Archive for January, 2020
Posted by appolus on January 30, 2020
Ex 33:15… And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here.
We all know and would agree that God is omnipresent. This means that He is everywhere at the same time. This is an indisputable fact. Yet, the manifest presence of God, the felt presence of God is something entirely different. Moses had no desire to go anywhere unless God was with him and he could commune with Him. How long has it been since you have communed with God in the midst of His manifest presence? Perhaps you never have? Or perhaps you are going through a dry spell? In the midst of one of these dry spells I remember, in my distress, on my knees, just reaching my open hand up to the heavens and crying out to God.
And very silently, without any warning, He was holding my hand. And all of a sudden that world was there again. The world of endless possibilities. In this world it does not matter if there are dark skies or endless blue ones when I am holding His hand. Whether it rains or whether brilliant shafts of light break through ominous clouds, it’s all the same to me when I hold His hand. If I can barely see through my tears of if I wear the most illuminated smile, it matters not when I hold His hand. In the depths of trials or when all is right with the world I am at peace when I hold His hand. If I mourn the loss of a loved one or or cannot see my way ahead, I am never lost when I hold His hand.
The sweet all-consuming joy of His presence. This heart of a lion that beats within the chest of a lamb. This all-consuming power of love that rises victoriously above all the battles of life. This is life when we are walking in His presence. What battle field do you find yourself on today? Do you battle the unseen enemy of unforgiveness? Or has someone wronged you and bitterness bangs on your door? Is depression seeking to overwhelm you? Has the power of darkness in all its many forms come to challenge you today? Perhaps the darkness comes from the outside, or maybe there is hidden darkness from deep within?
Today, right now, close your eyes and reach out your hand into the darkness of your situation. Cry out to Jesus, tell Him how much that you miss Him and ask Him to take your hand. Your situation may not change, but the darkness will flee. You will be blessed in the midst of your circumstances and you will stand upon the Rock which is higher than your circumstances. He will carry you on eagles wings as the updrafts of His presence hold you and keep you. Where could we flee from His presence?
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Posted by appolus on January 28, 2020
What can happen in the Kingdom of God without sacrifice? Sacrifice is a fundamental concept among believers. Even our praise is considered to be a sacrifice and we know that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. For the Lord to come in our midst we have to offer the sacrifice of our praise to God which is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name (Heb 13:15) You know I missed out one word when I was paraphrasing that Scripture, that word is continually. To praise God we must be in a position to give thanks continually. We cannot be in that position without sacrifice. We must sacrifice many aspects of the flesh in order to be able to genuinely give thanks. So sacrifice is a vital part of our walk.
Now in order to sacrifice,an altar is required. Under the law there were different types of altars, the golden altar of his intercession and the one I am interested in is the brazen altar of sacrifice. Now the altars of the Old Testament were types, types of Christ. They were the shadows of what was to be when the light came forth. Now the brazen altar lay at the beginning of the tabernacle in the outer court. There was three main parts to the tabernacle. The outer court, the Holy place and then the holy of holies. The temple also had, for the most part, three main parts. The court of the gentiles, the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. And so in every example of tabernacle , Solomon’s temple or Herod’s temple we see three main divisions.
The order of progression would go something like this. When entering the tabernacle we are faced with a huge brazen altar, a place of sacrifice. There could be no moving forward without a sacrifice or a burnt offering. A sacrifice was a partial burning, a burnt offering was all consuming. After that you made youR way to the laver bowl where you cleansed your hands. Now you moved into the holy place where you would find the Menorah and the table of shewbread then the altar of incense, a place where prayer is offered, then behind the veil and into the holy of holies.
Today we have an altar in most churches and for the most part it is a place where you come and get something is that not correct? And yet we see in the types of altar we just described that they were a place of sacrifice, a place where you brought something, where you laid something down. Nowadays for the most part its a place to get something. Come forward and get salvation, come forward and get healing, come forward and receive a gift. Now of course, none of these things are inherently wrong. Yet if it is in the context of looking for something rather than laying something down it becomes grasping and self fulfilling. A church I have visited runs to the altar. Seriously, they sprint to the altar to receive something. They believe their running is a virtue, that they so desire the things of God for their life that they run to it. It sounds kinda good, but there is no aspect of it that is sacrificial, it is only a place where you might get something. What a disaster. They will never, as a church or individually. make it past the brazen altar, they are forever stuck in the outer court.
So how does one rightfully proceed in our hearts as we come before the Lord? If there is something before us and the Lord we must lay it down, it must be sacrificed, there has to be a burned offering if we are to move beyond the outer court. Let me suggest that the greater part of Christendom dwells in the outer court, the court of the gentiles as it would later be described. They dwell there because they refuse to sacrifice, they refuse to lay down that foul smelling thing that requires to be burned in the refining fires of the brazen altar. And so there they stay and there they will stay. For those who would move forward to the holy place, they are the ones who are willing to lay their sin down at the altar. Jesus is the altar. Confessing sin one to another is the beginning of a burned offering.
Now one can cleanse their hands in the lavar bowl and move through the door into the holy place and leave the outer court and the gentiles (the world) behind. Jesus is the door. Jesus is the altar. Jesus is the laver bowl. In the holy place we are nourished by the shewbread. Jesus is the shewbread. He is the bread of life. We stand illuminated in the light of the Menorah, Jesus is the Menmorah, He is the Light of our lives and in Him there is no darkness. Then we move forward to the altar of incense. Jesus is the altar of prayer. He made the way for us to come before the Father and cry Abba. Then the incense of of prayers infuses the Holy place with a sweet smelling savor. Jesus is that sweet smelling savor for He has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Eph 5:2)
Finally brothers and sisters our prayers come before the throne of grace, we now stand in the Holy of Holies before the Living God Himself. In that place we touch eternity as we stand in the manifest presence of God. We are surrounded by shekinah glory. His glory. It fills the temple, the tabernacle, the place of meeting. This is not a place that is to be found in the court of the gentiles so to speak. Not in the world nor in the outer courts nor even in the holy place. The brazen altar and the altar of incense has done its work. Jesus has done His work, He has made a way for us to come back to the heart of God. This, I would argue, is far removed from the altars that men have erect4d in most churches. One is self serving and the designs of man, the other is sacrificial and the work of God. Sacrifice is the key. Are you taking up your cross every day? Are you continually giving thanks unto our great God who is worthy to be praised? Diligently seek the Lord our God today for in the diligence ( a word that encompasses sacrifice, taking up ones cross, overcoming, enduring and thankfulness) you will find that God’s manifest presence is your exceeding great reward.
I wanted to add one last thing. Almost 13 years ago I had a vision. I have only had a few in my 30 years of salvation. I was “taken up,” by the Lord.I Dont really know how to define that. I saw some kind of amalgamation of the tabernacle and the temple. The Lord showed me the court of the gentiles and how almost all of what calls itself after His name dwelt there and refused to move forward. There was a wide low door that led to the brazen altar ( so that would be more akin to the temple) It was wide because all were welcome. It was low because to enter one must humble himself and face the brazen altar. Most of the folks in the court of the gentiles had no desire whatsoever to humble themselves and face the brazen altar. They were quite content with their activity in the outer court. Only a few would come to the place of sacrifice. Then the scene changes and I saw people who flew in the lofty heights of the presence of God. Few there were. Most were earthbound, laden down with gifts they had accumulated. The gifts were love and mercy and forgiveness. They refused to share what had been freely given to them and the weight of what they had gathered to themselves and stuffed into their pockets held them down. In order to fly into the heights of His glory they would have to empty themselves and give to others what they themselves had received. The very gifts, that were designed to bless, when held back from others, became a terrible weight that held them earthbound. And the great irony was, those who gave to others what they had been given received even more in the presence of the Living God.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 27, 2020
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
(Psa 51:6-7)
In another verse from this psalm David cries out “Cast me not away from your presence oh Lord and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” Here we are witnessing the agonizing process and the inner workings of a broken and a contrite heart. David knows his problem is an internal one. The external sin of adultery and murder was a direct result of the inner workings of his heart, his hidden parts. He realizes that he has sinned against God alone. This is where it started and this is where it must be finished. The sin is a mere symptom of a disease that was working deep inside his heart. When we are stricken in such a way as this we no longer have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Joy has fled from us as the darkness of our souls floods the inner sanctums of our heart.
God sent a prophet to speak to David. The prophet reached into the dark places and exposed the process of David’s spiritual death. He brought it into the light and the full horror of Davids actions are suddenly visited upon him. He staggers into the light from the depths of his darkness. God had called David out from the grave. David had placed himself into the tomb and a stone was rolled in front of it. In the story of Lazarus, Jesus has the stone rolled away and commands Lazarus to come forth. He staggers out of the tomb and the grave clothes are removed from him. Who do you know that has buried their hearts in the depths of darkness and rolled a stone in front of it? Perhaps the garden of your own heart, the most intimate part of who you are has been buried in death and sin? It has become a grave and you have robed yourself in the the death clothes of sin and separation from God. The Lord requires truth in the inward parts, the most intimate part of who we are. Without this it is impossible to walk in fellowship with God.
God desires that the joy of your salvation would return to you. He desires that you would walk in the newness of life in the Spirit and not the darkness of spiritual death. In the very depths of you He desires to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you. The question is, do you desire such a thing? Do you want to have ears to hear the Lord cry out ‘come forth.” Do you want to have eyes to see the light of a brand new day? Do you want to awaken the dawn with the praises of God? Listen to what the Spirit is saying to you and with a contrite and broken spirit come back into that place from where you have fallen. Today is the day.
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Posted by appolus on January 24, 2020
Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
The Word of God is immovable, it sits as the cornerstone of all that exists. The arc of our lives must bend towards the Word of God.Time and space itself bends to the Word. The revealed truth of God establishes the foundations of all existence. In the beginning was the word and God created the heaven and the earth. The spoken word of God calls forth light and the light creates a separation between itself and the darkness. The light of God is still separate from the darkness. And in the end the Word remains and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
The word of God speaks to the sons of light and it calls them to bend. If the arc of your life does not bend to the word of God then the word of God does not hold sway over your lives. It may intrigue you. It may fascinate you. It may challenge you. You may argue about it and it may be mere philosophy to you, but if it has not bent you, if your life has not been broken by it and renewed and put back together by it then it does not sit on the throne of your heart. The truly broken will bend, yet in the end all those who resist and reject the chief cornerstone, that stone shall fall upon them and they shall be ground to powder and be scattered like dust.
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Posted by appolus on January 23, 2020
Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
The more we know, the more our sorrow increases. Grief follows wisdom and sorrow follows knowledge. True wisdom from God is surely mingled with grief because our spirit resides within flesh. When a wise man hears the foolish speak then he is grieved in his soul. It is said that you cannot put an old head on young shoulders and it is true, yet neither can wisdom prosper in the hearts of the unwise. Only those who truly seek after the Lord can benefit from the wisdom of God.
To know the deep things of God, to have been touched at the very center of your soul with something of the knowledge of God brings with it sorrow. No man can stand before the presence of God and grasp something of His majesty and be filled with his eternal beauty and not suffer upon his return from this place. The world grows dim and dark and exists in shades of grey to the one who has stood in this impenetrable light. The closer we move into the depths of His heart, the harder it is to live in a fallen world. It is a very good thing to know God more and to move in His wisdom. Yet let us be clear, all attachments of this world will begin to lose their grip upon your soul. And one might say then where lies the problem? To the man or woman who walks only in the Kingdom reality it is no problem, yet for the rest who still has something of this world in them, which is most of us, then sorrow and grief are like two intimate companions.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isa 53:3) No one knew sorrow and grief like our Lord knew them. Everything stood before Him, He knew it all. He could see the destruction of Jerusalem and He wept. He could see His own rejection and crucifixion and yet He loved. The greater the knowledge of Him, the greater the cost. The greater the wisdom of God in us the more we share in His grief. And yet all of this is offset by the glory and the joy. In this world knowledge and sorrow are life long companions. Wisdom walks hand in hand with grief. And yet for the joy that is set before us let us endure all things looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith and let us ever come before the throne.
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Posted by appolus on January 21, 2020
The uniqueness of genuine Christianity is found in the refiners fire. When a precious substance is tested by fire the only thing that is burned up is the dross. The purity of the substance is brought to the fore by the intensity of the fire. The crucible is our lives, our families our reputations, our place in society and our religious affiliations. This is the place of testing where the fire is applied. The fire shall discover the dross. It will be separated from the precious substance and in the end all that shall be left is the essence of who we are in Christ.
The very first believers stepped directly into the fire. The word believe in the Scriptures is very different from what we now perceive it to be. It is no mere mental assent to some abstract truth. In the context of John chapter three verse sixteen “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ that word believe means to put one’s trust in, to commit fully to, to have faith in the object, to entrust one’s spiritual well being and life with it. You see how big that word believe is? And to those who truly did all that, they were born again. And immediately they stepped into the crucible. The fire burned upon every aspect of their lives changing everything and in so many cases costing everything including their lives.
The giving up of everything that you know, starting with your lives, is the entrance to the Kingdom of God. It is a baptism of fire. Those who are baptized in this fire are known by their love of God and their all consuming desire to please Him. They have an eternal perspective because they have glimpsed eternity and such a glimpse is a burning fire in their spirits. A flame that never dies. A light that causes this world and all that it has to offer to be at best, shades of grey. God has His witnesses, His saints, His children in every village, every town and city, every nation and kingdom in the world. No matter the rise of gross darkness, God’s children burn with the same fire that covered the children of Israel by night in the desert.
The fire and the cloud was leading them to the river Jordon and over into the promised land. Our fire is leading us home. Through a desert no doubt where all around us is death, but in Christ we walk in light and life. John the Baptist dwelt in a wilderness and in that wilderness was ministered to and received revelation. And the revelation was this “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” We saints today stand in the midst of a great wilderness, a place of famine and drought. The people starve for lack of Spiritual food, the Word of God. And they die of thirst for lack of living water. Yet we do not hunger neither do we thirst. He ministers to us. What is our message coming out of the desert? “Repent for lo, the Lion of Judah, the Christ returns.” The first messenger to come out of the desert with revelation had his head cut of. The world recoils at such a message and they turn their fury upon the messengers.
Every genuine saint has a fire upon him and in him. He or she burns with indignation for the name of Jesus. They burn with indignation that His name is trampled in the streets. They burn with indignation that the truth has been turned into a lie and that the foundations are being destroyed. The wicked bend their bows and take aim for the heart of the righteous. Yet the shield of faith covers the righteous heart. For those who trust in God with their whole hearts, who believe in Him have armor that the enemy cannot prevail against. The Lord our God sits upon His throne and sees the works of men. Soon He will send a different kind of fire. Not the baptism of fire that purifies the hearts of saints, but a storm which no man has seen before that rains down fire upon the heads of the wicked. If a man is wise he would flee the fire to come and run into the crucible of the new birth.
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Posted by appolus on January 20, 2020
1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
How many of us know that the Temples of old were magnificently adorned? A rich man’s status lies in his home, his car, his belongings. The richer a man is the more elaborate is his dwelling place. He fills his house with symbols of his wealth and status. The man of God also decorates his temple, the temple of the Holy Spirit, with riches. His dwelling place will be no less elaborate than the richest men of the earth. He will decorate his temple with the finest gold of unconditional love. His walls are encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy. His windows are draped with opulent coverings of meekness and humility. Trophies of grace hang on every wall. They are framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness.
Let us ask ourselves this question, do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue the treasures of the world? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have? Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something to the lengths we will go to protect it. Guard your hearts brothers and sisters in Christ, for we have an enemy who seeks to steal and destroy what we have. Satan knows the value of what we have oftentimes more so than we do.
Share your treasure this day. The more we give our treasures to those who have none, the more our treasures shall increase. The word says “He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, He strengthens them.” We have been called to empower the weak, to bind the hearts of the brokenhearted, those who are weakened, we come along side and strengthen. We have been called to wipe the tears of those who mourn, to grieve with them. Let us move in Christ brothers and sisters, and know that He that goes before you is He that lies within you.
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Posted by appolus on January 19, 2020
We accept radical behavior in many areas of human endeavor. Why can’t we accept radical behavior in a heart that is panting and longing after God?(A.W.Tozer) Can you see what Tozer is saying? In every area of life, whether it be sports or politics or career or philosophy, being radical, being sold out AND striving, typically brings success and honor. Yet the man or the woman who longs for the heart of God will not receive such honor from the world. Success in the paradoxical world of the Kingdom of God looks nothing like the success of the physical world. In the Kingdom, the greatest man is the servant of all. In the Kingdom the brave man is the man who loves his enemy. The Kingdom man or woman does not know how to make friends and influence people, he or she is simply who he or she is in Christ. Their heartbeat is closely aligned to the heartbeat of God. They move to the rhythm of the Kingdom which is why they are so out of step with the world. They are misfits in the truest sense of that word, they simply do not fit in. In ancient days if a man set out from England to travel the silk road, in every nation, in every town, in every village it would be immediately apparent that he was not from those parts. His speech, his mannerisms, his ways, EVEN his clothing, everything would be different about him. They would know he was a sojourner.
Going deeper into the heart of God is always radical in this world but perfectly normal in the Kingdom. The man or the woman whose hearts pants and longs after God is always a stranger to the world. They are separated by their devotion because their actions are of another world, another Kingdom. Attempts to gain influence in this realm as opposed to the Kingdom of God can only draw us further from God. When the world looks at you, can they see that you are out of step with them? Would they consider you a misfit? Does your speech and your mannerisms and your countenance point to the fact that you are “not from around these parts?” We of the Kingdom are merely passing through, and the world will see our radical love and devotion for God.
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Posted by appolus on January 15, 2020
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
The real test for us as Christians is how we walk along the path set before us. We can walk with the Lord by our side, and by that I mean we can walk with His empowering manifest presence. Not unlike the disciples that walked with Jesus after His resurrection and their hearts burned as He taught them. His very nearness and His Spirit caused their hearts to burn and glow. Or, we can walk alone, and by that I mean we can walk in our own strengths minus the awareness of His presence.
Now we know saints, as good Bible scholars, that God is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere at the same time. And as saints we know that He also dwells in our hearts. This is not what we are here referring to here. We are talking about what it means to walk in the nearness of the Spirit of God as opposed to walking in the flesh. And as saints we can do both. If we would walk in the Spirit of God, walk in His awareness and therefore walk in His power, then we must, as the Lord told us to, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Every day. Every moment. We must be aware of the Kingdom and the Kingdom walk. Our eyes must be engaged in Kingdom sight. We must see things through the lense of the Lord and His word. Our mouths must be engaged in the Kingdom language, we must speak as ambassadors of the King. We must draw near to Him and not quench the Spirit of God. To quench the Spirit of God is to pour cold water upon our burning hearts. Will you throw another log on the fire and cause it to burn brighter, or will you douse it with the cold waters of the world?
A man and a wife can stay in the same house but never be intimate, perhaps even stay in two different bedrooms. Are they close? Yes, in proximity. Are they married? Yes, still married. Yet, because they are not intimate they are really no better than room-mates. One may call it a love-less marriage. Who would want to be part of a love-less marriage? It is considered by most as a tragedy. How greater a tragedy than to be room-mates with the Lord? Yes He is in your heart, yes you are saved, but you are never spiritually intimate. The real tragedy in a marriage is if one longed for intimacy but the other never responded or had no such need or desire. Jesus longs to be spiritually intimate with His disciples. Only as a result of this intimacy can we expect to be aware of His presence. We grow together in intimacy. We become alike in intimacy. Two become one in intimacy. The man or the woman who does not understand, seek or desire to be intimate with the Lord shall never grow and his or her walk will be a very lonely one.
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Posted by appolus on January 13, 2020
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me (Psa 23:4)
Isn’t that the beginning and end of it all? No matter what we are suffering, no matter what we are going through, as long as He is with us then we can go through it. Through the waters, through the floods, through every trial and tribulation and vexation of heart and soul and mind and body. If we are found in Him and He is in us and with us then we shall prevail, we shall overcome. And not only prevailing and overcoming but also victory. There is victory in Jesus and that is why there is and can be joy even in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death. For when He is with us, and we are aware of His presence, He is our green pastures. His presence restores our soul. His presence is our still waters.
I find in Him I have no want, He is my all and all and He is my everything. And because He is my everything He is my path and He leads me and guides me. He anoints my head with oil and my cup is overflowing, whether in the valley of the shadow of death or the glorious mountaintops of His transfiguration. This table that He sets before me is an everlasting and eternal one. There has been served upon this table the delicacies of goodness and mercy and love and forgiveness. A feast fit for a hungry heart that pants and longs for the good things of the Lord. Saint, today is the day that you are invited to sit down at this table and the goodness and the mercy that you shall find there will follow you all the days of your life.
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Posted by appolus on January 12, 2020
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life.
Where shall we go, those of us who know Jesus? To the world? Impossible. Back to the life that we came from? Who would want to be dead again and wallow in our own vomit? No, those of us who know Jesus, no matter how hard the calling, no matter how difficult the road, shall stay right there by His side for in Him is life and everything else is death. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. His Word and His words are life to us. They sustain us in the rain, they keep us in the storm, they cover us when the darkness rages all around. His Word, His presence keeps us and upholds us.
By coming to Him, by staying close to His presence, His manifest presence, you receive His power like living waters through your pores, through your senses, through your spirit through every particle of your being right down to the very molecules that makes up who you are. You are infused by Him and by being infused by Him, by consuming Him, by being consumed by Him, you are changed by Him. And you become more like Him and worship Him more. You read the Word more and you pray more and you weep more and you live more and you love more. And most importantly, you are obedient to His Word and that still small voice.
You are more compassionate and you are more joyful and more grateful and more thankful and you witness more, not out of any legal requirement but out of necessity because your bones burn within you. Your heart is on fire, your whole body glows in the residue of your encounter. You are infused by Him and it makes you diffuse the fragrance of His knowledge in every place(2 Cor 2:14) So many men choose their own strength to try and achieve everything that can only be achieved in His presence because to come to Him, to come close to the light, it illuminates our dark deeds.Yet eternal life dwells within His presence and it draws us and it keeps us close to our Lord. Better to come before Him in intimate confession and dwell in the light and in life, than to stay in the darkness and in the shades of grey where only death dwells.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on January 9, 2020
The time has come once again to hear the voice of God. through His prophets. A prophet is not cultivated but called and sent by God. One of my passions is to see God once again at the center of His church-to see Him honored and glorified in such a manner that it will push out all the things that are contrary to God. We have bred a generation that is far removed from those who have gone before us and is almost indistinguishable as being related to them. We have a generation of sons of the prophets( think of Eli) that is more interested in the accoutrements of the message than in the inner reality of the message.
How entertaining was it for Stephen to die in the presence of his enemies? How entertaining was it for the martyrs of the church to march to their martyrdom? Who was applauding all of this? Who was being entertained by the sufferings and sacrifices of the church? The sons of the prophets have created a generation of pseudo-Christians who bear little or no resemblance to those early Christians who died for their faith. The sons of the prophets are careful to leave out the offensive parts . They are very selective about the truths they present. What they present is true, but what they leave out is devastating.
There seems to be no condemnation elements in the church anymore. Conviction has lost its place and no one is calling the church to repentance. There is nothing to repent for anymore. We are God’s happy happy little children dancing our way into heaven. What a pathetic description. The message depends upon celebrities to carry it into the culture. No other generation needed celebrities. Could it be that we need help from celebrities, especially from those who have never experienced a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ and who have lifestyles completely contrary to Biblical standards? ( A.W.Tozer)
Here Tozer bemoans the sons of the prophets. This generation that is weak and anemic that was passed down from weak and anemic previous generations. One can only imagine what he would make of what we see today. Where is the burning heart of the church today? Where is the fire for the incredible truths that we present? Where is the militancy of the church of old? On every side we are surrounded by a hostile culture but rather than confront that culture our aim seems to placate it. Rather than running towards Goliath we are running away from the fight. Where is that indignation that burned in David today? Why are our shirts not rent and why are we not covered in dust and ashes? Where is the fire of Stephen and where are those who would willingly give up everything they have in support of the Truth that lies trampled in the streets?
“Oh but we do not want to upset anyone.” Words of cowards and what is worse those cowards then turn their cowardice into a virtue. It is rotten to the core and it stinks to the high heavens. That stench has surely come before the throne. This generation, you sons of the prophets who stand upon the shoulders of your forefathers, why should you be allowed to carry the banner of Christ? What will God do with a pseudo-generation of Christians? Shall He not give them over to a reprobate mind? He shall. Stand on the truth or be swallowed up by the muck and the mire of a world in total rebellion to God. Decide today where you stand and who you stand with. You cannot stand with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom. You will fall headlong into the chasm that is at this very moment turning into a canyon as wide as any canyon on earth.
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Posted by appolus on January 9, 2020
A mark of a genuine saint is someone who loves to praise God with his lips in song, especially corporately. We know that the Word tells us that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Ponder and rest upon that phrase for a moment. We know that He inhabits the hearts of every genuine believer, but here we see that He also inhabits the praises of His people. There is what I call rarified air. The saints of God come together to worship the Lord in song that is led by the Spirit. An atmosphere if you like. The awareness of God all around us. We breath it in and we soak it in through our very beings. It is in an encounter. There is the presence of God to be found in enthusiastic and energetic worship, the kind of worship that lifts your spirit. It can lift up the head that hangs low and invigorate the heart and fill you full of joy and leave you strengthened. This is good worship. Yet there is another kind of worship that seems to have fled the land. A worship where we breath in rarified air. Oh how desperate is our need for this kind of encounter in our day.
The first kind of presence lifts your heart to gaze upon the Master, the second kind of presence invades every part of who you are. It falls from heaven like a heavy dew, heads are lowered and hands are raised. All becomes quiet, one barely dares to breathe as the Spirit of God slowly descends down through our out-strecthed hands and our hearts and minds and down to the very soles of our feet, and the ground upon which we stand becomes Holy ground. The first kind of presence uplifts us, the second changes us fundamentally. As living waters pour into us then it rises up like a great river that is so full that it overflows its banks. The genuine saint gives himself or herself to this river, no longer ankle deep or up to our knees or waist, but fully immersed and taken by the current to a different place. And in that place we are changed. In His presence we are always changed. The counterfeit manipulates with noise and beat and dimmed lighting and smoke machines. A momentary sugar high that only ever penetrates the soul but can never enter into the spirit. In this soulish atmosphere nothing changes, you shall leave the same way you came in.
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Posted by appolus on January 8, 2020
2Co 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
Every triumph we have we have in Christ. He is our victory and in Him we have victory. If we overcome it is because He overcame. If we love it is because He first loved us. If we forgive it is because we are forgiven by Him. When we weep, we know that He wept first. And when we give comfort to others it is because we ourselves were first comforted by Him. Every good thing, every triumph we have we have in Christ. This is why He leads us in a triumphal procession. And as we follow Him in victory then the world gets to witness the knowledge of Him and His victory over hell and sin and death.
They get to see how He broke every chain and how He healed our broken hearts. Every obstacle removed. They see a new creature in Christ who in Him has taken captive that which had formerly held us captive. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. You see that phrase “in Christ.” This is the key to everything. We must be found “in Him.” Paul suffered the loss of all things to be found “in Him.” And when we are found in Him, then and only then is the fragrance of His beauty and glory and majesty and knowledge spread abroad in the hearts of man everywhere.
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Posted by appolus on January 7, 2020
Eze 47:3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
There is a river that flows from heaven itself. It flows through our hearts and beckons us to come deeper. This river is spoken of in many places in Scriptures. It is the presence of God and it brings us deeper into the heart of the Almighty. There are trees on either side of this river and their roots are directly connected to the river and they are perpetually green, evergreen trees for the healing of the people and the nations. The river itself brings healing everywhere it goes. To be walking in the Spirit is to be swimming in the river of life. As we see in Ezekiel 47, the Lord brings us to through the waters. Always the Lord, compelling His children to come deeper into Him. Not ankle deep, not knee deep or even waist deep but fully immersed in a river so vast that it cannot be crossed, it can only be swum in. We must give ourselves to the river, let go and give way to the current of the Holy Spirit. Whether you are ankle deep, knee deep or even waist deep, you are still standing on your own two feet. In many respects you are still in charge. Yet to give ourselves completely to the river we are no longer standing.
When we are fully given to our Lord. When we are yielded to the depths and the power of this vast river, the power of the Holy Spirit, only then can we truly be led. All resistance is gone in its depths. It is carrying you towards the sea, the vastness of God Himself. Ever closer, ever deeper into the Father’s heart. And the Lord says to to you “come, I will bring you through the waters into the deep.” “Seek me with your whole heart and I shall be found and you shall be rewarded for your diligence, I am your exceeding great reward.”
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Posted by appolus on January 6, 2020
The genuine saint will love other saints. Brothers and sisters I have never met a genuine saint who does not love other saints, it’s in our spiritual DNA. Now, how do we know? How do we know who is a part of the Body of Christ? But we do “know.” We have a witness in our spirits. It defies explanation. It is part of all the previous points but most of all it comes down to having a passion for Jesus. We know that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Speak with passion about Jesus and watch many back away from you slowly with their eyes rolling back in their heads. This passion for Jesus either repels or draws people. Saints, genuine saints, love Jesus with a great passion, He is their grand obsession. He wont be obsessed with Calvin or Luther or any man’s name or title, He will be obsessed with the man, Jesus. Find those people who love Jesus and you will find the Body of Christ. And you will love them, despite completely different backgrounds and cultures and economic class, you will find the beating heart of Jesus. And together your hearts will burn within your chest with love for Jesus and for each other. Our love for one another is how the world will know that we belong to Jesus, especially in a day and age when every society and religious organizations are tearing themselves apart.
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Posted by appolus on January 5, 2020
Just a couple of weeks ago a man from Iowa was sent to prison for 16 years for taking an LGBT flag from a church and burning it outside of a strip club. You might think this is outlandish in a country where many take pride in burning the American flag, but what was burned was an idol. An idol that is increasingly intolerant of any objections. It is not good enough to be lawful, the idol demands that all must bow down to it and recognize it and celebrate it and if you do not, then you are a homophobe. The man in question is not a Christian and had in fact had two previous felonies on his record. In Iowa if you commit three felonies then you are considered an habitual offender and a large sentence follows. So, the question is, why is burning a flag, any flag, considered to be a felony?
In this case it was upgraded to a felony because of what he “thought,” about homosexuality. Yes, a thought crime. He does not like homosexuals. Now remember, you may not like America, as an American, and be able to burn the American flag. What you think about America is not a crime. What you think about homosexuals is and you will now face the full extent of the law. Remember how outraged the world was when an American was sentenced to life in prison for stealing a pizza? No outrage this time around. George Orwell writes, in his book “1984.” ………….
“The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed–would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper–the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.”
So we see that thought itself becomes controlled. For thoughts are expressed by words. Perhaps you can stay silent for a while and avoid the thought police, but in the end, as Orwell says, they will get you. For we see before us a litmus test rising from the ashes of free thought and speech. It will become illegal to consider homosexuality to be wrong or to be a sin. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. Jdg 6:30 When idols are cast down they strike back. Gideon threw down the idols of his father’s time and they demanded his death. When Daniel refused to cease praying to his God they demanded his death. When the three Hebrew children did the same thing they demanded their deaths. When they told the king that even if they were to die in the fire they would never bow down to the gods of this world. This enraged the king so much that the fire was kindled seven times hotter than it had ever been.
There is a fire coming brothers and sisters and it will be hotter than it has ever been before. The gods of this world shall demand that you fall down and worship them. They shall demand that you deny your own faith and the truths that it is founded upon. It will not matter that you remain silent and somehow try to “live and let live,” that old liberal adage that seems so quaint and gentile now in the days of tyranny. All that will matter is that you bow down. Your words and your thoughts will become and is becoming the front line in the battle for your soul. It will take the full armor of God to stand in the evil day. The day fast approaches, put on the full armor of God brothers and sisters and stand strong.
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Posted by appolus on January 4, 2020
Genuine saints love the Word of God. Can I just say that I have been a believer for a long time now and I have yet to meet a genuine saint who does not love God’s word. It is a lamp unto their feet and a light in the darkness and especially in times of trouble it is their very strength. How often a single verse can hold you through the darkest periods of your life and of course its not the verse itself its the author of the verse. The author of the word has given us a love for the truth. (2 Thess 2:10) This is something we receive from God Himself. The Word keeps us with its reminder of God’s promises and faithfulness and it assures us of what it to come. It is the revelation of God to man and it is illuminated by the Holy Spirit. It can be understood to a certain degree without the Spirit, which is why many religious men preach from it, but it can only be truly understood by the Spirit working in the hearts and minds of the children of God. Not only understood but lived out. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (Joh 1:14) The Word of God is made flesh in His children. It is realized and expressed by the children of God. The Living God as expressed in the Word, taking up residence in us as an expression of Christ Himself to a sick and dying world. And the world beholds His glory through through the genuine saint.
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Posted by appolus on January 2, 2020
The desire and the joy in prayer. This point is so important. To put it very simply, we love to talk to those we love is that not right? When we are walking with God then talking to God is as natural as breathing. It becomes your constant source of strength and sanity. Yet you must believe that you are actually talking to God, and this is where understanding and having experienced the awareness of God plays such an important part in the saints relationship with God. If you have never experienced the manifest presence of God then quite possibly your prayer life is at best a discipline, like exercise, something that has resistance and must be pushed through. This is quite a bit different from the breathing analogy. Now in everything in the spirit there are seasons, this is not what I am talking about here. There can also be spiritual warfare in the realm of prayer, and there will be, I am not talking about that either, I am simply saying that for the most part, there will be delight in prayer. We know what happens if we stop breathing, we die. If we stop praying then the process of spiritual death has already begun. Our relationship with Jesus begins and ends with prayer. If you have no prayer life then you do not have a relationship with Jesus. You must breathe to live yet you are not consciously aware of having to breathe. It is so important to the body that that it comes as a default in us. The genuine saint is enraptured by prayer for he or she is talking with the one that they love. The grand obsession of their life is ever there before them and they walk through this world hand in hand.
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A Call To The Remnant 