Colossians 1:12-20
"Giving thanks unto the Father which has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:"
"Who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins;"
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the First born of every creature. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth - visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him:"
"And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning the first born from the dead that in all things He might have the preeminence."
"For it pleased the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell: and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. "
We are safe and secure in Him. ALL THINGS, everywhere, and in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES are under Him; our Saviour and Lord.
And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all of your heart! (Jeremiah 29:13) The LORD is good to those that wait for Him; to the soul that seeks Him. (Lamentations 3:25)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The Cross-T. Austin Sparks Thoughts
Further thoughts from a book called SCHOOL OF CHRIST by T. Austin-Sparks
Christ said, " If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" and "Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." (Luke 9:23 and 14:27)
"...in the cross we have been brought to an end. The Lord Jesus took this way and set baptism right at the beginning of His public life, and under the annointing of the Spirit, from that moment He absolutely refused to listen to His own mind, apart from God, to be in any way influenced by anything arising from the dictates of His own humanity, sinless as it was, apart from God."
* (my thought-Jesus said that He did not come to do His own will, but the will of the Father. This infers that He had a will, like we do as humans, and He was also human, called the Son of Man. But He continually and without fail did the will of the One who sent Him)
"All the way along He was being governed by the Anointing; in what He said, what He did, what He refused to do: where He went, and when He went; and was putting back every other influence, whether coming from the disciples, or from the Devil, or from any other direction. His attitude was , Father what do You think about this: what do You want: is this Your time? not My judgments, but Yours; not My feelings, but what You feel about it! He had died, in effect to Himself; He had been buried, in effect. His baptism had meant that for Him, and that is also where we stand."
" Whosoever doth not bear his own cross..." Christ is saying we can never know Him unless the cross is operating continually to put us out and make way for Him; so that we can accept His mind, and the cross means that we have been crucified to our own mind about things; our mind has come under the cross; our feelings, our ways have to come under the cross daily. This is how we make our way of learning Christ, His mind, His government, His judgment, His everything. This is the school of discipleship, the School of Christ."
Christ said, " If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" and "Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." (Luke 9:23 and 14:27)
"...in the cross we have been brought to an end. The Lord Jesus took this way and set baptism right at the beginning of His public life, and under the annointing of the Spirit, from that moment He absolutely refused to listen to His own mind, apart from God, to be in any way influenced by anything arising from the dictates of His own humanity, sinless as it was, apart from God."
* (my thought-Jesus said that He did not come to do His own will, but the will of the Father. This infers that He had a will, like we do as humans, and He was also human, called the Son of Man. But He continually and without fail did the will of the One who sent Him)
"All the way along He was being governed by the Anointing; in what He said, what He did, what He refused to do: where He went, and when He went; and was putting back every other influence, whether coming from the disciples, or from the Devil, or from any other direction. His attitude was , Father what do You think about this: what do You want: is this Your time? not My judgments, but Yours; not My feelings, but what You feel about it! He had died, in effect to Himself; He had been buried, in effect. His baptism had meant that for Him, and that is also where we stand."
" Whosoever doth not bear his own cross..." Christ is saying we can never know Him unless the cross is operating continually to put us out and make way for Him; so that we can accept His mind, and the cross means that we have been crucified to our own mind about things; our mind has come under the cross; our feelings, our ways have to come under the cross daily. This is how we make our way of learning Christ, His mind, His government, His judgment, His everything. This is the school of discipleship, the School of Christ."
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Learning By Revelation-T Austin Sparks
"The revelation of Christ in emergencies is the way to keep Christ alive, and the only way in which Christ really does live to His own."
"The Holy Spirit's way with us is to bring us into living, actual conditions and situations, and needs, in which only some fresh knowledge of the LORD Jesus can be our deliverance, or salvation, our life-
and then to give us, not a revelation of truth, but a revelation of the Person, new knowledge of the Person, that we come to see Christ in some way that just meets our need. We are not drawing upon an it, a technique, but upon a Him."
* In Jesus dwells all the fulness of the Godhead (mine)
God always keeps the knowledge of Himself in Christ, bound up with practical situations. We have to be in a situation. The Holy Spirit will bring us, if we are in His hand, into the situation which will make necessary a new knowledge of the LORD. If we are in a situation which is a very hard and a very difficult one; We are in the very position to ask for a revelation of the LORD."
* God's ultimate goal for each of us is to be changed into the image of His Son.
"The Holy Spirit's way with us is to bring us into living, actual conditions and situations, and needs, in which only some fresh knowledge of the LORD Jesus can be our deliverance, or salvation, our life-
and then to give us, not a revelation of truth, but a revelation of the Person, new knowledge of the Person, that we come to see Christ in some way that just meets our need. We are not drawing upon an it, a technique, but upon a Him."
* In Jesus dwells all the fulness of the Godhead (mine)
God always keeps the knowledge of Himself in Christ, bound up with practical situations. We have to be in a situation. The Holy Spirit will bring us, if we are in His hand, into the situation which will make necessary a new knowledge of the LORD. If we are in a situation which is a very hard and a very difficult one; We are in the very position to ask for a revelation of the LORD."
* God's ultimate goal for each of us is to be changed into the image of His Son.
At The End Of Your Rope-David Wilkerson
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011
AT THE END OF YOUR ROPE
by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]
Paul wrote “. . . that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). He said, in essence, “The Lord brought me to the end of all human help, the brink of death. It was a place so hopeless, only the God of resurrection power could have rescued me!”
What a wonderful place to be—at the end of your rope! I have always said that when you hit rock bottom you bump into God! Yet, if you listen to most Christians in the midst of their suffering, you hear, “I’ll make it somehow. I’m hanging in the there. I just live one day at a time.”
Since childhood we have been spoon-fed the concept of self-sufficiency: “Take it like a man! Men don’t cry!” How many times have you tried to work out all your troubles? How often have you been flooded with temptations that overwhelmed you?
Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe God want us to fight the good fight of faith, but the Lord has a way of allowing us to be “pressed out of measure.” Nothing you try works. Nothing you have read seems to help. No counsel of others makes any sense. Suddenly, you are forced into a crisis that obliterates all your trust in yourself. You have no hope—except to give up all human hope. You are forced to trust God—and you see that the only way out is to trust!
Paul clearly is saying to us, “I had the sentence of death in me. I was tested beyond measure, at the end of all hope. And it was all so I would no longer trust in myself! I had to turn to God, with faith that He alone could save me out of my sufferings!”
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
What is this way of escape? It is coming to the end of your own strength and turning absolutely to God! It is saying, as Paul did, “I do not trust in myself anymore!”
The way of escape is simple, childlike faith in God. It is trusting Him totally to see you through it all, resigning yourself and saying, “God, I put everything on You!”
AT THE END OF YOUR ROPE
by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]
Paul wrote “. . . that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). He said, in essence, “The Lord brought me to the end of all human help, the brink of death. It was a place so hopeless, only the God of resurrection power could have rescued me!”
What a wonderful place to be—at the end of your rope! I have always said that when you hit rock bottom you bump into God! Yet, if you listen to most Christians in the midst of their suffering, you hear, “I’ll make it somehow. I’m hanging in the there. I just live one day at a time.”
Since childhood we have been spoon-fed the concept of self-sufficiency: “Take it like a man! Men don’t cry!” How many times have you tried to work out all your troubles? How often have you been flooded with temptations that overwhelmed you?
Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe God want us to fight the good fight of faith, but the Lord has a way of allowing us to be “pressed out of measure.” Nothing you try works. Nothing you have read seems to help. No counsel of others makes any sense. Suddenly, you are forced into a crisis that obliterates all your trust in yourself. You have no hope—except to give up all human hope. You are forced to trust God—and you see that the only way out is to trust!
Paul clearly is saying to us, “I had the sentence of death in me. I was tested beyond measure, at the end of all hope. And it was all so I would no longer trust in myself! I had to turn to God, with faith that He alone could save me out of my sufferings!”
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
What is this way of escape? It is coming to the end of your own strength and turning absolutely to God! It is saying, as Paul did, “I do not trust in myself anymore!”
The way of escape is simple, childlike faith in God. It is trusting Him totally to see you through it all, resigning yourself and saying, “God, I put everything on You!”
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
School Of Christ-T. Austin Sparks
Further thoughts from SCHOOL OF CHRIST by T. AUSTIN SPARKS
" You and I are going to face God sometime. We are going to come face to face with God literally in eternity and then the question is going to arise, Has God at any point failed us? Shall we be able, on any detail, to say, Lord, You failed me, You were not true to Your Word?
Such a position is unthinkable, that even any being should be able to lay a charge like that at God's door, to have any question as to God's truth, reality, faithfulness. The Holy Spirit has been sent as the Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth, so that there shall be no shadow whatever between God and ourselves as to His absolute faithfulness, His truth to Himself, and to all His Word. The Holy Spirit has come for that.
If that is true, then the Holy Spirit will deal with all disciples (us) in the School of Christ to undercut everything that is not true, that is not genuine. To make every disciple to stand upon a foundation which can abide before God in the day of His absolute and utter vindication. "
" This foundation has to take a fairly heavy responsibility, no less a responsibility than our eternal well being and destiny, nay, the very vindication of God Himself."
" You and I are going to face God sometime. We are going to come face to face with God literally in eternity and then the question is going to arise, Has God at any point failed us? Shall we be able, on any detail, to say, Lord, You failed me, You were not true to Your Word?
Such a position is unthinkable, that even any being should be able to lay a charge like that at God's door, to have any question as to God's truth, reality, faithfulness. The Holy Spirit has been sent as the Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth, so that there shall be no shadow whatever between God and ourselves as to His absolute faithfulness, His truth to Himself, and to all His Word. The Holy Spirit has come for that.
If that is true, then the Holy Spirit will deal with all disciples (us) in the School of Christ to undercut everything that is not true, that is not genuine. To make every disciple to stand upon a foundation which can abide before God in the day of His absolute and utter vindication. "
" This foundation has to take a fairly heavy responsibility, no less a responsibility than our eternal well being and destiny, nay, the very vindication of God Himself."
Monday, December 26, 2011
School of Christ Thoughts
Here are a few thoughts that I have gleaned from a small book entitled SCHOOL OF CHRIST by T. Austin Sparks. It is a booklet mentioned often by Brother David Wilkerson in his sermons and writings. One can ponder just these few thoughts for days!
To learn Christ, we must first see Christ.
The mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ, that Christ is becoming greater and greater as time goes on.
If we ever come to a place where we think we know, we have it all, we have attained, and from that point we become static, we may take it that the Holy Spirit has ceased operations and that life has become stultified (useless or ineffectual).
If we glimpse so much in Christ that we know we are beaten, that we are out of our depth, and will never range all of this; that it is beyond us, far beyond us, and yet we are drawn on, and ever on, this is the mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit.
To learn Christ, we must first see Christ.
The mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ, that Christ is becoming greater and greater as time goes on.
If we ever come to a place where we think we know, we have it all, we have attained, and from that point we become static, we may take it that the Holy Spirit has ceased operations and that life has become stultified (useless or ineffectual).
If we glimpse so much in Christ that we know we are beaten, that we are out of our depth, and will never range all of this; that it is beyond us, far beyond us, and yet we are drawn on, and ever on, this is the mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Some Are For God?
I have been intriged over the past month over some issues regarding my recent "bout" of bad health issues. On December 8th, very appropriately the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, I had an operation, or procedure called an ablation on my heart. This was like my own personal Pearl Harbor! It reminded me of my mortality in a way I have never experienced in my 57 years.
The day before the operation I stopped by a retired minister friends home for prayer and spiritual conversation. This man of God who has served the LORD most of his adult life has been a well spring of inspiration and spiritual insight for me. We met just a short 5 years ago at a grocery store here in town. His first words to me as I was working in the crowded store on a Saturday morning as he pointed into the crowded dairy isle was " I wonder how many of these people know God..."
I did not know this elderly man from Adam and I honestly thought he may have been intoxicated! I have never had someone approach me in such a manner. He and his wife came into the store on the weekends and as our conversations developed over time I found myself anxiously looking for him on those busy Saturday mornings.
My wife and I had just moved back to this area in Martinsburg WV after moving the North Carolina for what I thought was my final move after retirement. It was not to be. My Father-in Law developed cancer issues, my Mother was getting ill in Florida and as I bounced between the two we decided to make the move back to West Virginia. I have an only son who lived nearby in Frederick Md. so the decision was not to difficult.
This elderly minister friend was easy to spot in the store; even in the parking lot. As other customers came into the store in their shorts, flip flops, tatoo's, short skits and skin tight clothes, he came in a suit and tie and very nice hat. His wife was dressed very modestly with a dress down to her ankles and what I would call church shoes.
One day I was really having a rough time of it. The renters of our unsold home in North Carolina were behind on the rent, I was still having to make house payments there and expensive rent here in WV. The home was being trashed right before my eyes and a few times I even had to drive 300 miles to mow the lawn! Quite a stressfull period in my life.
As I walked through the parking lot to go into the grocery store to work, the minister was walking in at the same time. He asked me what was troubling me and I poured in on! He said "lets walk back to my car..." I followed him and he instructed me to lay my hands on the hood of his car. I did not know what to expect. He laid his strong hand on top of mine and said that he was going to take this to Someone who could sell the house in NC for me, God!
Right there in the parking lot of the busiest store in the area; he lifted his voice and prayed for me and my situation. I peeked around and sure enough, people were watching us! God is my witness, within two months our home was sold. I was beginning to see that this man was not one of your normal "Christians" that we meet every day, or even in church. He seemed to have an inside track with God; the Maker of all things. I became very interested.
My father was a minister and as a child I had met regular "church people" who would say they would pray for you and I always wondered if they ever did; and if they did, what did they say and how long did they pray? This retired minister took it to the Throne Room of God right then and there; no matter the surroundings or circumstance, and God honored his prayer. God and I both know that I did not deserve any favors from Him. I have always believed in God but for short spurts I had never been totally sold out to Him, come what may.
Shortly thereafter the minister's wife died. They had been married over 65 years! He, of course missed her dearly. His heart was broken and he was now very lonely. I have visited him once or twice a week since our meeting that one fateful Saturday morning. I talk to him almost every evening.
He prays constantly. As a minister son during my childhood there always seemed to be a real prayer warrior in each of the church's my father ministered in. One or perhaps two; never more. They were what kept the church going, it seemed. Now God had seen fit to introduce one for me when I had reached my 50's! What a compassionate God we serve. I did not know that I was about to lose the last two surviving members of my family, my Mother and my last living Brother. The retired minister met my Mother briefly in a nursing home in nearby Maryland after she moved from Florida to be nearer to her last two sons. He took time out of his schedule to take communion with her shortly before she died. We had developed quite a friendship.
At times during my visit to the minister's home he would break down and cry. A very awkward situation. I have never sat and watched someone cry the way he did. I would get ready to excuse myself and quickly leave but I would hear an inner voice to "Sit down, Stay, and observe." I did not feel like it, but I did. I would watch this man of God as he worked his way through his loneliness and sorrow. It did not take too long before he would begin to raise his hand in the air and start to claim how great and good God is.
Even in great sorrow he worked his way through it by giving God praise and honor for all things. Most often for salvation, security in his salvation and the mighty ways of God; He is in total control. I have even witnessed him talk directly to what was troubling him; the feeling, the troubling spirit, or whatever one may want to call it. The first several times I thought he was talking to someone else in the room as he would say, "Oh no, I know who you are and what you are trying to do.....you do not belong here, I rebuke you, get out of my house, I am a child of the living God!"
At first I looked around the room thinking someone other than I was there! One or two times he actually got up out of his chair when rebuking this "thing" and demand that it leave his house. He would turn around and smile and say he could see them running down his street with their tail between their legs! I could visualize it as he said it.
He and I started praying for each other; both in person and over the telephone. He has developed eye problems, hip problems and is loosing his hearing and having trouble with hearing aids. We pray almost every day. He for me, and I for him. I did not realize it but God was teaching me through him to pray and interceed. I have found myself not only praying for the minister and his issues, and me for my issues but it has been expanding to quite a number of people, ministries and issues.
Suddenly I had a mild heart attack. They have been trying to treat it with medications but there have been problems. A heart ablation was performed on December 8th of this year; just a few weeks ago. During my visit with the minister he said something very strange. He is having trouble dozing off when I start talking, but he then wakes up and says what he has to say. My wife said that she also feels like falling asleep when I talk, so do not be offended at him!
He said that this operation was not for me, but it was for God; God was behind it. Here I have been praying for total healing and restoration; clear arteries, no heart issue and restoration of health. And I know that God can do that; and He will in His time. But for me to have an operation for God? I have never heard of such a thing and I thought the minister was finally starting to lose it in some way or the other as those of great age sometimes do.
I was about to find out another way of God. The operation was successful, the doctor said. But an hour or so later I started to bleed internally, very badly. I had swelling the size of a football in my right leg. There were two nurses and the doctor who were leaning on my leg with both hands and applying pressure to try to dissipate the blood and stop the bleeding.
If I am awake, I am talking, and although in great pain I noticed a "religious" tatoo on one of the nurses. I asked her about it and she said they are not allowed to wear a cross or anything pertaining to God because it might offend patients. I commended her on her decision to have the tatoo. We started talking about passages of Scripture and I told them all that as a child I had memorized Psalm 23. My favorite part was God's promise that He would take us "through the valley of the shadow of death...." Not over the valley of the shadow of death, or over it, or avoid it all together, but take us THROUGH. I told them all that this was as close to that valley I had been, and that God was taking me through, I could feel Him right there, right now.
The nurses stayed beyond their duty hours, one young lady stayed over two hours past her time to leave. After the new nursing staff took over the nurse with the tatoo came back into my room and was amazed at the conversation we had just had. She said that I did not realize the impact the conversation had on the other nurse. She was raised Catholic, she was attending mass with her two small children and she was not getting anything out of mass and she was tired of taking her children. She realized that her children would end up just like her; not really knowing God in an intimate way. I was beginning to get a picture of why I had bled so badly. No matter how much it hurt, it was for a reason. I have added both nurses to my prayer list. Perhaps this is what the elderly minister was speaking of, "this one is for God...?"
Just a few days later at another job, I am now a custodian at a local school, late one evening a teacher I did not even know came into the office where we were taking a break and she exclaimed, "thank God, you are here..." I did not even know the teacher. She said that she had told her husband that she had to talk to Mr. Peacher . She started crying and said that she had been through all of her sick leave, she had no leave left, she had 1/2 inches of fluid around her heart and she her heart was beating 170 times a minute. And they had just found a lump or mark in one of her lungs. She was in tears.
I asked her if she prayed. She said she does. I talked with her qujite a while about the issue of prayer. I was honest and told her that I sometimes cried myself to sleep as I prayed; and that God hears every single word that she says to Him. He never sleeps or grows weary of our coming to Him. I also told her that I would add her to our church prayer list. She talked openly about God, prayer and spiritual matters.
Was this another fulfillment of what the retired minister was talking about that "this one is for God?" I think so. I want to know God that intimately. It is not easy. It takes quality, quiet time in His Presence. It will cost you something. Christ said to "buy of Him gold, refined in the fire...." He was not speaking lightly of these things pertaining to Godliness.
Is it worth it? Sure, I would like to have a quiet, nice, prosperous retirement one day soon. Will I get it? Possibly not. The days are getting short before His return for His Bride. The enemy of our souls is pulling out all of the stops and he has declared total war against anything that represents God. But take heart; the Book of Daniel says that in the last of days "those who know their God will do great exploits!"
Praise God! We are there! God has trusted each and everyone reading this post a spot among those who "know" there God. It will cost us something but it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look on His dear face will say it all.
Like my Minister friend likes to say, "Hang in there, we are winners, our ticket is already punched."
The day before the operation I stopped by a retired minister friends home for prayer and spiritual conversation. This man of God who has served the LORD most of his adult life has been a well spring of inspiration and spiritual insight for me. We met just a short 5 years ago at a grocery store here in town. His first words to me as I was working in the crowded store on a Saturday morning as he pointed into the crowded dairy isle was " I wonder how many of these people know God..."
I did not know this elderly man from Adam and I honestly thought he may have been intoxicated! I have never had someone approach me in such a manner. He and his wife came into the store on the weekends and as our conversations developed over time I found myself anxiously looking for him on those busy Saturday mornings.
My wife and I had just moved back to this area in Martinsburg WV after moving the North Carolina for what I thought was my final move after retirement. It was not to be. My Father-in Law developed cancer issues, my Mother was getting ill in Florida and as I bounced between the two we decided to make the move back to West Virginia. I have an only son who lived nearby in Frederick Md. so the decision was not to difficult.
This elderly minister friend was easy to spot in the store; even in the parking lot. As other customers came into the store in their shorts, flip flops, tatoo's, short skits and skin tight clothes, he came in a suit and tie and very nice hat. His wife was dressed very modestly with a dress down to her ankles and what I would call church shoes.
One day I was really having a rough time of it. The renters of our unsold home in North Carolina were behind on the rent, I was still having to make house payments there and expensive rent here in WV. The home was being trashed right before my eyes and a few times I even had to drive 300 miles to mow the lawn! Quite a stressfull period in my life.
As I walked through the parking lot to go into the grocery store to work, the minister was walking in at the same time. He asked me what was troubling me and I poured in on! He said "lets walk back to my car..." I followed him and he instructed me to lay my hands on the hood of his car. I did not know what to expect. He laid his strong hand on top of mine and said that he was going to take this to Someone who could sell the house in NC for me, God!
Right there in the parking lot of the busiest store in the area; he lifted his voice and prayed for me and my situation. I peeked around and sure enough, people were watching us! God is my witness, within two months our home was sold. I was beginning to see that this man was not one of your normal "Christians" that we meet every day, or even in church. He seemed to have an inside track with God; the Maker of all things. I became very interested.
My father was a minister and as a child I had met regular "church people" who would say they would pray for you and I always wondered if they ever did; and if they did, what did they say and how long did they pray? This retired minister took it to the Throne Room of God right then and there; no matter the surroundings or circumstance, and God honored his prayer. God and I both know that I did not deserve any favors from Him. I have always believed in God but for short spurts I had never been totally sold out to Him, come what may.
Shortly thereafter the minister's wife died. They had been married over 65 years! He, of course missed her dearly. His heart was broken and he was now very lonely. I have visited him once or twice a week since our meeting that one fateful Saturday morning. I talk to him almost every evening.
He prays constantly. As a minister son during my childhood there always seemed to be a real prayer warrior in each of the church's my father ministered in. One or perhaps two; never more. They were what kept the church going, it seemed. Now God had seen fit to introduce one for me when I had reached my 50's! What a compassionate God we serve. I did not know that I was about to lose the last two surviving members of my family, my Mother and my last living Brother. The retired minister met my Mother briefly in a nursing home in nearby Maryland after she moved from Florida to be nearer to her last two sons. He took time out of his schedule to take communion with her shortly before she died. We had developed quite a friendship.
At times during my visit to the minister's home he would break down and cry. A very awkward situation. I have never sat and watched someone cry the way he did. I would get ready to excuse myself and quickly leave but I would hear an inner voice to "Sit down, Stay, and observe." I did not feel like it, but I did. I would watch this man of God as he worked his way through his loneliness and sorrow. It did not take too long before he would begin to raise his hand in the air and start to claim how great and good God is.
Even in great sorrow he worked his way through it by giving God praise and honor for all things. Most often for salvation, security in his salvation and the mighty ways of God; He is in total control. I have even witnessed him talk directly to what was troubling him; the feeling, the troubling spirit, or whatever one may want to call it. The first several times I thought he was talking to someone else in the room as he would say, "Oh no, I know who you are and what you are trying to do.....you do not belong here, I rebuke you, get out of my house, I am a child of the living God!"
At first I looked around the room thinking someone other than I was there! One or two times he actually got up out of his chair when rebuking this "thing" and demand that it leave his house. He would turn around and smile and say he could see them running down his street with their tail between their legs! I could visualize it as he said it.
He and I started praying for each other; both in person and over the telephone. He has developed eye problems, hip problems and is loosing his hearing and having trouble with hearing aids. We pray almost every day. He for me, and I for him. I did not realize it but God was teaching me through him to pray and interceed. I have found myself not only praying for the minister and his issues, and me for my issues but it has been expanding to quite a number of people, ministries and issues.
Suddenly I had a mild heart attack. They have been trying to treat it with medications but there have been problems. A heart ablation was performed on December 8th of this year; just a few weeks ago. During my visit with the minister he said something very strange. He is having trouble dozing off when I start talking, but he then wakes up and says what he has to say. My wife said that she also feels like falling asleep when I talk, so do not be offended at him!
He said that this operation was not for me, but it was for God; God was behind it. Here I have been praying for total healing and restoration; clear arteries, no heart issue and restoration of health. And I know that God can do that; and He will in His time. But for me to have an operation for God? I have never heard of such a thing and I thought the minister was finally starting to lose it in some way or the other as those of great age sometimes do.
I was about to find out another way of God. The operation was successful, the doctor said. But an hour or so later I started to bleed internally, very badly. I had swelling the size of a football in my right leg. There were two nurses and the doctor who were leaning on my leg with both hands and applying pressure to try to dissipate the blood and stop the bleeding.
If I am awake, I am talking, and although in great pain I noticed a "religious" tatoo on one of the nurses. I asked her about it and she said they are not allowed to wear a cross or anything pertaining to God because it might offend patients. I commended her on her decision to have the tatoo. We started talking about passages of Scripture and I told them all that as a child I had memorized Psalm 23. My favorite part was God's promise that He would take us "through the valley of the shadow of death...." Not over the valley of the shadow of death, or over it, or avoid it all together, but take us THROUGH. I told them all that this was as close to that valley I had been, and that God was taking me through, I could feel Him right there, right now.
The nurses stayed beyond their duty hours, one young lady stayed over two hours past her time to leave. After the new nursing staff took over the nurse with the tatoo came back into my room and was amazed at the conversation we had just had. She said that I did not realize the impact the conversation had on the other nurse. She was raised Catholic, she was attending mass with her two small children and she was not getting anything out of mass and she was tired of taking her children. She realized that her children would end up just like her; not really knowing God in an intimate way. I was beginning to get a picture of why I had bled so badly. No matter how much it hurt, it was for a reason. I have added both nurses to my prayer list. Perhaps this is what the elderly minister was speaking of, "this one is for God...?"
Just a few days later at another job, I am now a custodian at a local school, late one evening a teacher I did not even know came into the office where we were taking a break and she exclaimed, "thank God, you are here..." I did not even know the teacher. She said that she had told her husband that she had to talk to Mr. Peacher . She started crying and said that she had been through all of her sick leave, she had no leave left, she had 1/2 inches of fluid around her heart and she her heart was beating 170 times a minute. And they had just found a lump or mark in one of her lungs. She was in tears.
I asked her if she prayed. She said she does. I talked with her qujite a while about the issue of prayer. I was honest and told her that I sometimes cried myself to sleep as I prayed; and that God hears every single word that she says to Him. He never sleeps or grows weary of our coming to Him. I also told her that I would add her to our church prayer list. She talked openly about God, prayer and spiritual matters.
Was this another fulfillment of what the retired minister was talking about that "this one is for God?" I think so. I want to know God that intimately. It is not easy. It takes quality, quiet time in His Presence. It will cost you something. Christ said to "buy of Him gold, refined in the fire...." He was not speaking lightly of these things pertaining to Godliness.
Is it worth it? Sure, I would like to have a quiet, nice, prosperous retirement one day soon. Will I get it? Possibly not. The days are getting short before His return for His Bride. The enemy of our souls is pulling out all of the stops and he has declared total war against anything that represents God. But take heart; the Book of Daniel says that in the last of days "those who know their God will do great exploits!"
Praise God! We are there! God has trusted each and everyone reading this post a spot among those who "know" there God. It will cost us something but it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. One look on His dear face will say it all.
Like my Minister friend likes to say, "Hang in there, we are winners, our ticket is already punched."
Saturday, December 24, 2011
A Baby - A Light
"I am the Light of the world; those who follow Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
A small baby, laying in a manger makes this declaration to all of mankind thirty years later. All of eternity for all of creation is encompassed in His hands. In the book of the Beginning, Genesis we see the Tree of Life disappear. That tree from which if man would have eaten he would live forever; but for the fall he may have done so. It was put there on purpose, not as a tease or temptation for God tempts no man.
Now, in John we have encompassed in a little Baby the Light of Life! (John 8:12) John the Baptist came to bear witness of that Light; the true light that lighteth every person who comes into this world. And most profoundly it is stated that those who receive that Light He gives power to become sons of God! (John 1)
He is the Light never to be extinguished-He who shines from the beginning into the ages of eternity. For us there is no condemnation that accompanies His coming. But this is the condemnation of the world - that Light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Every one that does evil hates the light, neither do they come to the light lest their deeds be reproved. (John 3)
In direct contrast the children of the Light prepare for the brightness of the Son of Man's soon coming. The sons of darkness on planet earth will fear and be in terror, crying for the rocks and the mountains to hide them from the brightness of His coming. Believers, children of Light are even now walking in the brightness of His coming, being cleansed as our deeds are exposed; ever mindful of the holiness of our God.
We were also sometimes in darkness-but now are we light in the LORD-walking in light as children of light. If we walk in the day (light) we will not stumble because we see the light of this world; but if we walk in darkness we will stumble; trip and fall because there is no light in us. (John 11) Jesus is the Light; stay in Him! There is no darkness for those walking in Jesus. The Father of Lights sent Him on our behalf. He is wisdom, light, and the fear of God. Proverbs 3 says length of days is in wisdom's right hand; in her left hand is riches and honor. Wisdom is the tree of life to those who lay hold of her; and happy are those who retain her.
Light, Wisdom, the Tree of Life. All available to we who believe. These three are were wrapped in swaddling clothes and layed in a manger. This small child, born of a virgin, conceived of the Spirit of God has delivered our soul from death; He will deliver our feet from falling and give us the power, ability and even the desire to walk before God in the Light of the living. (Psalm 56:13)
We are left here for a reason; and for a season. In John 17 Christ asked the Father that we not be taken out of the world, but that we become one with Him and the Father. Each of us are the reflection of the Father of Lights; shining in the darkness that surrounds us.
Jesus said, " I pray not that Thou should take them out of the world but that You should keep them from the evil. They are not of this world even as I am not of this world. Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, so send I them into the world. (John 17)
As He was sent, so are we. Born of a woman, learning obedience from the things we suffer. Finally learning after a season of suffering that it is better to walk in the Light. We can sing with Isaiah ~
" Sing, O heavens; be joyful O earth;
and break forth into singing, O mountains;
for the LORD has comforted His people
and will have mercy upon His afflicted. "
" We shall not hunger nor thirst,
neither shall the heat nor sun smite us;
for He that has mercy on them shall lead them,
even by the springs of water shall He guide them."
(Isaiah 49)
The true Light sent to us by God is never extinquished from the beginning into the Ages of Eternity. We can walk in the light, as He is in the light.
A small baby, laying in a manger makes this declaration to all of mankind thirty years later. All of eternity for all of creation is encompassed in His hands. In the book of the Beginning, Genesis we see the Tree of Life disappear. That tree from which if man would have eaten he would live forever; but for the fall he may have done so. It was put there on purpose, not as a tease or temptation for God tempts no man.
Now, in John we have encompassed in a little Baby the Light of Life! (John 8:12) John the Baptist came to bear witness of that Light; the true light that lighteth every person who comes into this world. And most profoundly it is stated that those who receive that Light He gives power to become sons of God! (John 1)
He is the Light never to be extinguished-He who shines from the beginning into the ages of eternity. For us there is no condemnation that accompanies His coming. But this is the condemnation of the world - that Light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Every one that does evil hates the light, neither do they come to the light lest their deeds be reproved. (John 3)
In direct contrast the children of the Light prepare for the brightness of the Son of Man's soon coming. The sons of darkness on planet earth will fear and be in terror, crying for the rocks and the mountains to hide them from the brightness of His coming. Believers, children of Light are even now walking in the brightness of His coming, being cleansed as our deeds are exposed; ever mindful of the holiness of our God.
We were also sometimes in darkness-but now are we light in the LORD-walking in light as children of light. If we walk in the day (light) we will not stumble because we see the light of this world; but if we walk in darkness we will stumble; trip and fall because there is no light in us. (John 11) Jesus is the Light; stay in Him! There is no darkness for those walking in Jesus. The Father of Lights sent Him on our behalf. He is wisdom, light, and the fear of God. Proverbs 3 says length of days is in wisdom's right hand; in her left hand is riches and honor. Wisdom is the tree of life to those who lay hold of her; and happy are those who retain her.
Light, Wisdom, the Tree of Life. All available to we who believe. These three are were wrapped in swaddling clothes and layed in a manger. This small child, born of a virgin, conceived of the Spirit of God has delivered our soul from death; He will deliver our feet from falling and give us the power, ability and even the desire to walk before God in the Light of the living. (Psalm 56:13)
We are left here for a reason; and for a season. In John 17 Christ asked the Father that we not be taken out of the world, but that we become one with Him and the Father. Each of us are the reflection of the Father of Lights; shining in the darkness that surrounds us.
Jesus said, " I pray not that Thou should take them out of the world but that You should keep them from the evil. They are not of this world even as I am not of this world. Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, so send I them into the world. (John 17)
As He was sent, so are we. Born of a woman, learning obedience from the things we suffer. Finally learning after a season of suffering that it is better to walk in the Light. We can sing with Isaiah ~
" Sing, O heavens; be joyful O earth;
and break forth into singing, O mountains;
for the LORD has comforted His people
and will have mercy upon His afflicted. "
" We shall not hunger nor thirst,
neither shall the heat nor sun smite us;
for He that has mercy on them shall lead them,
even by the springs of water shall He guide them."
(Isaiah 49)
The true Light sent to us by God is never extinquished from the beginning into the Ages of Eternity. We can walk in the light, as He is in the light.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Already Sealed!
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 gives us a picture of our position in Christ. Right now, not at some future date. It says, " For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus) are yes, and in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us."
Image that! The glory of God by us. He has distilled by His Spirit in us great authority and position. Not at some future date, but right now.
The passage continues, " He has also sealed us, and given the earnest (down payment, just a portion) of the Spirit in our hearts."
The only One who is worthy to open the 7 seals in the Book of the Revelation of Christ has already sealed each individual Believer. What an awesome thought.
In this context He admonished us to not labor or worry about meat that perishes, but for the meat (life style and beliefs) that endure unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give to you, for Him hath the Father sealed. ( John 6:27)
This is a major lifestyle change compared to our friends, family and coworkers. We are set aside for Him. We need to appropriate this and realize our position in heavenly (spiritual) matters.
It is our faith in these concepts, these truths, that overcomes the world. We are admonished to not grieve the Holy Spirit of God whereby we are already sealed (set apart, locked into) until the Day of Redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
How can we grieve the Holy Spirit of God? In the same manner in which the Children of Israel did in the Wilderness Journey; they did not believe what God said. Do not fall into this catagory. We need to have a full revelation of our position in Christ. We must believe and appropriate the authority He has given us as Believers in every circumstance in our daily lives.
He who has the power to open the seals at the end of this Age is called Faithful and True. He cannot lie. He will never fail us or forsake us; we are His - bought with a very heavy price.
Image that! The glory of God by us. He has distilled by His Spirit in us great authority and position. Not at some future date, but right now.
The passage continues, " He has also sealed us, and given the earnest (down payment, just a portion) of the Spirit in our hearts."
The only One who is worthy to open the 7 seals in the Book of the Revelation of Christ has already sealed each individual Believer. What an awesome thought.
In this context He admonished us to not labor or worry about meat that perishes, but for the meat (life style and beliefs) that endure unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give to you, for Him hath the Father sealed. ( John 6:27)
This is a major lifestyle change compared to our friends, family and coworkers. We are set aside for Him. We need to appropriate this and realize our position in heavenly (spiritual) matters.
It is our faith in these concepts, these truths, that overcomes the world. We are admonished to not grieve the Holy Spirit of God whereby we are already sealed (set apart, locked into) until the Day of Redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
How can we grieve the Holy Spirit of God? In the same manner in which the Children of Israel did in the Wilderness Journey; they did not believe what God said. Do not fall into this catagory. We need to have a full revelation of our position in Christ. We must believe and appropriate the authority He has given us as Believers in every circumstance in our daily lives.
He who has the power to open the seals at the end of this Age is called Faithful and True. He cannot lie. He will never fail us or forsake us; we are His - bought with a very heavy price.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Christmas-War Delclaration?
Christ was more that a baby laying in a manger scene in the small community of Bethlehem in Israel. His birth was a declaration of war against Satan and his forces here on earth. Mankind has been tormented for thousands of years because of the mistake of Adam and Eve in the garden of God.
King Herod was so enraged at hearing of the birth of the King of the Jews in Bethlehem that he murdered all of the male children two years of age and younger. Joseph, Mary and the Baby fled to Egypt to avoid the slaughter.
Years earlier another evil man named Haman, under the influence of satan sought to murder all of the Jews living in the Kingdom of Persia which extended from northern Africa, throughout the Mideast and all of the way to India. But for the intervention of Queen Esther and the fasting and prayers of the Jews the possible birth of the Holy Child would have been destroyed.
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ once and for all retained the victory for the Kingdom of God. Christ now holds the keys of death and the grave. He is the Risen One! The war has been won on behalf of all mankind. It is up to us to decide whose side we are on.
Why would anyone want to serve or be subservient to a defeated foe? Satan lost this war and shortly he will reach his fate for all of eternity. Believers are already seated with Christ in heavenly places. Our duty is to pick up where Christ left off; we are now His arms, His legs, His voice and His people spreading the good news that the battle has been won!
This is truly what the Christmas story is all about. Merry Christmas!
King Herod was so enraged at hearing of the birth of the King of the Jews in Bethlehem that he murdered all of the male children two years of age and younger. Joseph, Mary and the Baby fled to Egypt to avoid the slaughter.
Years earlier another evil man named Haman, under the influence of satan sought to murder all of the Jews living in the Kingdom of Persia which extended from northern Africa, throughout the Mideast and all of the way to India. But for the intervention of Queen Esther and the fasting and prayers of the Jews the possible birth of the Holy Child would have been destroyed.
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ once and for all retained the victory for the Kingdom of God. Christ now holds the keys of death and the grave. He is the Risen One! The war has been won on behalf of all mankind. It is up to us to decide whose side we are on.
Why would anyone want to serve or be subservient to a defeated foe? Satan lost this war and shortly he will reach his fate for all of eternity. Believers are already seated with Christ in heavenly places. Our duty is to pick up where Christ left off; we are now His arms, His legs, His voice and His people spreading the good news that the battle has been won!
This is truly what the Christmas story is all about. Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 16, 2011
His Way - His Seed
The seed of delivery for mankind was declared from the very beginning. When God punished Adam, Eve and satan it was prophecied that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent.
Consider the process as recorded to protect the Seed. Hundreds, perhaps over 1000 years later He finds the one faithful man in Abraham. One man and his wife. One man's faithfulness preserved the seed of man when the earth had become so wicked that God was sorry that He even created mankind. But for one man none of us would be here! Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Those eyes that are all encompassing. In Ezekiel's vision of the wheel within a wheel, it was encompassed with eyes that saw in every possible direction. He observes affairs among the son's and daughter's of men; always.
Consider the tens of thousands of babies that were alive and born when the Children of Israel were in Egypt in the time of Moses. One little Hebrew baby put in a boat of bulrushes, found by a daughter of Pharoah, protected from death while the other male children were killed. And Christ Himself as an infant having to flee again to Egypt with his parents from certain death decreed for all children in the Bethlehem area. The seed is still protected.
This must drive satan absoultely mad! In the Book of Esther Haman again seeks the destruction of all Jews in the Kingdom; a massive area that included Egypt, northern Africa, all of the Mideast that even extends to India! Still one little Jewish girl, Queen Esther in the court of the King interceeds for the Jews in the kingdom. The seed, still protected by God.
And here we are today in 2011. We are also the protected seed. All Believers are called the Children of God. He is our Father. When we start feeling all alone and in great danger think of the record of protection that God offers those who love and serve Him. He is faithful and true. Never have one of His promises been broken.
This Christmas Holiday think of that one little seed, the Baby Jesus, protected from certain destruction by His Father and our Father, His God and our God.
Consider the process as recorded to protect the Seed. Hundreds, perhaps over 1000 years later He finds the one faithful man in Abraham. One man and his wife. One man's faithfulness preserved the seed of man when the earth had become so wicked that God was sorry that He even created mankind. But for one man none of us would be here! Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Those eyes that are all encompassing. In Ezekiel's vision of the wheel within a wheel, it was encompassed with eyes that saw in every possible direction. He observes affairs among the son's and daughter's of men; always.
Consider the tens of thousands of babies that were alive and born when the Children of Israel were in Egypt in the time of Moses. One little Hebrew baby put in a boat of bulrushes, found by a daughter of Pharoah, protected from death while the other male children were killed. And Christ Himself as an infant having to flee again to Egypt with his parents from certain death decreed for all children in the Bethlehem area. The seed is still protected.
This must drive satan absoultely mad! In the Book of Esther Haman again seeks the destruction of all Jews in the Kingdom; a massive area that included Egypt, northern Africa, all of the Mideast that even extends to India! Still one little Jewish girl, Queen Esther in the court of the King interceeds for the Jews in the kingdom. The seed, still protected by God.
And here we are today in 2011. We are also the protected seed. All Believers are called the Children of God. He is our Father. When we start feeling all alone and in great danger think of the record of protection that God offers those who love and serve Him. He is faithful and true. Never have one of His promises been broken.
This Christmas Holiday think of that one little seed, the Baby Jesus, protected from certain destruction by His Father and our Father, His God and our God.
Israel, the Church and Queen Esther
A very important message regarding Israel and the Church, for such a time as this. Please watch when you have a moment....(18 moments to be exact). Thanks! randy peacher
http://vimeo.com/33685209
http://vimeo.com/33685209
Considerations
There are several things I have been considering over the past week during my recovery since a heart procedure one week from today. I have been wondering why, during frequent pains, soreness and blood pressure issues I still do not feel "normal". I do not necessarily know what normal is, but I know that I do not feel "up to par".
I have quietly felt in my spirit that I am very impatient; ask my wife, she will confirm this! I have been thinking of Abraham and Sarah in the book of Genesis. A man who talked to God face to face, one who was called the friend of God because he was a man of faith. How long did he wait for the promised seed that would bring salvation to the world? Tens of years! And this man talked face to face with God. Angels visited him and his wife with the promise; he talked with them in person and fixed a meal for them! Still, the period of waiting.
What purpose could this possibly serve? God waited until Sarah's womb was beyond the capibility to conceive. She was as barren as a female can be. Abraham wanted the son of Sarah's maid to be the promised seed; he was not according to the will of God. What Abraham did in the natural would not do. God Himself shut that down in short order when the time of promise had finally come.
Consider Moses in the back side of the desert. Forty years in obsurity tending sheep. Day multiplied upon day, month upon month, year upon year for Moses. I wonder what this man thought as he gazed into the starry heavens remembering his calling? Did he question God or just give up? Finally! A burning bush! A sign that the time had finally come.
Consider Joseph and his great dreams and promise of nations bowing before him. Hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, set up in Pharoah's court by the wife of Pharoah and charged with rape! In prison for years. The time of waiting had begun.
These things happen for a reason. There is a purpose for the wait. I believe these men were changed and it brought out things hidden deeply in their hearts that even they did not know existed deep within their being. Issues that had to be dealt with that could only happen in times of isolation. Not surrounded by friends, family or a support system. Only God and the person, dealing with each other.
One thing I have learned that I do not think I would have seen in any other way is the necessity to hold others up in prayer. When I was feeling good I causally prayed for people, for their salvation, their healing or any other pressing issue. But when confronted with my own mortality and my own recent walk in the valley of the shadow of death, it has been embedded deep into my soul the finality of eternity after death.
God has given me a new sense of the eternal state of those who pass into eternity. There are two people I work with that I cannot even stand to be in the same building with them. God has forced me to pray for them with more passion. They are lost, misguided, full of themselves and their issues, even at the expense of others. But yet, they are lost without God. "Pray for them...." I will stand before God one day soon and that issue will arise. As I watch or hear of their final judgment I will be asked, "Did you pray for them?" Was there someone to stand in the gap between eternity, heaven and hell, for these two people?
I want to be able to say I prayed. I would not have learned this important lesson unless I had went through this ordeal. During the night seasons I have had dealings with the LORD about these things. There are truly treasures in the darkness the Bible speaks of; and the only way to retrieve that treasure is to go through the darkness and stop skirting around it or avoiding it at all costs.
Another minister friend of mine who has issues of his own, high sugar, dialisis and other things said that when we are walking through that fearful valley that Jesus is called the Lilly of the Valley. How true. He has never left me nor fosaken me. He is always there.
I feel that when that tinge of fear tries to overtake me during these times the choice is mine; do I yield to it or do I fight it off? It has been my choice and will always be my choice. A sudden fear, I believe it is a tangible spirit of fear that attacks the children of God even more so than non-Believers descends. It is our duty to know the Word of God, to quote the promises and remember what our position is as Children of God.
Fear not! I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. Bowing down to fear is of the devil. It could even be a case in our spirit of bowing down to Satan in fear. God says NO! It is not to be. When that tinge of fear comes around, fight it off. Be strong and of a good courage; the same Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead dwells in our mortal bodies. He is a Spirit of life, of breath, of renewal.
The waiting periods in our lives may be long, they are sometimes blessfully short, but God is sitting at the controls. Everything works together for the good of those who love God. Never lose heart.
I have quietly felt in my spirit that I am very impatient; ask my wife, she will confirm this! I have been thinking of Abraham and Sarah in the book of Genesis. A man who talked to God face to face, one who was called the friend of God because he was a man of faith. How long did he wait for the promised seed that would bring salvation to the world? Tens of years! And this man talked face to face with God. Angels visited him and his wife with the promise; he talked with them in person and fixed a meal for them! Still, the period of waiting.
What purpose could this possibly serve? God waited until Sarah's womb was beyond the capibility to conceive. She was as barren as a female can be. Abraham wanted the son of Sarah's maid to be the promised seed; he was not according to the will of God. What Abraham did in the natural would not do. God Himself shut that down in short order when the time of promise had finally come.
Consider Moses in the back side of the desert. Forty years in obsurity tending sheep. Day multiplied upon day, month upon month, year upon year for Moses. I wonder what this man thought as he gazed into the starry heavens remembering his calling? Did he question God or just give up? Finally! A burning bush! A sign that the time had finally come.
Consider Joseph and his great dreams and promise of nations bowing before him. Hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, set up in Pharoah's court by the wife of Pharoah and charged with rape! In prison for years. The time of waiting had begun.
These things happen for a reason. There is a purpose for the wait. I believe these men were changed and it brought out things hidden deeply in their hearts that even they did not know existed deep within their being. Issues that had to be dealt with that could only happen in times of isolation. Not surrounded by friends, family or a support system. Only God and the person, dealing with each other.
One thing I have learned that I do not think I would have seen in any other way is the necessity to hold others up in prayer. When I was feeling good I causally prayed for people, for their salvation, their healing or any other pressing issue. But when confronted with my own mortality and my own recent walk in the valley of the shadow of death, it has been embedded deep into my soul the finality of eternity after death.
God has given me a new sense of the eternal state of those who pass into eternity. There are two people I work with that I cannot even stand to be in the same building with them. God has forced me to pray for them with more passion. They are lost, misguided, full of themselves and their issues, even at the expense of others. But yet, they are lost without God. "Pray for them...." I will stand before God one day soon and that issue will arise. As I watch or hear of their final judgment I will be asked, "Did you pray for them?" Was there someone to stand in the gap between eternity, heaven and hell, for these two people?
I want to be able to say I prayed. I would not have learned this important lesson unless I had went through this ordeal. During the night seasons I have had dealings with the LORD about these things. There are truly treasures in the darkness the Bible speaks of; and the only way to retrieve that treasure is to go through the darkness and stop skirting around it or avoiding it at all costs.
Another minister friend of mine who has issues of his own, high sugar, dialisis and other things said that when we are walking through that fearful valley that Jesus is called the Lilly of the Valley. How true. He has never left me nor fosaken me. He is always there.
I feel that when that tinge of fear tries to overtake me during these times the choice is mine; do I yield to it or do I fight it off? It has been my choice and will always be my choice. A sudden fear, I believe it is a tangible spirit of fear that attacks the children of God even more so than non-Believers descends. It is our duty to know the Word of God, to quote the promises and remember what our position is as Children of God.
Fear not! I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. Bowing down to fear is of the devil. It could even be a case in our spirit of bowing down to Satan in fear. God says NO! It is not to be. When that tinge of fear comes around, fight it off. Be strong and of a good courage; the same Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead dwells in our mortal bodies. He is a Spirit of life, of breath, of renewal.
The waiting periods in our lives may be long, they are sometimes blessfully short, but God is sitting at the controls. Everything works together for the good of those who love God. Never lose heart.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Healing And Praise - by John J. Parsons
" Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise." (Jeremiah 17:14)
It is good to praise and trust the LORD despite our afflictions, and indeed, suffering itself presents an invitation to come before God in prayer (James 5:13). Suffering offers us a nisayon, a test, for our hearts to be exercised in ways otherwise rendered impossible should the path of our lives be attended without real struggle.
In this connection I am reminded of a quote from Sadhu Sundar Singh, " Should pain and siffering, sorrow, and grief, rise up like clouds and overshadow for a time the Sun of Righteousness and hide Him from your view, do not be dismayed, for in the end this cloud of woe will descend in showers of blessing on your head, and the Sun of Righteousness rise upon you to set no more forever."
It's been said that both the devil and God want your soul, but their approaches are diametricially opposite to one another...God offers you a bitter cup that, after it has been duly tested, will be turned sweet, whereas the devil offers you an artificially sweetened cut that, after it has been duly tested, will be found bitter to the last of the dregs....When you accept the suffering as ordained by God-by the LORD of Glory who could easily deliver you from all trace of its presence in but the twinkling of an eye-your heartache is sanctified, and your praise becomes more dear to Him.
Only the wise and loving LORD knows how bitter waters may be made sweet; only the great Refiner of our souls knows how to bring beauty up from ashes....So heal me, O LORD (even if that means suffering and pain for my life) and I shall be healed; save me, O LORD (do whatever it takes to bring me to the end of myself), and I shall be saved-for You are my praise.
If you are afflicted, troubled, or in any kind of pain, you have a great opportunity to glorify your Father in Heaven by offering Him your praise...Praising God is the appropriate response to all of reality; the affirmation of God's glory transform everything. " Is anyone among you feeling bad? Let him pray. Is anyone feeling good? Let him sing praise" (James 5:13)
Remember that regardless of how you presently feel, your emotional life is centered in the Presence of God...As George Mueller once affirmed, " Be assured-if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you."
It is good to praise and trust the LORD despite our afflictions, and indeed, suffering itself presents an invitation to come before God in prayer (James 5:13). Suffering offers us a nisayon, a test, for our hearts to be exercised in ways otherwise rendered impossible should the path of our lives be attended without real struggle.
In this connection I am reminded of a quote from Sadhu Sundar Singh, " Should pain and siffering, sorrow, and grief, rise up like clouds and overshadow for a time the Sun of Righteousness and hide Him from your view, do not be dismayed, for in the end this cloud of woe will descend in showers of blessing on your head, and the Sun of Righteousness rise upon you to set no more forever."
It's been said that both the devil and God want your soul, but their approaches are diametricially opposite to one another...God offers you a bitter cup that, after it has been duly tested, will be turned sweet, whereas the devil offers you an artificially sweetened cut that, after it has been duly tested, will be found bitter to the last of the dregs....When you accept the suffering as ordained by God-by the LORD of Glory who could easily deliver you from all trace of its presence in but the twinkling of an eye-your heartache is sanctified, and your praise becomes more dear to Him.
Only the wise and loving LORD knows how bitter waters may be made sweet; only the great Refiner of our souls knows how to bring beauty up from ashes....So heal me, O LORD (even if that means suffering and pain for my life) and I shall be healed; save me, O LORD (do whatever it takes to bring me to the end of myself), and I shall be saved-for You are my praise.
If you are afflicted, troubled, or in any kind of pain, you have a great opportunity to glorify your Father in Heaven by offering Him your praise...Praising God is the appropriate response to all of reality; the affirmation of God's glory transform everything. " Is anyone among you feeling bad? Let him pray. Is anyone feeling good? Let him sing praise" (James 5:13)
Remember that regardless of how you presently feel, your emotional life is centered in the Presence of God...As George Mueller once affirmed, " Be assured-if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you."
Monday, December 12, 2011
From Him-To Us
We go through things some times that make us realize that we are not sufficient in ourselves; it is not something we can work up by our own doing. I have been mistaken in this regard for most of my life. 2 Corinthians 3:5 says, " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is in Christ."
In John 15:5 Christ tells us that He is the vine; we are the branches, we abide in Him and He in us. Without Him we can do nothing. I can muster up a little but it is usually working it up myself. After a short while I tire and realize how useless my effort is for any lasting effect.
We are but yet only beholding, as in a glass, the true glory of the LORD. But as we do we are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD. Not of ourselves, but of Him. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
He is first and foremost in all things that pertain to any godliness we may claim. He is all in all. Yet He has chosen us in which to place this treasure; in earthen vessels so that the excellency of any power we may have is of Him, not us.
When we feel weak or forsaken for a small season at times, remember that we are always bearing about in our body the dying of the LORD Jesus so that the life of Jesus might be manifest in our body. Then we realize that it all comes from Him! (2 Corinthians 4:10)
In John 15:5 Christ tells us that He is the vine; we are the branches, we abide in Him and He in us. Without Him we can do nothing. I can muster up a little but it is usually working it up myself. After a short while I tire and realize how useless my effort is for any lasting effect.
We are but yet only beholding, as in a glass, the true glory of the LORD. But as we do we are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD. Not of ourselves, but of Him. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
He is first and foremost in all things that pertain to any godliness we may claim. He is all in all. Yet He has chosen us in which to place this treasure; in earthen vessels so that the excellency of any power we may have is of Him, not us.
When we feel weak or forsaken for a small season at times, remember that we are always bearing about in our body the dying of the LORD Jesus so that the life of Jesus might be manifest in our body. Then we realize that it all comes from Him! (2 Corinthians 4:10)
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Out Of The Book
King David said, " Because I have set my love upon God He will deliver me. He will set me on high because I have known His name. I will call upon Him and He will answer me - He will be with me during trouble; He will deliver me and honor me; With long life will He satisfy me and show me His salvation." (Psalm 91)
Precious promises. Isaiah said, " Seek ye out of the Book of the LORD, and read; not one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate (words will be a perfect union) for My mouth it hath commanded, and His Spirit it hath gathered them."
Every word spoken by God is truth. We can "take it to the bank", we can cast our lives upon it, and it will live for all of eternity. Every issue, every circumstance, every prayer and promise are serving an eternal purpose. For the ages of the ages of eternity we will still be studying the Words and Ways of God! What an awesome thought!
Precious promises. Isaiah said, " Seek ye out of the Book of the LORD, and read; not one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate (words will be a perfect union) for My mouth it hath commanded, and His Spirit it hath gathered them."
Every word spoken by God is truth. We can "take it to the bank", we can cast our lives upon it, and it will live for all of eternity. Every issue, every circumstance, every prayer and promise are serving an eternal purpose. For the ages of the ages of eternity we will still be studying the Words and Ways of God! What an awesome thought!
Post Heart Procedure 12.10.2011
I have never been through such a thing in my entire life! What a trip! I felt like I was visiting the valley of the shadow of death itself. It is as close as I have ever been aware I have been. A large bleeding out on my right leg happened shortly after the operation. The doctor's entered through both legs to access the heart. They believe the operation was a success. I am confident that it was. I have reminded God repeatedly in prayer that He says He holds our heart in His hands; and I cannot think of a better place for it to be.
The large bleed out Thursday evening is called a hematoba; a very large collection or pool of blood that leaked from the incision site. It got to the size of a softball, 5 x 7 inches. They worked on me for several hours to get the "blue and purple" bump to go down. The doctor said that my leg would possibly turn black and blue down to my ankle. I told him that blue is a nice color; the color of the sky or the ocean!
I have never felt such severe pain as the staff at the hospital was pressing on the blue bump with both hands, leaning on it with all of their body weight. Two nurses especially interviened when the doctor was called away. One nurse had a tatoo with a passage of Scripture on her arm that promises of God's continual presence. She and I started talking about where we attend services. The other young lady just smiled, pushed the swelling in my leg and listened.
I told both of them that God had promised me that I was going to be alright. I had Believing friends and a 90 year old minister friend who felt this way also. I reminded them both of the famous 23 Psalm where God said that He would take us through the valley of the shadow of death; not around the valley, not over the valley, or avoid the valley; but THROUGH! I thought that going through with Him has to serve some pupose we do not realize right now. But, I know God was there. I reminded them of the promise of Jesus to be with us always, even to the very end; He is there. They both tired out and gave me a pain medication and the shift for them ended. The one nurse stayed almost two hours beyond her shift to listen and talk.
The nurse who was a Believer came back and said that I have no idea of what had just taken place. The other nurse had been raised Catholic, had two small children that she hated to take to mass because it did not do anything for her anymore; so why take her children. The young lady had been asking questions of fundamentalist Believers and showing a strong interest in the things of God. I could not fathom what she was really saying. I was amazed. Is this why the internal bleeding happened? I do not know. But Rev. Cooper said something that came to mind when I got back home. He said that this operation was for God, not for me. What a strange thing to say. I am still contemplating that statement and it is a profound thought. Is one eternal soul worth the pain I went through that night? Yes, it is. I now pray that the seed that was planted fell in good soil; God said His word would not return to Him void but it would accomplish what He pleases.
Last night after getting home I went back to the emeregency room here in town thinking that I had started bleeding again. The doctor did an ultra sound and thought a blood clot may have formed. It has not and the bleeding had stopped and I went back home. I actually slept a solid 8 hours last evening. Thank God! Jane did also. The first nice rest we have had in what seems to be weeks.
Thank each and every one of you for your prayers. You will never realize what it means to have your name mentioned in the presence of God in intercession. It has profound effects.
The large bleed out Thursday evening is called a hematoba; a very large collection or pool of blood that leaked from the incision site. It got to the size of a softball, 5 x 7 inches. They worked on me for several hours to get the "blue and purple" bump to go down. The doctor said that my leg would possibly turn black and blue down to my ankle. I told him that blue is a nice color; the color of the sky or the ocean!
I have never felt such severe pain as the staff at the hospital was pressing on the blue bump with both hands, leaning on it with all of their body weight. Two nurses especially interviened when the doctor was called away. One nurse had a tatoo with a passage of Scripture on her arm that promises of God's continual presence. She and I started talking about where we attend services. The other young lady just smiled, pushed the swelling in my leg and listened.
I told both of them that God had promised me that I was going to be alright. I had Believing friends and a 90 year old minister friend who felt this way also. I reminded them both of the famous 23 Psalm where God said that He would take us through the valley of the shadow of death; not around the valley, not over the valley, or avoid the valley; but THROUGH! I thought that going through with Him has to serve some pupose we do not realize right now. But, I know God was there. I reminded them of the promise of Jesus to be with us always, even to the very end; He is there. They both tired out and gave me a pain medication and the shift for them ended. The one nurse stayed almost two hours beyond her shift to listen and talk.
The nurse who was a Believer came back and said that I have no idea of what had just taken place. The other nurse had been raised Catholic, had two small children that she hated to take to mass because it did not do anything for her anymore; so why take her children. The young lady had been asking questions of fundamentalist Believers and showing a strong interest in the things of God. I could not fathom what she was really saying. I was amazed. Is this why the internal bleeding happened? I do not know. But Rev. Cooper said something that came to mind when I got back home. He said that this operation was for God, not for me. What a strange thing to say. I am still contemplating that statement and it is a profound thought. Is one eternal soul worth the pain I went through that night? Yes, it is. I now pray that the seed that was planted fell in good soil; God said His word would not return to Him void but it would accomplish what He pleases.
Last night after getting home I went back to the emeregency room here in town thinking that I had started bleeding again. The doctor did an ultra sound and thought a blood clot may have formed. It has not and the bleeding had stopped and I went back home. I actually slept a solid 8 hours last evening. Thank God! Jane did also. The first nice rest we have had in what seems to be weeks.
Thank each and every one of you for your prayers. You will never realize what it means to have your name mentioned in the presence of God in intercession. It has profound effects.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Effective Prayer
The Book of James says the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person availeth (accomplishes) much. The definition of fervent means to have a zeal, prayers that are so intense to bring to a boil. This is not casual prayer. We say grace thanking God for the food we are about to eat; we thank Him for safety and nice weather. These are all good prayers. But in times of great need our prayers change in fervency.
We have no righteousness in ourselves; so forget the thought that we have to work up something in our spirit before we go before the throne of God with our prayers. Our righteousness is in Christ Jesus and Christ alone. The Spirit of God places an urgency in our spirit so we come into God's presence with the appropriate urgency; no matter the need.
Christ encourages us to "buy of Him" gold. Not the gold of the world, but spiritual, heavenly gold; refined seven times. In the Book of Daniel it says that King Nebuchadnezzar had his mighty men heat the firey furnace 7 times hotter because the three Hebrew children would not bow to his image and worship. The same thing happens to us. Believers will experience trials, tests and temptations that will get as hot as it can possibly get. But there is One that is also walking in our midst during the heat and fires that come our way.
These trials serve the purposes of God. We may have a sense of what the purpose may be; but most of the time we have no idea; we just trust. All the fire usually does is just burn off what has had us bound, hand and foot, like the Hebrew children in the Book of Daniel. (our hands representing what we do and feet representing where we have been walking). We are freed through the fire! Unbound! Never forget that Jesus said that all authority both in heaven and on earth has been (past tense!) given unto Him. We belong to Him; never lose sight of that fact. He is with us always, even to the very end.
He has been with me through my heart issues. He will be with me tomorrow morning on the operating table in Winchester, VA. It has been a great trial but I have felt His presence, the presence of the Angel of God through the entire process. When fear and sadness trial to make inroads, and it has and will, it is up to me to believe what God promises me. That choice is mine and mine alone. God told Joshua " Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9)
God did not say I recommended that you not fear, or My suggestion is that you not fear, but "I command you to not fear....! I fall down on that side of the fence. He is in total control, always ahs been, always will be. The believing part is up to me!
Fear not, for I am with you,
Do not be dismayed,
I AM your God.
I will be with you and I will comfort you.
Jesus said, "I AM with you always,
even to the very end.
That is good enough for me!!
We have no righteousness in ourselves; so forget the thought that we have to work up something in our spirit before we go before the throne of God with our prayers. Our righteousness is in Christ Jesus and Christ alone. The Spirit of God places an urgency in our spirit so we come into God's presence with the appropriate urgency; no matter the need.
Christ encourages us to "buy of Him" gold. Not the gold of the world, but spiritual, heavenly gold; refined seven times. In the Book of Daniel it says that King Nebuchadnezzar had his mighty men heat the firey furnace 7 times hotter because the three Hebrew children would not bow to his image and worship. The same thing happens to us. Believers will experience trials, tests and temptations that will get as hot as it can possibly get. But there is One that is also walking in our midst during the heat and fires that come our way.
These trials serve the purposes of God. We may have a sense of what the purpose may be; but most of the time we have no idea; we just trust. All the fire usually does is just burn off what has had us bound, hand and foot, like the Hebrew children in the Book of Daniel. (our hands representing what we do and feet representing where we have been walking). We are freed through the fire! Unbound! Never forget that Jesus said that all authority both in heaven and on earth has been (past tense!) given unto Him. We belong to Him; never lose sight of that fact. He is with us always, even to the very end.
He has been with me through my heart issues. He will be with me tomorrow morning on the operating table in Winchester, VA. It has been a great trial but I have felt His presence, the presence of the Angel of God through the entire process. When fear and sadness trial to make inroads, and it has and will, it is up to me to believe what God promises me. That choice is mine and mine alone. God told Joshua " Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9)
God did not say I recommended that you not fear, or My suggestion is that you not fear, but "I command you to not fear....! I fall down on that side of the fence. He is in total control, always ahs been, always will be. The believing part is up to me!
Fear not, for I am with you,
Do not be dismayed,
I AM your God.
I will be with you and I will comfort you.
Jesus said, "I AM with you always,
even to the very end.
That is good enough for me!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)