Archive for the ‘bible’ Category
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.
Posted in Babylon, bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, End Times Eschatology, God's love, 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 | 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 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.
Posted in bible, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, intimacy, 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 | Leave a Comment »
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.
Posted in Babylon, bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of england, church of scotland, end times, God's voice, Jesus, new wineskins, 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 | Leave a Comment »
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.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, 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 | 1 Comment »
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.
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, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
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.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of england, church of scotland, 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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on October 27, 2021
When I tell people that I am going home to Scotland, many people say, innocently enough, things like "oh that must be really nice, I wish I was coming with you, you are so lucky." I usually just nod and smile. How can they know that Scotland to me, in great part, is the land of my lost childhood. The land where I buried my son, where I almost lost another. Some of the darkest years of my life were swallowed up by alcohol and drugs, lost in oblivion, in the land of my birth. And yet I do love it. I love the people. I love the mountains and the valleys and the river that ran through my valley, the River Clyde. It is emblazoned upon my mind. Here below is a poem I wrote which might give you a better understanding of what it means for me to "go home." I wrote it to the fallen pieces of my heart that I left behind so long ago. I am sure many Americans could relate to this, it would just be the their own small town, the place of their birth.
The battleground.
I'm now going back to the battleground
To see if the pieces of my heart can be found
I left them where they fell so many years ago
In the midst of a perpetual winter, underneath the falling snow
I want to gather them up and tell them where I've been
Of the sunshine that I've walked in and the glory I have seen
A land so far from this place, that dwells on higher ground
Far removed from the frozen land and from the battleground
And so to all the pieces that I had to leave behind
I have a brand new heart and a fully restored mind
Amidst the flame and fire of the battles long ago
Ive come to show you something of what it means to grow.
The heart that's cut to pieces and memories departed
He came to raise you up again and heal the brokenhearted
He'll take from all the ashes, and there beauty shall be found
Where once was broken pieces amidst the battleground.
Posted in bible, Charisma Magazine, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, healing, Jesus, poetry, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Posted by appolus on October 26, 2021
Hos:5:6b But they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
It is one thing to fall into iniquity, it is another thing to fall in your iniquity. To fall from the grace of God is to seek another hand to raise you up. When calamity falls upon a person or a community or a nation, whom shall they call out to? To those who call out to God alone He shall lift them up. If you seek the Lord with a divided heart you will not find Him. He will have withdrawn Himself. The world has not sought God in the day of their calamity, they have sought to walk in the precepts of their own humanity. What a tragedy. This is the prelude to judgement. God withdraws.
Saint, we must not go down that road. We must trust in the Lord our God. We know that in our lives there has been times when we have quenched the Holy Spirit. David cries out to God in that most holy of Psalms “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” What an anguished cry from David in psalm 51. Only those hearts who know the Lord in intimacy and who are baptized in His Holy Spirit could ever understand what it means. To lose the joy of His presence, to consider eve for a moment that we have displeased the One that we love causes us great anxiety. In those situations we have to seek Him out with everything that is in us and fall down before Him in that most Holy of places, the throne of grace and find our restoration.
The nations that have named the name of Jesus have dealt treacherously with the Lord. Their condemnation is just and the judgement that shall begin with them is just and Holy. As for the saints of God there is healing in His presence. We draw near to Him and He draws near to us. We humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He raises us up. We seek only Him. We have no other lovers to run after unlike those who declare His statutes and hold His covenants in their mouths in unrighteousness because they hate His word and despise His correction. Yet, His children shall call upon Him in the days of their troubles and He will deliver them and cover them under the shadow of His wing. The dwelling place.
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Posted by appolus on October 24, 2021
Psalm 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
This psalm, considered to be written by David, is remarkable. Here is a prince indeed, a King himself, shouting aloud for all the world to hear that men should not put their trust in him. Our hope must be in the Lord! We are called to praise the Lord with all of hearts and with all of our souls and sing praises to God while we yet still have our being on this earth. David is telling us not to trust in princes, even good ones like himself for he is but a man whose body shall be laid in the ground like every other man. Rather, trust in the Living God who made the heavens and the earth. Trust in the God of justice. Trust in the God who gives food to those who truly hunger, hunger after Him. In doing this you will have food for your soul.
Trust in the Lord who gives freedom to the prisoners. He came to set the captives free. He came to set at liberty, those who are bound by the chains of sin and hell and death. Trust in the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind. And in doing so you can truly sing ” I once was blind but now I see.” You will have eyes to see the glory of the risen King. Eyes to see His majesty. Eyes to see the train of His robe which fills the temple. Trust in the Lord who raises those who are bowed down. He gives grace to the humble. He elevates the lowly in spirit. He dwells in lofty places with the broken and the contrite. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will raise you up. Men die, all men die whether they are rulers or princes or presidents or kings, trust not in them. Rather trust in the Lord who reigns for ever and forever. Happy is the man whose hope is in the Lord.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of england, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, 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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on October 21, 2021
Psa 145:18 The LORD is near unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
This Scripture here in Psalm 145:18 says that the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He may feed the world and give provisions for mankind by His gracious creative hand, but to those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, He is near to them. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and by Him and in no other way, we come near to God. Listen to the words of one who calls upon Him in truth, David, from this Psalm. Starting at the beginning we see the marks, the words of those who are near to Him…….”I will extol you my God…….I will bless your name forever and ever……Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised……Your greatness is unsearchable………..I will mediate on the glorious splendor of your majesty……your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom. These, my fellow brothers and sisters, are the words of one who calls upon Him in truth. Who worships Him in Spirit and Truth, who knows by personal experience that He is the way, the truth and the life.
And how shall we know them? We shall know them first by their Love for God and the treasure that shines through them through earthen vessels. This love for God translates into love for one another, love for those who are near to Him and call upon Him in truth. This nearness, this proximity to God translates into personal holiness and creates the desires of our hearts which the Lord then fulfills for they are His desires. The language of this psalm is the language of heaven. The way David speaks about the Lord is the way the genuine saints speak about the Lord. Its the same language because its the same Spirit that resides in us that resided in David. To call upon Him in truth we must have truth in our inward parts. The depths of our heart, the very essence of who we are. This is where Truth resides and it cannot be hidden, for the Lord resides in broken vessels that He may pour through them His glory so that it may be seen of men.
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Posted by appolus on October 19, 2021
Psa 139:1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
This is one of the most intimate statements in all of the Scriptures. So very personal. Can you say this? Have you been searched by God? This word “searched,” is from the primitive root to “penetrate.” Has God invaded every part of who you are? Are you known by God? This, of course, is no abstract truth for of course God knows everything and everyone. No, this is a very intimate form of the word. Have you ever looked into the eyes of another human being, one who is being deceptive and say right to that person “I know exactly who you are.” Its a declaration of a knowledge that goes beyond anything to do with outward evidence. This is do with the inner man, the inner woman. David is declaring that God “knows,” him in the most intimate way. He says that “even from afar you understand my thoughts.” It is something akin to a husband and wife who are “one,’ and knows the other ones thoughts in ways that only they can.
This is the kind of relationship that every genuine saint has with the Lord. We walk in the sure knowledge that He “knows,’ our every thought. This is far beyond any human intimacy. To be one in spirit is far beyond being one in flesh. It is the ultimate intimacy. And of course the trouble with this kind of intimacy is that on the one side is perfection and holiness and purity, and on the other side is us, very much flawed by our flesh. This is why intimacy is such a difficult issue. It may be the most difficult of all the issues. At the root cause of all failings in the saints is a lack of intimacy with the Lord. Jesus of course knew this. Time and again he told us to abide in Him, to continue to abide in Him. To take up the cross, not once, but daily. Abiding in the Lord and in His Word, while carrying the cross is one sure way to stay very close to the Lord, to maintain that intimacy that can be so easily lost. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, on a daily basis, on a moment to moment basis, and draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to us. And in that nearness there is intimacy and out of that intimacy flows the beauty of Holiness.
There are two very different kind of men in the Kingdom. One man shies away from this intimacy. He sets up camp at a safe distance and there he dwells. He stays within that camp and looks on from a distance, not unlike the Israelites who watch, from their camp, the tent of meeting. They worship God from afar but Moses and Joshua come to that tent of meeting and entered in. They have come to seek that intimacy. Men like Moses and Joshua could just as easily cry out to God what David cried “search me O God and know my heart, try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” We have taught men from when they were boys, to guard their hearts, to pretend that they are fearless and to be independent. All of that works against intimacy, deliberately so. The only answer is surrender. Surrender into the hand of God and allow yourself to be consumed. Allow yourself to be searched. Seek to be known. This is the way of everlasting and He desires to lead us in it.
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Posted by appolus on October 19, 2021
Fifteen years ago my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We decided decided to go to the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia and use that as our headquarters and travel for 16 days through-out the region. Shortly before leaving for the trip the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He told me I was going to have a significant encounter and that it would change everything. I assumed I was going to meet someone. We rented a house that was actually attached to the walled city, it was part of the stone drawbridge and had a magnificent stone terrace that overlooked the enchanting harbor of the city.As I stood there one day, basking in a warm sun that was rising majestically from behind ancient mountains, a glorious and indescribable presence enveloped me. I had experienced the manifest presence of God many times before but nothing like this. It seemed to permeate my very DNA. Every part of me was alive and captivated, from my head right down to my toes and all around me.
Suddenly I was in another place.I was looking at what I could only describe as some kind of amalgam of the old testament Tabernacle and Solomon’s temple. In a grand square there was a great number of people. I asked who they were and was told they were the vast majority of people who called themselves Christians.They were standing in what I was told was the court of the gentiles. A great sadness came over me as I witnessed a tremendous amount of activity going on in the court. I wondered why they were not passing through a low door that was in a wall that led to the inner sanctuary. I was told that they would not bow down which would enable them to pass through the door. I could see what was behind the door in the wall, it was the inner sanctuary.
There was first a brazen altar. It was a foul-smelling place but was deeply loved by God. The few who came though the door brought sacrifices of sin it seemed to me. They were coming forward not to get something but to give up foul-smelling sins that had so easily beset them. It took great humility to come before this place and acknowledge these secrets of their heart but they were readily burned up in a fire that continually burned. People sacrificed rags and were clothed in fine white linen. People sacrificed perversions and were given purity. Lies were sacrificed and truth was given. All manner of sin was replaced by holiness and purity.Then they moved forward to the lavar bowl where they washed themselves before moving on to be fed by shewbread which filled them in a way that they would never again hunger. Then they stood in the light of the lampstand, no longer ashamed but washed clean and made pure and able to stand in the light of God for He had cleansed them. Lastly their prayers began to rise up like incense and come before the throne of God Himself.
I looked again at the vast crowd outside of the manifest presence of God, engaged in much activity in the court of the gentiles and I was amazed that they would not enter. So close to entering in, but so unwilling to give up the things of this world, too proud to bow down and enter through the door, too ashamed to give up their innermost foul-smelling sin.Suddenly I was back standing on the terrace. I looked out over a motionless sea where it met a cloudless sky and the rising sun warmed me with such a fierce intensity. In this fire of His presence I was alive with a life I knew would never end. This was my promised encounter with my glorious indescribable Jesus. This was when my writing began in earnest. I knew that the time was short and that I was to write to and encourage the remnant saints of God, those who had bowed down and enter into the glory.
I was to encourage them and also to encourage anyone in the court of the gentiles who would have an ear to hear, to bow down and enter in and leave the court behind. To come away, come out from among them, and to enter into a place that required all of our hearts.I was to stand in the midst of the Jordan, so to speak, and encourage the saints as they passed through from the wilderness into the promised land. Like all the pilgrim saints experience , the long narrow way home is often a lonely, weary and exhausting road. But we have glimpsed something glorious have we not? We have in our mind and soul and spirit saw something of our eternal destination.
It is high and lifted up. He is high and lifted up. The Lord Jesus is not only our companion along the way He is our destination. Don’t ask me to explain that. He is behind me and He hedges me around about, He goes before me and He dwells within me.Yet my destination is the unadulterated presence of the living God where the flesh is no longer a barrier that limits the glory. A place where this world is no longer a distraction nor competes for my attention. To finally dwell in a high and lofty place where I know as I am known. Oh to know as I am known, tis another world indeed, it is our world, it our home, it is our destination and every step we take is another step closer. Keep on walking saints though the road seem hard and lonely, keep on walking and lift up your head and see the glory. It is closer than you think.
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Posted by appolus on October 17, 2021
Psa 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
It is a sad day when we sit down to weep. Memories come rushing into our minds like a river that never stops flowing. Our tears and our sadness only add to its flow as we consider the source of our pain. We remember how it was. We are left with the vague shadows that the world calls memories. Yet, what is a memory? It’s a pale imitation of what once was real. We grasp onto them, yet they are like gossamer butterflies flitting through our minds. Our hearts cry out for one more moment, just one more day and yet the knowing of that impossibility is the source of our sadness. The children of Israel had taken it all for granted and now it was no more.
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? How shall we who dwell in a foreign land rejoice when the enemy has stripped it all away? How shall we respond to the jeers of an enemy who taunts us and asks us to sing our songs of victory now? Shall we do as the children of Israel did? Shall we hang our harps upon the willow tree in our midst?(v2) How shall we in our day sing in the midst of great loss? Can we rejoice in the depths of captivity when the enemy seems to be so victorious? What do we have that the children of Israel did not have? Jesus said in John 14 that He would not leave us as orphans. He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that He has prepared a place for us, even in the presence of our enemies. There is a table set before us, a feast of His presence. It enables us to take the harps down from the willow tree, the tree of weeping, and play a song of victory, right there, in the midst of our circumstances.
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” (Acts 16:25) The harp had been taken down at the midnight hour and the power of God came down with it. As the praises and the prayers went up, down came the power of God and it shook everything. That harp is in our hands brothers and sisters. That prayer is on our lips, those praises are in our mouth. And the power of God never fails, it is eternal. The children of Israel sat down beside the raging river of weeping. We have been made to sit down in green pastures and the river that flows is the still waters of peace and joy and comfort. Even in the valley of the shadow of death we shall not want, for He leads us and He guides us and He comforts us. And in that comfort that He sent us, the Holy Spirit, we are victorious and we find that He inhabits the praises of His people.
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Posted by appolus on October 16, 2021
When the Spirit of conviction comes upon a man or a woman, as in Acts 2, then we see a people crushed by the sure knowledge of the horrendous nature of their crime. The weight of their guilt crushes them. They are, as Scripture tells us, “stabbed in the heart.” To be stabbed in the heart in the natural means certain death, there is no recovery from it. As it is in the natural, so it follows in the supernatural. They are slain, and then they are born again. In the dying they cry out “what must we do!!!,” and they find life. I have always likened that to “woe is me…….I am undone.” Renting of shirts and hearts being stabbed, I’d like to see a lot more of that. And it all begins with an emboldened baptized in the Holy Spirit Peter, unashamed and unafraid to point to the crowd and say “you crucified the Christ.” And like a supernatural arrow shot from the bow of the Holy Spirit, they are stabbed right through the heart.
The only way we can understand the magnitude of His mercy, is to understand the magnitude of our guilt. He may have taken our sins, but it is a vital aspect of salvation that we understand and experience our guilt. This can only come by revelation, the true depths of it, so that we may be able to scale the true heights of His glory. There is a direct correlation between the depth of the revelation of our guilt and consequent knowledge of His grace and mercy and this effects the depth of our walk with Christ. It primes everything. It sets the context for everything. Those, we are told, who are forgiven much, love much. And it is not so much the magnitude of the sins committed, rather it is the revelation of the guilt revealed and how we respond to it.
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Posted by appolus on October 14, 2021
Psalm 131:2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul.
I cannot tell tell you how many times my soul has cried out from its depths for quiet and for calm. In an ever changing world and sometimes extremely tough circumstances, how much value can we put upon this? To be calm and to be quiet in your mind as opposed to a raging stormy sea of noise and anxiousness and fear. Then of course there is the accuser who may be ever whispering in your ear. David says in the opening verses of this Psalm that his heart is not haughty nor his eyes lofty. He does not concern himself with matters that are too great for him nor too profound for him. There are a few things to be said of that, I have two.
Firstly there are the matters of our day and we get caught up with them, much like the world does. Watch any news at all and perhaps you begin to feel the weight of it all pressing down upon your shoulders. In a news cycle that runs twenty four hours a day, we may find ourselves drawn into crisis after crisis. And yet who are we saints? The Lord’s kingdom is not of this world. We know how this world ends, we already know it yet somehow we can get caught up with it and feel its weight. We need to lay that down. David was a king when he made his opening statements of this psalm. A king! And yet he says he did not concern himself with great matters! Surely the answer is he trusted in the Lord His God. If a king can do it and lay his burdens down, surely you can?
Secondly and more interestingly, listen to what David’s brother says to him when he, the young shepherd boy comes into the armies camp in 1 Sam 17:28 …”I know thy pride and thine wickedness of heart.’ Eliab was angry with his brother. He accuses him of being prideful and haughty. Why? Because David has just heard Goliath mock the armies of God. David was indignant and had a mind to kill Goliath. This would have undoubtedly shamed not only his brothers but every man among them that this boy was willing to fight this giant when they were all so very afraid. David had not sought this situation, the situation found him. And God moved in his heart. Brothers and sisters we should not concern ourselves with great matters, nor should we pursue things that are to profound for us. Unless you are in the Lord these matters will crush you. It is only by His Spirit that we should pay any mind to any matters at all.
And so brothers and sisters. Do you seek to be quiet in your mind and in your spirit? Do you seek to walk in peace , a peace that surpasses all understanding? Then do this. Seek the Lord your God with all of your heart and your mind and your spirit. Let that be your life’s works. Do not watch things that make you anxious, in fact be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving make your request known to God. Let your heart be bathed in thankfulness. One more thing. David was falsely accused by his brother. Perhaps, way back when, when you were young, you were raised with slander instead of love. To this day you still hear the accusations ringing in your ears and echoing throughout your soul. Time and again it raises its ugly noisy head. I want you to know that your total identity is found in Christ. He thought so much of you that He died for you. God so loved you that He made an enormous sacrifice to save you. All that matters is what He thinks about you. Rest in that. Be at peace. You are loved by God and in the end, that is all that matters. And in this knowledge there is no burden.
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Posted by appolus on October 12, 2021
Psalm 119:126 It is time for You to act, O lord, for they have regarded Your law as void.
Is that not your hearts cry dear saint? In a fallen world where gross darkness is covering the land and the name of God is blasphemed everywhere. In a time and place where day has become night. Right has become wrong and truth is trampled in the streets. What used to hide away among the shadows and the alleyways now marches down Main street with its banner held high. And if the enemy would have his way then it is the saints who would have to hide among the shadows in the dark-lands of the alleyways.
Can you not here this Scripture ringing out from Romans “for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ , for it is the power of God unto salvation………………for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ………for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead , so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify God.” O Father in heaven, glorify your name in all the earth?
And of course our Father in heaven glorified His name in all the earth through the name and the power of the Lord Jesus and we cry “glorify your name again Lord.” In verse 136 the psalmist says ” Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law.” Those rivers, brothers and sisters, are still running deep for our Lord Jesus is mocked and ridiculed and rejected. Shall we not cry out to God with our whole hearts? Shall we not rise before the dawning of the morning and seek the one whose tender mercies are great? Many are out tormentors and enemies yet we shall not turn from His testimony. Verse 161 says “Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your Word.”
Lord, we stand in awe of You. We look to the heavens and know where our help comes from. The foundations may be destroyed and the Princes of this world may hunt us down but we trust in you that you may glorify Your name through us. Christ in us, the hope of glory! Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket. To whom shall our God be likened to? Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? He shall bring the Princes of this world to nothing. They shall not keep root. For we shall lift up our eyes on high and behold the One who has created all things. And we who are weak are made strong. Even the youth shall faint and be weary. And young men shall utterly fall, but we who wait upon You shall renew our strength, we shall mount up with wings as eagles. we shall run and not be weary, we shall keep on walking and not faint (Isa 40)….glory to God
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Posted by appolus on October 8, 2021
Psa 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
We see in Exodus 10:22-23 that a great darkness fell upon Egypt for three days. This darkness was described as “thick,” or “gross.” Yet, in Goshen, the children of God dwelt in light. When Jesus hung upon the cross there was a gross darkness that fell upon the land from the sixth hour until the ninth. Gross darkness is undoubtedly judgment from God and in both the above examples it led to an exodus. Moses would lead the children out of bondage and slavery by the power of God. Jesus would do the same.
To those who are covered by the righteousness of Christ there arises light from the deep darkness. And it leads the way to victory. We saints will undoubtedly encounter darkness and gross darkness in our lives, maybe you are experiencing it right now. I want to tell you saint, that the light that is within you, the light of Christ, shall overcome this darkness. He will rise up in you and by His power you shall conquer the darkness. In Micah 7:8 the prophet says “rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.”
Remind your enemy today that even though you may have fallen, you shall arise by the power of God. Even though you may at this moment be sitting in darkness, your Lord shall be a light to you. In Psalm 139 David says that even the night shall be as light to him. Even if he made his bed in hell, there Gods light would shine into the darkness. Where can you go from His Spirit saints? What can separate you from such a love as this? Commit your situation into His hands and He will raise you up as light arises from darkness like the breaking of the dawn. The devil himself will tremble as he hears a strange noise coming from the midst of the darkness, it shall be the praises of God from the saints. This is light, and in that there is no darkness.
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A Call To The Remnant 