Archive for January, 2015
Posted by appolus on January 31, 2015
Brothers and sisters, there is a coming storm. Even now the dark clouds are gathering over the land. War is on the horizon. The end of ages are upon us and the enemy of our souls knows it well. He will come against the saints first with great deception and then with great fury. A time is coming, a war is coming such as has not been seen before. Who will stand? In every stage of history men have made their decisions and their stands. Many men have stood on the wrong side of history. It is one thing to stand on the wrong side of history, it is quite another thing to stand on the wrong side of the ages.
Today the saints must establish in their hearts what they are living for and what they are willing to lose everything for. Are you living for all things eternal? Will you be willing in the coming days to lose everything? In that day, there will be darkness and various shades of grey on one side, and there will be light on the other. There is no darkness in God. We cannot stand in shades of grey. We will be compelled to choose. Even now the world demands compromise to the Word of God. Every institution will fall in line with the world or it will fall. Praise God some will choose to fall, most will fall in line.
A famous group of colonists once declared independence from great Britain and a shot was fired that was heard around the world. There will be a declaration all too soon that declares allegiance to God and God alone and further declares total dependence upon Him. When the colonists signed that declaration, death was assured for them in the event of defeat. They were, with their signatures, totally committed to the cause and willing to pay the ultimate price. If mere men can make declarations and give their life for that cause, what will an army of saints around the world achieve by their own declaration? And how will we declare such things? By our lives and the stands that we make. This will be universal. And the result? The greatest witness of Christ the world has ever seen in all of ages past. I pray I live to see that day.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, prophecy, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 25, 2015
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Daniel speaks of a time when the saints will be worn down. I believe the process of the saints being worn down has already begun. Times have been changed and wrong has become right and truth, at best, is relative. This is wearing the saints out as they struggle to come to terms with these fast changing circumstances. There has been a blitzkrieg so to speak in the realms of the spirit. Compromise and unrighteousness has surrounded the saints. We are an obstacle that at some point will have to be removed if the enemy is to have total dominance. More laws will be changed and we will witness more compromise by Christendom
If you recognize this, then I want you to be encouraged saint. We have been called to stand. Even although many will fall away, we have been called to stand. There is an evil day ahead and the saints have been called to stand in that day. Now how are we to stand in the midst of this battle? We have been called to stand fully equipped with the armor of God, this is how we will stand and the enemy knows it, so he has come against every aspect of our armor in the last several decades, knowing the time is short.
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Tagged: Christendom | 9 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 22, 2015
While Moses was on the mountain being stripped of all his rights –
because that is what was meant by the removal of his shoes –
Israel was in the valley being stripped of all human strength. Moses
would have no rights; Israel, no strength. God could prove Himself
strong on their behalf in no other way. The great “I AM” was being revealed! (David Wilkerson)
After 40 years in the wilderness Moses is ready, Israel is ready. In taking off his shoes, Moses is removing the world from him and acknowledging a holy God. God was working and the backdrop to that working is banishment, wilderness dwelling and slavery. God refines His people in the fire. Now, the fire is kindled by the world not by God. The fire is a reaction to a redeemed people. Note the reason why the Hebrew children were being forced into the fire. They refused to bow down to the gods of this world. They defied the powers that be and were willing to die rather than bow the knee to the gods of this world. This is a spiritual principle played out down through the corridors of time.
Soon the stripping away phase will end and the results will be open persecution of Gods redeemed. For Nebuckadnezzar , he was so enraged that he made the fire seven time hotter. The children of Israel did not fare much better when Pharoah was confronted and defied. In these times, great movements of God were preceded by great hostility to His people. Christ is coming back in all His glory in the sky. There is great movement in the heavenalies and the principalities and powers know that. God is preparing a people who will stand in that evil day.
John the Baptist cried out from the wilderness after more than 400 years of silence from God ” Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” Gods own people in this day have been walking through a wilderness and there is something in their bones that they know ” Behold the Lion of Judah is coming in His glory in the sky.” God is not finished preparing His people for the soon coming evil day, but get ready saints to ” remove your shoes.” The Great I Am is getting ready to bring an end to all ages. The culmination of everything written is soon coming to pass. You know it, you do not have to be convinced, the Spirit in you tells you so. The powers that be know it and they will not go quietly. We, the children of God, are their deadliest enemies for we are bearers of the light. Hold fast, stand strong, lift up your heads for you know where your help cometh from. And no matter what happens , remember the words of the Hebrew children in defiance of the essence of worldly power and let us add our words to theirs, we neither will ever bow down to the gods of this world, even if it means our lives…….bro Frank
Rev_12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
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Posted by appolus on January 22, 2015
Sharing the word of God and the good news of the gospel without the power of the Holy Spirit is like offering a starving man a picture of some food.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | Tagged: power of the holy spirit | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on January 14, 2015
Are you content? Boy, that is a loaded question. I would argue, if you broke it all down, that this is what the majority of the people of the world are looking for, contentment. Now, how to achieve that is the question for the world but also a very serious question for Christians. The world makes all the mistakes in attempting to achieve contentment, yet so do many Christians. The people of the world believe, in general, that contentment comes through material possessions. Let us have a look at what the word actually means.
The Greek word is ” autarkes,” and it literally means self-complacent or self-sufficient. This is why there is a such a tie to material possessions. The context of Philippians chapter four where Paul states ” I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content,” is in the context of a gift of money having been sent to him by the Philippians. So there is no doubt that the main theme of this particular text is money or material possessions. And of course, this is one of the worlds primary pre-occupations.
Now if this is one of the worlds primary pre-occupations and the world, in general, is not content, then the gathering and the storing of money in order to bring about peace and contentment is obviously flawed. Money, whether having a lot of it or none at all , cannot produce peace or contentment. The problem with that truth is that almost no one believes it. The lie is so great, that the majority of the world spend the majority of their life in pursuing more money in the hopes that if they just have enough, whatever that is, then this will lead them to peace and contentment. Yet statistics show that a great majority of those who commit suicide are wealthy. You see, the poor hope to be rich one day, in the mistaken notion that it will bring about contentment and therefore they have hope and have something to strive for, even although it is akin to believing that there is an actual pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The wealthy, on the other hand, know that their riches have not brought them the peace and the contentment which they sought and so often times hope is lost which leads to suicide. It is similar to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz finally getting to meet the great and notable wizard and discovering he is just a man behind a curtain pulling levers.
Now the stoic Greeks believed in being content yet this meant something very different to them, closer I would argue to the truth, but still very flawed. To the Greeks, contentment was a state of dispassionately accepting whatever state you found yourself in by drawing on your own inner strength, you own self. In order to cope with all that life threw at them, the best they could hope for was a dispassionate state. The Apostle Paul taught something very different in the Scriptures and he was a great example for us to learn from.
Consider Paul’s position in life even as he was writing his epistle to the Philippians. He was writing this letter from prison, he had lost everything in life. He had been very wealthy from a wealthy family and had lost all of that. He had held a high position in Jewish society and now he was hated. He once had an abundance of money and now he had nothing, in fact he had to rely upon the charity of those whom he had preached the gospel too. He had found himself homeless and oftentimes just had the clothes upon his back. He had been scourged many times almost to death. He had been imprisoned in the deepest dungeons. He had oftentimes went hungry. He had been stoned almost to death and had been shipwrecked on more than one occasion and drifting at sea. He would ultimately die a martyr’s death and he knew this because it had been revealed to him by the Spirit. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | Tagged: contentment, material possessions, peace and contentment | 7 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 13, 2015
The other day I was reading my companies weekly. I must admit that I typically do not read it. It is usually full of tips for Real Estate and so on which really don’t interest me all that much. The founder of the company had written a piece and I found myself reading it. I first met him when he was a very young man. He was undoubtedly and entrepeneur. I am sure if you have lived long enough you have met these guys. I have met a few in my day and they all have one thing in common and it is not a love for money, quite the opposite. The love business and building and growing businesses seems to be what inspires them. It is a passion for them, something they were born with. This is definitely true of the man who started the company that I work for. He has a passion for what he does and he was alluding to that in the article.
Anyway, the thought that caught my attention was that he said money should always be a by-product of your passion. If the passion is there, the money will follow. In the business world I have seen that to be true. I know in my own business I never think about the money. I get clients and I want to do what is best for them and because I am in Real Estate, the very last thing to happen in a process that can take several months, is that I get a commission. Those who respect their clients and are driven to always do what is best for them, with no regard to the money, seem to be the ones who last in an industry that has a very high turn-over. So, in short, do everything right, fight for and protect your clients and then comes the commission and very typically future referrals.
Now how can we equate that to the Kingdom of God? If we are passionate worshipers of Jesus, then everything else is secondary. If Jesus is the primary object of our passions, then everything else becomes the by-product. If we ever get that wrong, we cease to be effective. If soul winning is our primary object, we cease to be effective soul winners. If faith is our primary object then we cannot be faithful. If Holiness is our primary object than we cannot be holy. If revival is our primary object then we will never see revival. Outside of Jesus being the primary object of our lives then we are doomed to fail in the realms of the Spirit.
I would argue that the saints who have rocked this world for Jesus are the saints who have walked in intimate communion with Him. He is the source of all love and majesty and glory and power. Only by abiding in Him ( Him being our primary object) can we walk in forgiveness and mercy and grace. When we do this it is followed by power and signs and wonders. Out of the abundance of the passion that we experience as we walk with Jesus as our grand obsession comes the overflow that changes those around us and brings light into a dark world. Are you being ineffective in your walk? Have you wondered why? Is Jesus the primary object of your life? Is there joy in you life? Is there glory in your life? Are you an over-comer? Do you have thankful spirit? Listen saints, if Jesus is truly the primary object of your life then what follows that is love, joy, peace, faithfulness,thankfulness, forgiveness and so on. How often have I heard a saint say, on any one of the aforementioned issues ” I need to work on that.” That is quite exactly wrong. No amount of “work,” can muster up joy nor thankfulness nor love nor any of the issues of the heart. He must be our all in all. In Him we live and move and have our being. Jesus Himself is the answer to any problem you are having, any problem. The answer lies in Him alone, the answer lies before the throne.
Whatever you seek to achieve in the Kingdom of God comes directly from the depths of your relationship with Him. Find a man who is passionate about sports and he will bore your pants off speaking about it. Find a man who is passionate about politics and he will rip your shirt of telling you all about the latest policies and issues and state of the world. Find a man who is truly passionate about Jesus and you will find a man who is changing the world. Out of the abundance of our passion flows the power of God.
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Posted by appolus on January 8, 2015
We NEED PROPHETS!
by A.W. Tozer
A prophet is one who knows his times and what God is trying to
say to the people of his times.
Today we need prophetic preachers; not preachers of prophecy
merely, but preachers with a gift of prophecy. The word of wisdom
is missing. We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits.
It is not ability to predict that we need, but the anointed eye, the
power of spiritual penetration and interpretation, the ability to
appraise the religious scene as viewed from God’s position, and
to tell us what is actually going on.
Where is the man who can see through the ticker tape and confetti
to discover which way the parade is headed, why it started in the
first place and, particularly, who is riding up front in the seat of honor?
What is needed desperately today is prophetic insight. Scholars
can interpret the past; it takes prophets to interpret the present.
Learning will enable a man to pass judgment on our yesterdays,
but it requires a gift of clear seeing to pass sentence on our own
day. One hundred years from now historians will know what was
taking place religiously in this year of our Lord; but that will be too
late for us. We should know right now.
If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation it must be by other means
than any now being used. If the church in the second half of this
century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half,
there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-
synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man
who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions,
nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the
Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried
and found wanting.
Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be
of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and
has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray
God there will be not one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction
to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will
contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn
the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such
a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit
angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to
the point of willingness to die for the glory of the one and the
salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with
mortal breath.
We need to have the gifts of the Spirit restored again to the church,
and it is my belief that the one gift we need most now is the gift
of prophecy.
-A.W. Tozer – from ‘Of God and Men’.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, prophecy, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 16 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 5, 2015
As I write this, we happen to be in the depths of winter. It is January and there are some dark days ahead of course. Spring seems like a long way away. I would like you to consider the tree in winter. It loses all of its foliage. It stands stark and naked and bare against the cold winter sky. There seems to be no life in it at all. Yet there it stands. All activity seems to be suspended yet the root system continues to grow as the ground temperature a few feet below the surface is warmer. In the depths of winter, the roots grow deeper. This is the season of the remnant. We are in the midst of a long winter which will only end with the return of Jesus. This long winter is by design. God is establishing a people who cannot be moved. He is allowing everything to be stripped away. All the foliage, all the pretty adornments that we have added over countless centuries are simply being stripped away. The traditions of men appeal to the world, it compensates for a lack of reality. Yet God has a remnant who simply must have Him. A people who, no matter what happens, will follow God and stand upon His Word. Stand firm brothers and sisters, be encouraged. You are not alone. Your trials, your tribulations your feelings of isolation are by design. God must have an end time people who will follow Him no matter how fierce the storm. His people must have deep roots and these roots must be developed. This is where we are, this is where you are. The article below by T.A.Sparks speaks well to our current state and why we must endure and overcome…….bro Frank
And the remnant… shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. (Isaiah 37:31)
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, prophecy, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 14 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 4, 2015
Some write diaries and others keep journals, the poet records his time with a piece of his heart in each poem. These poems below are a journal of 2014. I pray that they bless you. It starts from last January and follows my year. They are written from a heart that seeks to be transparent…… Frank
January 2014
LOOKING FOR SOME HIGHER GROUND
I’m just lookin for some higher ground
But life keeps tryin to drag me down
When your walking with your face into the rain
Sometimes you wonder if you’ll see the sun again
Eyes down, one step in front of the other
Until you think you can’t go any further
Then the rain gets heavier and begins to take its toll
Until your stripped down to your very naked soul
The waters rise and cover all of me
Until there’s only waves and nothing left to see
I am dying there somewhere beneath the flood
Covered by the waters and feet caught in the mud
And suddenly a hand appears from up and out the waves
And a man walks on the water, the storm He calmly braves
He takes my hand and stills the storm and suddenly there’s no sound
And all at once I find myself alone on higher ground
I hear His voice, He speaks to me, it’s time to journey on
In the darkest storms I have discovered just where faith is born
Transfigurations on the mount are such a glorious sight
They give me strength to journey on into the darkest night
We are called unto the battle of this there is no doubt
The faith that’s born from every storm enables us to shout
When the battle it is raging and the enemy’s all around
We know that we are standing with Him on higher ground.
THE DOOR-KEEPER
In His presence there is joy beyond measure
To feel His touch is heavenly treasure
To rest in the arms of our glorious King
Is to lay down and listen to the angels sing
Your presence lets me walk upon water
Your presence sustains your sons and daughters
In your presence the lions mouth’s shut tight
Your presence brings hope to the darkest night
Oh for the joy of a single touch
I am overwhelmed it is almost too much
In your presence the darkness disappears
In your presence there is a river of tears
And this river it flows from Your throne
From the heart of God to the heart of His own
Time stands still it exists no more
When I am the keeper of the temple door
When I pass through the valley of weeping
I am blessed to find God’s not sleeping
Indeed my tears become pools of blessing
And comfort for those who require refreshing
One day in thy presence is all that it takes
To stand firm in my God when everything shakes
And though trials and temptations often come nightly
No good thing He withholds to those walking uprightly
One day at a time each day in your presence
Reminds me of your beauty, your very essence
Where even the sparrow has found its place
To dwell in the arms of eternal embrace
Oh blessed is the man who trusts in thee
Who has knelt before bloody Calvary
Who night and day and with all of his heart
Seeks to walk with His lord and never apart.
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Tagged: the heart | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 2, 2015
In Matthew 24 , on the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask Jesus what the signs of the end of the world would be. Jesus first warns them not to be deceived by man. He then tells them ” Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places,all these are birth pangs. Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” (Matt 24:3-9)
In one short paragraph, the King of Kings looks down through the corridors of time and gives a sweeping lesson on what the future holds for mankind. Only God can speak like this and when He does we should be hanging on every word. What is birth pangs? If Jesus uses this example, it is definitely worth looking at and studying. Birth pangs is labor pains. In another translation the phrase ” the beginning of sorrows ,” is used. When a woman goes into labor, there are three stages.
1. Early or latent phase.
2. Active phase.
3. Transition phase.
The duration of the early phase is the longest, averaging around eight hours. The pain can be simple backache. You can still walk around, in fact that is sometimes more comfortable than sitting. Most woman spend these hours at home, or they can be checked into the hospital and sent home until labor becomes more active. Feeling of eagerness and excitement are not unusual. It is important at this stage that energy is conserved for the work of labor. Then comes the active phase. This is marked by regular contractions that become longer and stronger and closer together. When you are in active labor you will be concentrating on the task at hand and will not feel like doing anything else. Pain mediation is often given at this time.
After active labor comes the transition phase. This is the most difficult time of labor, and fortunately, this is the shortest period of time lasting from 30 minutes to two hours on average.Brothers and sisters I believe that we are in the early or latent phase of the birth pangs and are soon to shift over to the active phase. All of these phases are leading to the great tribulation. Jesus Himself said that after these phases we shall be delivered up to afflictions and we shall be killed and hated by all nations. Get ready saints, open up your spiritual eyes and see that there is a red sky in the mornings. These are the signs of the times and we should know in our spirits what the Spirit is saying to us.
There is a red sky in the morning
And its calling you and me
It is a heavenly warning
Of just how things are going to be
Behold the King is coming
And He is coming in the cloud
And every eye shall see Him
And every knee is bowed
And in those days, they’ll fall away
And the tribes of the earth shall mourn
They shall revile the precious Son
And upon His name pour scorn
And of that name which is above all names
They shall mock and they will deny
Yet every man shall see the Son
In His glory in the sky
There is no name under heaven
Bt which a man is saved
It’s the glorious name of Jesus
And the road to hell is paved
With well-intentioned people
Who fear man instead of God
Who have a form of Godliness
But deny the power therof
And so to some it may be nothing
To remove Christ from their name
But its a Christless Christianity
That will bring everlasting shame
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, prophecy, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Tagged: birth pangs, signs of the end of the world | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 1, 2015
In the Christian world, in the kingdom of God, there are no bridges over troubled waters. The children of God are compelled to pass through the waters. And when we do, we are promised that God will be with us. To pass from the wilderness of this world into the Kingdom of God there are many troubled waters to pass through. There is an old negro spiritual song called ” Wade in the waters, Gods gonna trouble the waters.” Has God troubled your waters? Does He cause you to pass through the waters? Are you passing through them right now? Can I tell you that the life dedicated to Christ is a life of troubled waters. We cannot go around them and we cannot go over them, we must go through them. In Christendom, many refuse to pass through the waters, yet this is Gods calling. The outer court, the court of the gentiles is filled with those who refuse to pass through the waters.
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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Tagged: troubled waters | 8 Comments »
A Call To The Remnant 