http://media.sermonindex.net/14/SID14690.mp3
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Marie Monsen
One of the outstanding instruments God has used for the reviving of the churches in northern China is Miss Marie Monsen. One of her own coworkers describes her coming to Chenping, one of the stations of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission in Honan, in effect as follows:
How God Prepared Special Instruments for Use in "The second of November of 1931 we were in Beginning and Carrying Forward the Work of the pressibly gladdened by the news that Miss Marie Revival. Monsen had returned to our field and was then at Nanyang. The early summer of 1927 God had sent her from Shanghai to Manchuria and later to Chili, Shantung, and Shansi. In these various places God had used her in a marvelous way for the reviving of the churches. "It seemed strange that she should thus be taken away from us to be used in the reviving of the churches elsewhere while we were longing and praying for a revival on our own field.
"Our older missionaries had quietly but tearfullly striven with God in view of the deadness of the churches. But with the news of God's visitation of the other churches our prayers took on new life. With every letter from Miss Monsen our prayers received a new impetus and became more intense as the time went on, until finally they were in the nature of distress calls. God, who is no respecter of persons, can not but send Miss Monsen back to us and make use of her among us as He has used her in the northern provinces.
"Then the news reached us that she would be with us at our annual conference at Chenping from November 13 to 15. There was a general feeling of expectancy as we journeyed to this meeting, and we were not disappointed in our expectations. It was a never-to-be-forgotten experience to have her again in our midst.
"Already at this meeting it became clear to us that God had fashioned Miss Monsen into a seasoned soul winner through the experiences she had gone through in the north, and that she was in possession of a power from God that was well nigh irresistible.
"The first text she used was from the third chapter of the Gospel of John, `Ye must be born anew.' The greater part of this address consisted in short questions, cast forth with holy, penetrating seriousness: `Why are you a Christian? Is it not that you wish to enter heaven? What does Jesus say here? "Except ye be born anew, ye can not enter the kingdom of God." Ye can not, ye can not.' These words sank like lead into the hearts of the listeners.
"The next text was from Rev. 20. 12, about the sins that were written in the books with such clear ness. `Also in Jer. 17. 1 we see that your sins are written "with a pen of iron" on the tablets of flesh in your hearts so that no one can erase them.'
"Other texts were, Mark 14. 3-11, about Judas. `He was a preacher of the gospel; he was a member of the church; he was a disciple. But he was false; he was a thief. Are you a preacher of the gospel, or are you a thief T
"She aimed in the first place at our leaders and the workers in our congregations. She spoke from Prov. 28. 13, about covering one's transgressions. All are born with an inclination to cover their sins. Other texts used were, Is. 59. 1-4, `Your iniquities have separated between you and your God': Is. 64. 6, `Our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment'; 1 Cor. 6. 9, with the question, `Is this a catalog of your sins? Read and find out if your sins are there.' Also Mark 7. 21-23, with the same question and the same admonition.
"Then came John 1. 14, `He is "full of grace and truth," He will not permit you to remain full of falsehood and deceit.' And Is. 1. 18, `If you will only acknowledge your sins before God they "shall be white as snow."' Finally there was an address to believers about being in the will of God. `The unsaved have God's will behind them. The saved have God's will before them. Some are in God's will; others are outside of it. They try to stretch God's will so as to make it conform to theirs.'
"At the end of each service she took her place near the door, and few were those who managed to get by without having the question asked them, `Are you saved? 'It felt like the thrust of a sword,' they explained afterwards. After the next meeting they received another sword-thrust, `Are you still on the road to destruction.
"Many came to see her and to confess their sins, but she sent them away, some as often as three to four times. They were not in a condition of real need. `Pray that God's Spirit may enlighten you concerning your sins,' was the admonition they received to take away with them. She never tired of admonishing us, `Do not gather unripe fruit.'
"After the annual meeting there was a special meeting for workers and leaders. Those who were present told of the powerful working of the Holy Spirit manifest at these meetings. During the course of the meetings Miss Monsen spent one night in prayer before she could find courage to step up to Pastor Han Liu Ging and tell him she was afraid he did not have life in God. He came under deep conviction and after two days found release.
"He said afterwards that there was something that melted within him when she took him aside. He felt the love of God was impelling her and that he must give in. Later on he became Miss Monsen's helper during a series of meetings, and is one among those God has used to further the revival.
"Pastor Liu Dao Sheng was another leader who had been used of God with much blessing. At these meetings he also experienced a renewal and em-powering. His eyes were opened to the need of bringing people to the point of being saved and re-leased from the power of sin. Together with others who had experienced renewal, he began immediately to enter the work as a definite soul-winner. Liu Dao Sheng became Miss Monsen's chief helper as long as she remained on the field of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission, and he is perhaps the one God has used the most since her departure.
"Miss Monsen's plan was first to destroy the false security of the church members. She spoke of the various kinds of patches the unsaved used to hide behind when they tried to persuade themselves they were saved. Then she spoke of sin, one sin at a time. It had cost her several days of prayerful struggle before she became willing, as she expressed it, to `descend into the miry cesspool of sin' in connection with the sixth commandment, against adultery. But it turned out that one of Satan's well-nigh impregnable strongholds was at last broken into when this particular sin was brought out into the open.
"Another text that was laid heavily on her consciousness was, `It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' People by means of this text were placed face to face with God.
"Finally, the words of gracious promise from the Scriptures came as balm on open sores. `Unless He, who was without sin, had been made sin for us, God could never have said to the sinner, Come, when you are in earnest about your sins, God, who can not away with sin, will speak words of comfort to your heart.
"At each series of meetings there was no pronounced movement or great visible result. She was ever alert to hinder strong emotional outbursts, or public confession. Everything was done quietly. After she was gone it became evident that God's Spirit had plowed deep furrows. We could begin to gather in the harvest of souls."
As we ponder this gripping narrative by one of Miss Monsen's co-workers we are bound to ask ourselves, what is the secret of the power this worker of God possesses? Is there anything in her nature or bringing up that would give a clue to the effectiveness of her service? What means did God use to bring about such marvelous results in her own life, and through her in the lives of others?
We are indebted to another of Miss Monsen's coworkers, Mrs. Karoline Samset, of Laohokow, for some intimate touches regarding her youth and early training and first impressions on meeting her before she was sent out to China as a missionary under the N. L. K. Board.
"Miss Monsen was confirmed in the church of Sandviken in the outskirts of Bergen, Norway, under the charge of Rev. Grimnes, the pastor of the church, who was of great spiritual help to her during these formative years. Elder Tormod Retterdal of the China Society was of especially great help to her in a spiritual way. According to her own testimony she never tired of listening to him as he always had so much to offer."
It appears that from early childhood Miss Monsen loved to wander about among the mountains and hills of her native land, and when school vacation arrived she always set her gaze towards the high mountains. The majestic Jotunheimen and other tall peaks were familiar places loved by her.
The year she was to take her examination for teacher's certificate she was too young by one year, and it was just at this time that she came to clarity regarding her call to the mission field.
It was in 1898 in the Laksevag church in Bergen that Mrs. Samset first learned to know of Miss Mon-sen, who was later destined to become her close friend and co-worker. The Rev. Prydz was occupying the pulpit and the text was, "Thy kingdom come." During the course of the sermon the preacher mentioned the name of a young woman who had sought for acceptance by the China Society to be sent to China. The Board had asked her to testify as to her spiritual life and outlook. During their conversation, the Rev. Prydz and Miss Monsen had both agreed that it was impossible to explain just how they had become heirs of the kingdom. The main emphasis in his sermon at this time was on the kingdom of God within us.
The following year we find Miss Monsen at Lovisenberg Hospital and Training School in Oslo as the choice of the China Society's Board for work in China. Through a friend whom Miss Monsen had nursed, Mrs. Samset came for the first time into direct contact with her. She relates:
"It was evident from the first moment of contact with her that Miss Monsen was an unusually gifted woman. She possessed considerable originality of mind, and, as a rule, was never found treading the beaten paths. In contact with the deaconesses at Lovisenberg she was never afraid of expressing her opinion freely. In those days such behavior was not always well received, so she had many heavy burdens to carry at that time, but she was always ready to take the part of those who were weak.
"She wrote to Brandtzeg, then General Secretary of the Board from Lovisenberg, `Verily, you have sent me to the North Pole.' He replied, `Yes, but I know that you have both pick and axe so you can dig yourself out again.' She made it, and when she was the hardest pressed, the head physician came to her assistance.
"From that time on her life was unusually rich in experiences. She grew up in a home where she was supplied with only the necessaries of life. Money has never appealed to her as of any worth. She has always been willing to extend help to such as were in need. `Prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven.' She has done this and the Lord has never permitted her to come to grief.
"She has gone to the steamships without money to buy a ticket; she has traveled by rail across the United States without provisions; she has made a journey to the Northland without a steamer berth. `Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of.' This verse came to her at one time when she was suffering from hunger. She was led to a loaded table without the payment of money, and afterwards was in a position to help a fellow traveler who was on his way to tell his mother that there is no God. She has stuck to the promises, and God has never failed her. But to surrender everything unconditionally into the hand of God is not a lesson that is learned in one day. She has had to go through the deep waters to come to the place of utter dependence on God.
"When she came to China in the fall of 1901, her health failed her. She fell down a stairway in Shanghai and sustained a concussion of the brain, and when she arrived on the field she was taken down with a bad attack of malaria, so that even her life was despaired of.
"She was very much handicapped in her language studies the first few years. She struggled against the malaria, and her head gave her constant pain. During the summer of 1906 she was healed through prayer. Since that time the Lord has been her Great Physician, and she has needed His help on more than one occasion.
"Something that has always stood out before me as remarkable is her prayer life. She has always been an early riser, and the first two or three hours of the day have been holy to the Lord. The precious dewdrops from the Lord's altar have sustained her step by step on the way of sanctification.
"As a co-worker she was always sympathetic and considerate, and, on the whole, easy to get along with. Her aim was to go the way of the Lord and do His errands, so that also out here it was never a question with her of following the beaten paths. Consequently there were times when some stood wondering and questioning. But that it has paid her to follow the way of the Lord and to be in His will, that has been amply shown by her life during recent years."
This sketch of the life and work of Miss Monsen would be entirely inadequate if we left out all reference to an experience she had in the spring of 1929 when she was marvelously kept during twenty-three days of captivity at the hands of a band of sea rovers who had captured the ship she was traveling on from Tientsin, to meet an appointment to hold meetings at Hwanghsien in Shantung.
The story of this adventure in faith and dependence upon the Lord was told by Miss Monsen in her own characteristic way in an address before the Peitaiho Conference in North China, July 29, 1929, and recorded in a booklet, "We Are Escaped," published by the China Inland Mission in 1931.
In reading this wonderful testimony to God's faithfulness and power to help those who trust fully in Him, we are impressed by the place and value of prayer in the scheme of God's government of the world, as well as by the wonderful provision of God for our every need, if we are only willing to trust Him to undertake for us.
There is no doubt but that Miss Monsen's experiences during those twenty-three days on that bandit-ridden ship were a means in God's hand to prepare her for greater work for Him during the years that followed. The narrative is full of interest from be-ginning to end.
From China in Revival
By Gustav Carlberg
excerpt from Chapter 3; Revival
How God Prepared Special Instruments for Use in "The second of November of 1931 we were in Beginning and Carrying Forward the Work of the pressibly gladdened by the news that Miss Marie Revival. Monsen had returned to our field and was then at Nanyang. The early summer of 1927 God had sent her from Shanghai to Manchuria and later to Chili, Shantung, and Shansi. In these various places God had used her in a marvelous way for the reviving of the churches. "It seemed strange that she should thus be taken away from us to be used in the reviving of the churches elsewhere while we were longing and praying for a revival on our own field.
"Our older missionaries had quietly but tearfullly striven with God in view of the deadness of the churches. But with the news of God's visitation of the other churches our prayers took on new life. With every letter from Miss Monsen our prayers received a new impetus and became more intense as the time went on, until finally they were in the nature of distress calls. God, who is no respecter of persons, can not but send Miss Monsen back to us and make use of her among us as He has used her in the northern provinces.
"Then the news reached us that she would be with us at our annual conference at Chenping from November 13 to 15. There was a general feeling of expectancy as we journeyed to this meeting, and we were not disappointed in our expectations. It was a never-to-be-forgotten experience to have her again in our midst.
"Already at this meeting it became clear to us that God had fashioned Miss Monsen into a seasoned soul winner through the experiences she had gone through in the north, and that she was in possession of a power from God that was well nigh irresistible.
"The first text she used was from the third chapter of the Gospel of John, `Ye must be born anew.' The greater part of this address consisted in short questions, cast forth with holy, penetrating seriousness: `Why are you a Christian? Is it not that you wish to enter heaven? What does Jesus say here? "Except ye be born anew, ye can not enter the kingdom of God." Ye can not, ye can not.' These words sank like lead into the hearts of the listeners.
"The next text was from Rev. 20. 12, about the sins that were written in the books with such clear ness. `Also in Jer. 17. 1 we see that your sins are written "with a pen of iron" on the tablets of flesh in your hearts so that no one can erase them.'
"Other texts were, Mark 14. 3-11, about Judas. `He was a preacher of the gospel; he was a member of the church; he was a disciple. But he was false; he was a thief. Are you a preacher of the gospel, or are you a thief T
"She aimed in the first place at our leaders and the workers in our congregations. She spoke from Prov. 28. 13, about covering one's transgressions. All are born with an inclination to cover their sins. Other texts used were, Is. 59. 1-4, `Your iniquities have separated between you and your God': Is. 64. 6, `Our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment'; 1 Cor. 6. 9, with the question, `Is this a catalog of your sins? Read and find out if your sins are there.' Also Mark 7. 21-23, with the same question and the same admonition.
"Then came John 1. 14, `He is "full of grace and truth," He will not permit you to remain full of falsehood and deceit.' And Is. 1. 18, `If you will only acknowledge your sins before God they "shall be white as snow."' Finally there was an address to believers about being in the will of God. `The unsaved have God's will behind them. The saved have God's will before them. Some are in God's will; others are outside of it. They try to stretch God's will so as to make it conform to theirs.'
"At the end of each service she took her place near the door, and few were those who managed to get by without having the question asked them, `Are you saved? 'It felt like the thrust of a sword,' they explained afterwards. After the next meeting they received another sword-thrust, `Are you still on the road to destruction.
"Many came to see her and to confess their sins, but she sent them away, some as often as three to four times. They were not in a condition of real need. `Pray that God's Spirit may enlighten you concerning your sins,' was the admonition they received to take away with them. She never tired of admonishing us, `Do not gather unripe fruit.'
"After the annual meeting there was a special meeting for workers and leaders. Those who were present told of the powerful working of the Holy Spirit manifest at these meetings. During the course of the meetings Miss Monsen spent one night in prayer before she could find courage to step up to Pastor Han Liu Ging and tell him she was afraid he did not have life in God. He came under deep conviction and after two days found release.
"He said afterwards that there was something that melted within him when she took him aside. He felt the love of God was impelling her and that he must give in. Later on he became Miss Monsen's helper during a series of meetings, and is one among those God has used to further the revival.
"Pastor Liu Dao Sheng was another leader who had been used of God with much blessing. At these meetings he also experienced a renewal and em-powering. His eyes were opened to the need of bringing people to the point of being saved and re-leased from the power of sin. Together with others who had experienced renewal, he began immediately to enter the work as a definite soul-winner. Liu Dao Sheng became Miss Monsen's chief helper as long as she remained on the field of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission, and he is perhaps the one God has used the most since her departure.
"Miss Monsen's plan was first to destroy the false security of the church members. She spoke of the various kinds of patches the unsaved used to hide behind when they tried to persuade themselves they were saved. Then she spoke of sin, one sin at a time. It had cost her several days of prayerful struggle before she became willing, as she expressed it, to `descend into the miry cesspool of sin' in connection with the sixth commandment, against adultery. But it turned out that one of Satan's well-nigh impregnable strongholds was at last broken into when this particular sin was brought out into the open.
"Another text that was laid heavily on her consciousness was, `It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' People by means of this text were placed face to face with God.
"Finally, the words of gracious promise from the Scriptures came as balm on open sores. `Unless He, who was without sin, had been made sin for us, God could never have said to the sinner, Come, when you are in earnest about your sins, God, who can not away with sin, will speak words of comfort to your heart.
"At each series of meetings there was no pronounced movement or great visible result. She was ever alert to hinder strong emotional outbursts, or public confession. Everything was done quietly. After she was gone it became evident that God's Spirit had plowed deep furrows. We could begin to gather in the harvest of souls."
As we ponder this gripping narrative by one of Miss Monsen's co-workers we are bound to ask ourselves, what is the secret of the power this worker of God possesses? Is there anything in her nature or bringing up that would give a clue to the effectiveness of her service? What means did God use to bring about such marvelous results in her own life, and through her in the lives of others?
We are indebted to another of Miss Monsen's coworkers, Mrs. Karoline Samset, of Laohokow, for some intimate touches regarding her youth and early training and first impressions on meeting her before she was sent out to China as a missionary under the N. L. K. Board.
"Miss Monsen was confirmed in the church of Sandviken in the outskirts of Bergen, Norway, under the charge of Rev. Grimnes, the pastor of the church, who was of great spiritual help to her during these formative years. Elder Tormod Retterdal of the China Society was of especially great help to her in a spiritual way. According to her own testimony she never tired of listening to him as he always had so much to offer."
It appears that from early childhood Miss Monsen loved to wander about among the mountains and hills of her native land, and when school vacation arrived she always set her gaze towards the high mountains. The majestic Jotunheimen and other tall peaks were familiar places loved by her.
The year she was to take her examination for teacher's certificate she was too young by one year, and it was just at this time that she came to clarity regarding her call to the mission field.
It was in 1898 in the Laksevag church in Bergen that Mrs. Samset first learned to know of Miss Mon-sen, who was later destined to become her close friend and co-worker. The Rev. Prydz was occupying the pulpit and the text was, "Thy kingdom come." During the course of the sermon the preacher mentioned the name of a young woman who had sought for acceptance by the China Society to be sent to China. The Board had asked her to testify as to her spiritual life and outlook. During their conversation, the Rev. Prydz and Miss Monsen had both agreed that it was impossible to explain just how they had become heirs of the kingdom. The main emphasis in his sermon at this time was on the kingdom of God within us.
The following year we find Miss Monsen at Lovisenberg Hospital and Training School in Oslo as the choice of the China Society's Board for work in China. Through a friend whom Miss Monsen had nursed, Mrs. Samset came for the first time into direct contact with her. She relates:
"It was evident from the first moment of contact with her that Miss Monsen was an unusually gifted woman. She possessed considerable originality of mind, and, as a rule, was never found treading the beaten paths. In contact with the deaconesses at Lovisenberg she was never afraid of expressing her opinion freely. In those days such behavior was not always well received, so she had many heavy burdens to carry at that time, but she was always ready to take the part of those who were weak.
"She wrote to Brandtzeg, then General Secretary of the Board from Lovisenberg, `Verily, you have sent me to the North Pole.' He replied, `Yes, but I know that you have both pick and axe so you can dig yourself out again.' She made it, and when she was the hardest pressed, the head physician came to her assistance.
"From that time on her life was unusually rich in experiences. She grew up in a home where she was supplied with only the necessaries of life. Money has never appealed to her as of any worth. She has always been willing to extend help to such as were in need. `Prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven.' She has done this and the Lord has never permitted her to come to grief.
"She has gone to the steamships without money to buy a ticket; she has traveled by rail across the United States without provisions; she has made a journey to the Northland without a steamer berth. `Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of.' This verse came to her at one time when she was suffering from hunger. She was led to a loaded table without the payment of money, and afterwards was in a position to help a fellow traveler who was on his way to tell his mother that there is no God. She has stuck to the promises, and God has never failed her. But to surrender everything unconditionally into the hand of God is not a lesson that is learned in one day. She has had to go through the deep waters to come to the place of utter dependence on God.
"When she came to China in the fall of 1901, her health failed her. She fell down a stairway in Shanghai and sustained a concussion of the brain, and when she arrived on the field she was taken down with a bad attack of malaria, so that even her life was despaired of.
"She was very much handicapped in her language studies the first few years. She struggled against the malaria, and her head gave her constant pain. During the summer of 1906 she was healed through prayer. Since that time the Lord has been her Great Physician, and she has needed His help on more than one occasion.
"Something that has always stood out before me as remarkable is her prayer life. She has always been an early riser, and the first two or three hours of the day have been holy to the Lord. The precious dewdrops from the Lord's altar have sustained her step by step on the way of sanctification.
"As a co-worker she was always sympathetic and considerate, and, on the whole, easy to get along with. Her aim was to go the way of the Lord and do His errands, so that also out here it was never a question with her of following the beaten paths. Consequently there were times when some stood wondering and questioning. But that it has paid her to follow the way of the Lord and to be in His will, that has been amply shown by her life during recent years."
This sketch of the life and work of Miss Monsen would be entirely inadequate if we left out all reference to an experience she had in the spring of 1929 when she was marvelously kept during twenty-three days of captivity at the hands of a band of sea rovers who had captured the ship she was traveling on from Tientsin, to meet an appointment to hold meetings at Hwanghsien in Shantung.
The story of this adventure in faith and dependence upon the Lord was told by Miss Monsen in her own characteristic way in an address before the Peitaiho Conference in North China, July 29, 1929, and recorded in a booklet, "We Are Escaped," published by the China Inland Mission in 1931.
In reading this wonderful testimony to God's faithfulness and power to help those who trust fully in Him, we are impressed by the place and value of prayer in the scheme of God's government of the world, as well as by the wonderful provision of God for our every need, if we are only willing to trust Him to undertake for us.
There is no doubt but that Miss Monsen's experiences during those twenty-three days on that bandit-ridden ship were a means in God's hand to prepare her for greater work for Him during the years that followed. The narrative is full of interest from be-ginning to end.
From China in Revival
By Gustav Carlberg
excerpt from Chapter 3; Revival
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
grace working through...
Paul says...
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10
God's grace works through the Christian! This is has nothing to do with us!
Its by the grace of God that a Christian receives revlation of His Word.
Its by the grace of God that a Christian can pray for hours on end
Its by the grace of God that a Christian can fast, preach, prophecy, worship, evangelize etc.
God gives different graces to His people so that He can be glorified!
He is the one that makes the person great or small. Our job is just to be faithful in whatever He has given to us!
Isn't that great news?!
It means that I can stop trying to be perfect and understand that its not about me but what God is doing through me. Even when I screw up I glorify God! (not that it gives us an excuse to sin)
After realizing this grace. I can finally stop trying to do things so that I can be "good enought to preach/teach" but I can just DO IT IN FAITH because its God working through me.
It sorta kills the pride that I had but it is also a relief!
I can stop worrying about every word I say and action I make to "look good" and just be!
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10
God's grace works through the Christian! This is has nothing to do with us!
Its by the grace of God that a Christian receives revlation of His Word.
Its by the grace of God that a Christian can pray for hours on end
Its by the grace of God that a Christian can fast, preach, prophecy, worship, evangelize etc.
God gives different graces to His people so that He can be glorified!
He is the one that makes the person great or small. Our job is just to be faithful in whatever He has given to us!
Isn't that great news?!
It means that I can stop trying to be perfect and understand that its not about me but what God is doing through me. Even when I screw up I glorify God! (not that it gives us an excuse to sin)
After realizing this grace. I can finally stop trying to do things so that I can be "good enought to preach/teach" but I can just DO IT IN FAITH because its God working through me.
It sorta kills the pride that I had but it is also a relief!
I can stop worrying about every word I say and action I make to "look good" and just be!
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Fragrance of Life
We live in a dry and parched land. The bible says “the wicked live in a sun scorched land” (Ps. 66:8). The spiritual reality around us is very bleak.
Just as the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, so we are slaves to sin. Day after day we sweat in the desert of Egypt. All around us is sand and above us is a blazing sun that sucks the water of life out of our bodies. We long for a drop of water to quench our thirst but we find only sand. There is absolutely no water for miles around that can give us relief. In the same way, our spirits long for a drink of water but we find nothing.
In the world that we live in, we are deceived. All of our hopes, desires and longings come to nothing. (Ps. 112:10). We are like dream, a phantom, our life is but a vapour (Ps 39:6, James 4:14). Everything around us is fading away and decaying. The world and its passions fade away (1 John 2:17a)
They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. Psalm 73:20
This world is God’s worst nightmare. As humans our sinful minds come up with some of the most twisted and disturbing things. I am reminded of movies such as the Matrix or I, Robot where the humans create artificial intelligence but after awhile they rebel and start to kill people and suddenly we are plunged into chaotic world where the robots rule. In Resident Evil we try to create life through a virus but the virus turns everyone in zombies that eat human flesh.
When I think about it, this is exactly what happened to God. He creates life and we screw it up. This virus called sin enters the world, turns everyone into zombies that kill, lie, cheat, steal, hate, lust and now we live in a dark and godless world.
I can imagine God looking down at His once perfect world, in utter distress because his creation has turned into little demon monsters. But what gets me, is that it says we’re a dream not even real to God. Its like He’s going to wake up one day and we’ll all be gone, just a figment of His imagination. That’s good for God, but horrible for us.
But in this time when God is “sleeping”, He is also restoring people through Jesus and preparing them for the time when He awakes and brings back the real world. When God’s Kingdom comes those who are part of it won’t even want to remember any thing that happened in this old life.
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17
As we come to understand the calling that we have and are changed into citizens of Heaven, the world around us becomes our worst nightmare. We’re not of this world anymore but aliens and strangers in a foreign land (1 Peter 2:11)
However in the in between time, God in His wisdom has appointed that the Children of God live in this spiritual wasteland; it’s not easy. Every we wake up and cry:
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water Psalm 63:1
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:2
We look around us and our soul is in utter distress at the wickedness around us. Like Lot living in Sodom.
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -2 Peter 2:7-8
But even though our soul is in distress we are the only ones with water in this dry land. As we go from this life here on earth to Heaven we literally bring heaven down to earth. As we pass by these dry places we pour water around us. Everywhere we go, we bring life.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5-7
It says in the bible that we are the fragrance of life (2 Cor 2:16). When people who our hungry and dying smell the life in us they are attracted to us. The awesome thing is that we don’t have to do anything; we don’t have to be perfect for this to happen it is God’s grace that works in us to act in order to fulfill His good purpose (Phil. 2:13). What we need to do is to worship God and be faithful. He takes care of the rest. The above passage says those who’s strength is in the Lord. It means those who completely trust God and draw strength from Him.
As God’s Children we must learn to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. His faithfulness is our shield and rampant. He’s the one that rescues us and even though all around us people may be falling to into sin’s deceptions, He promises keep us safe from evil. A thousand may fall at our right hand, ten thousand at our right side but none of it comes near to us. We sit and watch in awe and give thanks for what God is doing for us.(Ps. 91)
He gives those who trust in him a bubble of grace and the way we gain this bubble, is when we put down our own barrier of sin and pride and allow God to work through us.
Before we believe we walk around and live in the sin all around. After we believe we walk around in a sinful world but are no longer deceived and caught up in it. Our hearts are changed (the red dot) but we will still sin because our flesh is still weak.
The passage says from strength to strength. In the New Testament it says we are being transformed from glory to glory to His image (2 Cor 3:18) and that we are being renewed in inwardly day by day though our outward bodies are wasting away (2 Cor. 4:16). We are so focused on God that we don’t even realize that He’s using us to bring life, we just pass by, our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith Jesus (Hebrews 12:2.
One of the keys to bringing life to a lost generation is humility. God is looking for people who are humble enough to admit they need God and truly understand that they’re nothing without Him; because of this they just obey. In the bible of there are many great men and women of God who did amazing things and we tend idolize them. We think that they’re super holy people that we can never be like. But what we don’t see is that these people were humble.
Moses was the humblest man in all the earth (Num 12:3). It would make sense that the humblest man would be the man most used by God. Moses was so humble that when the Israelites were opposing him in the desert he fell facedown before them. The people were about to stone Moses but he didn’t care about man; He had no pride. God’s glory appeared over the tabernacle and Moses started to intercede for his enemies so that God would spare them. People would probably think twice before messing with Moses after that. But Moses didn’t do anything he was fully focused on God (Num 14:1-24)
We need to be careful; there are many people who try to work for God but not many who are humble enough to be used by Him. Many will say on that day: Lord Lord, did we not prophecy in your name and in your name drive out demons? And He will say depart from me, I never knew you (Matt. 7:22)
In Noah’s generation no one was seeking God, every one was evil. God was grieved and was about to destroy man. But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord he was a humble and righteous man. It says he was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). So you have to imagine that throughout the 100 years or so Noah was building the ark, people would be watching (it’s pretty hard to hide a giant boat) and as the people came to see Noah, he would be preaching to them! In the end, his obedience and perseverance is what saved the whole human race!
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:5-8
Our generation is quickly heading toward the days of Noah. And when God decides to wake up, the world is not going to know. Jesus says that when He comes again people will be living their normal day to day lives.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37-39
The bible prophecies that despite everything that God tries to do to warn people, they will still not repent of their iniquity (Rev. 9:21). We need to be the people who will find grace in the eyes of the Lord. The people who can partner with God to bring His will into existence because he does not find pleasure in the destruction of the wicked (Ez. 18:23) and it’s His will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)
As in the days of Noah, the same spiritual reality exists today but instead of a flood it says:
That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12(NASB)
God sends them a powerful delusion. The word flood in Hebrew is mabbuwl and it means deluge which is the root word for delusion. The delusion overwhelms us and is extremely powerful. The most powerful delusion isn’t people who believe in different philosophies or people who clearly live in immorality but it’s the delusion of religion. Jesus warns us many times to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees (Matt 16:6). In the Old Testament, God says that He would rather have people live in outright opposition to Him than wear a mask of religion. In the days of Jeremiah, both Israel and Judah were living in opposition to God, but Judah still pretended to worship God.
The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. Jeremiah 3:11
To be faithless is better than being unfaithful!
The story of Peter gives a good example of someone who was deluded by religion. Right before Jesus dies Peter boasts that he would die with Jesus after Jesus clearly told him he would deny him. Peter’s response should have been to repent, but instead he put his trust in his own flesh and religion. Jesus brings Peter to pray with him in the garden of Gethsemane to test him and as a way for him to keep watch so that he would not fall into temptation later on in the night! Peter fails this test and when the time came he was so disconnected from God that he tried to kill a man with a sword! It wasn’t until after Jesus’ resurrection that Peter fully understood what God’s intentions were.
and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24:39-42
When the end comes two people living together on earth will suddenly be separated. The person who is swept away will not understand until it is too late! In context of the passage, the one who is swept away is the one who fell into judgement. In the spiritual sense, those who do not know God are already swept away, the people that you go to school with the people that you work with.
Some people take this passage as a reference to the rapture. Paul does write about rapture “those who are alive will be caught up in the clouds” (1 Thess. 4:17) When it comes to the rapture we as Christians must understand that it will not happen before the tribulation period. The Left Behind series isn’t biblically accurate.
Jesus prays not for God to take them out of the world but that we are protected from evil.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. John 17:16-19
God’s desire is that we would be in the world as agents of light (Matt 5:14). In the last days we are to be sent into the world to be witnesses, to be the Noah to our generation that is being swept away by the delusion.
Submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). We need to stand and resist the devil not just run away! Jesus doesn’t leave us unequipped to do this. He covers us, He also desires us and He edifies us to do His work!
Jesus is in heaven with his crown of glory. We are on earth far below…
1.When we sin Jesus covers us in His blood so that we can stand in His presence (the black lines are sin that comes from our flesh)
2.Jesus desires us and shares His heart with us. The strength of the communication line depends on the individual person and is always being broken and re-establish because of sin (the black lines.
3.Jesus also edifies us to bring us to be where He is in heaven. He speaks truth in our lives to encourage us to keep running!
The key to resisting the devil is through pray and worship by God’s power not ours! Humility comes from prayer. Leonard Ravenhill a famous pastor has said “A man is only as great as his prayer life.”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Luke 4:5-8
The strategy the devil uses is to deceive is to get people to worship themselves, to gain glory for themselves. The devil tried to tempt Jesus to glorify himself and not give glory to the Father. Jesus knew that His kingdom wasn’t on earth but that the he would take the Kingdom of the world for the Kingdom of God. Satan has the authority and glory in this world. He’s the prince of this world. When we fell we gave the glory that was originally meant for humans to glorify God to Satan. Satan gives that authority to whom he pleases the politicians, judges, artists, journalists etc and they use that authority to glorify themselves. The exaltation of self is actually worship to Satan.
Where there is light there is no darkness. When we worship God, the spiritual condition in air in hearts change. Through faith, the power of Christ dwells in us (Eph. 3:17) so that we are able to evangelize effectively.
When we first believe our hearts are changed but weak and can’t do much. As our faith increases through worship Jesus gives us strength and the power in our hearts get bigger so that we can shine light into the dark places. Eventually the faith that we develop stays in our hearts in our day to day lives!
Wherever we go we are to be the fragrance of life. We do this simply by submitting or leading in a way that glorifies God in the places of influence we are in families, Workplace, school etc. by submitting we open up a door of grace for God to work.
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 1 Peter 3:1
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.1 Corinthians 7:12-14
The family is the basic foundation of human society. In the household, if the parents are believers they are able to effectively minster to their child. As long as the child submits their parents they are “clean” If the child is a Christian, through their actions they can also minister to their parents.
In the bible the word heaven is shown in three different contexts. Once to refer to the place where God dwells Our Father who art in heaven (Matt. 6:9), Another time to refer to spiritual forces of evil outside of the physical realms For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12) and another to refer to the physical heavens (space and sky) The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Ps 19:1) Paul writes about an experience where he was caught up to the third heaven. (2 Cor. 12:2) From this we can conclude that there are three “heavens,” God being in the 3rd heaven, Satan having dominion over a spiritual realm “heaven” that can delude people on the earth and the physical heavens which we can see. Of course God owns everything and is at the top. When we pray God ends us power directly from where He dwell and pierces the spiritual forces in Satan’s realm. The parents receive this grace from God and can pass it to the child. The mountain represents the area of influence.
In the marriage relationship the wife through submission in a Christ like way is able to minster to her husband and the husband is able to minster to the wife by leading her in a Christ like way. This can only happen if the unbelieving partner is willing to live with the believer. The actions of the man or woman is what God will use to save.
The relationship between Father and Jesus is reflected in the relationship between the man and woman as well as the relationship between Christ and the church. The Son loves the Father and so submits to Him, the Father loves the Son and so gives Him all authority to Him. In this way the relationship is circular! In the same way the wife submits to the husband but the man loves the wife and so brings her up to his level!
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. Titus 3:1
In the school and workplace the same concept applies. When we live godly lives we gain the respect of those in authority to us and through the respect we are given opportunities to speak truth and minister to them. As Jesus grew he was able to gain the respect of those around Him even as a child! (Luke 2:52)
The one who is lower on the structure gives grace to the higher and the relationship between them is one full of grace.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us 1 Peter 2:12
In our friendships we are also able to minister in an equally yoked relationship. We can share our lives and live out our faith in a more personal way.
Not only can we minister to non-believers but also other believers as well. When David was being hunted by Saul, it says that Jonathan helped him find strength in God (1 Samuel 23:16).
Christians restore the disorder that is caused by our sin. A key way that we administer grace is through good works. It says in the bible:
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. Titus 3:14
As we seek the Lord we must also be ready because the doors are open for Him to work as He pleases through our lives.
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect 1 Peter 3:15
Remember setting Christ apart in our hearts always comes first! If Christ is first than it is easy to give a genuine love filled answer to those who ask!
Just as the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, so we are slaves to sin. Day after day we sweat in the desert of Egypt. All around us is sand and above us is a blazing sun that sucks the water of life out of our bodies. We long for a drop of water to quench our thirst but we find only sand. There is absolutely no water for miles around that can give us relief. In the same way, our spirits long for a drink of water but we find nothing.
In the world that we live in, we are deceived. All of our hopes, desires and longings come to nothing. (Ps. 112:10). We are like dream, a phantom, our life is but a vapour (Ps 39:6, James 4:14). Everything around us is fading away and decaying. The world and its passions fade away (1 John 2:17a)
They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. Psalm 73:20
This world is God’s worst nightmare. As humans our sinful minds come up with some of the most twisted and disturbing things. I am reminded of movies such as the Matrix or I, Robot where the humans create artificial intelligence but after awhile they rebel and start to kill people and suddenly we are plunged into chaotic world where the robots rule. In Resident Evil we try to create life through a virus but the virus turns everyone in zombies that eat human flesh.
When I think about it, this is exactly what happened to God. He creates life and we screw it up. This virus called sin enters the world, turns everyone into zombies that kill, lie, cheat, steal, hate, lust and now we live in a dark and godless world.
I can imagine God looking down at His once perfect world, in utter distress because his creation has turned into little demon monsters. But what gets me, is that it says we’re a dream not even real to God. Its like He’s going to wake up one day and we’ll all be gone, just a figment of His imagination. That’s good for God, but horrible for us.
But in this time when God is “sleeping”, He is also restoring people through Jesus and preparing them for the time when He awakes and brings back the real world. When God’s Kingdom comes those who are part of it won’t even want to remember any thing that happened in this old life.
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17
As we come to understand the calling that we have and are changed into citizens of Heaven, the world around us becomes our worst nightmare. We’re not of this world anymore but aliens and strangers in a foreign land (1 Peter 2:11)
However in the in between time, God in His wisdom has appointed that the Children of God live in this spiritual wasteland; it’s not easy. Every we wake up and cry:
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water Psalm 63:1
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:2
We look around us and our soul is in utter distress at the wickedness around us. Like Lot living in Sodom.
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -2 Peter 2:7-8
But even though our soul is in distress we are the only ones with water in this dry land. As we go from this life here on earth to Heaven we literally bring heaven down to earth. As we pass by these dry places we pour water around us. Everywhere we go, we bring life.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5-7
It says in the bible that we are the fragrance of life (2 Cor 2:16). When people who our hungry and dying smell the life in us they are attracted to us. The awesome thing is that we don’t have to do anything; we don’t have to be perfect for this to happen it is God’s grace that works in us to act in order to fulfill His good purpose (Phil. 2:13). What we need to do is to worship God and be faithful. He takes care of the rest. The above passage says those who’s strength is in the Lord. It means those who completely trust God and draw strength from Him.
As God’s Children we must learn to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. His faithfulness is our shield and rampant. He’s the one that rescues us and even though all around us people may be falling to into sin’s deceptions, He promises keep us safe from evil. A thousand may fall at our right hand, ten thousand at our right side but none of it comes near to us. We sit and watch in awe and give thanks for what God is doing for us.(Ps. 91)
He gives those who trust in him a bubble of grace and the way we gain this bubble, is when we put down our own barrier of sin and pride and allow God to work through us.
Before we believe we walk around and live in the sin all around. After we believe we walk around in a sinful world but are no longer deceived and caught up in it. Our hearts are changed (the red dot) but we will still sin because our flesh is still weak.
The passage says from strength to strength. In the New Testament it says we are being transformed from glory to glory to His image (2 Cor 3:18) and that we are being renewed in inwardly day by day though our outward bodies are wasting away (2 Cor. 4:16). We are so focused on God that we don’t even realize that He’s using us to bring life, we just pass by, our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith Jesus (Hebrews 12:2.
One of the keys to bringing life to a lost generation is humility. God is looking for people who are humble enough to admit they need God and truly understand that they’re nothing without Him; because of this they just obey. In the bible of there are many great men and women of God who did amazing things and we tend idolize them. We think that they’re super holy people that we can never be like. But what we don’t see is that these people were humble.
Moses was the humblest man in all the earth (Num 12:3). It would make sense that the humblest man would be the man most used by God. Moses was so humble that when the Israelites were opposing him in the desert he fell facedown before them. The people were about to stone Moses but he didn’t care about man; He had no pride. God’s glory appeared over the tabernacle and Moses started to intercede for his enemies so that God would spare them. People would probably think twice before messing with Moses after that. But Moses didn’t do anything he was fully focused on God (Num 14:1-24)
We need to be careful; there are many people who try to work for God but not many who are humble enough to be used by Him. Many will say on that day: Lord Lord, did we not prophecy in your name and in your name drive out demons? And He will say depart from me, I never knew you (Matt. 7:22)
In Noah’s generation no one was seeking God, every one was evil. God was grieved and was about to destroy man. But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord he was a humble and righteous man. It says he was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). So you have to imagine that throughout the 100 years or so Noah was building the ark, people would be watching (it’s pretty hard to hide a giant boat) and as the people came to see Noah, he would be preaching to them! In the end, his obedience and perseverance is what saved the whole human race!
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:5-8
Our generation is quickly heading toward the days of Noah. And when God decides to wake up, the world is not going to know. Jesus says that when He comes again people will be living their normal day to day lives.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37-39
The bible prophecies that despite everything that God tries to do to warn people, they will still not repent of their iniquity (Rev. 9:21). We need to be the people who will find grace in the eyes of the Lord. The people who can partner with God to bring His will into existence because he does not find pleasure in the destruction of the wicked (Ez. 18:23) and it’s His will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)
As in the days of Noah, the same spiritual reality exists today but instead of a flood it says:
That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12(NASB)
God sends them a powerful delusion. The word flood in Hebrew is mabbuwl and it means deluge which is the root word for delusion. The delusion overwhelms us and is extremely powerful. The most powerful delusion isn’t people who believe in different philosophies or people who clearly live in immorality but it’s the delusion of religion. Jesus warns us many times to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees (Matt 16:6). In the Old Testament, God says that He would rather have people live in outright opposition to Him than wear a mask of religion. In the days of Jeremiah, both Israel and Judah were living in opposition to God, but Judah still pretended to worship God.
The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. Jeremiah 3:11
To be faithless is better than being unfaithful!
The story of Peter gives a good example of someone who was deluded by religion. Right before Jesus dies Peter boasts that he would die with Jesus after Jesus clearly told him he would deny him. Peter’s response should have been to repent, but instead he put his trust in his own flesh and religion. Jesus brings Peter to pray with him in the garden of Gethsemane to test him and as a way for him to keep watch so that he would not fall into temptation later on in the night! Peter fails this test and when the time came he was so disconnected from God that he tried to kill a man with a sword! It wasn’t until after Jesus’ resurrection that Peter fully understood what God’s intentions were.
and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24:39-42
When the end comes two people living together on earth will suddenly be separated. The person who is swept away will not understand until it is too late! In context of the passage, the one who is swept away is the one who fell into judgement. In the spiritual sense, those who do not know God are already swept away, the people that you go to school with the people that you work with.
Some people take this passage as a reference to the rapture. Paul does write about rapture “those who are alive will be caught up in the clouds” (1 Thess. 4:17) When it comes to the rapture we as Christians must understand that it will not happen before the tribulation period. The Left Behind series isn’t biblically accurate.
Jesus prays not for God to take them out of the world but that we are protected from evil.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. John 17:16-19
God’s desire is that we would be in the world as agents of light (Matt 5:14). In the last days we are to be sent into the world to be witnesses, to be the Noah to our generation that is being swept away by the delusion.
Submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). We need to stand and resist the devil not just run away! Jesus doesn’t leave us unequipped to do this. He covers us, He also desires us and He edifies us to do His work!
Jesus is in heaven with his crown of glory. We are on earth far below…
1.When we sin Jesus covers us in His blood so that we can stand in His presence (the black lines are sin that comes from our flesh)
2.Jesus desires us and shares His heart with us. The strength of the communication line depends on the individual person and is always being broken and re-establish because of sin (the black lines.
3.Jesus also edifies us to bring us to be where He is in heaven. He speaks truth in our lives to encourage us to keep running!
The key to resisting the devil is through pray and worship by God’s power not ours! Humility comes from prayer. Leonard Ravenhill a famous pastor has said “A man is only as great as his prayer life.”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Luke 4:5-8
The strategy the devil uses is to deceive is to get people to worship themselves, to gain glory for themselves. The devil tried to tempt Jesus to glorify himself and not give glory to the Father. Jesus knew that His kingdom wasn’t on earth but that the he would take the Kingdom of the world for the Kingdom of God. Satan has the authority and glory in this world. He’s the prince of this world. When we fell we gave the glory that was originally meant for humans to glorify God to Satan. Satan gives that authority to whom he pleases the politicians, judges, artists, journalists etc and they use that authority to glorify themselves. The exaltation of self is actually worship to Satan.
Where there is light there is no darkness. When we worship God, the spiritual condition in air in hearts change. Through faith, the power of Christ dwells in us (Eph. 3:17) so that we are able to evangelize effectively.
When we first believe our hearts are changed but weak and can’t do much. As our faith increases through worship Jesus gives us strength and the power in our hearts get bigger so that we can shine light into the dark places. Eventually the faith that we develop stays in our hearts in our day to day lives!
Wherever we go we are to be the fragrance of life. We do this simply by submitting or leading in a way that glorifies God in the places of influence we are in families, Workplace, school etc. by submitting we open up a door of grace for God to work.
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 1 Peter 3:1
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.1 Corinthians 7:12-14
The family is the basic foundation of human society. In the household, if the parents are believers they are able to effectively minster to their child. As long as the child submits their parents they are “clean” If the child is a Christian, through their actions they can also minister to their parents.
In the bible the word heaven is shown in three different contexts. Once to refer to the place where God dwells Our Father who art in heaven (Matt. 6:9), Another time to refer to spiritual forces of evil outside of the physical realms For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12) and another to refer to the physical heavens (space and sky) The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Ps 19:1) Paul writes about an experience where he was caught up to the third heaven. (2 Cor. 12:2) From this we can conclude that there are three “heavens,” God being in the 3rd heaven, Satan having dominion over a spiritual realm “heaven” that can delude people on the earth and the physical heavens which we can see. Of course God owns everything and is at the top. When we pray God ends us power directly from where He dwell and pierces the spiritual forces in Satan’s realm. The parents receive this grace from God and can pass it to the child. The mountain represents the area of influence.
In the marriage relationship the wife through submission in a Christ like way is able to minster to her husband and the husband is able to minster to the wife by leading her in a Christ like way. This can only happen if the unbelieving partner is willing to live with the believer. The actions of the man or woman is what God will use to save.
The relationship between Father and Jesus is reflected in the relationship between the man and woman as well as the relationship between Christ and the church. The Son loves the Father and so submits to Him, the Father loves the Son and so gives Him all authority to Him. In this way the relationship is circular! In the same way the wife submits to the husband but the man loves the wife and so brings her up to his level!
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. Titus 3:1
In the school and workplace the same concept applies. When we live godly lives we gain the respect of those in authority to us and through the respect we are given opportunities to speak truth and minister to them. As Jesus grew he was able to gain the respect of those around Him even as a child! (Luke 2:52)
The one who is lower on the structure gives grace to the higher and the relationship between them is one full of grace.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us 1 Peter 2:12
In our friendships we are also able to minister in an equally yoked relationship. We can share our lives and live out our faith in a more personal way.
Not only can we minister to non-believers but also other believers as well. When David was being hunted by Saul, it says that Jonathan helped him find strength in God (1 Samuel 23:16).
Christians restore the disorder that is caused by our sin. A key way that we administer grace is through good works. It says in the bible:
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. Titus 3:14
As we seek the Lord we must also be ready because the doors are open for Him to work as He pleases through our lives.
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect 1 Peter 3:15
Remember setting Christ apart in our hearts always comes first! If Christ is first than it is easy to give a genuine love filled answer to those who ask!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Jesus Loves
the little children all the children of the world!
Red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight!
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
But Jesus called for them, saying, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." Luke 18:16-17
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. Matthew 11:25-26
Only children can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who believe become children of God. When Jesus says we need to be born again, He meant that we become like children again. Not everyone who is a child is a child, and not everyone who is old is an "adult" The children of God are chilren at heart! God turns our sulf-sufficient "adult" like hearts into childlike ones that can understand and know him.
Children, just believe and trust whatever their parents have to say. They don't doubt or question or try to argue with them. They understand that they are dependent and need their parents in their lives.
Adults on the other hand are very skeptical.
They judge and analyze every little word that is said and love to give their own opinions on different things because they want to make themselves look good. They are "grown ups" who have everything under control. They don't need to listen to their parents, because they already know everything. Their pride drowns out the voice of the Father.
But its only when we become like children and LISTEN that God can truly reveal Himself. We are all very adult like, even children have this heart inside them. If you go to an elementary school children all want to be first, they all want to look the best to be the smartest. They can't wait to be "grownups" It is only God who makes a child a child so that He can show them who He is.
When children listen and obey their parents, they stand out among the otherkids!
They may not understand why they need to do the things they are told but eventually they grow to see how their obdience has lead them to excel amidst their peers. They might be teased along the the way, but in it was far more worth it. The hours they put in studying instead of playing led them to be honoured in front of their peers as the valedictorian.
As Children of God, we need to learn to be even more childlike! As we listen to our Father and humbly obey, we are exalted because His blessings are seen in our lives by thouse around us.
Red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight!
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
But Jesus called for them, saying, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." Luke 18:16-17
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. Matthew 11:25-26
Only children can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who believe become children of God. When Jesus says we need to be born again, He meant that we become like children again. Not everyone who is a child is a child, and not everyone who is old is an "adult" The children of God are chilren at heart! God turns our sulf-sufficient "adult" like hearts into childlike ones that can understand and know him.
Children, just believe and trust whatever their parents have to say. They don't doubt or question or try to argue with them. They understand that they are dependent and need their parents in their lives.
Adults on the other hand are very skeptical.
They judge and analyze every little word that is said and love to give their own opinions on different things because they want to make themselves look good. They are "grown ups" who have everything under control. They don't need to listen to their parents, because they already know everything. Their pride drowns out the voice of the Father.
But its only when we become like children and LISTEN that God can truly reveal Himself. We are all very adult like, even children have this heart inside them. If you go to an elementary school children all want to be first, they all want to look the best to be the smartest. They can't wait to be "grownups" It is only God who makes a child a child so that He can show them who He is.
When children listen and obey their parents, they stand out among the otherkids!
They may not understand why they need to do the things they are told but eventually they grow to see how their obdience has lead them to excel amidst their peers. They might be teased along the the way, but in it was far more worth it. The hours they put in studying instead of playing led them to be honoured in front of their peers as the valedictorian.
As Children of God, we need to learn to be even more childlike! As we listen to our Father and humbly obey, we are exalted because His blessings are seen in our lives by thouse around us.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Heart Breathings
(excerpt from Leonard Ravenhill)
The need of the Church today is for spiritual
millionaires who can bring down the wealth of
the world above on this stricken church age.
It is my solemn conviction that the Lord put
the Church to groan in this groaning creation
(Rom. 8:26) that she might reach millions who
would otherwise groan for eons in a devil's hell.
Are we (who still have coals of fire on our altars)
measuring ourselves by the fireless altars of
neighboring churches instead of checking on
the praying blaze of our saintly forebearers?
THE NAME OF CHRIST
If we today could rediscover
The virtue in that Name,
The victory in that Name,
The violence in that Name,
We could set this world alight for God.
A sermon born in the head reaches the head;
A sermon born in the heart reaches the heart.
No Christian is greater than his prayer-life.
The pastor who is not praying is playing;
the people who are not praying are straying.
The two prerequisites to successful Christian
living are vision and passion, both of which are
born in and maintained by prayer.
The ministry of preaching is open to few;
the ministry of prayer - the highest ministry of
all human offices - is open to all.
Prayer grasps eternity!
The understanding soul prays;
the praying soul gets understanding.
The secret of praying is praying in secret.
Elijah was a man skilled in the art of prayer,
who altered the course of nature,
strangled the economy of a nation,
prayed and fire fell,
prayed and people fell,
prayed and rain fell.
We need rain, rain, rain!
The churches are so parched that seed
cannot germinate. Our altars are dry,
with no hot tears of penitents.
Oh for an Elijah!
Elijah was a man
subject to like passions as we are,
but alas, we are not men
of like prayer as he was.
His whole life is summed up in two words,
"He prayed." (James 5:17)
Watch and pray,
or rust and decay.
No amount of prayer
will deliver us from temptation,
but it will deliver us in temptation.
Prayer is the language of the poor in Spirit.
The self-sufficient do not need to pray;
The self-satisfied will not pray;
The self-righteous cannot pray.
Prayer produces courage and joy
to do God's will
even if tears are shed doing it.
The man who kneels in prayer
has some standing before the Lord.
Many ask God for help.
Few ask God for mercy.
We need preachers
who can preach up a storm,
but our greater need is for pray-ers
who can pray down the fire.
Most Christians pray to be blest
few pray to be broken.
Prayer is not argument with God
to persuade Him to walk our way,
but an exercise by which He enables us by His
Spirit to walk His way.
Who can tell the measure of God's power?
Prayer is as vast as God
because He is behind it.
Prayer is as mighty as God,
because He has committed Himself to answer it.
The need of the Church today is for spiritual
millionaires who can bring down the wealth of
the world above on this stricken church age.
It is my solemn conviction that the Lord put
the Church to groan in this groaning creation
(Rom. 8:26) that she might reach millions who
would otherwise groan for eons in a devil's hell.
Are we (who still have coals of fire on our altars)
measuring ourselves by the fireless altars of
neighboring churches instead of checking on
the praying blaze of our saintly forebearers?
THE NAME OF CHRIST
If we today could rediscover
The virtue in that Name,
The victory in that Name,
The violence in that Name,
We could set this world alight for God.
A sermon born in the head reaches the head;
A sermon born in the heart reaches the heart.
No Christian is greater than his prayer-life.
The pastor who is not praying is playing;
the people who are not praying are straying.
The two prerequisites to successful Christian
living are vision and passion, both of which are
born in and maintained by prayer.
The ministry of preaching is open to few;
the ministry of prayer - the highest ministry of
all human offices - is open to all.
Prayer grasps eternity!
The understanding soul prays;
the praying soul gets understanding.
The secret of praying is praying in secret.
Elijah was a man skilled in the art of prayer,
who altered the course of nature,
strangled the economy of a nation,
prayed and fire fell,
prayed and people fell,
prayed and rain fell.
We need rain, rain, rain!
The churches are so parched that seed
cannot germinate. Our altars are dry,
with no hot tears of penitents.
Oh for an Elijah!
Elijah was a man
subject to like passions as we are,
but alas, we are not men
of like prayer as he was.
His whole life is summed up in two words,
"He prayed." (James 5:17)
Watch and pray,
or rust and decay.
No amount of prayer
will deliver us from temptation,
but it will deliver us in temptation.
Prayer is the language of the poor in Spirit.
The self-sufficient do not need to pray;
The self-satisfied will not pray;
The self-righteous cannot pray.
Prayer produces courage and joy
to do God's will
even if tears are shed doing it.
The man who kneels in prayer
has some standing before the Lord.
Many ask God for help.
Few ask God for mercy.
We need preachers
who can preach up a storm,
but our greater need is for pray-ers
who can pray down the fire.
Most Christians pray to be blest
few pray to be broken.
Prayer is not argument with God
to persuade Him to walk our way,
but an exercise by which He enables us by His
Spirit to walk His way.
Who can tell the measure of God's power?
Prayer is as vast as God
because He is behind it.
Prayer is as mighty as God,
because He has committed Himself to answer it.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
in all godliness
train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
-1 Timothy 4:7b-8
In all things godliness has value.
When Jesus says to seek first the Kingdom of heaven and then all these things will be added unto you,this is what he meant.
The godly are not those who are morally perfect but those who seek the Lord with all their heart soul and mind. Striving against themselves, the world around them, the forces of hell and even life itself to know this God. Who is this King of Glory? A life that is living with this very purpose without compromise will be honored by the Lord For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully commintted to Him and He rewards those who diligently seek Him As they seek they receive grace to live a life of worship. They are enabled to live a disciplined, self-controlled life filled with power, love in all holiness and in every aspect of life.For our God is indeed All in All and an all consuming fire.
So that in everything we do we can truely do it in the Name of our Lord Jesus.
Today I wrote an exam, and sadly had to skip church to do so. After writting the exam I was surprised at how easy it was! I hadn't really realized it, but the grace God had given me to be disciplined in my prayer time overflowed into discipline that produced good fruit even in this life! When I look back on it, I studied a lot, 13 hours straight of productive studying and not once did I waste time on mundance things.
I always think that I am doing behind in school because I don't think I spend many hours on it. It always seems to be the last thing on my mind. Surpisingly, I received 2 papers this past week and reeived an A+ and A- on them. After looking back on it, I actually did put a lot of work into them without even realizing it.
Whats also strange is that my relationships with other people are so much better! I make friends very quickly without even realizing it. I'm so filled with God that I want to talk to people and don't mind sharing my life with anybody and everybody.
I'm reading the bible I always hear about encouragements to endure through suffering and about all the trials we must face and yeah there are those times but then there are these times and I can't be helped but stand in awe.
-1 Timothy 4:7b-8
In all things godliness has value.
When Jesus says to seek first the Kingdom of heaven and then all these things will be added unto you,this is what he meant.
The godly are not those who are morally perfect but those who seek the Lord with all their heart soul and mind. Striving against themselves, the world around them, the forces of hell and even life itself to know this God. Who is this King of Glory? A life that is living with this very purpose without compromise will be honored by the Lord For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully commintted to Him and He rewards those who diligently seek Him As they seek they receive grace to live a life of worship. They are enabled to live a disciplined, self-controlled life filled with power, love in all holiness and in every aspect of life.For our God is indeed All in All and an all consuming fire.
So that in everything we do we can truely do it in the Name of our Lord Jesus.
Today I wrote an exam, and sadly had to skip church to do so. After writting the exam I was surprised at how easy it was! I hadn't really realized it, but the grace God had given me to be disciplined in my prayer time overflowed into discipline that produced good fruit even in this life! When I look back on it, I studied a lot, 13 hours straight of productive studying and not once did I waste time on mundance things.
I always think that I am doing behind in school because I don't think I spend many hours on it. It always seems to be the last thing on my mind. Surpisingly, I received 2 papers this past week and reeived an A+ and A- on them. After looking back on it, I actually did put a lot of work into them without even realizing it.
Whats also strange is that my relationships with other people are so much better! I make friends very quickly without even realizing it. I'm so filled with God that I want to talk to people and don't mind sharing my life with anybody and everybody.
I'm reading the bible I always hear about encouragements to endure through suffering and about all the trials we must face and yeah there are those times but then there are these times and I can't be helped but stand in awe.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thoughts....
The human that is in relationship with God is innately aware of their nakedness before Him; both in the physical and spiritual. They live their day to day lives with a deep understanding of His sovereignty. They are found speechless and sit in reverent awe as they meditate and accept that God is familiar with all their ways, thoughts, actions and words. They look at themselves and wonder how dust can become a living being that can understand. Their lives are marked with a peace and rest accepting that their days were already set apart for them before they were even created. This trust and understanding gives them no fear in being obedient and following whatever God places in their hearts to do. They need not seek acceptance or approval from any person because they know their immense value. Their Creator spent an eternity thinking of them before they were and knit them together with the utmost care, cell by cell. They were born out of His deep intimacy and love, in His most hidden places that only He knows of and understands. With this in mind, they are content in any circumstance and are able to love others as the love of their Creator flows through them.
The Creator-creation relationship is indeed a unique one, unlike anything a human can comprehend. It is not as simple as a person looking at a colony of ants going about their work. The person would have to be able to dwell in, understand, empathize, enjoy and share in what each individual ant was doing simultaneously. The Lord has infinite thoughts for every person and His thoughts are all equally infinite for each of them; He is all in all. Each relationship with each person is uniquely different yet has a familiarity with each one, much like how the relationship between different people are different but also similar.
When one understands God’s sovereignty, they cannot help but see how sinful they are in every little thought, action or feeling that opposes this sovereignty. A yearning to want to be obedient is placed in their hearts. They willingly open their whole being to their Creator so that they can be searched and conformed to His ways no matter how much it may hurt them. Their love for the Creator is greater that their pride and so they are willing to allow themselves to be shamed if it means a deeper understanding and relationship with God. The relationship sparks a passionate zeal for those who live in complete enmity to this truth. They love the Lord so they will despise those who hate Him and mock His name.
In contrast, the one who is dull to God lives their life as a restless wanderer. They go from place to place trying to escape the grasp of God’s sovereignty in their life. The very thought of that God is omnipotent makes their spirit uncomfortable. Like Cain who built cities and hid himself with the many distractions of life and like Adam and Eve who hid among the bushes, so the person will surround themselves with spiritual places to hide. Although they try to hide, there will be no peace in their hearts until they submit to God.
As God’s people, we are a restless people. It is difficult for us to sit and wait upon the Lord. In our times of prayer our hearts and thoughts are scattered and in our reading of His Word we find trouble in meditating and understanding. This leads to an unfulfilled relationship with the Lord and many times we leave empty when we should be overflowing. We must forced ourselves to slow down and cast each anxiety on Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strengthen. Only then can our hearts be open for the Lord to fill them!
(Psalm 139)
The Creator-creation relationship is indeed a unique one, unlike anything a human can comprehend. It is not as simple as a person looking at a colony of ants going about their work. The person would have to be able to dwell in, understand, empathize, enjoy and share in what each individual ant was doing simultaneously. The Lord has infinite thoughts for every person and His thoughts are all equally infinite for each of them; He is all in all. Each relationship with each person is uniquely different yet has a familiarity with each one, much like how the relationship between different people are different but also similar.
When one understands God’s sovereignty, they cannot help but see how sinful they are in every little thought, action or feeling that opposes this sovereignty. A yearning to want to be obedient is placed in their hearts. They willingly open their whole being to their Creator so that they can be searched and conformed to His ways no matter how much it may hurt them. Their love for the Creator is greater that their pride and so they are willing to allow themselves to be shamed if it means a deeper understanding and relationship with God. The relationship sparks a passionate zeal for those who live in complete enmity to this truth. They love the Lord so they will despise those who hate Him and mock His name.
In contrast, the one who is dull to God lives their life as a restless wanderer. They go from place to place trying to escape the grasp of God’s sovereignty in their life. The very thought of that God is omnipotent makes their spirit uncomfortable. Like Cain who built cities and hid himself with the many distractions of life and like Adam and Eve who hid among the bushes, so the person will surround themselves with spiritual places to hide. Although they try to hide, there will be no peace in their hearts until they submit to God.
As God’s people, we are a restless people. It is difficult for us to sit and wait upon the Lord. In our times of prayer our hearts and thoughts are scattered and in our reading of His Word we find trouble in meditating and understanding. This leads to an unfulfilled relationship with the Lord and many times we leave empty when we should be overflowing. We must forced ourselves to slow down and cast each anxiety on Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strengthen. Only then can our hearts be open for the Lord to fill them!
(Psalm 139)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully commintted to Him.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Bride and the Harlot
Children of God,
We, the Bride of Christ are being made pure and white without blemish or stain. For He has ravished our heart with His love and desires to bring us, to take us to His home, a place where we will behold His glory. His banner over us is love and He is teaching us, preparing us for we are His beloved and we are His. We wait expectantly for great wedding feast of the Lamb that will soon take place!
Make yourself ready! The bridegroom is coming soon! go buy oil quickly for He shall come like a theif in the night while people are living their day to day lives. Suddenly He shall appear on a whitehorse, the rider Faith and True! Don't be found naked! Clothe yourselves with fine linen,the righteous acts of the saints. Buy refined gold as a worthy gift, a dowry for the bride. Adorn yourself with precious stones that are worthy of the Lamb. For she shall be called chosen and faithful, tried and true.
Children of God,
The devil deceives. For as the Lord is preparing Himself a pure bride, so the devil is raising up an imposter, a fake, one who shames the Bridegroom and His Name. The Great Harlot of Babylon. With passion dripping from her lips she is quick to indulge in immorality. She despises her sister and becomes drunk on her blood. She has given herself to countless lovers, allowed her self to be a dwelling place for demons and unclean spirits. Yet with a proud smile on her face she laughs and says I am not a widow, I have no shame, I need no husband.
There is a battle raging for this generation. Will we become the harlot or the bride? The harlot cannot contain her desire and goes to pleasure herself in everything possible. The bride waits patiently for the bridegroom staying faithful to Him. In this hour not many are waiting they think they can compromise, let one little spot stain the linen. Others think that don't need to be dressed, they can sleep till the Bridegroom comes and when He does, they will be naked having nothing to offer Him.
Jesus gave His life for us and when He returns He deserves a return. Will you have something to offer Him? or will you be found poor and needy on that day?
Is He really worthy to you?
(Songs of Soloman 2:4, 2:16, 4:9 Rev 17-19)
We, the Bride of Christ are being made pure and white without blemish or stain. For He has ravished our heart with His love and desires to bring us, to take us to His home, a place where we will behold His glory. His banner over us is love and He is teaching us, preparing us for we are His beloved and we are His. We wait expectantly for great wedding feast of the Lamb that will soon take place!
Make yourself ready! The bridegroom is coming soon! go buy oil quickly for He shall come like a theif in the night while people are living their day to day lives. Suddenly He shall appear on a whitehorse, the rider Faith and True! Don't be found naked! Clothe yourselves with fine linen,the righteous acts of the saints. Buy refined gold as a worthy gift, a dowry for the bride. Adorn yourself with precious stones that are worthy of the Lamb. For she shall be called chosen and faithful, tried and true.
Children of God,
The devil deceives. For as the Lord is preparing Himself a pure bride, so the devil is raising up an imposter, a fake, one who shames the Bridegroom and His Name. The Great Harlot of Babylon. With passion dripping from her lips she is quick to indulge in immorality. She despises her sister and becomes drunk on her blood. She has given herself to countless lovers, allowed her self to be a dwelling place for demons and unclean spirits. Yet with a proud smile on her face she laughs and says I am not a widow, I have no shame, I need no husband.
There is a battle raging for this generation. Will we become the harlot or the bride? The harlot cannot contain her desire and goes to pleasure herself in everything possible. The bride waits patiently for the bridegroom staying faithful to Him. In this hour not many are waiting they think they can compromise, let one little spot stain the linen. Others think that don't need to be dressed, they can sleep till the Bridegroom comes and when He does, they will be naked having nothing to offer Him.
Jesus gave His life for us and when He returns He deserves a return. Will you have something to offer Him? or will you be found poor and needy on that day?
Is He really worthy to you?
(Songs of Soloman 2:4, 2:16, 4:9 Rev 17-19)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
I've Got the Joy .......
O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus!
O how I love Jesus! Because he first LOVED ME!
To me He is so wonderful and I love him!
To me He is so wonderful and I love him
To me He is so wonderful and I love him because he first LOVED ME!
I wish I could worship God all the time.
Sadly I have to live life.
I look forward to the times when I can minster before the Lord.
I would not be able to survive if I didn't have that time.
Spiritual attacks are very strong lately.
It comes out of nowhere anger, jealousy, hate, depression
BAM BAM BAM BAM
It gets to the point where its a struggle to function and only by grace can I get through it.
God gives JUST ENOUGH grace so you can get through it but doesn't do everything so that you need to struggle to make it through.
Its confusing when you feel the love and grace of God overflowing through your spirit till the point of tears WHILE your going through some major suffering.
I can't help but rejoice!
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
I keep thinking on how I am being made clean and that all the sin that I hate so much is being removed and it brings me joy!
O the wonderful cross! O the wonderful cross!
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live!
In all the times of crying out to the Lord and praying for the loss souls,
a part of me is happy because I'm going through what Jesus went through.
Each time I force myself to pray for that person one more time, my love for them grows and I scold myself later for not doing it sooner!
I CAN EVANGELIZE MORE OFTEN NOW TOO!!!!
The Lord is definitely moving and I am excited to see what will happen in the next little while.
Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning!
Give me oil in my lamp I pray!
Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning burning burning
Keep me burning til the break of day!
O how I love Jesus! Because he first LOVED ME!
To me He is so wonderful and I love him!
To me He is so wonderful and I love him
To me He is so wonderful and I love him because he first LOVED ME!
I wish I could worship God all the time.
Sadly I have to live life.
I look forward to the times when I can minster before the Lord.
I would not be able to survive if I didn't have that time.
Spiritual attacks are very strong lately.
It comes out of nowhere anger, jealousy, hate, depression
BAM BAM BAM BAM
It gets to the point where its a struggle to function and only by grace can I get through it.
God gives JUST ENOUGH grace so you can get through it but doesn't do everything so that you need to struggle to make it through.
Its confusing when you feel the love and grace of God overflowing through your spirit till the point of tears WHILE your going through some major suffering.
I can't help but rejoice!
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
I keep thinking on how I am being made clean and that all the sin that I hate so much is being removed and it brings me joy!
O the wonderful cross! O the wonderful cross!
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live!
In all the times of crying out to the Lord and praying for the loss souls,
a part of me is happy because I'm going through what Jesus went through.
Each time I force myself to pray for that person one more time, my love for them grows and I scold myself later for not doing it sooner!
I CAN EVANGELIZE MORE OFTEN NOW TOO!!!!
The Lord is definitely moving and I am excited to see what will happen in the next little while.
Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning!
Give me oil in my lamp I pray!
Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning burning burning
Keep me burning til the break of day!
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