Archive for the ‘christian blog’ Category
Posted by appolus on January 6, 2022
Phil 4:11 I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.
A dear older brother shared this story that he heard decades ago from a woman and it is one of these portions of wisdom that sticks with you. She told him that for over forty years she prayed for her circumstances to change until she finally realized that the circumstances were there to change her. This would horrify many people, especially those who are of the word of faith persuasion or the name it and claim it crowd. Yet it would be a challenge in general to all who profess Jesus as their Lord.
It is natural to want to run from difficult circumstances. It is supernatural to want to be changed by them. The fleshly man wants, above all else, deliverance from what ails him because he is at the center of his own universe. When the Lord Jesus occupies that place then the only desire is to become more like Him no matter what set of circumstances that it takes. There is a line from a worship song that says “There is another in the fire, watching over me, there is another in the water, holding back the sea.”
I suppose the question then becomes, would we rather be in the fire with God or out of the fire without Him? If we had to choose, how would we choose? Can we lie down and sleep in the boat in the midst of the storm knowing that Jesus is holding back the sea? Only the man or the woman whom God Himself has changed by the power of difficult circumstances can ever hope to be content in every situation. The key to overcoming and walking in the peace that surpasses all understanding is to give yourself fully to Jesus in the midst of the fires and the floods of life. The narrow path that leads us home is marked by fire and flood and only in Christ can we walk through them.
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Posted by appolus on January 6, 2022
There is the presence of God to be found in glorious worship, the kind of worship that lifts your spirit. It can lift up the head and invigorate the heart and fill you full of joy and you leave strengthened. This is good worship. Yet there is another kind of presence of God in worship, the kind of presence that there seems to be a famine of throughout the land. The first kind of presence we spoke of lifts your heart, 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 breathes as the Spirit of God slowly descends down through our heads into our hearts 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 banks themselves begin to crumble and fall into this river of pure life as it swells up and floods every part of who we are. The landscape is being changed by this flood, the very topography of our lives is being flattened by its power and everything that is not securely rooted to its foundations is simply swept away. Changed forever. And when the flood recedes we are left with a glorious afterglow. As the deer pants for the waterbrooks, I wonder, do our hearts pant after this kind of encounter.
The Lord Himself does not need professional worship teams. He does not need people to encourage us to stand up, jump up and down and raise our hands. In the Welsh revival two young women singing either acapella or simply backed by a piano typically sang “Here is love, vast as the ocean.” And there was love, in the very midst of them, vast as the ocean, flooding the hearts and minds of all who attended. Brothers and sisters, in all our modernity, what have we lost? In the program of churches and the professional class of worship leaders and pastors we have lost the simplicity of it all. And in the losing of it we now have to entertain the people. Spirit led worship is exactly that, it is Spirit led.
In work we have a routine. In life we have a routine. Prisoners in prison have a routine. Oftentimes we are slaves to the routine, it is what gets us through life. Yet, there is nothing routine about the Holy Spirit of the Living God. He is dynamic and you can never know what way the wind will blow next. Have we sold our souls for a routine? Routine in the home, routine at work, routine at church. Routine people do not change the world. Routine people do not do wage war on the battle-fields of life. The Spirit of God is dynamic and those filled with His “dynamis,” change the environment around them because the environment inside them has been filled to capacity and is overflowing its banks. Lord fill us again to overflowing with the kind of presence that invades every part of who we are.
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Posted by appolus on January 4, 2022
1Co 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
Oh saints, what damage has been done by men over this scripture. In eighteen short words, religious men the world over have stripped the gifts of God out of the hands of men based on a lie. The perfect is not the canon of Scripture. Jesus is perfect and when He comes again then all the gifts that edify the still imperfect Church shall cease. In that eternal state there shall be no more need for words of wisdom. In that eternal state there shall be but one heavenly language. In that eternal state we shall no longer need prophets or those who exhort the Body because the fulfillment of all things will have occurred. Love, the eternal state, shall go on for all eternity.
In this present life, in comparison to the glories of heaven, I speak as a child. I understand as a child, I think as a child. Yet in the fulfillment of all things, when the perfect has come, I will throw of this mortal childish state. I will know as I am known. For now I only see in part, but glory to God then I will see the eternal God face to face. Imagine knowing as you are known. Ponder that for a while. If the things that I know in part are glorious, what will it be like when I know the whole? The mere glimpses that I have seen of His glory has transformed my whole life, now what will be my state as I move and have my being in an eternal gaze upon Him.
Yet even now there are countless of millions of professors of the faith who would deny the reality of the glimpse. Of the supernatural experience of God. Can those who have never glimpsed and refuse to acknowledge the supernatural gifts of God ever move on to maturity? If one is not even a child then can that one become a man in God’s Kingdom? Only children of the Kingdom of God here on earth can become men and woman of God in our heavenly Father’s eternal. The children of this world will become men and women of their father in a very different eternal state. Whose child are you of? The children of light walk in the power and experience of their eternal God now, in part. Only by being a part can one become whole.
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Posted by appolus on January 2, 2022
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me:
At first glance it appears that Jesus is saying that those who keep His commandments love Him, when of course He saying those who love me keep my commandments. Look at verse 23 “If a man loves me he will keep My words.” There is all the difference in the world between the two positions. Keeping Gods commandments. Religious men of every stripe strive for this. So what separates the man of God from the religious man? To the religious man, keeping the commands of the Lord is akin to keeping score. If they can just get enough points then they can tip the scales in their favor. And in doing so, they believe they will find favor with the Lord. What constrains them is the thought of them not making the grade or indeed not making it into heaven. The constraints are a burden to them and they grudgingly trudge on. At the hearts of it all lies self.
Those who encounter God love God. They have a passion that runs through their veins. They have the law of God written upon their hearts, and out that very heart flows love. He is loved and he loves. This very love becomes his restraint and that very restraint is the mark of his freedom. He is free from the curse of the law, he is free from the bondage of it, he is indeed a bond-servant. His love for His Lord is such that any fall from grace comes with this price-he has disappointed his Lord. There can be no greater anguish for the saint and only the one who knows Jesus can know this anguish. And it is this very love that drives the saint to the throne of grace.
David famously says in Psalm 51 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” He was not trying to get saved and he was not afraid that he had lost his salvation, what he was deeply anguished and broken about was that he had sinned against the one he loved. He acknowledges his sins and desires above all else to be cleansed in his inwards parts, to be purged of what had separated him from His Lord. He is broken and contrite because of his great love for God. It is this very attribute that makes David a man after God’s own heart. Love is the catalyst for it all. God’s love for us and our love for Him. That is the bond. Nothing can be achieved in the realms of the Spirit outside of this love. It is the foundation of salvation and it is the means by which we walk the narrow path home.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
(1Jn 5:2-3)
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Posted by appolus on January 1, 2022
I grieve when I come into the average fundamental evangelical gospel church. There’s so little of the sense of God in it. You never bow your head with reverence unless you have deliberately disciplined yourself to do it because there is not a sense of sacredness. …We have secularized worship, the Gospel and even Christ. I say that it is a great tragic loss and no great man can can come out of that kind of thing. God may have to sweep it away from us and start somewhere else. (Tozer)
I wonder saints. Do we grieve as Tozer grieved? Perhaps his very grieving over this issue is why God used him so mightily and still uses him? Perhaps we do not grieve the loss of His presence, His glory, His sacredness because we have never experienced any of it? We have never had a burning bush moment like Moses. Or we have never been awestruck by the glory and the majesty described by Isaiah. Or we have never had the hand of God touch our lips like Jeremiah? Ezekial saw the heavens open and had visions of God. All of these men suffered in direct correlation to the glory that they themselves had experienced. The list of these kinds of encounters is endless in the OT and the NT.
Tozer’s recommendation for the Christian church today is to “call a moratorium on all activity and focus on coming into worship until the fire descends and engulfs us in the sacredness of His presence.” Tomorrow is the first Sunday of the New Year. How many churches will be preaching this kind of message? Or rather will we hear the endless so called prophecies of how this coming year is going to be the best year ever? I am afraid that in almost one hundred percent of the gatherings that it shall be the latter. There will be no crying out to God in great grief over the lack of His presence. No mourning over the glory never experienced.
What Moses was before the fire experience was nothing compared to what he was afterward. The great man used of God was created in front of that burning bush experience. And that fire never went out for the rest of Moses life. The experience was absolutely a crisis for Moses (Tozer) Moses had to leave Egypt behind. Forty years of laboring under the stars and among the sheep. The glory’s of Pharaoh’s court just a distant memory. The world he knew long gone. Perhaps we have way too much of the world in us? For most of us it’s not a distant memory but a present reality. I wonder is we care more for our traditions and our institutions than we do for the majesty and the glory of God experienced. If we have to choose one or the other (and I say that we do) I wonder how you will choose? It seems sure that God must, as Tozer spoke “sweep it all away.”
Posted in Babylon, Christian, christian blog, Christianity, church, Church history, church of england, church of scotland, deception, False Prophets, Fresh Fire, intimacy, Jesus, religion, revival, Spiritual warfare, 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 December 29, 2021
Ecc 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God has done from the beginning to the end.
Now there is a thing, He has set eternity in the hearts of men. What could that mean? The verse begins with “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Saints, if we could get a hold of that truth then it would transform our lives in ever way. Everything is beautiful in its time to those who bow to the God of all eternity. If I am a sculptor and take a block of stone, then the block of stone is beautiful to me because I know what is going to become of it. A canvas with just a few paint strokes on it is beautiful in its time because the artist has already seen in his heart what it shall be. Every stroke is a vital part of the whole.
Your circumstances are beautiful in its time if you shall trust the Lord your God in the midst of it. Every aspect of your life is one more thread in the tapestry that God already sees. Can you bow to that? You, dear saint, are beautiful, right now, today. The Lord already knows what He has planned for you and at this very moment you are in the midst of it. This eternity is the gulf between what is now and what was and what is to come. Like the ocean, the beginning from the end is shrouded by the horizon, but the end is already there, This is eternity in your heart. It creates the need for you to trust in the Lord your God and equips you for faith. Trust in the Lord your God this day and see the beauty in it.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, 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 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on December 27, 2021
Dan 12:7 ….and when the power of the holy people have been completely shattered all these things shall be finished.
In Daniel chapter 12 we see the prophecy of the end times. by the angel. There will be a “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” At the end of all of that there shall be a great deliverance for “everyone who is found written in the book.” Yet first there will be a “complete shattering.” The identifying aspects of this time, according to the angel is “many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase.” The phrase here used in the scriptures “to and from,” means to travel. So, a time when travel is greatly increased and knowledge is greatly increased. I would like to suggest that this is the time in which we live.
All of this prophecy takes place on a river bank. One angel on one side, the second angel on the other side and the “man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river.” This “man,” is certainly Christ. And the question asked of the Christ is “how long.” And we see that the sign of the end of the ages is much knowledge, much travel and a complete shattering of the holy people whose names are written in the book. The saints are the holy people. The book is the book of life and now is the season. In Matt 24:3 we hear this similar question asked of Jesus “Tell us when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.” The disciples are asking this question of the man who they had personally saw walking above the waters.
And in verse nine Jesus says that they “will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake.” In Rev 13:7 we are told that at the end of ages “it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them……….all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundations of the world.” The power of the holy people will be completely shattered. The devil shall prevail against them….for a time. In that time saints, this is when the faith that our lives are founded upon and the freedom that we have been granted, will be tested.
I am writing this to the overcomer’s. To the holy people of God.To those who will endure to the end, the very end. The wisdom of God shall cause you to “shine, like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” (Dan 12:3) The man of Linen stood above the waters. The Lord Jesus stood above the waters. When the storm was raging and the waters very tumultuous, Christ was above it and He calls us to rise above the stormy waters in faith. It seems certain that Isaac would die and Abraham’s vision and promise from God would be shattered, but not so. It seemed certain that the Son of man was dead and buried and the promises of God dead and buried with Him, but not so. It will seem certain that the Holy people and the power of God is defeated, but not so. Wait, saints, wait…..wait….overcome….endure….be refined in the fires of affliction and shine like the stars in heaven, for the Son of man shall find faith on this earth when He returns.
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luk 18:7-8)
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Posted by appolus on December 26, 2021
Freedom is totally unconfined
And surely break the cords that bind
It set me adrift in the midst of an endless sea
It swallowed and consumed me, now I am surely free
Freedom is the reason that He came from up above
Freedom is His work and the consequences of
The Fathers love and His desire to set the captives free
And every saint in all the earth shall surely all agree
That freedom is the narrow path as wide as the Fathers heart
And freedom is the cords of love that never comes apart
It is the mighty rushing wind, an unstoppable incoming tide
It is the depths of the Fathers heart, the place where I shall hide
The Kingdom of God, my heart cries out, and calls it freedom land
It is the solid Rock in a sinking world, where I forever stand
It is the air I breath, each beat of my heart, which He gave unto me
It is nail pierced hands and wounded side that set my spirit free
Calvary alone attests to the work that Christ Himself has done
And to freedoms glorious victory that He alone has won
Who could have ever known that to nail Christ to a tree
Would destroy the power of bondage and set the captive free
Posted in christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, controlling churches, 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 | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on December 21, 2021
Isa 22:13 Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!
In the beginning of this chapter we see these first words “The burden against the Valley of vision.” What is this valley of vision? It is Jerusalem, surrounded by mountains and filled with prophets. A once bustling prosperous city, now quieted by the march of the Assyrians. The streets are no longer bustling with commerce, everyone has taken to their rooftops to contemplate their fate as the Assyrians devastate the surrounding regions and other nations. The valley of vision would soon become the valley of decision. What would they decide? Would they weep and mourn for the coming judgement or would they throw all caution to the wind and “eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” This is the cry of mockers down through the ages and when a nation or nations take up that mantle then the end is surely in sight.
Paul says in 1 Cor 15:32 “If the dead do not rise let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” If there is no resurrection, if there be no eternal life, if Christ was but a man who died, then this life and this life alone is all that matters. And if that were true then why would the inhabitants of the earth not make every attempt to live their best lives now? Can I argue dear saint that this is exactly the state of the world? And what a great tragedy that in a nation of vision, meaning a nation that knows the truth, that has been taught the truth, that has indeed been blessed by the truth, that this very nation would be the foremost nation in eating and drinking and being merry for they see no eternal tomorrow.
Isa 22:2 “Your slain men are not slain by the sword.” Imagine the horror of being dead but not being dead. It is said that the brave man dies one but the coward dies a thousand times. Our nation is a nation of slain men. Fear stalks the streets. A virus has shut down our commerce andour industry but its not really the virus at all that has shut the wheels of commerce down, it is the fear that stalks men’s hearts, they die every day. Cowards led by cowards. Men without faith, men given over to the world, men who should know better. The Assyrians drew ever closer to Jerusalem and commerce began to dry up and food became scarce in the cities. Can you see it saints? Can you see the hearts of men today?
Now after all of this men should contemplate their fate. They should call out to God. They should fall on their faces in mourning and weeping and repentance. The should decide. They have the Word, they have the Truth among them, now, shall they weep? God calls for weeping and for mourning but strangely He hears joy and gladness. Not the joy and gladness of a people at rest and at peace with God, but the kind of joy that comes when men have thrown of God and made a decision about their fate. They shall eat, they shall drink and the drink will cause the fool to be merry even as that same fool stands under the shadow of the gathering clouds.
Joel 2:1 Blow a rams horn in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of Jehovah comes, for it is near at hand.
So brothers and sisters, do likewise. Blow the trumpet. In Joels day they lost everything to a devastating plague of locusts. Not an ordinary plague, a devastating supernatural plague designed to call the people to repentance. In the last 20 years we have seen 9/11, a tsunami that was unknown in our times or our history books, Hurricane Katrina and then a financial meltdown that took the world to the brink. We have had wars in the middle east and now a pandemic. In Joels day they had just over 30 years before they were invaded and destroyed. They did not heed this warning from the prophet or even the judgment. They managed to get back on their feet again, just in time to be destroyed. We are laboring under the same illusion, just trying to get back to “normal.’ The decision is this. Weep and mourn and cry out to the Living God, or eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. You shall surely die for all men die, but the fool dies eternally.
Could the Chinese be the Assyrians? Could America be swept up in civil war? I hear the howls of protest. “We have fortified our walls, we are too strong.” “We are far too sophisticated to ever again be destroyed by civil war.” Wrong on both accounts. There is no “fortifications,’ that cannot be brought down. Isa 19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Even now the hearts of Americans are turned on each other. How much more would it take for them to tear themselves apart? It is mere pride that says these things can never be. Think of how it staggered the minds of the Apostles to learn that not one stone would be left un-turned in the destruction of Jerusalem. And Jesus wept. It is better for men to weep over their own fate for in the weeping they may find a way back to God. But when God weeps for man……woe is man. Decide today whom you will serve.
Posted in Babylon, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of england, church of scotland, consequences of sin, end times, End Times Eschatology, False Prophets, God's voice, Jesus, prophecy, prophet, 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 | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on December 16, 2021
1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
A singular focus saints. Do you have a singular focus? Is that focus the Lord Jesus Christ and Calvary? If we ever get away from this singular focus, and I would argue that almost all of Christendom has, then we are in a world of trouble. Jesus and the cross and the resurrection is the beginning, the middle and the end of the story. The modern day minister or pastor does not present himself in weakness and fear and much trembling. Why not? Well, we would despise him if he did. Rather he must be confident and self assured. He must have the ability to use persuasive words. This is the power of men but it is not the power of God.
There is a hidden wisdom of God that has been directly created to speak to the hidden aspects of man. It cannot be adequately described, it can only be experienced. There are no words to describe what it means for a man to communicate, by the power of the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God knows the things of God. And therefore only by the Spirit of God can we know anything of God. The wisdom of God has been expertly wrapped up in what the world considers to be foolish. It is therefore true that those of the world cannot discover such wisdom outside of the Spirit of God Himself who highlights, promotes and convicts all men everywhere of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Are you strong in the eyes of the world or in the eyes of your congregation or those you gather with? Do you speak with persuasive words? Or are you determined in your spirit to not know anything save Jesus and Him crucified? This is foolishness to the world saints. This is foolishness to your average congregation. Do they not rather wish to hear the wisdom of man? Tell us how to live. Tell us what God says about this, tell us what God says about that. Where are the men with the singular obsession with Jesus Christ our Lord and Him crucified? Therein lies all the solutions to every problem you will ever have. The cross. The further the cross recedes into the background, the further we get from victorious living and the more we rely on the wisdom of man which only takes us still further away. God in heaven help us to determine to know nothing other than Christ and Him crucified.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, churches, 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 | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on December 14, 2021
Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
What does it mean to be blameless before the Lord? How can an imperfect heart be perfect before the Lord, blameless in all of its ways? Are we not called as saints to live blameless lives, exemplary lives? Indeed we are. No one should be able to bring a reproach against us. This is the high calling of God on our lives. We have been so taken up with the false notion that we are just “sinners saved by grace,” that many measure the standard of their lives by the lowest possible denominator rather than Christ Himself. This has been disastrous.
Holiness. Righteousness. Is this the desire of your heart? Do you want the righteousness of Christ to shine through your lives for all the world to see? Do you want to live a holy life as unto the Lord? The Lord knows the heart, He sees the desire of it. The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hew 4:12) God knows the heart. The imperfect heart can be blameless before the Lord for He knows our motivations.
The beat of the longing heart echos throughout the ages. The righteousness of Christ rules supreme and we find our righteousness in Him alone, but the blameless heart is a beautiful thing unto the Lord. He is never fooled. He knows the intent and the motivations of His children. And all of this should cause us to come up higher as we are drawn to the beauty of His holiness. Let others be satisfied with pronouncing themselves as mere sinners, but let the saint know that the righteousness of Christ flowing through them shall reflect upon the darkness of this world. We must have a longing heart saint, a heart that above all else desires to seek Him first and His righteousness. Let us be found blameless.
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Posted by appolus on December 12, 2021
Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
There are two broad categories of people within the realms of Christendom. One group is very large and the other fairly small. The smaller group are the folks that the above scripture alludes to. The other group are religious, with all its many facets. The good, the bad and the ugly but of course in the end its all darkness to those who cannot discern the voice of God. Those who cannot be moved by His Spirit, who do not have the laws of God written upon their hearts and their minds will always stumble and become the antagonist towards those who are so moved.
Let me give you a hypothetical. Abraham has his son of promise. Oh how long he waited. He and Sarah finally had what they knew that God had promised. Of course Abraham had told others of this child and the promises associated with him and the nation that would be born in him. And one day, seemingly out of nowhere, God tells Abraham to take his son and kill him. Now imagine what his closest friends would make of that. Imagine what his own wife would make of that. Can you hear their arguments? “Abraham you’re mad. God would never contradict Himself. You have misheard. Under no circumstances must you do this.”
And here we have the difference between those who know the voice of God and those who merely know truth. It is all true what they would say. Isaac was certainly the child of promise. Everything that God had promised Abraham would come to pass. Yet Abraham knew the voice of God. And in the end, those who shall be led by His Spirit will know the voice of God, for His very will is written upon our hearts. We must obey God even when we do not fully understand. There are plenty of men who only know the truth as it is written, but it has not be written upon their hearts.
The Holy Spirit is not leading them and guiding them and inspiring them to know and understand the words written. Outside of the Holy Spirit there is but a two dimensional understanding of the Scriptures. The revelation of the word of God can only be discerned by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Everything else is religion. Common wisdom would say that Isaac should not be taken up the hill. If Abraham had not taken his son up the hill then he would not be the father of faith. Yet, as always, the just shall live by faith. And the deaf? They shall stumble in the darkness.
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Posted by appolus on December 7, 2021
Zec 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts.
This is such a well known Scripture, probably quoted millions of times a year around the world. How much consideration or perhaps even knowledge of the context of this Scripture is brought to bear when this is quoted? The context of course is the vision of the lamp-stand and the two olive trees. The lamp is vitally connected to the two olive trees. While the connection remains, the lamp can never burn out. Are we not vitally connected to the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit? No lamp has any real value without the light that it produces. Our power and our might cannot light the lamp, only the oil can.
What happens to the lamp when it is disconnected from the source of oil? The light goes out. What happens to you saint when you are disconnected from the Holy Spirit? I hear the howls of protest at the mere thought that somehow we can disconnect ourselves from the Holy Spirit, or that we can quench the Holy Spirit in our lives. King David famously cries out in psalm 51 “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” We can quench the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can disconnect ourselves so to speak when we sin and when we hold onto that sin.
Let me give you this example. As a married couple has there been times when you and your spouse have not spoken? You are still married, still living in the same house, probably still sleeping in the same bed, but not talking. A “distance,” has been created. Even in bed, staying to your own side of the bed. A emotional distance, a physical distance a break in the relationship. Yet, still married, still cohabiting. So, this “distance,” is the problem. The Scriptures recognize “distance.” We are told to “draw near,” to God and He will draw near to us, is that not right? In that very same scripture (James 4:8) James tells us to “cleanse,” our hands and purify your hearts. Humble yourself, he says, in the sight of the Lord and He shall raise you up.
Humility is the key to vital connection. You cannot be vitally connected to God and walk in pride. A man and a wife cannot come back together again until someone humbles themselves and asks for forgiveness. Only then does the oil begin to flow. Only then does the darkness flee as the Light begins to break forth. Only then does the communication begin afresh and closeness is reestablished and intimacy is restored. Only by the Spirit of God can there be light. Only by the Spirit of God can there be communication, and most importantly, only by the Spirit of God can there be intimacy. When the oil is flowing, every obstacle is laid low. Not even a mountain can stop you, for it shall crumble before you with shouts of grace, grace, marvelous grace!!!!
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Posted by appolus on December 1, 2021
The Body of Christ, has not changed down through the centuries, always at her core she has been called to be a witness, an eye-witness to God’s glory. This is the essential heartbeat of Gods Remnant bride and always will be. In this role she has been used as a sanctuary, the sanctuary, the Holy of Holy’s. She is a tabernacle in the wilderness, she is Gods temple here on earth. At the same time she has always been despised by the religious spirit because she speaks truth to power. In these last days God says in His word through His prophet Zechariah that ” In that last day a fountain shall be opened up for the house of David,” and God Himself says again through the prophet that ( speaking of Christendom) “Two thirds in it shall be cut off and die. But one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say ” This is my people.” (Zec 13:8-9)
And so we see that a fountain shall be opened in that day for the house of David. Can you imagine how welcome a fountain would be in the midst of a dry and thirsty land, a land racked with drought and famine? I want us, as we consider the role of the remnant, the Body of Christ, in the last days, to look at two men of God and see what parallels we can draw. Let’s look at Noah and as we look let’s think about the context of the time in which he lived. It’s a time and a place of great wickedness and as we know, there would only be a tiny fraction saved. Noah is commissioned to build an ark over a long period of time. Now, we know that Noah faced ridicule and scorn. First of all what he was building have never been built before. Secondly, rain had never fallen from the sky and the notion that the whole earth would be covered by a flood was preposterous to all who lived then.
Every day Noah’s hammer could be heard, every day the ark took shape and was rising up. The continuous hammering would have been a great source of irritation to all around him. Noah would have to keep building despite the ridicule and the scorn and the anger because the rain was surely coming and he was being obedient to his calling. We too as Gods remnant people have to keep true to what the Lord has called us to. We are also in the ark business. There was one place of salvation when the rains of judgment began to fall, it was the ark. Can I put it to you brothers and sisters that the remnant church of God is God’s ark built by the hands of Jesus.
With the judgments beginning to fall, with the beginning of the birth pangs, it will become apparent that God has a people who have not bowed the knee to Baal. God is getting ready to reveal His ark by bringing judgment and allowing the rise of the anti-christ. This ark will be a witness to the glory of God and His way of escape. This ark will be used as a last chance for the un-redeemed of the world to be saved before final judgment. This ark will be revealed to the world by isolation and persecution, all of the world will see this ark and they will be without excuse when that day comes, for this ark is the glory of Christ here on the earth and He reveals Himself through what He has built.
Now lets consider Joseph and consider the context and the back-drop of his day. Here we have Joseph who has been called to save a remnant. “And God sent me before you to save a Remnant in the earth and to save your life by a great deliverance.” ( Gen 45:7) Before Joseph could do this he had to be scorned and ridiculed by his own. Because of dreams and visions that scorn turned to anger and hatred. He was then rejected and sold into slavery. He becomes a slave and then is wrongfully accused and ends up in prison, seeming forgotten and forsaken. Yet, God of course had never left him. This is part of the remnant path. Many will relate even as they read this. Yet God had not forsaken Joseph and even in prison Joseph moved in the supernatural and he found God’s favor. He was able to interpret dreams and visions and this would lead him to see that a great famine was coming upon the land. He was able to make provisions that would save “A Remnant in the earth.”
Can you see the pattern behind this brothers and sisters? Can you relate to the suffering and the rejection and the seeming forsakeness that Joseph surely felt as he languished in the prison, far from home and separated from everything he knew? The pattern is that when there is great judgment coming upon the land, God has a people or a person whom He will send ahead to enable whoever will, to escape that judgment. God has created such a vehicle in His remnant. And they too, just like Joseph, must be despised and rejected by the very one’s they have been sent to save. Of course, this is the divine pattern. We see our Lord Jesus walk down this path. He came from the glories of heaven and the right hand of the Father, emptying Himself and humbling Himself in order to walk amongst those who He had come to save, yet He became despised and reject, tortured and killed.
And now with the final judgment fast approaching, the ark which Jesus has been building for 2000 years is almost ready. God’s remnant church from every possible background and across all denominational lines ( artificial walls built by men and not by God) down through the last 2000 years have been scorned, ridiculed hated and despised and hunted down and killed and almost all of this was done by ” their own.” Their own being people who would profess God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him. Yet God in His mercy will reach out and continue to reach out through His Body while there is yet life in them. A witness until the very end. A faithful Body and a people without excuse.
The Body of Christ is everywhere. It is in every village, every town , every city and every nation on the earth. There are countless millions of Gods own children around the world. For the most part they are swallowed up in Christendom with its multiplicity of divisions and man made walls. Yet, the closer to Christ’s return the more and more difficulty the Body of Christ will find within the dwelling places and kingdoms of men. Could a saint really stay within the confines of any organisation that has corrupted itself with the world? This will be the ever increasing pressure that will be brought to bear on the saints in the coming days. Only the individual saint can answer this question for his her self. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit must be a lamp unto our feet. Too many men’s discernment comes from what other men have spoken. As the darkness increases our need for the light that shines forth from the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit who gives us not only revelation but inspiration only becomes greater and greater.
We have a God who will never leave us nor forsake us. We must trust Him with our whole hearts. No matter how scary things become, in fact because of what is to come, we must trust Him with our whole hearts and follow His lead even if we cannot see the bigger picture. The Word of God and His doctrines were written to be understood by even the simplest among us, in fact God delights in confounding the wise by the simple. The doctrines of men are generally complicated and confusing. Stay with the Word, lean upon the Holy Spirit for understanding and insight and revelation of Christ’s glory and do all of this with your whole heart and you will not go far wrong. He did not leave us as orphans, praise God, we have a Father in heaven whom we can call Abba and He will lead and guide His children through not only good times but through the darkest valleys and the narrowest portions of the path that leads back home.
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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 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?
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of england, church of scotland, consequences of sin, 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 | Leave a Comment »
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 »
A Call To The Remnant 