A Decision Not To Doubt

Through the Lord's grace this brother has seen many miracles in his life.  In my mind, seeing prayers answered and seeing miracles performed are one and the same thing.  Every answered prayer is in truth a miracle.  It is a transference of  power from the supernatural to the natural.  How do we get prayers answered and how do we see miracles in our own lives?  The Lord has said many things on this, here I will cover one of them:

MT21.21Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

There are no secrets, nor any hidden wisdom needed.  We just have to do what the Lord clearly told us to do, thats it.  You do not need any pastor, priest or spiritual guru of any kind what you need is your faith and the Word of the Lord.  That's it.

What did the Lord say above?  If you have faith and do not doubt you can tell whatever mountain you face to go throw itself in the sea and it will be done.  The key is to fave faith and not doubt.  You may ask, "okay brother D that may be easy for you but I may be feeling some doubt."  Here is the key, our "feelings" are worthless and meaningless and completely counterproductive when it comes to faith and answered prayer.

Our Lord did not "feel" like dieing on the cross, but He did it.

Mark 14:36  "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."


What does our Lord show us here^^?  All things are possible for our God.  He (our Lord) did not feel like going to the cross (take this cup from me) but that was not the deciding factor.  What was the deciding factor?  Will and decision.  Our Lord Jesus accepted the will of the Father and decided on that will.  What is a decision?  de-cision=to cut off from any other possibility, to decide.

So back to where we started:

MT21.21Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Is our Father's will for us to have faith?  Yes, so I decide I will fill myself with faith.  You will it, you make a decision.

Is our Father's will for us to not doubt?  Yes, so I decide to not doubt.  You will it, you make a decision.

And remember this is war.  The enemy will continually try to come in to kill, steal and destroy your answer to prayer and miracle.  What do we do?

Eph 6:10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

and

2 Cor 10:5 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.


Yes, so every time a flaming arrow comes your away trying to kill, steal and destroy your answer and miracle the shield of faith comes up and every argument and pretension that sets itself up against what we are praying for (the knowledge of God-what does the Word say?) is demolished and taken captive to make it obedient.

Our feelings do not extinguish flaming arrows of the enemy, our faith does.  What is the Lord's will?  It is what the Word says it is.  What does the Word say?  What does your faith say?  What does your peace say (your spirits sense of resonance with the Spirit of the Lord) over what you are asking for?

If the Lord has not clearly told me no for what I am asking for then the answer is yes/wait.  I know how the Lord speaks to me, you have to know how the Lord speaks to you.  We are not playing games, if He has said no about something then drop it immediately.  If not, then fight the good fight of faith with all patience and endurance for what you are asking for.  Forget what you feel about it.  What does the Word say?  What does your faith say?  What is the will of the Lord?  What have you decided as an act of your will?  These are the questions that matter.

And when you have received your answer how and when He has decided to answer you, you will have a testimony to encourage others and build your faith for your next miracle.

Glory to God.

grace and peace

Rewards

I pray that the Lord will allow me to adequately explain what He impressed upon me this morning.  I asked Him to fill and satisfy my soul this morning.  About the time I was driving to work He answered me.  What He answered me with is along these lines:

1 Cor 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

As He was impressing upon me what is in store for us, I understood it more than in just words, I kind of felt it/understood it if you know what I mean.  It was as if He allowed me to peek behind the door of what is in store for us without actually peeking behind the door.

We know that we are to be kings and priests in our Lord's service but I do not think we are thinking big enough.

Rev 1.6 4John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

There is a reason satan and his servants hate us so much.  What the Lord has in store for us goes beyond what words can describe.  The Lord has many times impressed this thought upon my mind:  if satan has been granted rulership and authority over this entire world, how much more will those who love our Father be granted?  Think about it.  Whatever our hated enemy has been granted, how much more will our Lord grant to those who love Him.

In more simple terms, we should think in terms of worlds, not a mansion or a city.  We serve an infinite God.  Is anything too difficult for Him?  How many of us will actually be kings over entire world(s) (plural)?

Ok brother D, so what?  So when we understand how high the stakes are and what we are fighting for here it changes the perspective on everything (for me at least).  What if the Lord told you that you are being tested and evaluated here for your fitness to rule an entire world like this one?  Let me be clear first, primary is our love and faithfulness toward our Creator.  An outward extension of that is our fitness to do other things (like be a king or priest).  He is always primary.  That said we are talking about rewards and what we are fighting for here on this earth.

Put things in perspective.  If after all the striving and all the battles and all the scars and hurt and striving the Lord was to tell you "well done good and faithful servant, here is the world you will rule over for me,"  what would your reaction be?  All the things the people of this world strive and lust after are absolute peanuts compared with what is on the table prepared for us.  We just have to cross the finish line.  We have to make it through that narrow road and small gate that leads to life (Matt 7:13-14).

When you put what is coming into perspective with what we are dealing with now here on this earth, everything makes sense.  What is 70 or 80 years worth of battle on this earth when it is compared to an eternity in paradise?  This place is a training ground.  This short life we live is 'basic training' if I can put it in military terms for all eternity.  The Lord sees things differently than we do:

Isaiah 55:9

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

He sees and knows from an eternal perspective.  He is not as shortsighted as we are.  Is anything written here a real 'revelation.'  No, He has already told us the same things this nobody is writing to you right now, but do we believe Him.  I will tell you that what He impressed upon my spirit this morning made His Word in the area of our rewards come alive.  I really really "got it" and I could barely contain myself at the thought of it.

Don't believe a word I have written but do look for yourself at what the Lord has told us He is going to do.  It is all right there in His Word and He meant every letter of it.  There is a reason and a reward at the end of this great battle being fought all around us and in us.  The stakes are much higher than the peanuts the people of this world fight over.  The stakes are eternal life, glory forever and the ruling and reigning with Christ over worlds....Can you find in the Bible where our Lord said we would rule over world(s)?  No?  So forget what brother D thinks the Lord said and read what the Lord actually did say.  He did say we would be kings and priests and He said this:


1 Cor 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.


It has not even entered the heart of man how great the things are that our Lord has prepared for us.  Let your imagination run wild with that for a few minutes and you will start to barely scratch the surface of what the Lord impressed upon this servant this morning.  These thoughts I share with you as a means of encouragement to keep the faith, stay in the fight and never give up.  Truly we serve a great GREAT God.

grace and peace

Few Will Be Saved, Fear, Faith, Love

I was thinking about the post yesterday regarding Matt 7:13-14:

Matt 7:13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

For those who say you can't determine meanings from one piece of scripture, I would agree which is why yesterday we discussed only 2 out of all Israel who left Egypt went into the promised land, Israel over and over wiped out by the Lord and only a remnant saved, Matt 7:13-14 and the related texts in Mark, Luke and John, as well as the place we quoted in Rev 3 saying that out of an entire geographic church (Sardis) only a few were found worthy. The theme is as consistent as it is solid in the Bible.

But that ^^ is not what this writer needs to convey today. I believe the Lord spoke to me today (again) about this issue. What came across to me is that people willfully turn away from the truths in the Word of God that they don't like for a number of reasons. People choose to not love the whole truth in favor of a partial truth that is no truth at all. These are the people spoken about here:

2 Thessalonians 2:10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those ... ... He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction,
because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.

People say "well that piece of scripture would give me a "spirit of fear" if I really thought on it, so it cant be the truth." To that I would say, no, it does not give you a spirit of fear, God's Word never gives a spirit of fear. Its not what they have (a spirit of fear) that causes their fear, its what they do not have (a spirit of love) that causes the fear. The lack of love is what causes people to shy away from the whole counsel of God. These people would not be afraid of the full counsel of God if their love was made perfect. How can we say that?:

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out ... There is no fear in love. ... Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves
punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.

When our love is what it should be, we no longer need buffet style babylonian churchianity, we can embrace true christianity, which is all about love. Yes, there will be judgement, and wrath and all kinds of other things that proceed from our loving God in the future, because He is not a one dimensional God as so many today would paint him. For us though, who are "in Christ," we should have the fear of God. The fear of God is not like the fear in the world. We have a healthy awe and respect for our God because He is awesome.

Another companion of our love, is our faith. We love and believe and these things enable us to embrace the full counsel of God, which is by definition the truth. And it is the truth that 1. sets us free, and 2. saves us:

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

2 Thessalonians 2:10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those ... ... They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

From the things we see here today, we understand that there are some harsh truths in the bible, like few will be saved, but these truths which are hard for the unbelievers, the backslidden and the apostate, are not hard for us who love and believe "in Christ."

We must embrace the whole counsel of God, the full truth so we can be free and be saved. These thoughts were on my mind today. Blessed be the name of the Lord, AMEN.

grace, peace, truth and love~brother d

Faith, Hope, Love..

Greetings..I wanted to write an update today regarding what the Lord has been doing in my life.

What I am going through these days is kind of a reinvention of sorts. I am groing and groing sometimes comes with pain. In my case all this pain is internal as I strive to be a better man today than I was yesterday and the day before etc. In the midst of this pain, as I struggle to grow internally, the Lord has reminded me of some important facts. Namely, he reminded me that in the midst of this growing, or anything else that our lives might be consumed with today, the way to get through it, and thrive through it is.........faith, hope, love.

The keys to success in this life are not being the most organized, being the best planner, the hardest worker, or having the most insight or wisdom or anything like that. The Lord recently impressed upon me to REST in him. He impressed upon me that although my past is flawed due to all my own screwups, I have gone from one success and triumph in life to another. He asked me, "how did this happen? Was it because of all your wisdom and superior strength and foresight and planning etc?" To that question I had to laugh, and cry and answer no.

The reason for everything good in my life has been faith in him, hope in his lovingkindness, and love for him. Through all my internal ups and downs, the Lord's faithfulness has come through for me again and again and again. What's so great about the Lord's love and faithfulness is that I didn't have to know the future, or be perfect, or be the best, smartest, strongest person in this race called "life." Because I did not have to "be" all those things, and yet I still prospered, I can REST in him. FEW things are required to succeed in this life. What things are required? Faith, hope, love.

I want to add a note on what "love" is here as God defines it...John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

Love means obedience. My past is checkered with failures however the Lord's grace, his mercy and his strength has enabled me to pick up the broken pieces of my screwups day after day after day and re-engage life again and again...following these things, faith, hope and love.

I have been very encouraged today that the Lord has reminded me of these things. Its not all on my shoulders to figure everything out. I don't have to "be perfect." I have to have faith, keep up my hope, and above all...LOVE, my God, my family, and all of mankind to the best of my ability.

As I rest in the Lord in faith, hope and love, he is encouraging me to push forward to be a better man. He is sustaining me in this pain that is growth. He does expect us to put forth, to bear fruit, but he is a gentle taskmaster to those who remain broken before him.

Because I ramble, I want to wind up with this as a message to you. What is happening between me and the Lord today, may have some application to you today. We do not live on islands apart from each other, although to the eye it appears we do. We are all one "in Christ" so I want to encourage you to REST today. When you are resting, remember that the battles are not yours even though you seem to be the "star" of the movie called "your life" you have a great helper who loves you. Keep the faith, rest, hope, love, believe. Know that you know that you KNOW the Lord is going to help you again because you love him, and he loves you. STRIVE, put forth effort, GROW where you have been planted today knowing that whatever you are today is temporary, whether where you are is good or bad..

Okay, one more rambling comment on the power of words. The Lord recently gave me this mental picture of each of us waking up to each new day like an artist stepping up to a fresh, clean canvass to paint. What goes on that canvass is up to us. The words we use inside our hearts and minds are the paint on that canvass and WE CHOOSE THEM. Realize the power of the words you use. We were created to be like our God, and he tells us...John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The "word" was God, was with God and WAS GOD. The word of God is Jesus himself, and because we are like him, he has given our words power just as his words have power. We must be very careful then, to watch our words..both those we speak and those we think. Remember that as a man thinks, so is he. As we believe, so things are done unto us.

Let's be careful then to watch ourselves. Let us paint beautiful pictures within ourselves on the fresh canvass we are given that is called a "new day." Let us be encouraged to REST in our God. Let us strive to become more as a people because we love our God and our fellowman, but as we do this let us recognize that the battle and the outcome are the Lord's. That is not an excuse for us to lay back and say "well then, let him do everything!" because he expects us to engage in each day alongside of him.

Be encouraged today, continue to pray. Do not give up your faith or your hope or your love. Believe the Lord for BIG things in accordance with the growth of your soul and your walk with him. Our God is very VERY good, and his eye is on us today. Do not be fooled by his apparent silence because he speaks in many different ways at different times. Renew your strength today in the Lord and be patient for the answer to your prayers. Look for your answers tomorrow as you pray with great hope and expectation today.

One day, our hearts will swell with joy and we will be glad that we adopted the attitude of a soldier to fight on for one more day...for our God, for our families, for our brothers and for ourselves.

May the Lord bless you and keep you today, may his face shine upon you and may he grant you peace..BLESSED BE HIS NAME...grace and peace

brother d

Faith, Hope, Love-Work Out Your Salvation

1 Corinthians 13:13 Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Philippians 2:12 My dear friends, you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I'm absent. In the same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

We are told to "work out" our salvation with fear and trembling. I know that these words directly from the bible are absolute heresy for most "churches" today because 1. they refuse any notion of "working out" your salvation. 2. The bible says we do it with "fear and trembling" but the babylonian church has'nt been given a "spirit of fear" so they refuse to obey this piece of scripture all together. For those of us whose heart is to absolutely obey the Word of God down to the letter, how do we "work out" our salvation? We are saved by grace THROUGH FAITH.....and FAITH is our "work" it takes FAITH to do the "work of God" which is to believe.

Back to faith, hope, love:

1 Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

Does it surprise you that the "work" our Lord expects from us is "working" our faith and laboring love, being patient in hope? How can your faith be "working" if you never use it? (parable of the talents Matt 25) Love isn't a feeling, its a decision. Jesus first loved us so much that he died for us when we were sinners. Love came with some tremendous pain for our Lord.

The kingdom of our God is advancing itself all around the world today through the few who are truly "in Christ." Each person is in a different position with different gifts and able to apply "faith, hope, love" in different ways. You don't have to look overseas to find the opportunities to do this "work" of God. How many opportunities for "faith, hope, love" do you have within your own household? How about when you step out your front door and people are so torqued up on stress and fear that your natural reaction would be to club them but instead you do the "work" and apply "faith, hope, love."

Our Lord left the possibilities wide open for us. We are looking for the Lord's return each and every day, but is that all we're doing? Just looking at the sky and saying "hurry up Lord?" I believe that the Lord expects us to be "putting out" as the Navy SEALS call it while we are here on earth. That means DOING in accordance with how our Lord would have us do things. Men tell you to "go to church" as your duty to God. Jesus tells you to BE the church by WORKING OUT your salvation in fear and trembling by applying faith hope, love while we are here.

Our Lord specifically pointed out this word FAITH in conjunction with him coming back for us. Luke 18:8
... But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" One of the areas we apply/work our faith out on a daily basis is for the escape from all that is coming sometime in the future. The Lord impressed me yesterday with the idea that those who take his word for what it is at FACE VALUE will be the happiest in the long run.

If our God said it, and you take it in the most plain literal way, you will be the closest to hitting the target. The bible was NOT written for "christian" scholars. It was written for children. Children naturally apply GREAT FAITH because they haven't had time to be brainwashed yet by the world and its babylonian forms of religion.

Matthew 18:3
... and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children,you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Holy Spirit doesn't have to argue with a child for 10 years to get them to believe what he said is fact/truth when he tells them clearly what he plans to do. There is an escape from ALL coming and that's a fact. That's what was written clearly in Luke 21:36 for us to accept as children.

The escape from all will arrive at its appointed time. While we wait for it I believe the Lord has been speaking to me for weeks on this subject of faith. I think he's trying to get a point across to somebody and I know I'm one of them. Without faith its impossible to please God. When he comes back, if you are sitting around watching the sky but your faith hope and love are lacking, I don't know, that won't be good..I know our master is looking for people today who will exercise GREAT FAITH like the centurion and the woman whose child was sick:

Matt 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Matt 15: 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

The Lord is going to vomit lukewarm "christianity" out of his mouth at some point in the future (rev 3:16). While the lukewarm church is being tossed, should'nt we be striving to make the Lord marvel at our faith? Should'nt that be the goal? Or is it enough to be serviced once or twice a week by your hired hand spiritual employees and hope to skid into heaven by the seat of your pants? I can tell you this, if the Holy Spirit is not there, you have no business there either. When you go into these babylonian temples and the only life there is the "interpretive dance" and the "christian theatre acting troup" you need to keep looking.

How people can drag themselves around to these places days on days, weeks on weeks, years on years, seeing no power, no mountains moved, no FIRE is beyond me. I guess if being part of the walking dead is good enough then far be it from me to criticize. Once this fire burns inside you it becomes IMPOSSIBLE to tolerate the lie presenting itself to the world as christianity. Something inside you wants to leap out and grab people and shake them.

The truth can be found in your bibles, and on your knees before the Lord seeking his face for yourself without any interloper in between. Most husbands and wives don't invite a hired hand helper to sit between them on dates or lie between them in bed at night so WHY would they pay someone to stand between them in their relationship to the Almighty to find out what the Lord is saying to them today? GET THE MIDDLE MAN OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Faith...hope...love and the greatest of these is love, first love for Jesus then for your fellow man. Who knows how much time is left? Lets be found doing what we know pleases our Lord when he comes back. Let us be walking in GREAT faith, hope and love when he arrives. What does a person have to fear if they are doing these things? John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

grace and peace

A Big One

This morning as I was driving my son to school the Lord dropped a whopper on me. What has he had on my heart for weeks now? Faith. We talked yesterday about the fact that the Lord doesn't use hedging/partial or weak statements in the bible. He uses authoritative, definite, concrete, expansive words. This in itself is proof that the author of the bible is GOD ALMIGHTY. What need does he have to hedge his statements? If he says it, its fact.

Statements like "pray that you may be counted worthy to escape ALL of whats about to happen.." The word used there is "all." Not some, not a portion, ALL. Ok so what's the whopper He laid on me this morning?

Romans 14:23 But the person who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act in faith; and anything that is not done in faith is sin.

Let that statement settle in your mind until you really really "get it." ANYTHING that is not done in faith...is sin. Do you realize what that means? It means you can be what the world considers a really "good" person. Maybe even your "church" thinks you are a saint, but you have a little secret they don't know.....you have lost your faith or close to it, your faith "bank account" has a copper or two left in it, basically nothings there.

How does any other man know how much real faith you have? They don't, but be sure of this, both Jesus and the enemy know. Our real faith DOES MOVE MOUNTAINS. But when's the last time you saw a mountain moved? If mountains have not been moved that means there's not even faith the size of a mustard seed within you because thats all it takes...faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains.

This gets us back around to the question of: why will so few be saved (Matt 7:14-28)? When we consider the fact that ANYTHING you do that's not done in faith is sin, then you can begin to understand how utterly LOADED down with sin most people are, even the apparently "good." Why did Jesus get all over the disciples time and time again about their lack of faith? Because its impossible to please our God without faith.

Hebrews 11:6
... Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently search for him.

Most people view faith as something that's just some auxilliary topic among many to be preached by some hired hand spiritual employee (pastor) but our God sees faith MUCH differently than most people do. It's impossible to please him without faith. Anything not done by faith is sin. With true faith so lacking in this world, in the eyes of our Lord sin is stacked from the ground up through the heavens. Why did Jesus ask if when he came back would he find faith on earth? He could have wondered about other things with that question but he specifically wonders aloud to us WILL HE FIND FAITH ON EARTH?

How "boring" that we're have not moved off this topic of faith now for weeks huh? The Lord apparently has something to say to mankind today about faith. Lots of people are looking forward to the rapture of the church but have they checked their faith lately?

The bible shows us clearly time and time again that the Lord lays out both the reward and punishment for what we do (or don't do). I am convinced that our Lord is not playing some game of "gotcha" where you sell out to him to him completely, make a de-cision for him every day that you wake up then he tells you "uhhhh sorry dude, your violation of chapter 5 subsection F , subparagraph A of 3 John makes you ineligible!!!! GOTCHA!!" He wants all of you and when he gets all of you, when you "abide in him" you have nothing to worry about. You have to be found "in Christ" at the end. You have to FINISH what you started...what's so hard for people to understand about that? In a world that rarely finishes what they start of committ to, staying with anything for life is a tall order. People want a guarantee that they can committ today, then forget their committment tomorrow and do whatever they want for the rest of their life and still get the victor's crown.

Apparently the Lord has a message for me and you today and that is, regardless of where we are on the world's timeline, you need to check your faith. When is the last time you laid your faith on the line in this cosmic battle for the souls of men?

Do you remember the movie Top Gun with Tom Cruise? Remember the part at the end where "maverick" was still so shaken from losing his friend that the other guys he was flying with were locked in heated battle and "maverick" was on a pleasure cruise somewhere else? All the while the guys in combat were screaming "MAVERICK WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? ENGAGE DAMMIT ENGAGE!!!!!"

The message is clear. We engage with our faith so....engage.

grace and peace

Faith

We don't know exactly what the days ahead of us hold in store, but we have some ideas that get us pretty close. What's coming is a storm. This will be no ordinary rainshower, it will be a supernatural storm coming separately from our Lord (wrath/judgement) and the devil ( attempting his satanic playground on earth).

We know that the Lord is going to send a great delusion to this world so that those who did not love the truth will believe a lie instead. They live by lies and they will die by them. What about us who live by faith, what should we expect and how should we deal with it?

What we should expect. If the coming of the Son of man is going to be just like the days of Noah and Lot, I guess we could ask how much "hell on earth" they dealt with before going into the ark/leaving Sodom. It appears from the bible that their "trial" before physically departing the destruction zones was to be vexed in their spirits at the wickedness and vile living around them.

2 Peter 2:5 and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds): 9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;

We've heard warnings about terrible times coming to this world and I do not doubt that there will be incredibly bad days in the future. Question is, if Noah and Lot did'nt go through some gauntlet to get out of Sodom or go into the Ark, should we expect to? We will have tribulation, its always been here and will always be here except in the future it will be on steroids, but tribulation Jesus promised to us all is a far cry from the time of JACOB's trouble to come. Speaking of Jacob's trouble, I find it interesting how its specifically the JEWS who are the most vocal opponents of the pre-flood, pre-fire and brimstone, pre-Jacob's trouble escape of the church. Guess who invented the satanic "pre-wrath" rapture concept where (according to them) Jesus actually does Satan's work for him (opens the seals="satan's wrath"???) a Jew came up with that, his name is Marvin Rosenthal. Basically that view is that we get bodyslammed, hunted and executed through most of the 70th week of Daniel (<--the pre-wrath version of "blessed hope"?)then when its all about done, we escape nothing (most of its over) and go to heaven. Now there's another jewish guy named "Michael Rood" running around in some costume fresh out of paul and jan crouch's "holy land" theme park, telling us the same thing. Modern day jewish guys running around telling christians there will be no escape from all-classic, just classic. Perhaps they failed to read Luke 21:36, Rev 3:10, the stories of Noah and Lot, the redeemed rewarded men in heaven pre-Rev 6 etc etc etc etc or they decided these were "inconvenient truths" and decided to skip their rocks over those pieces of the bible.

Don't get me wrong, the true Israelites who have the heart of our Father in heaven I embrace as brothers. But Jews who are jews in name only, who are actually a synagogue of satan, they are an entirely different cup of tea. Do you find it interesting that the same church promised to be kept from the hour of trial (philadelphia) was ALSO told that the jews in name only would be forced down on their knees to worship before the church's feet?

Rev 3: 9 Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10 Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth

For Jesus to force these so called jews down on their knees to worship at our feet he must be REALLY upset with them for what they've tried to do us (rob steal kill destroy like their father the devil). So called christianity panders and drools all over anything called "jewish" today. Was it not the Jews who rejected and crucified our Lord? They had our Lord right in front of them, they watched him heal the sick and raise the dead and they still did'nt believe. But somehow today anything called "jewish" must be worshipped? The jews will eventually come around, after the Lord drops a furnace of affliction on their heads and destroys most of them in the process, a remnant (as always) will come out believing.

Can you imagine what the anti-defamation league would do to Jesus today for saying that these so called jews will come and worship before our feet? Its a fact, its going to happen, Jesus said it, not me. There is a synagogue of satan mentioned the VERSE BEFORE we are told we will be kept from the hour of trial. It must really get under the skin of the so called jews that those of us found worthy will escape all that's about to happen while they enter THEIR (Jacob's) time of trouble. My Lord was a jew, but he gave us a NEW covenant written in his blood. When he said he came to fulfill the requirements of the old covenant he meant it and HE DID fulfill the requirements. He never told us to obey the Torah, NOWHERE can you find that in our blood bought covenant. The synagogue of satan today is still trying to drag people back into the same legalistic system they themselves could not obey.

The synagogue of satan is just one of many adversaries facing the church today in our pre-flood days. Regardless of what we face in the days ahead we must remember how our Lord told us to stand. How is that?

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

We stand armored with truth, righteousness, the gospel, and above all the SHIELD OF FAITH.

Did you read that "above all" part? FAITH. It's the shield of FAITH that allows us to quench how many of the fiery darts of the enemy? ALL OF THEM.

In the days ahead, whatever the enemy throws at this world, remember how you are to stand. Remember what your armor is and how you slice through the lies and deception of the enemy with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

grace and peace

Faith, Patience, Demonic/Angelic/Superhero/Alien Invasion, The Escape

Psalm 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

I woke up with the same gut level sick feeling I did last night after watching all the demonic commercials embedded in the superbowl. The propaganda machine has kicked into high gear to basically marinate people's brains in the "new reality" that is basically an age of demonism. You cannot turn on the TV or see a movie these days without seeing some kind of superhero/angel/demon/alien theme. Why? They are getting people ready for the unveiling of these things in plain view of everyone.

Last nights "Hulu" commerical was so demonic and so "in your face" its unbelievable. They are getting bold, which means (at least they think) we are close, very close to some kind of major demonic event. The thing to remember in all of this is that our Lord's timing is what prevails, not satans. The enemy cannot take a single step forward without permission from our God.

The restrainer continues to hold back the demonic horse that is chomping at the bit to really get at this world. The thought occured to me last night, that the Lord never told us how the restrainer would be removed, all we know is that the most obvious sign of the restrainers removal would be the revealed anti-christ. It is obvious to me that already the demonic activity to lay the groundwork for anti-christs appearance is in high gear.

Remember as I write these things to you that our choices are fear or faith, and fear is not an option...Psalm 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. I can see it and feel it coming, men's hearts melting inside of them from fear. Those who think they are "in Christ" because they 'made a decision' 15 years ago or whatever, will be exposed. Ever heard that phrase "trial by fire?" Well, thats whats coming and there is no possible way to fake your way through it. There's no way to fake walking on water outside the boat with Jesus. If your faith isn't real, below the waves you go. Jesus does'nt want that, I don't want that, you don't want that. Prepare your hearts today for what's coming.

The Lord told us that an escape from "all that's about to happen" is coming. We are told to pray for that escape. Like I've said before, it appears we are going to walk our way right up to the minutes and seconds just before the tribulation starts, the evidence of that is all around us. The signs that the tribulation is in near proximity are all around us, which means the escape is not far off. Let us be ready and watching today. Put your full faith in Jesus Christ, and in his word. What he said he would do, he will do, that's FACT. If he said there is an escape coming, I guarantee you there is an escape coming..from ALL thats about to happen. The "all" that Jesus said we would escape from is listed above Luke 21:36, in the verses that precede it. Basically its a panoramic view from start to end of the entire tribulation period, laid out in Luke 21.

Today is a day to pray in faith, to speak in faith, to think in faith. Doubt is your enemy and its the first weapon satan and his servants throw at you ..."did God really say...?" So recognize it when you see it. Time is short, very short. Our Lord can drag things out as long as he wants to, which requires patience on our part. Just realize that we could be with Jesus in heaven before today is over... BE READY.

grace and peace

Faith

The Lord spoke to me this morning about faith. He said that many times when we are facing a decision of choosing A or B, it does'nt matter which one we choose, as long as we base our decision for choosing A or B on faith. The God we serve can transform any situation into one that blesses us. Great is the King we serve!