Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :-)

I have much to be thankful for and if you feel the same way then please refocus your attention for a moment on the Lord and tell him that 1. you understand at least some of what he has done for you and 2. you are thankful for it.

I am truly deeply thankful for all that the Lord has done for me throughout my life. Although I have missed the mark so very many times he never gave up on me. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Anything that has been done for me can and will be done for you as well. Our God is GOOD. If things don't look good for you right now then be patient, pray and persevere for your day to dawn. Your day is certainly coming if you keep your focus on the Lord.

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

Do Not Fear What They Fear

Isaiah 8:12
Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear,and do not dread it.

13The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread...

Over the past 7 months or so, the Lord has been turning me around. He has gently turned me in a wide radius to focus on what we read above in Isaiah 8. One of the things I love about the Lord is that when we are listening, he does not "jerk our chain" in violent redirection. If we listen, he gently turns us.

So the Lord has told me not to fear what others fear or call conspiracy everything that others call conspiracy. Why not? There are many reasons. For starters what is presented to us as "news" in the world is anything but. It is important to realize what the media is and is not. The media IS NOT a news delivering entity. The media is a PROFIT generating entity. The media is in business for one purpose only, and that is money. How does the media make money? Advertising and "selling" whatever it is that people want to see and hear. So, if people are in a dark mood and selling "the end of the world" is what people want to see and hear, then that's what the media provides. For example we have all these "end of the world" movies and TV shows here recently and yet the "end" that is portrayed tarries and tarries. Why does the media produce movies like "2012?" Because that's what's selling today, its that simple.

The Lord clearly tells us not to call conspiracy everything that "they" call conspiracy. Who is the "they" in the case of Isaiah? it's the backslidden religious people, the house of Israel at the time.

The most important point that is made in Isaiah 8:12-13, or at least the one the Lord has impressed on me is that our focus is NOT to be on fear and conspiracy, it is to be on HIM...period. What does he tell us in Isaiah 8:13? "The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread..."

Did you read that^^^? Are we "getting it?" Doesn't what we read there go against everything the religious world sells today? He is the one we are to fear? He is the one we are to dread? That's what it says but are we "getting it?" Todays religious systems tell us that "fear" of the Lord is nonsense, but Jesus tells us it is the beginning of wisdom:

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.

Its not the swine flu or the new world order conspiracy or the mark of the beast or the corruption in politics or the implosion of America or where our next paycheck is going to come from or any of a million other things that we are to fear, but we are to fear the Lord. Another way of saying what needs to be said is: he is to be our focus.

Recently I believe the Lord asked me, "what's going to happen when Dec 2012 is just another anti-climactic event?" All kinds of people are expecting Dec 2012 to be some kind of major tipping point, but should we? Who were the Mayans anyway? They were a bunch of devil worshipping human sacrificing people with a demonic inspired knowledge of the stars. So the mayans had a demonic/supernatural understanding of the stars and seasons. Question is, how much do demons know? Do demons know the mind of God Almighty? No, they don't. Do demons know our Lords times and seasons? No they don't. Demons know alot, but they do not know our Lords hidden times and days. Were the Mayans the people of God that they should prophesy for the people of God? Hardly. So the mayan prophesies along with every other "prophetic" utterance or writing that come from people who are not filled with the Spirit of God should be treated with piles of grains of salt.

What happens when days come and go and the "end of the world" does not come? What happens to the people today that call themselves Christians who follow the "end of the world" playbook and the end doesn't come? Here's the danger in that:

Matthew 24:48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delays his coming; ...

We are to be patient and we are to focus on the Lord. That is what I hear the Spirit saying today. I ask the Lord constantly for words to write here and I have been hearing the same exact thing now for 7 months. "Wait...be patient..focus on me" and that's it. There is nothing sensational about that. There's nothing "sexy" about "wait." In fact "wait" and "be patient" puts most people to sleep which is exactly what's happening across the world right now. People don't like to wait, people don't like to be patient, especially not these days. People today want everything now which is unfortunate for them.

The swine flu is an example out of todays headlines that tells us we have more waiting to do. I have no doubt that something was released into the masses of humanity to cause mass death and yet so far humanity has been resistant to what has been released. Why is that? The Lord threw a monkey wrench into the "swine flu's" machinery. The end is not yet. Neither mankind nor the devil himself determines the how and when of the final act on the world's stage, our Lord determines it. A quick look at Rev 6 shows us 25% of humanity is erased by war, plague, famine and the beasts of the earth. What are those things? They are seals. Whose seals? They are our Lord's seals, only he is found worthy to open them. Until our Lord opens the seals that will unleash real hell on earth, we are to be patient.

While we wait we are not to fear. John 14:1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

and

27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid, could he say it any clearer?

With all this said, today could be the last day any of us spends on earth so we must act wisely with today and tomorrow and the next day. There is a day coming (with no warning) to confront this world. There is a day coming that will be just like the days of Noah and Lot. We are to live each day with our eyes fixed on the Lord alone, not on conspiracies or on any of a million fears in this world, but on our God. That is a lesson the Lord has been turning me to for over 7 months now.

Yes, there are conspiracies in this world, yes there are a million things to fear in this world but we are not to focus on any of it. Has the Lord not spoken to us? Not through my words but through his words. How can we go wrong if we keep our eyes and hearts and ears focused on the Lord? We can't go wrong with that. Want more confirmation of this? How about this:

Luke 12:31 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice, and
all these things shall be added unto you.

This world and the things of the world hold no answers or solutions or fixes for mankind. The answers and the solutions and the "fixes" that humanity needs are found in one place: "IN CHRIST." So let us wait with great patience and endurance for the answers and solutions that can only be found in Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's focus our thinking in accordance with what we have been told:

2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that ... We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge
of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Be patient, keep the faith, focus on the Lord, redeem the time that is left here, stay in the word, pray without ceasing.....done for today...grace and peace

Big Things in Small Packages

I've been asking the Lord to give me something to give you. Yesterday I even started to write then felt like the Spirit wasn't helping so I just stopped. This evening he has spoken to me about: big things coming in small packages.

As I have found with many other things involving the Lord, he does things the opposite way the world does. This world is all about flash and dash, glamour and the showcasing of BIGGGG things...its all about big cars, big houses, big money, big personalities, hollywood "stars" etc. The Lord comes from the exact opposite direction. For example, where did the Lord choose to be born in this world? Answer? A stable, not a palace, a stable...a place where the lowly, the poor, the animals, the 'nobodies' of this world would be given birth.

So staying with this idea of the Lord coming from opposite directions, we get to this word from the Lord today. The Lord reminded me of the necessity to have the faith to move mountains. From the perspective of this world, to move mountains we would have to be some kind of 'special' person wouldn't we? We would have to be some kind of spiritual rock star like todays so called "pastors,"or some other rock star 'spiritual' type to move a mountain but what does our Lord tell us?

Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

So tell me again, what does it take here on earth to do miracles like uprooting trees or moving mountains? It takes faith as small as a mustard seed....

When the Lord brought this to my mind, he showed me in my past where I believed him for things, and they came to pass over and over and over again. Now its important for you to understand that when he did these things for me I NEVER felt like some kind of spiritual giant walking around to slay the goliaths of the world. I believe what the Lord showed me to now tell you is that it only takes A LITTLE REAL FAITH to do very great things in this life. The other important thing is that this mustard seed sized small faith needs to be maintained over time...The Lord brought to mind the grand canyon to illustrate this point. A little water over a long period of time carved out a wonder of the world. A little faith in you maintained over a sufficient period of time will move your mountains and carve our your own "wonder."

I am more convinced than ever these days that its the 'small' things in life that are the big things. Think about the power harnessed in the atom...your eye can't even see the things yet when harnessed correctly these almost unseen things are known to be able to destroy the world. The same holds true for bacteria and viruses etc etc. The same holds true for the "small" things you do for family and friends and even people you don't know on a day to day basis. It's the small thoughtful things that over time move mountains.

The last "small" thing I believe the Lord would have me write about is the answer to the small question "why?" It's a small question with huge implications for your life. I believe that the Lord told me to be sure that we can answer the question "why" we believe in the Lord Jesus. It's not enough to say you believe. You need to be able to answer for yourself WHY you believe. The answer to that question will very well get many saints through the horrors of the "time of Jacob's trouble" that lies ahead of humanity. If we as humans have a strong enough "why" for anything we want in life, then anything we want is possible to lay hold of. People need the answer for "why" when times get tough. For many people today times are already tough so they need to know "why" they believe what they believe so they can make it through to lay hold of the promises we have been given.

To sum up, big things come in small packages. We only need faith the size of mustard seed to move mountains or do anything else it is we have a mind to do in this world. We need to combine that mustard sized faith with persistence and perseverance. We must ask and keep on asking, we must knock and keep on knocking, we must seek and keep on seeking...and all the while we must hold onto our faith that we will find what we seek. We must believe that when we knock, the door will be opened to us. It is not for us to know the "how" or "when" prayers will be answered. It is for us to "ask" and "believe" and persist in doing "ask and believe" until we see an answer.

Our God answers prayers today, that is my testimony. I have seen mountains moved in my own life and I tell you the truth when I say that once you have seen a mountain moved you will never be the same person again. It's also very important for you to understand that there is nothing special about me. What the Lord has done for me, he will do for you. He is no respector of persons. Keep the faith, persevere, pray, believe with the little strength you have each day and expect good things from our God. We are dearly loved children.

grace and peace

Impressions From the Lord

This week the Lord has impressed me with a number of different things. I have some of those things listed here for you:

1. Forget not all his benefits

We need to remember that we worship our God for many reasons. One of those reasons is "all his benefits." One of those benefits is: he "heals all your diseases." Do you think that promise might be worth something today and the days ahead? I do. He also redeems our life from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion. If any of us really understood just how very very VERY bad "the pit" is, we would be falling all over ourselves to praise our God more each day. Being "redeemed from the pit" is a very big deal that one day we will understand better. For now, suffice it so say that our God benefits us in many ways today and we must praise him for all he does for us daily...

Psalm 103
1Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

2. See from a new perspective: fresh eyes

The Lord spoke to me about this one as well. What this means is that we should break out of our tendency to fall into the daily rut, seeing things just from our perspective in the ruts of life. We need to step outside ourselves each day and see what we have that many people in the world don't have, we need to look at our lives with "fresh eyes." We need to see the food on our table each day from the perspective of all those who are starving in this world. We need to see the roof over our head today from the perspective of all those living on the streets around the world. We need to look at our quiet and peaceful streets from the perspective of all those threatened with violence each day of their lives. In short, we need to "snap out of it" and give ourselves a dose of reality today. We need to BE THANKFUL for everything we take for granted today. Give thanks to him who created all things and who has taken care of you right up through today. Stop worrying about tomorrow and start giving thanks for what you have today..

2 Cor 10:12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. <---we must step outside of ourselves to be wise....

3. Testimony his word is true, he still answers prayer

Every now and then the Lord leads me to offer a bit of my own testimony. Now is one of those times. I want to tell you that my testimony is that the word of the Lord is true. He has proven to me, without a doubt that his word is the word of God and it can be trusted. He has proven to me that there is wisdom in his word that transcends the words of men. If you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus, I urge you to take a hard look at the bible and prove to yourself one way or the other what you believe about it. Ask the Lord to give you "eyes that see" so you may understand the riches buried in the word of God.

The Lord would also have me tell you today that he still answers prayers today. He knows what you need before you need it but do you believe that he will answer when you pray to him? Remember that a double minded person, a person who waffles back and forth and does not really know what he believes, that person should expect NOTHING from our Lord. Our Lord answers prayer but he expects faith and belief from us:

James 1:6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

4. Knowing..faith
One of the most powerful or I should say empowering things the Lord reminded me of this week is that our faith is a source of power in our lives. Wherever it is that we are in life, if we believe and have faith that our Lord leads and guides us and answers our prayers, then we know that we are exactly where we need to be today to end up with a good or happy ending to this story called "life." Life can be full of doubts for those who do not believe and doubt is an initiative and motivation KILLER. Satan loves to create doubt because he knows that if he can create doubt in your heart and mind, he can take all the wind out of your sails for whichever direction you might want to travel in this life. When we proceed in life based on faith, we KNOW that we are where we are because the Lord placed us there to prosper. The Lord knows the end from the beginning of all things, he does not think like men do. We can KNOW today, that we are where we are because the Lord has put us there. We can commit ourselves to "growing where we've been planted" today because we know it is the Lord's will for us today. "Knowing" something deep down inside brings power, and power carries within itself transformation. If you don't like your current circumstances, pray, then believe, then act each day in faith that the Lord is bringing transformation.

All we have to do is believe which is another way of saying "have faith." Faith comes from the Lord so if you don't have enough now, ask for more. There is power in faith, faith can move mountains and raise the dead. I am convinced that the only limits we have in life are self imposed limits. We shut ourselves down and place ourselves in tiny boxes in life that our Lord never intended for us. As we discussed earlier, we need to step outside ourselves for a moment, we need to get a fresh perspective on life, then we need to pray and step out in faith and never look back.

Over the past 6 or 7 months, the Lord has spoken to me about things like what you read here today. There is nothing outlandish or "special" about anything here, its all basic fundamentals. I have heard the Lord calling us back to be children once again in our outlook. We need to unlearn everything we thought we knew about the Lord and learn again straight from his word like little children. There are many deceivers in the world today, especially in "churchianity" which is masquerading in the world as Christianity. Who can you trust when the foxes have taken over the chicken coup? You can trust the Lord, that's who you can trust. You can trust men only as far as the Lord gives you discernment to trust them. Remember the guidance our Lord gave us about such things:

Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

What you have read here today are the things the Lord has brought to my attention in recent days. Please keep the faith, believe, stay in the word of the Lord. Please continue to pray for all the brothers and for this brother especially who writes to you today. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and may he grant you peace....brother d.

Proof of God's Existence

I wanted to write you today to share a thought. I have proof of God's existence. My proof is every prayer I have prayed and received an answer to. When the atheist and the other scoffers point the finger and tell us that we can't prove God exists, they are only correct as far as their statements apply to themselves. We cannot prove that God exists to them, but we can prove it to ourselves.

How does anyone else know how many times I have cried out to the Lord, offered up prayer and those prayers have been answered? Nobody knows that but me, but proving things to ourselves is of great worth, it builds our faith. Answered prayer is not the only proof of God's existence, all creation is proof that he exists. Everything around us had to be created by someone. Evidence of design is everywhere. The entire universe screams at the top of its lungs RANDOM DOESN'T WORK HERE.

Today's godless generation is fond of tossing about the idea that "universe" is in charge of everything that happens, but my first question is: who created "universe?" That's about where the conversation ends because the only answer they can give is "I don't know." We do know who created all things, our God did. The atheist can't prove he didn't and my thousands of answered prayers as well as all my senses that interact with this design filled world prove that he did.

I write to you today to tell you that our God exists, and he still answers prayers. Our God knows what you need, he knows we live in a temporal world with temporal needs like food, clothing, water etc. We are told to "seek first the kingdom of God" and all those temporal things we need will be taken care of for us. Seek his face, open his word and read it. Go to your knees and thank the Lord for everything you can think of to be thankful for today. The answers to all of life's question are "in Christ." It sounds so simplistic but its oh so true. My entire life is a testimony to answered prayer. If the Lord watches over and protects and delivers a pathetic nobody like me, what will he do for you?

I truly am one of the least of the brothers in the family of Christ, but I'm trying. I'm the least of the brothers but I do have a testimony that may be worth something to somebody reading this right now. This brother points you to the High and Lofty One, the Eternal God, the Almighty. Seek him and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart.

grace and peace