sorcerers and the like, not only interpret the dream, but also declare what it was.  When they failed to do so, He commanded that all these ‘wise’ men, who could do nothing, be executed, including Daniel (who was not summoned initially).  Before the execution commenced, Daniel requested an audience with the king.  In short before the king, Daniel identified God as one who interprets dreams so, having consulted with the Lord, he told the king his dream and the interpretation, but in the process, he acknowledged the power and authority God had given Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel said to the king “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are His.  He changes the times and the seasons, He removes kings and sets up kings, He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those of understanding.  He reveals the deep, secret things.  He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with Him” (Dan. 2:20-22).

And part of the interpretation was “You, oh, king are a king of kings.  For the God of Heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory.  He’s given into your hand wherever the children of men are or the beast of the field or the birds of heaven and He has made you a ruler over them all.” (Dan. 2:37-38)

Daniel goes on to explain the dream but look at what he says about God and Nebuchadnezzar.  He praises God that He reveals all things as well as the extent of His power.  Then Daniel tells the king that God gives rulers what they have – strength, power and dominion and defines Nebuchadnezzar’s boundaries.

In the second dream, Daniels prophecies Nebuchadnezzar’s fall from grace, madness and restoration.  At the end of the interpretation, Daniel cites the authority of the dream and again God’s sovereignty.

Again speaking to king Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel says “This matter (the dream) is by the decree of the watchers (‘guardian’ angels) and by the word of the holy ones (according to referenced sources, same as watchers) for the purpose that the living might know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives (those kingdoms) to whomsoever He will and sets up the most humble of men.” (Dan. 4:17)

In a nut shell, no man has any power or authority unless God gives it to him because He and He alone is able.

In the New Testament we find:   Let every soul be subject to the higher powers for there is no power except from God and the powers that are, are ordained of (belong to, comes from) God. (Romans 13:1)

Therefore who resists the power, resists the ordinance of God and they shall be the recipients of damnation. (Romans 13:2)

For rulers aren’t a terror to those who do good but those who do evil.  Therefore will you be afraid of the power, but do good and you shall be praised by the same (in authority). (Romans 13:3)

He (the ruler) is the minister of God to the well-being of the good but he doesn’t bear the sword in vain towards those who are evil for he is the minister of God to execute revenge and wrath upon those who do evil. (Romans 13:4)

Therefore we need to be subject, not just because of wrath, but for our own conscience’s sake. (Romans 13:5)

In short, God sets our leaders over us to keep order and make life bearable.  When we step out of line, we suffer the consequences, but it is well, when we go by the rules. And we need to remember, we have One who knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts (Heb. 4:12) so whatever we do, we do with all our energy unto the Lord and not to please men.  (Colossians 3:23)

We can move in confidence because we know that no one, no one, has power over us without God’s permission (John 19:11, also read book of Job especially verses 42:1-6)

 So what is our duty in respects to those in authority over us?

Therefore I exhort you to give all prayers, intercessions and supplications for all men first. (1 Tim. 2:1)

Then for kings, who are in authority that we might lead quiet and peaceful lives in Godliness and honesty. (1 Tim. 2:2)

For this is good and acceptable in the sigh of God, our Savior.  (1 Tim. 2:3)

So Father sets those in rule over us, no matter where we live.  However, wherever we have a voice in who those rulers are, we should exercise that privilege.   As Christians, we should prayerfully evaluate the candidates.  That is get all the information available and seek God as to which is the right choice and exactly who is God’s choice.  Then let the Holy Ghost guide our actions.

Because of rumors here in America, I would strongly suggest that it wouldn’t hurt to pray that God provides accurate tabulations of whatever type of voting mechanism is used, paper or electronic.  With all the electronic genius’ out there today and with paper, where there is a desire, there is no problem manipulating results. 

We need to remember that as we pray, we don’t ask the Lord to give us what we deserve, but rather what we truly need for our respective realms where we live.  What we need?  So it would be well with us.

We need to do our part by doing what Father tells us and what He puts on our hearts, then do it.

When we do nothing, the enemy has his way and we have no right to complain when results are contrary to our hopes.

As I’m jotting this down, King Saul comes to mind.  Israel wanted a king just like other countries.  Saul seemed to fit the bill.  He was tall, head and shoulders above everyone else, good looking and apparently an all-around ‘nice guy’.  (1 Sam. Chapters 9 & 10).  God gave the people what they asked for, Saul.  It just didn’t turn out so good and finally God did set His choice on the throne, David (2 Sam. 5:1-4).

We need to definitely speak our voice (by voting) as we seek God’s direction.  But we need to do it prayerfully, especially when the world is moving so far away from God.  Amen

10-15-2016 A Spiritual Explosion

As I was just getting started with my AM prayer session (10/11/2016) and as I was going over Jeremiah 1 and Ezekiel 37, (my personal scriptural prophecies which we [Father & me] remember daily) and as we were going over the part in the passage in Jeremiah chapter one where the caldron pot is tipping over and is emptying which is Father’s wrath pouring out against Israel because of their disobedience Father said that this also applies to mankind AND the new covenant church, today, for the same reason.  Mankind should be a no-brainer as man continually draws away from God.  Today’s church because much of it still is resistant to how Father wants His church to function.  In our prayer, we always start with the caldron pot in Jeremiah then jump to Ezekiel 37, then come back to the beginning of Jeremiah beginning with verse four.

In Ezekiel, the valley of dry bones, God is telling Ezekiel that He is going to reconstitute, rebuild, Israel.  Today, the dry bones represent the new covenant church.  The bare essentials have always been there (God always has His number [1 Kings 19:18]) since Jesus and the age of the apostles but the operation of the church has fallen off quickly from how it was originally established.  In the 1/2/2016 entry into this blog we spoke of the dry bones from Ezekiel 37.

Before we get into Ezekiel let’s back up a bit.  The dry bones in the valley are significant to today’s church, because even though the church has set aside the practices of the early church, the basics, the dry bones, have always been there:  Jesus Christ is the Messiah and when we confess Him with our mouth and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead we shall be saved (Romans 10:9).  And the church has hung onto that and the idea that we have a lifestyle to live for Jesus “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).  From there, Christianity has become clouded over the centuries as to how it should be culminating to where we are today.  Too much of the church ordains ministers who are still embroiled in their sins and bodies are promoted in many churches simply because they are warm bodies who are available and willing but there are also those who agree (okay maybe even ‘suck up’) with the leadership irregardless of their personal relationship with Father or their spiritual maturity, just to gain position.  What does the bible say about church leaders?  (Acts 6:1-7).  I’m not just talking about the pastor, or associate pastors or elders and deacons, but anybody in a leadership role.  There are more passages addressing leadership but Acts chapter six describes what bare bones are necessary for leadership roles and it speaks of people who seek after God with all their hearts.  Nonetheless, Father has kept His number in the church (as a whole, though not necessarily in each individual fellowship), just like when Elijah was hiding out from Ahab and jezebel (1 Kings 19:13-18) where 7000 had not bowed their knee to Baal, God has had His number all the way up until today.

 Now a quick synopsis of the “Valley of Dry Bones, 1/2/2016 entry in the Homecoming.   We start with the Protestant Reformation of the 1500 & 1600’s Father started connecting all those disarrayed, dry bones in the valley with sinew as He started connecting those bones in their proper places so they would have the shape of people, that is each bones connected in their proper place.  With the Protestant Reformation Father started re-revealing many forgotten biblical truths.   

Through the Holiness Movement of the 1700 & 1800’s He then covered those bones and sinew with muscle so they could function, to have the capability of movement (our body functions because we signal our muscles what we want to do and they respond), when called upon, as they should.

 

With the Pentecostal Movement of the late 1800 into the early 1900’s He covered those bones, sinews and muscle with skin so the church would look like what He intended, a ‘complete’ body, but even so, it was still lacking.  Yes, believers received their spiritual language (tongues) through the Pentecostal movement but our relationships with the Lord was not yet fully developed.

Now, today, God is breathing life back into that package of dry bones by bringing His children back into a true relationship with Himself, which He has desired all along.  Where we acknowledge Him as the true, living God (Jeremiah 24:7) and that we not only live for Him but He has given us the power to live this life and to be witnesses (John 20:22-23, Acts 1:8) and to do the things Jesus called us to do – everything He did, and more (John 14:12)

All this is leading up to where Father is bringing His church today.

All of Father’s true churches, all of Father’s prophets are all talking about walking in a closer relationship with the one true God Who created all that is.  Things that I read, things that I hear, people with whom I talk are all in agreement about our striving and God bringing us into a closer walk with the Father.

This brings us to what Father shared with me this past Tuesday.

Many of God’s prophets (including Doug Addison) have said that we are in a seven year period, a season, of God’s grace which began January 2015.  In this season Father is blessing His children, bringing restitution and restoration.  Blessing in things we have not received before, restitution for things that have been ‘stolen’ (notably by Satan) and restoration of things we have ‘lost’.  All of this comes as we seek first His Kingdom (Matt. 6:33) which in turn encourages us to press towards His calling for each of us as an individual(Philippians 3:14).

I hear some prophets talking about beyond this season into the next which will be one of great revival, an outpouring of the Holy Ghost as the world has never seen before and, indeed, Father has shared this with me earlier this year before I heard it from others.  The current season is preparing God’s children to serve in the next season in all power, strength, faith and determination. 

Father showed me three numbers which are pertinent to what is currently going on and that which is yet to come.

About two years ago, Father had me check out the biblical meanings of numbers.  I looked at seven or eight lists and they all pretty much agreed with the two lists I mention here:

Biblenumbersforlife.com

http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.net/teachings/books/secrets-of-time/appendix-e-the-biblical-meanings-of-numbers/

My definitions are taken from these two lists.

We are in the second year of our first seven year season. 

2    =    union, division, witnessing

The church is two coming into the place where God intends for us to be one in Spirit

The division represents the various talents and callings He has placed on each of our lives

Witnessing, again we are being prepared to witness for Jesus Christ as never before, not just in word, but in deeds as well.  To be true, living representatives of His Word.

The blessing, restitution and restoration is to develop us into true witness for Jesus and this has already been taking place.  That is Father has already been establishing souls and growing them spiritually.  This won’t happen all at once but by as this this season progresses, Father will have established much of His ‘army’.  As this season opened, we are already starting to see some of this coming into place but as it draws to a close, we will see more and more of what God is doing materializing and it will be clearly evident.  It will be growing during this season to be mature for the next.  

As we already said the next season will bring a great evangelical outbreak, an outreach explosion, a soul harvest.

The total of both seasons equals fourteen years

14  =    Deliverance, salvation, spiritual perfection

By the end of the second season, fourteen years in all, Father will have accomplished most of the soul harvest.  Again, it will be happening throughout season two, but by that season’s end, Father will have grounded His church so they are living for Him through Jesus Christ, no doubts, ready for harvest.  Souls will be delivered from all sorts of oppressive demonic influences and they will know they now belong to Jesus Christ and there will be no doubt about their salvation and how to show love towards Father through Jesus.  Through the operation of the Holy Ghost in and through their lives souls will be rocketing towards spiritual perfection.  We won’t reach this perfection until we are literally with Jesus, but souls will be walking as close as possible until Jesus calls us home. 

From now, there are just a little more than twelve years left for both seasons to culminate at the end of season two.

12 =     governmental perfection, God’s power and authority

The perfect government resides under King Jesus, the perfect King

God will have His way with the world.

Now, what I know is that when Father moves, Satan does his best to counter attack.  So as these two seasons press on, don’t be surprised if spiritual attack also increases.  Expect it. 

As the second season begins, it is reasonable to expect increased demonic activity in efforts to stop, or at least, slow down, God’s soul harvest.

It is reasonable that spiritual warfare will increase to new levels, but as children of God, we will be walking with Him and in His power and authority (Romans 13:1).  Jesus gives us authority over sickness and demons (Mark 3:14-15).  Resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7) because we are resisting him carrying Jesus’ yoke (Matt. 11:29-30), or should I l say Jesus carrying us.

Could this be the beginning of tribulation leading to Armageddon?  Don’t know, but it won’t matter because Father is always in control.  I just know He’ll do things according to His timing and be assured that Father is bringing all of His children into a deeper relationship with Himself that we can be all that we can be in Christ Jesus, doing all that we can do for His glory, serving and ministering to the needs of the people.  He is preparing His children to truly live for and abide in Him.  AND there is a magnificent evangelical explosion coming to grow the body of Christ to its fullest. And this generation can and will be, wholly or in part, a part of that explosion. 

Amen