Stand Firm, Let Nothing Move You

Please read this section of 1 Cor 15:

1 Corinthians 15 :50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory."55“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

As I read these words of our Lord this morning I was impressed by the joining together of words concerning the escape/rapture and "let nothing move you." If you've been following this blog over the past months you know that the Lord has been focusing the writing here by impressing this instrument (me) with a focus on prayer, faith and consumption of the words of God-the bible. We could be days or weeks away from the escape from all/rapture of the church or it could be years away, we don't know but what we do know is that we should let nothing move you.

What does that mean "let nothing move you?" It means that while predictions and prognostications during these last days are coming fast and furious, we are to be focused on the work of the Lord. Many predicted that this summer would be the "summer of hell." What happened? Life goes on, no rapture, no time of Jacob's trouble, no societal collapse, no hell on earth, just business as usual for most people. Why is that? Our Lord controls the timing of what is going to happen and he specifically tells us to "stand firm" and "let nothing move you."

These words from the Lord seem especially relevant today since the focus of the past months writing has been exactly what these words in the bible tell us to do-focus on the work of the Lord.

So...we are to focus on the work of the Lord. What exactly is the work of the Lord?

John 6:29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Okay, so the work of God is to believe in the one he has sent, but what does that mean? Who was sent? Jesus was. And who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God and the WORD of God:

John 1 :1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understooda it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.b
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,c nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,d who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Ok, so where does that leave us? This means that the work of God is to believe the WORD of God and how can we believe in something we have not heard or read? How can we believe the Word of God when todays form of christianity only preaches a partial gospel? We can believe the Word of God when we personally, ourselves, not someone else, US, we read it, feed ourselves with the words of life.

As adults do we expect others to feed us our breakfast, lunch and dinner? No, we don't unless we are handicapped. So why do people today expect others to feed them the word of life? Do they not have eyes that see? Can they not read? We have no excuses for not staying in the words of God that we may believe, which is the work of God. The word of God is full of commands, do you think following the commands written in the word of God is part of the work of God? I do:

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

Do you think obedience to the word, is part of the work of God? I do, and how can we obey commands we do not know because they are not preached? We can obey the commands because we read and feed them to ourselves.

There is coming a day of judgement for all of us. We will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ to answer for our lives:

Romans 14:10
10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’”a
12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Notice what we are told, that each of us will give an account of himself...notice there is no mention of any clergy member there to answer for you. So how we will give an account for ourselves? Friends, as I write these things I tremble myself. I am not fit to judge any other human being and I make a conscious willfull effort to not judge any other person. Any thought that pops into my head that "judges" another person I take captive in obedience to Jesus and I engage my free will to dismiss it.

I tremble at the thought of standing before Jesus to give an account of my life because I know what a screwup I have been over the course of my life. With that said though, I would also very much like to know the words of God WELL so on the day I stand before the judge of men I can give an answer for myself based on words that mean something to God..his own words.

To bring this post to a close, we see how it is we do the things we are told to do. We are told to stand firm, to let nothing move us and how can we do that? We can believe in Jesus who is the WORD of GOD. We can believe in the word of God by staying focused on the WORD OF GOD. To stay focused on the word of God we must stay in it, that is, to read it, listen to CD, mp3, DVD, and speak to each other with it and any another other ways we can possibly feed ourselves with it.

When we read dire messages of impending doom, dismiss them unless you have personally heard from the Lord on these things. If you are a child of God that means you too have the Spirit of God living in you. Do you not trust him to warn you of what you need to be warned about? Our God has spoken clearly to us that our focus is to be his word and his word saying things like:

1 cor 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord

and

Philippians 4:6 ... Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication withthanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Our Lord told us that his coming would be like the days of Noah and Lot. They were righteous men in their days and what happened with Noah and Lot? Were they taken by surprise when destruction came? No, they were told to get in the ark and angels were sent to escort Lot out of Sodom BEFORE destruction hit for the world in both cases. Should we not expect the same thing of our Lord in our case? Was this not why these things were written to us? The word of our Lord was sent to COMFORT us.

Isaiah 40:1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Psalm 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to ...
May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.

Psalm 119:50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise ...
My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we ...
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any troublewith the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord ...
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, theFather of compassion and the God of all comfort

1 Thessalonians 4:15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore COMFORT each other with these words.

So be comforted brothers and sisters with the Lords own words to us. May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you today and always.

No Pastors Mentioned and Some Words on Love

No Pastors Mentioned

In yesterday's posting we saw where the church is promised gifts given by the Spirit of God for the common good, yet who has seen any workers of miracles or healings or real prophetic words in their church? We know God cannot lie, if he said that miracle workers and real prophetic words, and healings etc etc would be given to people for the common good, he meant it, he cannot lie, so what happened? In today's posting we see part of the problem....men's traditions, men's systems, men's interference, men's pride, men's doctrines have all gotten in the way.

If the Lord promised to make water flow out of a hose and men jam the end of the hose with dirt and debris preventing and stopping up the end of the hose, is it any wonder we see no water flowing? This place in Corinthians is an example of how the bible spotlights what's wrong in the churches today.

1 Corinthians 12: 27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tonguesd? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desiree the greater gifts.

Notice who is NOT mentioned in the group above... Pastors-no mention of pastors whatsoever, zero, zilch, nada. If pastors were supposed to be the centerpiece in every church that they have made themselves today, don't you think the Holy Spirit would have at least given them honorable mention as he was listing what we should see in the churches... "and in the church God has appointed......" everything you see above BUT pastors.

Now, if you think this is incorrect, and pastors really are the guru/CEO style leaders that God would give us to oversee the church, then someone please show me in the bible where "pastors" get their biblical authority to do what they do? I know they like to run wild with the scriptures and pick out all kinds of things that do not belong to them but I want to see the word PASTOR and then words attached before or after that word specifying who they are and what they do in the church and I want to see all that in the bible. Problem is...it's not in there. You won't find anything like that in the bible. If you think this judgement is incorrect, please also explain WHY it is that our God tells us we should see workers of miracles, prophetic words, healings, people who interpret tongues, messages of wisdom and all kinds of other gifts and yet you have never seen one of them in your church? Why not?

There have been many imposters in the church who claim to have healed people, many televangelists who claim to have worked miracles etc but I'm asking you for your firsthand account of seeing these things with your own eyes, not on TV. When is the last time you saw any of the gifts of the Spirit, without a doubt, no imposters included in your church? And if you have not, why not? Its a question that you need to answer because it will lead you to the truth. The truth is not afraid of light because the truth loves the light. Only darkness tries to squirm away from the light.

I have seen miracles, I have been healed so I know our God is not telling tales when he describes the gifts he gives to his people for the common good. Its not that I am anything, its a matter of our Lord doing what he said he would do. Have you ever seen even one of the promised gifts in your man made organizations masquerading as churches? If not, why not? And if not why do you stay there?

Some Words on Love

1 Corinthians 13
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,b but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This ^^^ here is just huge. Everything we are doing and everything we are about should be about love, as our God defines love. What does he tell us? You can do every wonderful work known to the mind of man and if its done without love, it was all useless. Now hold that thought and read this:

Rev 2:1 These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

You have forsaken your first love. You do all kinds of wonderful works for the Lord, but without love, they are all utterly useless. He is our first love, he must be our first love. He is everything. He is looking at our hearts all the time. Our God is not like men who have be deceived with words, he looks at the heart. What's in our hearts? We must have love in there and not just any love, the kind of love our God describes to us in his word: 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Let me be the first one to throw a hand up in the air and say I have ALOT of work to do in this area.

Ok, so over the past couple days we've seen that the Lord promised many different spiritual gifts to his people to include such things as working miracles and healings, we have also asked why it is that most people have never seen a single instance of these things in their institutionalized, pasteurized (pastor)-sterile, devoid of life, manmade organizations. We have also see 2 places immediately after the description of the gifts in the book of Corinthians of WHY we do not see the gifts.

1 Cor 12:7-11=the gifts

1 Cor 12:27-31=why we see no gifts, compare who makes up the church according to the bible (no pastors mentioned) to what you see in your church (pastors everywhere). Pastors everywhere in your church and nowhere in the bible. The one mention in Eph 4:11 tranlates as "shepherd" NOT pastor... and its mentioned ONE time.

1 Cor 13=love, or lack of it being another reason we do not see the gifts in todays manmade church organizations. How much damage can a lack of godly love do? Read here:

Matt 24:9 Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold

and here

Rev 2:4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

So, why talk about these things today? How is all this "encouragement" and not a beatdown? The theme here over the past 4 months or so has been about centering ourselves in the very middle of the narrow road that leads to life. That road is a road of love, hope, faith and obedience. Part of knowing the truth is exposing the lies masquerading as truth. In the book of acts we see many churches that met in people's houses, no multi-million dollar "sanctuaries" to be found. So lets imagine for a moment the church that meets in a believers house today. Let's also imagine that our Lord's words are true (they are) and in that house where the church meets, there are miracles, healings, messages of wisdom, speaking in tongues WITH interpretation of those tongues etc etc and all the other gifts we read about in 1 Cor 12:7-11. Now that you have a real church in mind, imagine an unbeliever walking into THAT house....miracles, healings, real prophetic words, are you getting the idea of how a person might react to THAT? How could a REAL church change this world?

The Lord cannot lie, we should be seeing the gifts of the Spirit but we get in the way. Like John said "I must become less and he (Jesus) must become more"

John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less.
He must become greater; I must become less.

As we move closer and closer to the very center of our Lord's will for us on that narrow road that leads to life, we should expect to see more and more of the many promises our Lord gave us fulfilled. If you need a miracle,a healing, a prophetic word or whatever else is needed, then align yourself in and with Jesus. That is what I must do, and what you must do. We are being called to perfection in Jesus. Will we mess up along the way? If you are like me then probably, yes. But we must fight on to the very end, giving ourselves to our Lord with everything we have. We must commit ourselves daily to our master. The walk we walk is not a one day event, its an every day event.

done for today, we are dearly loved, grace and peace

More Proof that Something is Very Wrong in "Christianity" Today

The bible is our baseline, our standard for determining what is true, what is real and what is right in this world. When we understand that and we take the word of God and compare it to what we see in the world, we know without a doubt that something is very very wrong with what calls itself christianity today. Consider these words:

1 Cor 12:7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,a and to still another the interpretation of tongues.b 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Did you read that? Did you see all the things that should be present but are not in your church? When is the last time you saw even ONE of these in your church?

the message of wisdom,
to another the message of knowledge
to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
to another miraculous powers,
to another prophecy,
to another distinguishing between spirits
and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

These are gifts given by the Spirit of God to the people of God for the common good. Now if you are NOT SEEING these gifts among the people around you, what does that mean? Has the Lord lied to us? Was he misleading us when he told us we would receive all these gifts for the common good or is there something TERRIBLY WRONG with what calls itself Christianity today?

If you did not read yesterday's post about being "known" by God now would be a good time to go back and read it. The call I am hearing from the Lord is one to come back to him with our whole hearts, to obey him, to love him and to praise him all day every day. He listed a bunch of powerful gifts that we SHOULD see in christian churches today, but we don't. When's the last time someone was really healed in your church? When's the last time someone gave a real prophetic word or a word of wisdom from the Spirit or someone interpreted tongues etc etc? If you are seeing none of these shouldn't that make you stop to wonder why? God cannot lie and if that's true then where is the problem with seeing the gifts manifest? The problem is in the people.

We have to take a hard look at ourselves and get rid of anything and everything that hinders our walk with the Lord. If the "church" you go to is a pleasant social circle, warm and fuzzy make me feel good kind of place but the full counsel of God is not preached there, what should you do? If outright lies are preached in your church, what should you do? How will you know if lies are being preached in your church unless you personally detect the deception? Do you expect the people sitting around you to rise up and confront the one man wonder "pastor" about his deceptive words?

We have to be willing to stand alone for the truth in these last days if that's what it takes to be right with our Lord. His name and his word he has lifted up above all things and his servants should be like minded. Some people wonder about the intense writing seen in some articles on this blog, but should they really wonder? Aren't we, the servants of God told to serve him with ZEAL and spiritual fervor? Do you know what zeal and fervor mean? That means INTENSE. A good example of this zeal and fervor can be seen in Jesus flipping over the money changer tables and whipping people in the temple for turning it into a den of thieves. That den of thieves theme has made a comeback in today's "churches" and I wonder what the Lord would do today if he ever walked into one of them.

Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

John 2:15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

The word of God is our measuring stick, anything that falls short should be brought into question right? So when we read about all the spiritual gifts our God gives his servants for the common good, and you see none of them in your "church" that should raise the alarm flag in your mind and heart. Chances are, you have never seen a person truly healed, or ever heard with your own ears, a prophetic word from the Lord, and that should trouble you.

If our God said it, we need to meditate on it and make sure we are conformed with it (his word). The writing here for about 4 months has been on the topic of focusing on Jesus and centering ourselves in his will. Even today I hope you will take what is written here not as a "beat down" but as an encouragement to align yourself completely with what you read in the word of God. If your "church" is a hindrance to your walk with Jesus, what should you do?

If we look at the churches in Revelation 2-3 as a guide we see that out of 7 churches only 2 (Smyrna and Philadelphia) did not receive some intense, scathing words from the Lord. To be fair, the 5 criticized churches did some "good" things that the Lord commended them for, but the good things were not enough. Look at what the Lord has in store for the 5 churches who were doing some "good" things but were still missing the mark:

Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

When we read what the Lord has to say to 5 out of the 7 churches, its scary stuff. Does anyone want the Lord to come to them and fight them with the sword out of his mouth? I don't want any of that. How about who wants to be spewed out of his mouth? Nope, I don't want any of that either. WHY were these words written to us? To scare us? To give us a "spirit of fear?"

No, no and more NO. Everything that was written was for our benefit to motivate us to right action and right standing with our Lord. For 4 months and counting now that has been the theme of the words coming to me from the Spirit of God, alignment with him and "in him." I hear no words about apocalypse and tribulation or rapture or any of that. The simple message is one of "righteousness" which is right standing with our God. When we stand in righteousness with our God, the other things take care of themselves. We have one mission I believe these days and that is to stand right "in Christ." We are to center ourselves with pinpoint accuracy in the middle of that narrow road that leads to life (Matt 7:14).

I was not expecting to write on this today but I never know from day to day what the Lord will allow me to write on and what he will prevent. Today it has been a different angle on the same theme of motivating us to center ourselves "in him."

Stay in the word of God, pray without ceasing, please remember me and my family in your prayers and know that if you are "in Christ" you are my brother/sister and you are in my prayers daily. Remember that our God answers prayer and remember that he loves you with a love that you and I still cannot wrap our minds or hearts around...its that BIG.

grace and peace

Known by God

When we read the sobering words written in Matt 7:14-28 we see that there will come a day when many people who call themselves christians today will be told by Jesus "away from me you evildoers" or words to that effect:

Matt 7:21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

What struck me in my reading this morning was this idea of being "known" by God. Do you think it might be important to be "known" by God so that whenever you stand before the Lord you don't hear the dreaded words we read in Matt 7:23? Issues don't get much bigger than this.

Here's what I read seemingly out of the blue, a statement stuck in the book of Corinthians that has no apparent relationship to the other words around it:

1 Cor 8:3 But the man who loves God is known by God.

When you read that chapter of Corinthians that statement seems to be stuck in there almost hidden among the rest of the words. We are told what it takes to be "known by God." It says that a man who loves God is known by God so next we need to know what it means to love God.

I'm sure many people will read 1 Cor 8:3 and say "oh yea, I love God! Of course I do" but we need to understand that our Lord does not see things the way men see them. What does "loving God" mean to God? To love God means to OBEY HIM.....and that's a big deal friends:

John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

So putting this together we see this clearly now:

obedience=love=being known by God.

Friends, we MUST be known by God. We cannot, must not be found in a place where our God will tell us he "never knew us"..... 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Unfortunately there are many people in this world who would tickle your ears with the idea that the Lord could never say something like "i never knew you" to you. Those people tell you one thing and the bible tells you another. Todays posting is not a beat down for you, rather it is an encouragement to live obedient to the Lord. Our walk in obedience is not over until one way or another we are standing before the Lord. While we walk this earth there are still "works" for us to do in accordance with this statement:

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

Paul said it, not me. Do you think that maybe walking in obedience in order to "love God" so we may be known by God is part of this "work out your salvation" thing? I do.

In a broad sense, looking at what the Lord has been saying to me, I see the Lord getting his people ready to meet him. When will that happen? It could be years from now, or it could be Saturday, September 19 (Sabbath day)-The Feast of Trumpets which is just weeks away, or it could be today. In one sense I am amazed at how little emphasis I see the Lord putting on the "dates and times" coming quickly for mankind, on the other hand the bible reinforces the fact that we should not be concerned with "dates and times" but we should be very concerned with being READY whenever those "dates and times" show up.

The message from the Lord over the past 4 months to me has been one of readiness. Not necessarily for any one event but readiness for HIM. In other words the message has been one of getting ourselves to the place we should be in every day regardless of the end of the world, rapture, tribulation, whatever. There is a way we are told to walk and talk and act and think and believe and I see the Lord calling us into the very center of that "way" right now. The road that leads to life is a narrow one (Matt 7:14) and I see the Lord painting a big bulls eye in the middle of that narrow road for us to position ourselves so that we will never hear the words "away from me you evildoers" or anything like that.

Let us strive to be obedient today and every day hence so that we demonstrate our love for the Lord according to how he defines love, so that in turn we may be "known" by him.

P.S. I suspect being "known" by God also has something to do with our prayers being answered but thats a topic for another day.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you today and always.

A God Who Answers Prayer

I want to encourage you today to pray without ceasing. Why? Our God ANSWERS PRAYER. This has been on my heart for almost 4 months now: pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually;
... pray without ceasing;

Wanna know whats great about praying? The answers..

Our God has answered this poor man's prayers for decades, one after the other after the other, often in spectacular ways. Don't be caught in the trap this world sets for people by making you think someone is more "special" than you in some way and that's why things happen for them. I am here today to tell you that there is nothing special about me apart from him who lives in me: the Spirit of Jesus. If you have given yourself to him, then he is within you too.

Our God is a God who answers prayer. I want to say it every way and any way I can to help you understand, to somehow make it sink in. The King of Kings is still Almighty, his word is still true, and he still answers prayers in spectacular ways today. We are told to search for him with all our hearts and we will find him:

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

So lets do that ^^^ today. Ask, Seek, Knock! Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;knock and the door will be opened to you. <---And this does not mean do it one time then give up, it means do it and keep on doing it. When a person has turned to the world for answers their entire life and they find themselves crushed under the weight of all their troubles, what should they do? How about looking for answers in new places?

For many people, trusting Jesus would be something new for them. I am here today to tell you its worth it to trust this God, this Jesus to come through for you. Seek him like you would seek hidden treasure if someone gave you a treasure map and told you if you follow it you will find untold mind boggling riches. In fact, that is what you find when you find the true God. The treasure map is the bible. Don't take my word for it, read it for yourselves. I hope you will take my word for the fact that the God who talks about himself in the bible delivers on what he promises. That is my testimony, that Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit are GOOD and they can be trusted.

If you are weighted down with all kinds of sin, Jesus can help you with that too. Only he knows how many sins I have been delivered from. He will show you his lovingkindness and his grace if you will let him.

These are the days of Noah and Lot. I look around me today and I see pre-flood, pre-fire and brimstone days. I see people getting on with their lives as if these days were not the "last days." People are all concerned about the "health care debate" and all the signs Satan is sending to the world and a million other things while the Lord has his hand held out to the world.

These "pre-flood" days are days of GRACE. There is coming a time when people will not see the side of the Lord I am seeing today. There is coming a day that will be unlike any other, a day that people will not want to see. The Lord tells us about this day here and how people will long for "former days."

Luke 17:22
Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

People long to see good days right? The days of the Son of Man are good days. This scripture in Luke 17:22 comes from the discussion Jesus had with the disciples about the days of Noah and Lot. I'm sure as the floodwaters rose and the fire and brimstone fell, people wished they could turn back time but they could not. I have no idea what tomorrow holds for this world, but I do know this, the Spirit is saying kind and tender and merciful things to me and to this world today BEFORE the dark days that are ahead arrive at people's doorsteps.

The ark has been constructed, the door is down, the sun is shining, its a beautiful day....so far. I can tell you that I am not brave enough to walk more than a step or two away from the ark, which in our case is Jesus the Son of God, our refuge from the coming storm.

Pray, stay in the word of God, that's what I am hearing from the Spirit today. grace and peace

Most Encouraging

One of the most encouraging places in scripture is this area in the book of Romans 8:

Romans 8:28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

There is so much jam packed into so little space that many times we can read over what is said here with little to no understanding of what is really being said. It places like this in the bible that let you know you really ARE reading the words of God, not words of men. Consider this wording: in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him.....all things? Yea....ALL THINGS. All leaves nothing out does it? Its expansive all inclusive wording that only someone like GOD can backup.

There's much more to say about this area of the bible but I want you to focus right now on this "foreknew.. predestined" stuff. What is all that saying? It's saying that in the same moment that everything was created the Lord knew the end from the beginning of everything so he also knew who would be saved and who would not. He knew...way back when who would be saved and who would not so according to that knowledge he did everything else like predestine, call justify and GLORIFY us.

This "glorify" thing is much much bigger than most of us realize. To get a mental grasp of what we are talking about here about us being glorified, the Lord has brought this to my attention many times:

The devil is the "god of this world" right?

2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of ...
... in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving sothat they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is ...

Do you think that those who belong to the Lord, even the least of his servants will have less than the devil does now? What do I mean? The devil is the god of this world, so do you think that anyone will be in heaven someday and look back and say "hey, Satan got to be the "god" of an entire world and all I get is a city?" We don't know exactly what it is the Lord has in store for us because our minds aren't that big, but we know its going to be very very VERY good.

1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ...
... But as it is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." ...

Your mind can't even IMAGINE how great the things are that our Lord has in store for us...

Satan gets to be the "god" of this world. That's easy to wrap your mind around isn't it? The things the Lord has in store for us you CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE and I can imagine some pretty big things....stew on that for awhile....

The Lord is going to glorify us in ways we cannot imagine right now. If we could wrap our mind around even a small piece of how very great our God is and how much he loves us we might explode with the joy of it.

The things we are doing are not done in vain. We have no idea just how great what is coming is going to be. Paul understood this when he said:

Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Be encouraged today..be very encouraged that our present sufferings are quickly passing away and what awaits us "in Christ" is indescribably (is that a word? LOL) good. We have to wait for heaven for some, but not all of the the good things that are ours "in Christ." Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is WITHIN US.

Luke 17:20Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

We have much to learn about how great a calling we have "in Christ." What we are called to is so great our minds cannot comprehend it not can we even imagine it. There is a reward for loving and obeying our God. There is a reward for rejecting evil and choosing what pleases our God. Some rewards can be seen on earth but there is so very very much more in store for us.

I asked the Lord for something to give you today and this is what he gave me to write. May the grace and peace of our Lord be with you today. Keep the faith, pray for the brothers.

Enemy Tactics and Answered Prayer

Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’a”
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’b”
7Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’c”
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’d”
11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Our adversary, the devil has not changed tactics from the very beginning. He tries to create doubt and he is bold about it. We see from the text above that he even uses this tactic on Jesus. He says to our Lord "IF you are the Son of God....." to create doubt. If he used this tactic on Jesus do you think he'll use it on you? You bet he will and he does. We are told that we live by faith, not sight. Satan knows it and he comes to create doubt to destroy our faith.

The Lord has been doing one great thing after another in my life and yet each step of the way, I see the working of the adversary. The boldness of the adversary is what is so amazing. Even when it does not take faith any longer to believe and know that I have something, even when my eyes are beholding things the Lord is doing the enemy STILL is trying to create doubt. He whispers "did the Lord really give you that" or "are you sure you really received that" and other demonic doubt laced thoughts like that.

Satan is bold in trying to destroy our faith, we must be bold in employing our faith. This is why the Lord said things like this:

Josua 1:6“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Does it look to you like the Lord was trying to make a point there^^^? It sure does to me. He knows the enemy tactics and he tells us to live by faith. Be strong and very courageous...and he asks have I not commanded you? to drive the point home.

The Lord would have me tell you once again today that he is a God who answers prayer. I have proof that my God exists because I do pray and my prayers are answered. Nobody can prove to me otherwise because nobody else knows all the things I've prayed for and seen first hand all the answers. The enemy will come to you boldly and constantly in an attempt to create doubt, don't give in to him or his whisperings. Take captive every thought, make them all obedient to our Lord in faith. Do not entertain doubts and fears, replace them with "it is written....." and you fill in the blank with the appropriate sword of the spirit, word of God to demolish the arguments of the enemy.

I will say it again: our God answers prayer. Seek his face, pray, stay in the word of God, meditate on it day and night. Pray all kinds of prayers and requests, nothing is too small or too big. Keep the faith, exercise your faith, believe. Keep your eyes focused on the author and finisher of our faith: Jesus. Be strong and very courageous because we serve an ALMIGHTY God who loves us. Expect your prayers to be answered (Mark 11:24). Do not be doubleminded.

I am a living breathing testament to the love and faithfulness of God Almighty. I am writing today to tell you without a doubt our God hears and answers prayer. There are reasons prayers do not get answered and persistent, unrepentant sin is one of them so understand that but thats not what I'm driving at today. Today is a day for you to be greatly encouraged. Know that the least of your brothers has seen miracles and is daily seeing answer to prayer from Almighty God. If the least of your brothers is seeing such things, how much more can the promises and power of our Lord manifest in your life?

There is nothing special about me except for my standing "in Christ." All glory belongs to our Lord and King, that's what this is about. The words written here are a testimony that our God can be trusted (faith) and that he performs and watches over his word to ensure it does what it was sent to do. His praises are on my lips and in my heart today, they overflow onto this page in words of thanks for all that he has done.

Seek his face, keep the faith, pray, believe, expect to see answers to your faithful and fervent prayers. Know that our God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him...

Hebrews 11:6
... But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God mustbelieve that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him

Who knows what tomorrow may bring. We are weeks away from the feast of trumpets 2009. Will the Lord cause the "escape from all" Luke 21:36 to appear sometime this next few weeks? Only he knows. Let us be found one way or another with faith in our hearts and minds and praise on our lips for our God who does deserve all the praise and glory that is due his name.

May his name be praised forever, grace and peace

Time to Repent

Rev 2:20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

Although the language used here ^^seems harsh, when we look carefully we can see our Lord's mercy in these words:

I have given her time to repent...

He gives people time to repent. That means that its not one or two sins that land people in hot water with the Lord, its unrepentant sin over time that gets them in trouble. The Lord gives us TIME to repent. I can tell you from my own experience that the Lord is merciful and gracious with us when we sin. He does not treat us as our sins deserve AT FIRST. But over time, if we do not repent, then we can go back to places like what we just read in Rev 2 and see things like children being striken dead because of people's own sin: 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead

I am convinced that our Lord has a message of tenderness and grace for us who believe today. Anyone who has read the words written on this blog 5-6 months ago and before knows that the things written here today and over the past weeks are a radical departure from what has been written here for years past. The Spirit is leading in a different direction. Everything inside me says "YES" and "AMEN" to the loving kind voice of the Spirit these days. What a stark contrast to see the fear and hopelessness in the world compared to the joy, hope and peace being radiated by the Spirit of God today.

Our Lord is speaking a simple message to me today. He answers prayers as much today as he ever has in the past. We have a place of peace and refuge "in Him" if we will only seek it out and remain in it. We are in the world not of it, so our supply our hope, our thinking, our resources come from someplace else (the kingdom of heaven...). There is no reason to be downcast or depressed or fearful today, regardless of what your eyes are telling you. You live by faith, not sight. The promises our Lord has given us are more than enough to see you through to the very end, whether that be the escape from all (luke 21:36) or the time of Jacob's trouble or the legions of hell facing you down or anything else. Our God is God ALMIGHTY and he loves his children. It is time for us to get a fresh revelation of what it means to be children of the Most High God.

Keep his praise always on your lips, stay in the word of God, pray continually with all kinds of prayers and requests, and be anxious for nothing.

Psalm 34:1 ... I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in ...
... Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication withthanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and may he grant you peace.

Finding Our Portion and our Peace in the Lord

The Lord has been speaking to me about our day to day walk. He has shown me in my own experience where we must make him our portion each day, in spite of the problems and troubles that surround us, we are to find our rest and our peace "in him."

Psalm 16:5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you ...
The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.
Psalm 119:57 You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey ...
You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words. ... You are my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep your words.
Psalm 142:5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my ...
I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

The only changes we are going to see in this world before Jesus shows up is things going from bad to worse. The problems and troubles of life will be ongoing until we leave this place but I believe the Lord is telling us that we have a refuge, a shelter, a place of peace to rest in daily if we would seek him, engage him, consume his promises, stand on his promises, pray his promises back to him and then REST.

We were never told to go out and fight all the battles of life on our own. We have a God and promises from our God that we can lay hold of and rest in. The only way this is possible is to have faith.

1. We must believe that our God exists
2. We must believe that he does not lie and he will honor his promises to those who are "in him."

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Once again we are circling around the same subject. Our answers are all "in Christ." We must seek the Lord today and everyday. We must ask him to allow us to delight ourselves in him. We must pray that he would be our treasure here on earth and in heaven. We must ask him to be our portion and our peace today-in spite of all our troubles.

When we do these things, the other things going on in the world begin to pale and fade away. Yes, it appears that the rapture, the time of Jacob's trouble and hell on earth are almost upon us, but it has seemed that way for years now hasn't it?

Where should our focus be? On the problems or on the solution? The problem has been in focus and "in the world's face" for years now, we should stop beating a dead horse. If people can't see the end time events playing out around them it is because they are spiritually blind. They need what we need...the solution. For your sake and the sake of those who hear you, focus on the solution: his name is Jesus. This is what I hear the Spirit saying today.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be upon you today.

Where is the Rapture? Where is the Tribulation?

Have you ever wondered how things in the world could stay so messed up for so long without everything turning upside down? Not so many years ago had we been able to peer into the future (to today) and take snapshots of what's going on in the world economically we would likely think its armageddon, but its not. Why not?

The Lord and the Lord alone sets the timing of things. The Lord has a day and hour in mind for everything that's going to happen in this world, especially the prophetic events we know are coming according to our Lord's word. It doesn't matter that Satan and the people who serve him have been trying to induce the "end time" before its time. Satan and his servants are just as dependant on the Lord's timing as we are. All creation waits on the Creator, period.

Since all creation must wait and see what the Creator does, doesn't it seem wise to keep our eyes on the Creator who is our Lord and master? It does not matter what happens in this world, our answer is "in him." This will especially be true for those who go through the time of Jacob's trouble. The things that they will see on this earth will make men's hearts melt for fear, but we are told not to fear or even be anxious about anything.

What does this all mean? The Lord has been feeding me a steady diet of himself for months now. He put me on a news diet and now I'm to the point where thinking about checking some websites I used to browse almost makes me sick inside. Our minds and hearts and spirits must be locked on Jesus. He is our portion our safety, our peace, our refuge, our source to get everything we want or need, he is everything to us.

Both the escape from all (Luke 21:36), also known as the rapture and the time of Jacob's trouble are all ahead of us. We must be found worthy of the escape from all that is coming and those who will be left to face the time of Jacob's trouble will need to be deeply rooted "in Christ" to both live and die well for Jesus. The moral of the story? We need more of Jesus for everything that is happening today and everything that will happen in the days to come.

The worse things get on earth, the more we need our Lord. The time to get rooted and built up in Jesus is today, not when all hell breaks loose. The Lord is speaking a message of grace and peace and encouragement to me and you today. The world mistakes our Lord's kindness and gentleness for weakness but how very wrong they are to think that way. Our God has things in store for this world (read the book of Revelation) that will show people how very "not weak" he is.

Regardless of how a person fits into the end time scenario, whether they escape from all or not, they will need to learn to praise the Lord always, and to meditate on his promises day and night. Those things are at the very heart of what I hear the Spirit saying these days. The Lord does not think the way men think. How unlike the world it is for a people to see terrors and calamity all around them yet have lips overflowing with praise for their God, continually glorifying him.

We must be sons of God and the word says the sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God:

Romans 8:14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Wherever he leads we must follow. It appears to me that today he is leading us into the ark, into the fortress, into the refuge, under the shadow of his wings, in short ....deeper into himself. Let the world fade away around you and dive deeper into Jesus...that's the message. We are in the world but we are not of the world. Diving deeper in Jesus does not mean hiding in some cave somewhere , far from it, it means sitting like a light or candle on a hill giving light to the area around you.

We are witnesses and ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven as long as we walk this earth so lets walk and talk in a manner befitting who we are "in Christ." Let us bring glory to our Lord and master who is so deserving of the worship and glory and praise that is due him. Keep the faith, be strong, ask, seek, knock, be anxious for nothing.....grace and peace

Words That Jumped Out Today

I was going to highlight some of the words spoken by the Lord below but I would just end up highlighting every word so why bother? We see from this that the Lord's wrath is constantly being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men. Please read the words below:


Romans 1 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Did you read the results of God's wrath being revealed from heaven? See that part in there about both women and men being given over to a depravity so bad that they exchange natural relations for unnatural relations? Look around at the world today, homosexuality has become an epidemic disease that is getting worse by the day, why is that? The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven.

Some of the key parts within the passage of scripture that stand out to me like glowing neon signs are here:

21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him

and here

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

The text that is highlighted above should glow in neon, or at least it does to me. It is precisely these things that the Lord has been speaking to me about for months now. The Lord has not asked us for outrageous things, he has asked us for simple things. What does he require from us?

We are to glorify him as God and give thanks to him and think that its a worthwhile thing to retain the knowledge of God. Is the Lord really asking so much from us that we cannot do these things? We must do these things. Did you read the results of not doing these things? The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven on people for not doing these things.

I cannot overemphasize how big a deal the Spirit is making this with me today. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. I urge and encourage you today to be found with our God's praises on your lips at all times. I encourage you to thank him constantly for everything and anything your mind can lay hold of to thank him for. I encourage you to stay in his word so that you will retain the knowledge of God.

The Lord has absolutely turned a corner with me to direct my thinking and writing to these things. I consider this blog to be the Lord's, not mine. I ask him for words to put on his blog since I reject my own thinking and reasoning as worthless. What you and I need is words from God, not men. We do not need anymore of man's thoughts or reasonings. We can benefit each other only as long as we keep our focus on Jesus. The way the world has gotten into the mess it is in is by rejecting the only one who can fix it: Jesus.

Again and again we see in the word of God the benefits of doing what pleases the Lord and the consequences of failing to please him. We belong to him, we love him so lets prove our words are not empty by doing the things he tells us to do.

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you today

Speaking to Each Other

I have noticed over the past weeks/months that much of what the Lord would have me speak to you comes directly from the Psalms. Sometimes the Holy Spirit tells us what to do and why we are doing it, sometimes he just tells us what to do. In the case of what has been written on this blog over the past weeks it was "what" first, and "why" second.

Here's what the Lord showed me about all this material coming from Psalms lately:

Ephesians 5:19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I wonder if this is how it all ends...the true bride of Christ goes out of the world (escape from all-luke 21:36) singing songs of praise to God, speaking to each other in grace filled words (psalms) while the world plunges headfirst into oblivion with mutterings and cursings on their lips. Doesn't seem too far fetched to me, I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Grace and peace

Faith Tested

1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful ...
... Dear brothers, do not be surprised, as if it was something strange, if your faith is tested as by fire:

Before I left for my business trip the Lord told me clearly that I would be tested. I didn't really think about it much but when I heard his voice I almost instantly prayed for help, strength and that I wouldn't let him down. I asked the Lord which parts of this I should tell you and which not to, basically, what's the point he would have me tell you today?

Here are the important things to cover:

1. Our faith will be tested in this life right up till the very end.

2. Satan knows very well what our weaknesses are and just because you haven't been tested in awhile doesn't mean he's forgotten about you or your weaknesses, he just lies back in wait for another good time to test you.

3. The flesh never gets stronger in its ability to resist sin. The body we live in is absolutely corrupt and always will be to the very end. Proof? Jude 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

4. The Lord is faithful to both warn us before and help us during our trials. We were never told to charge into the world alone and conquer this life through our own power. This past few days was a potent display of how if the Lord does not deliver us, we will not be delivered, but we have to ASK for help. We ARE PART of this great drama here on earth. The Lord expects us to engage our spirits and willpower in the fight, not just let everything happen willy nilly and say in the end "well it was the Lord's will" when you did nothing to engage in the fight.

5. ASK. The Lord has established laws in the universe that cannot be violated by either side of the fight. If you ASK for help before, during and after the battle (whatever it is) then the Lord has LEGAL authority to step in and pull you out of the firey trial when it gets too hot for you to handle. Everything in this universe operates by legal authority. When Satan stands before the throne of God accusing us and asking why the Lord reached into our situation and did whatever it was he did for us that he did NOT do for someone else, our lawyer in heaven can reply back to the accuser that we ASKED for help. It was our WILL to be helped in our time of need. The flesh and the spirit are at war with each other, which is to say we are at war with ourselves and the enemy and the world.

Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

James 4:2You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The Lord bailed me out of another fiery trial. I did ask for help before and during my trial, and I received help. The common theme here with what has been written on this blog for months now is we have to ask continually, pray always, pray without ceasing, meditate on his words day and night.

Our God is faithful. He does not treat us as our sins/weaknesses/failures deserve. He helps us in our time of need both for the sake of his own name and glory as well as for our sake.

The lesson learned by this brother over the past days is that the battle is never over. If you have been walking strong in the Lord for months and start thinking wow, this is going really well, be careful that you don't fall:

1 Corinthians 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

This is war. We have a great commanding general :-). He came through for me again, which means he is there for you as well. Be encouraged today, our God still speaks to his people and answers prayer. Keep the faith, grace and peace

Business Trip

Sorry I didn't mention it earlier, I've been on a business trip since Monday. Will post again soon. Grace and peace

The Days of Noah and Lot

This morning as I was in prayer, I asked the Lord if I could write on the days of Noah and Lot and I have been granted permission to do so. Let us refresh our memory:

22Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24For the Son of Man in his dayc will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.d”
37“Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Some key words to notice there are: the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all....

The day Noah went into the ark...the day Lot left Sodom....then destruction came. I have a heavy heart this morning about the future. Asking the Lord about this the answer was this:

Our solutions and answers do not lie in the problems...the solution and answers we need are "in Christ." We are quickly approaching Sept 19, 2009, which once again marks out the Feast of Trumpets for us. Of all the days on the calendar, that day each year should have a big glowing neon sign hanging on it that says ESCAPE FROM ALL. Could the escape from all, rapture of the church occur this year on the feast of trumpets? It is very possible. This is the time of year every year that we should be especially watchful for the Lord's end time activity. Why? It is the FALL FEASTS that have yet to be fulfilled prophetically and guess what time we are quickly approaching? FALL....

Just as I said last year, I am not predicting anything. The probability is low that anything will happen, but the probability will always be low that the escape from all or beginning of Jacob's troubles will start, but one day they will happen, there is a 100% guarantee they will happen. All outward appearances point to tragic events coming to this world. I do not believe our Lord wants our focus there. He wants our focus on him.

For the first time in many years, going into the fall of the year, the Lord has not had me writing about the escape from all/rapture/beginning of Jacob's troubles. That in itself is a marker or signpost that we should be especially aware this year. His focus over the last 2-3 months has been on one thing really, separation from the world and complete unity with him and focus on him. Why would the Lord be on that topic so heavily for the past 2-3 months? Has he been sending out a signal to anyone who would listen that he is coming back for a holy people, a spotless bride? That he is coming back soon are the key words in there.

The Lord always warns first and he has warned the people of this earth now for many years in many different ways. Lately, the warning bells have gone silent and a loving, grace filled message of encouragement and comfort has taken its place. What does all this amount to?

When I think of Noah loading the ark, and Lot being led out of Sodom, I see a parallel with what I am hearing from the Spirit today. I see the Lord holding our hands as a loving father and leading us out of the world, first in heart mind and spirit, then bodily......The unseen always takes precedence. Spirit, heart mind leave first, then the body. Remember this: 33Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. When your spirit heart and mind have already been "lost" to this world, you have "lost your life" to the world. Only those who "lose their life" will preserve it.

I believe the Holy Spirit's message to me over the past 2-3 months have been an ongoing process of "losing our life" to the world and diving deeper and deeper "in Christ" in preparation for something....The Spirit's message to you and me this morning is grace and peace to all who are far and near. Find rest for our souls "in Christ." Separate ourselves from the world, not conforming to its patterns or thoughts in any way. We are in the world but we are not of it.

I cannot be sure that the Lord is going to do anything as magnificent as the escape from all (Luke 21:36) or the beginning of Jacob's troubles this fall. What I am sure of is that we are being called away from the world and deeper into Jesus. To those being saved, we are the fragrance of life and to those perishing we are the smell of death:

2 Corinthians 2 :14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

I believe the Lord's hand is outstretched right now in grace, tenderness and mercy to this world. I am hearing words of encouragement and grace from him today. Who knows how much longer the Lord's mercy will extend to this world? Know that we who are "in Christ" are dearly loved.

grace and peace

Staying in Step With the Spirit

Anyone who has followed this blog for more than a few weeks knows the writing has shifted here. No longer do word hammers fall against the apostasy of the church as they have for years. Why not? Where has all the bashing of the apostate church gone?

The short answer is: I don't know.

This blog was started from what I believe was clear direction from the Lord to write about the apostasy of the church. Now it appears the Spirit won't allow me near the subject. He has completely shifted gears. The bible says that the sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God. The writing on this blog is about following the Spirit of God, not just writing for the sake of writing. So I asked the Lord, "Lord, what about the title of the blog? It says Christian Apostasy and I don't write about that anymore?" The answer I get back from the Lord?

Romans 8:14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

So what if the title of the blog is "christian apostasy" and there is abundant christian apostasy around us yet the Lord will not allow me to write on it anymore? If he leads me to write about fishing and wildlife or the canning process of green beans or anything else, that's what I will write about. Perhaps enough has been written already here about the apostasy of the church. Maybe time is shorter than we think and the Lord is switching from the hammer to the harp to reach out one last time to people before the tribulation starts. I don't know.

What I do know is this. The Lord's direction has been very clear over the past weeks and months. He is to be the focus. His name and his word have been lifted up above all things and we are to get a clear vision of what that means and align our walk it.

Psalm 138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

While people run about blogging and wringing hands over what Satan is doing in this world, I see the Lord bringing the complete focus back to himself. Our answers, our hope, our joy, our future are all contained "in Christ" which is to say not in this world. Our treasure is in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy. We can live the days ahead with our focus on the problems of the world or we can live according to the promises of our God. We can stay in step with "current events" or we can stay in step with the Spirit of God. It is no longer necessary to search every corner of the internet to find evidence that we are in the last days. The evidence that time is short has been plastered across the news headlines of the world now for YEARS. The evidence has been laid out for the world to see so frequently that one would have to be deaf dumb and blind not to see it. I believe the Lord has made his case, he has warned and now he is encouraging his people to the finish line. That's what I think is happening so lets stay in step with the Spirit of God being led by him wherever he may lead. Done for today.

grace and peace

Praise for the Lord

Psalm 106

Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
or fully declare his praise?
3Blessed are they who maintain justice,
who constantly do what is right.
4Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people,
come to my aid when you save them,
5that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may share in the joy of your nation
and join your inheritance in giving praise.

As each day goes by I become more convinced that we must learn to praise our God for all the things he has done, all the time. My own personal list of things to thank him for seems to grow by the day. Then there's all the things he has done for the brothers, for the world, for my family, I mean the list gets loooooong. What happens when a people learn to praise the God of creation day and night? What happens when a people has their mind fixed continually on God almighty and not the problems all around them on earth?

How can a person's faith not grow when they continually meditate in thanks on the many many things the Lord has done in answer to prayer and his word? A person's faith begins to grow to the point where they can move mountains when their mind is full to overflowing with the things our Lord has done, not the problems of the world. When the Lord parted the red sea for Israel, that was done for us just as much as it was done for them. We are all one in Christ now, there is no barrier of separation. What is done for us today is done for those who come after us. Should the Lord tarry, our testimony of our Lord's faithfulness will live long after us.

We must be a people who knows how to praise and glorify their God. We must have his praise always on in our minds and on our lips. Sure, we still have problems and troubles but we can bury them under a mountain of praise and thanks for what our God has already done. Soon with the passing of time the troubles your eyes and mind tell you that you have will become just another vapor, another fear not realized because the Lord came through for you again, which will in turn be one more thing to praise him for.

We must not forget the things he has done. People fall into the trap of forgetfulness. When things start going well, they forget the Lord, then their troubles start again. Stop the cycle of asking the Lord for help today then forgetting him tomorrow when he answers and things are going well for you again. Remember what our God has done, today and every day. Become a walking story book of our Lord's miracles. The Lord inhabits the praises of his people:

Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

What trouble is it you have that God Almighty standing right next to you cannot smash out of your way? What adversity is it you face that God Almighty cannot make a distant memory and then a forgotten vapor? Learn to praise the Lord your God. If the Lord inhabits the praise of his people, and you are continually praising him, what does that mean? It means you are constantly in the presence of God Almighty, or another way of saying it is God Almighty is continually around you.

These are the things I believe the Spirit is saying today. Keep the faith. grace and peace

A Strange Thing to Say

Psalm 34:1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Let the afflicted hear and rejoice? Why should someone who is afflicted or in humble circumstances rejoice about anything? A statement like that borders on madness to the people of the world, but to us it should make alot of sense. We are told to bless the Lord at all times, to let his praise always be on our lips. We are told to glorify the Lord together, but why?

Here's the punchline: 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

I can tell you that in all my years on this earth, this has been true for me. I have sought the Lord and he has delivered me from all my fears. When a person can offer this testimony in truth to another person, isn't that a powerful thing? We all have many problems, troubles, fears, tribulations etc etc. But what does our God say to us? REJOICE! Why? You will be delivered out of all of it.

I look at every problematic situation in life like I am backed up against the red sea with the eqyptians bearing down on me to kill me. I have one hope and that hope is Jesus. If he does not come through for me I am finished, but he has ALWAYS come through for me so why be anxious? Yea, the situation around us may look hopeless but we do not live by sight....we live by faith.

If we do not stand on our faith we will not stand at all. When Satan or his servants are bombarding your mind with fearfull thoughts, that does not mean you are faithless or doubting the Lord, it just means you are being attacked. Being attacked is part of our life as believers. How we respond to the attacks is what really makes the difference. While the enemy is throwing everything in his arsenal at us, we must respond in faith. We must go back to the word of God and hide ourselves in the refuge of the promises.

I am less than a nobody, but the Lord would have this nobody tell you today that these words have been true for his entire life: 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. If they have been true for me, they can be true for you. We have not all been believers as far back as we remember, but we can all start today to lay hold of our God's promises and fight back against the attacks of the enemy through rejoicing and thanksgiving. The world may laugh at our madness at rejoicing in the face of problems, but I doubt they will laugh at being delivered from every one of them. Results speak for themselves.

We do not worship a God who sits silently in the skies on his hands while we suffer through life. Everybody suffers, the wicked for their wickedness and the righteous for their righteousness, the difference is we are delivered from all our fears and troubles. We just have to stand on the promises and be patient to wait for our God to deliver us. He knows the timing of all things. He knows when and what you need for help. We must trust him. Trust is another way of saying we must have faith in him.

This nobody of a brother is sharing with you today that our God can be trusted to deliver in our time of need. Ask , seek, knock for EVERYONE who asks receives. Stay in his word, be encouraged today, keep the faith, pray without ceasing, rejoice and give thanks in every situation for that is our God's will for us:

1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

We are dearly loved children. grace and peace