Archive for November, 2021
Posted by appolus on November 30, 2021
Habak 1:4 For the wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgments proceed.
When the law is powerless and justice never goes forth, we know that we are living in similar days to Habakkuk. The nation of Judah was in its “death throes,” having been warned repeatedly and having ignored every warning. I put it to you brothers and sisters that we are in similar death throes. Our nation and indeed the nations of the world sink deeper. And the Lord says that “I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you.” This work will be a terrifying work.
This vision was yet for an appointed time. Woe to the earth when the Lord marches across its lengths. Yet in the midst of this great wickedness that brings this vision into being we are told that the just shall live by faith. We shall trust the Lord brothers and sisters as we see these things unfold. Our lives shall be lived solely in trust of Him. When all the world is shaking, then the just shall stand on solid ground. And all the world will be amazed to see such a people living in such a manner. The whole earth shall “be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Christ will manifest Himself through His people, the people who dwell in great darkness shall see this light. In wrath He shall remember mercy.
When God comes forth in such a manner then the heavens shall be covered by His glory and the earth shall be full of His praise. Before Him goes pestilence and fever follows at His feet. He measures the earth and it is found wanting and the nations are startled. In a moment of time their millennia of delusions vanish away and the everlasting mountains are scattered and the perpetual hills bow down. The deep utters its voice and lifts its hands on high. In indignation the Lord marches through the earth. Yet, the just shall be found trusting in God and standing on Holy ground. In the day of troubles they shall be at rest.
Though the fig tree may not blossom in that day, nor shall their be found fruit on the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food and though the flock may be cut of from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls , I will yet rejoice in the Lord, I will find joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, He will make my feet like the deer’s feet, He will make me to walk on the high hills (Hab 3:17-19) Brothers and sisters, let us walk on the high hills of His presence and lift our eyes to the heavens for they are covered by His glory as the earth too is covered by the same glory as the waters cover the sea.
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Posted by appolus on November 29, 2021
Have you ever fallen from grace? Have you ever just “blown it?” You have fallen on the battle-field and been wounded and lost ground. The wound, the loss, the injury, all relates to having let down your Lord. It is a unique crushing pain that strikes at the very heart of who you are. You’re burning in a fire that you set yourself and your enemy encourages you to stay right there in the fire. It takes very little to heed his word. In your heart you know you deserve this and in fact you want to be punished. It somehow relieves your pain while at the same time it does not.
It washes over you in waves. If you turn to the left it is there, turn to the right and there it is. You feel like you have lost 30 years of sanctification in a moment of time. And the whole time the enemy of your soul is telling you that you’re finished. Brothers and sisters, let me speak to you a wee bit. Obviously I am not speaking hypothetically. I know the wound and I know the pain of it. Agony is probably a better word. And the depth of your love for Jesus will be the measure of the depth of the pain that you feel. I have laid out the problem, let me speak a bit about the solution and let us start with a Scripture.
“Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him (Him alone) until He pleads my case and executes judgment for me. He will bring me to the light. I will see His righteousness (Mic 7:8-9) John Bunyon had a vision one day. He saw the righteousness of Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father. And the truth of Christ’s righteousness exploded in his heart. He knew that on his best day his own righteousness was not good enough and on his worse day that that Christ’s righteousness was more than enough. He danced all the way home that day, literally danced.
What was true for John Bunyon is true for you dear saint. You shall not be measured by your worse day, you shall be measured by the righteousness of Christ and your contrite heart. So when you have fallen, as soon as possible you must get up. The Scriptures say that when you fall you shall arise. Rise up saint, take back the ground that you ceded to the enemy. When you sit in darkness, the Scriptures says the Lord shall be a light to you. Rise up and walk in the light as He is in the light and you will have fellowship one with another. He will plead your case for you, He has executed justice for you.
A little later in Micah 7 we hear this question “Who is a God like you?” Who indeed saint, can you see Him even now sitting at the right hand of the Father in all His glorious righteousness? Pardoning iniquity, passing over the transgressions of His remnant. He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. He loves a broken and a contrite heart. He will have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. These are His promises to His children. Never to be presumed upon, God forbid. Those who truly love Him could never presume upon His mercy, its not possible. The depths of His love for us and our love for Him renders that an impossibility.
One more promise from Micah 7 “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Into the depths of the sea saints. Buried and dead. And the Lord our God never goes fishing in that sea, He shall never cast up to you that which He has forgiven. You have bore His indignation because you sinned against Him, now arise. Ignore the enemy and rise up by the Grace of God and the righteousness of Christ. Take back the ground, strike down the enemy and advance forward once again. A war is filled with many battles and in the midst of these battles we suffer wounds of many kinds, the most grevious being the self inflicted wound. Yet one battle does not determine the outcome of a war. In our case, the war is already won! Christ won the war! Arise saint and move forward in victory!
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on November 28, 2021
Micah 4:6-7 In that day says the Lord I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast, and those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame the remnant and the outcast a strong nation. So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion, from now on, even forever.
Who are the lame, brothers and sisters? Who are the outcasts? Who are the afflicted? God’s children. Who wants to join that club? Surely we shall not be stampeded on by the masses yearning to take their place with the lame, the outcast and the afflicted? It’s the genius of God. He will identify with those who identify with the sufferings of Jesus. For you see brothers and sister how not many mighty are called, not many wise, not many noble shall take their place with the lame, the outcast and the afflicted.
And yet we are on a headlong collision with a set of circumstances that will put all of that to the test. Will be willing to become lame for the sake of Jesus? Will we take our place with the outcasts in a world that daily is becoming more and more restrictive? And the greatest challenge of all, shall we take our place in the ranks of God’s afflicted? Yes, God afflicts His people for His own purposes. Yes, this is violently opposed by the flesh. Yet the same God who allowed His only beloved Son to be afflicted, for the worlds sake and for His glory, will allow His servants to be afflicted for the same reasons. Shall you glorify God?
This is the mark of the remnant people of God. God has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. Shall you yield to the Spirit? Will you surrender to a God that very possibly shall call you to Martyrdom? We have raised multiple generations to believe that the Lord’s design is that we should live our best lives now. Oh saints, is not the opposite true when we consider the world’s definition of what it means to “live your best life now?” Our best life now is to serve and glorify God in the midst of a wicked and adulterous generation. If suffering brings glory to God shall we not rejoice in our sufferings? If being an outcast from this world brings glory to God shall we not take our place with the ranks of the outcast? If being afflicted by God for reasons known only to Him brings glory to God shall we not glorify God? It is these saints that the Lord shall reign over from now on, even forever.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, End Times Eschatology, Jesus, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on November 25, 2021
Jonah 1:5. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
The madness of sin. The satanic lullaby that deadens a mans soul to his imminent danger. Sin can cause all kinds of chaos. Someones life can be falling to pieces and everyone around that person can be in danger of being destroyed. Yet the surrounding storm is unnoticed by the man intent on running from God. He is as one who is fast asleep to his impending disaster. Turmoil of soul causes exhaustion and that exhaustion leads to sleep.
Now consider another One who lies down and sleeps in the boat. The Lord Himself sleeps with perfect peace when the enemy sends a storm His way. He arises and rebukes the waves and the waves obey. He is Lord of the storm. And this Lord has sent this particular storm after Jonah and it takes him into the deep and swallows him whole. When you are running from the presence of God you will find yourself engulfed in darkness. When you are running to the Lord you will see the storm rebuked. The key is to cry out to God. and run to Him.
The floods had surrounded Jonah. The waves crashed over him again and again. The waters surrounded him even to his soul. He was drowning in a sea of darkness and was going down and was swallowed whole by his situation. His solution was to raise his eyes towards heaven.. He looked to the Lord who alone could raise him up from the bottomless pit. When his soul had fainted within him he remembered the Lord and he prayed with all of his heart. He gave thanks unto God and acknowledged that salvation belonged to God. And he was delivered. The Lord’s desire is to deliver. Who will call upon the Lord?
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Posted by appolus on November 23, 2021
Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
You alone oh Lord cause me to sleep in perfect peace. Its the kind of sleep that our Lord slept in the back of the boat in the midst of a storm. When all the world, it seems, comes against us, when we seem to be all alone, we are not alone. When the waves crash over the sides of our boat and it seems that we shall be swamped, we shall not. In Christ alone we dwell in safety. He is our rear guard. Even in the darkest night the Lord will lift up the light of His countenance upon us. He fills our hearts with gladness. The world shall peer into the darkness and see the light of Christ burning deep inside of us and shining forth from our faces and they will stand amazed.
Those who trust in the Lord shall not be put to shame. He is yesterday and forever, always the same. His peace is the burning wall of fire that surrounds our camp, His Spirit is the burning oil that fills our lamp. He is the solid Rock upon which we stand and the wind of His Spirit is the means by which the fire is fanned. Oh brothers and sisters what fortunate people we are. Our very hearts are protected by Jesus Christ Himself. If God is for us, who can be against us? What trial shall prevail? What storm shall destroy? Nothing, no one, no trial. Lay your head down this night and know that the Lord Himself is with you and He shall never leave you.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on November 22, 2021
When all the leaves have faded
And fallen to the ground
I pray the trees still standing
Right there on Holy ground.
When everything is stripped away
And we stand before the throne
And we have no earthly covering
but the Blood of Christ alone
We'll see what only God can see
And where it had begun
On the wretched bloody battle-field
Of Calvary there, was won.
The Blood He shed for you and me
It covers everything
And though we stand there naked
There stands our Christ the King
And there we'll know as we are known
White garments dressed before the throne
There'll never be another fall
For the Blood of Christ it covers all.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, inspirational, Jesus, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on November 21, 2021
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Jesus is speaking to His followers who are just about to be scattered. Persecution and tribulation was coming straight at them. And Jesus says “in me,” you may have peace. “In the world,” you will have persecution. There is one thing certain in this world, you will have tribulation. There is one thing we need above all other things in the midst of this tribulation, peace, His peace. And if we are “in Him,” then we have access to such peace.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid (John 14:27) Jesus has left this peace for us, He has given it to us, yet like every other gift, it must be possessed. We must abide “in Him.” We must be “anxious for nothing.” We must “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” We must give thanks in all things (not for all things) We must rejoice in all things ( not for all things) If we do these things, then we shall possess the peace that we already have.
This is the key to overcoming, being obedient to the Word of God. “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free(John 8:31) Free indeed brothers and sisters. Free from the cruel task master of fear. Free from anxiety. Free to love your enemies. Free to walk in the peace that the Lord has given you as a most precious gift. The gift given must be received and then it must be exercised by the conditions laid down. Today is the day to begin.
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Posted by appolus on November 18, 2021
Amo 6:12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen?
What rocks is here being discussed? The hard hearts of men who would not listen to correction. Rather than allowing their hearts to be tilled and to be plowed, they resisted the work of the Holy Spirit. They resisted to such a point that now their “houses,” great or small, would be broken into little pieces. Their hardness would condemn them to barrenness. Nothing would grow in a field full of rocks. I would now like to compare this scene from Amos to modern day Christendom. The word of God stands as it always has. It is unmovable. Who can stand under its shadow and deny it? Who would dare to do such a thing? Only the hardest of hearts would resist and replace its teaching with their own vain traditions. And in the end, these hard hearts are broken down into pieces and lay scattered in the field. What can a horse do in such a field? What could an ox do is such a field? There is no plowing of such a field.
In this place, in these places, in those hearts, the sun shall shall go down at noon. In broad daylight there shall suddenly be darkness. Their celebrations will turn to mourning and their songs of praise shall turn into songs of lamentation. A famine shall fall upon such a land. It shall not be a famine of bread, for they will have bread in abundance. Nor shall there be a drought, they shall have an abundance of water. The famine shall fall upon their hearts which shall make it impossible to hear the word of the Lord. They shall go to great lengths to call down God. The music shall increase but God shall not hear their praises. They shall fall back upon the traditions of their ancestors and they shall find no comfort there, only the smoke from the fire of their own making. They will pronounce this smoke to be the presence of the Lord, but of course it is not.
Who would make themselves an enemy of God? When God strikes the doorposts and the thresholds shake who will flee from God in that day? The Lord God Himself says this, listen and tremble “Though they dig into hell, from there My hand shall take them.” He goes on to relay to man that even if he ascends into the heavens they shall be brought back down, if they descend to the bottom of the sea, even there God will reach them. God says “I will set my eyes on them.” And this was not for good. God reminds men that it is He, who if He just touched the earth, it would melt. This is the God of all creation who is speaking. He who formed the layers of the sky and founded the strata of the earth, who calls forth the waters of the sea and it comes running at His command.
Yet despite all of this, there is a people who God will raise up from the midst of this. He will raise up the tabernacle of David. The Church militant will once again dwell in the tabernacle, the place of meeting. This place has been all but abandoned. We have built a thousand thousand temples and God does not dwell in the temples built by man rather He dwells in the tabernacle with His bride. His tabernacle is the gathering of the saints who gather in His name. Now remember you cannot gather in the name of Jesus if that name is not above every other name in your life. He is the preeminent One and He joins Himself with those with whom He is preeminent. This is the tabernacle raised. And the fruit of these gatherings shall abound, as opposed to the barren rock filled fields of the houses of men.
Oh brothers and sisters, listen to what the Lord says as a promise…. “the days are coming when the plowman shall overtake the reapers and the treader of grapes shall be overtaken by him who sows seed, the mountains shall drip with sweet wine and the hills shall flow with it.” This reminds me of psalm 133 where the oil flows abundantly and the blessings of life fall heavily upon everything like the dew that would fall upon the mountains. You see what is being said? The man who plows the field shall come upon the reapers of the harvest that was so great that that it was still being gathered when it was time to sow again. A great abundance. This is what awaits the saints. Gather together saints, with other saints, who will raise the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ high above everything, who will stand upon the Word of God and the Word of God alone, who have abandoned the vain and empty traditions of men. For the Bridegroom comes and He shall find His Bride made ready.
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Posted by appolus on November 16, 2021
Posted in christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Church history, church of england, church of scotland, churches, end times, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on November 16, 2021
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
How we long for this, do we not? The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, should rule rule and reign in our hearts. I want to say that as of late, this peace has not ruled in my heart. In days of old, when there was not peace in the land, it was typically because there was competition for the throne of the land. Someone would challenge the king and claim to be the right and proper heir to the throne. Pretenders would come forward having raised an army and would fight the king in open battle and the winner takes the crown, takes the throne, rules supreme. This would be known as civil war.
If Jesus does not rule and reign in us, we can expect no peace. When a pretender or a usurper is allowed to come forward and challenge the rightful King, then peace flees and war ensues. In this very chapter we see that we ourselves are the battle-field and the usurper is the flesh. Who shall sit upon the throne of our hearts? Remember, Jesus must have all of us. The “members” of our flesh must be defeated. My own particular rebellious members are fear and anxiety. If I allow them an allotment in the land of my flesh, they will quickly try and take over the land, they can have no place within me. I cannot make treaty’s with them, for they are treacherous and liars. They must be put to death.
And how do we kill these members? We must “put on,” love. (Col 3:14) Now these two words “put on,” means to clothe oneself.” Remember when we were in encouraged in the Scriptures that we would have a garment of praise for a Spirit of heaviness.” (Isa 61:) Also in the Scripture the oil of joy was given for mourning. You see what is happening here? There is exchanges going on. In the same manner we are encouraged in Col 3 to put off anger and wrath and malice and put on tender mercies, meekness and long suffering. And above all these things we are to put on Love. It is the bond of perfection which leads to the peace of God ruling in our hearts. In another place we are told that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18) There is no fear in love. So brothers and sisters, let love do its work in you today, put it on. You already have it, put it on. Its just like the armor of God, you must put them on, so must you adorn yourself with Love. And then you will discover that the peace of God rules and reigns in your heart.
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Posted by appolus on November 14, 2021
Psa 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
There is such a beauty in unity. The phrase “together in unity,” means to be alike all at once. There is also a root word from that phrase meaning to gather. There is a mystery involved when we gather together and we are alike all at once. To stand, covered by the same Spirit, all at once is to be covered by oil from head to toe. It is to be soaked to the skin by the dew that covers everything. Walk through a field of long grass in the morning and despite the fact that there has been no rain, you shall be soaked by the mist that falls upon everything in the early watches.
There is but one place in all of the scriptures that we read that the Lord “commanded a blessing.” And that blessing was life. And the fruits of that blessing are eternal. In the charlatan world of the charismatics they refer to “the soaking.” This has nothing to do with the actual soaking of life, and that more abundantly, that we see when brethren dwell together in unity. No, the blessings of life and unity come as we gather together in the Spirit and under the name of Jesus. There, life floods forth. We see just glimpses of it in revivals as men, for a mere moment, forget about their divisions and denominations and lift high the banner of Christ.
As the day of the Lord fast approaches, this ancient commandment from God that cannot be revoked, will come into its own. God’s people will gather together as one in Christ. Persecution shall strip away all pretense, all superficial differences. The genuine saints of God shall come forth from the wilderness of disunity and find each other in the beauty of Holiness. They will indeed be soaked by the blessing of life, even in the midst of a world under judgment. This life will be unmistakable to all who see it. The glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Life, and that more abundantly, shall stand out radiant in the midst of darkness and death. There will be no mistaking the unity of the saints. It will be like earth itself, a blue jewel of life in the vast darkness of space.
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Posted by appolus on November 5, 2021
Joel 1:1 Hear this you elders, and give ear all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
Brothers and sisters, is there not an ominous black cloud that has darkened our land? Unlike the judgement of Joel, this darkness is not coming from the clouds in the form of locusts, our darkness has ascended up from the pits of hell itself. It has darkened the minds of the people of the lands. This gross darkness has consumed them and continues to consume them. It eats away at all sense of decency and understanding of what is right and what is wrong. It pervades and it perverts everything.
We as a people are laid waste and we have but one hope, one chance. We must call upon the Lord in this time of trouble for indeed He fast approaches, even the darkness knows it. The powers of darkness know that their time is short. All restraint is being loosed and woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for they shall find no place to hide from this great wave of evil, they shall simply be picked up by it and consumed.Yet even now, the Lord would stay His hand if the people were to cry out to Him. We His people must cry out for this, we must rend our hearts and not our garments. We must turn to Him with all of our heart and with fasting and with weeping. For our Lord is slow to anger and His heart is kind and gracious towards His creatures.
Who knows what kind of revival He may send us once more before that great and terrible day? Let we His people, sound the alarm. Do not hold back. Speak boldly in the name of Jesus. Lift that name up all the more in this our evil day. For His name is light and it shatters the darkness.There is a former and a latter rain. We pray for a latter rain, not as the charlatans pray, but as a broken people who dwell in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. We pray that the river of life that we live beside, would burst forth from its banks and flood the land one more time. Let we, the remnant of the Lord, call upon His name with everything that is within us and let us shed the righteous tears of deliverance for the lost humanity that surrounds us. Lord even for the sake of fifty, will you rend your heavens just one more time.
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A Call To The Remnant 