Archive for the ‘spiritual growth’ Category
Posted by appolus on June 24, 2021
The Holy Spirit spoke to me the other day in answer to an inquiry as to what was going on with me. “You have been holding on for so long that you do not know how to let go.” Let go of what you might ask? Everything.
It is within my own grasp that all fear exists, and the tighter the hold the greater the fear. And so this new place that I have been walking in with the Lord is the place that appears when you let go.
And the letting go was such a foreign concept to me that the Holy Spirit had to tell me what it was. And I thought to myself “surely it cannot be that simple?” And the answer is that it is, it is profoundly simple. And the cost? Everything that you have. Let it go. Hand it over. He who the Son sets free is free indeed.
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Posted by appolus on June 6, 2021
It is a beautiful thing when you begin to realize that you are God’s work. When we discover that we need only to yield to the hammer and the chisel, give way to the potters hands. The only thing that holds us back is our resistance. It is our dreams that hold us back. Our desires, our ambitions. They may all be perfectly fine dreams and desires, but not for us saints. In the end it is about walking with God and that being the desire of our heart, to be like Enoch who was like Adam, prior to the fall.
The world is full of smoke and mirrors. It is full of expectations. And for the most part, even the most beautiful expectations are tyrannical. They compete with God and God is jealous. To know God fully we have to give ourselves to Him fully. He stands with open arms, we need only cast everything else aside and walk deeper into His heart.
For God’s children, it all comes down to time. this is our most valuable commodity, and it is typically right here where we “rob” God. Where we choose “other lovers.” God is jealous for our time, for our thoughts. If I were a great artist and somehow deemed to paint you and told you that it would take many sessions to complete but in the end it would be a masterpiece and would be shown in the finest art galleries all over the world, would you show up for your sessions? Would you be easily distracted and forget about your appointments with this famous painter? And if you did forget about them, then in the end your painting would simply be incomplete. The Artist awaits, where are you?
For those who give themselves fully into the Masters hand, for His will and for His good pleasure, they become something beautiful, something marvelous. We were not much at all to start with but somehow, with limited materials, the God of all creation has crafted something outstanding. He has taken ashes and out of that He has created His own personal work of art, you. Has He finished His work in you? Are you missing your appointments? Give Him your most valuable asset, give Him your time?
Do not get distracted by the shiny objects of this world. Do not get distracted by your husband. Do not get distracted by your wife, by your family or your work. You must love Him more than all of these things otherwise you are not worthy to be His disciple, you will be an unfinished piece of work on the shelf. God wants to display His work. You are His work, His witness, His light, Christ in you the hope of glory!
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Posted by appolus on May 31, 2021
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal 5:24)
This is a very well known passage of Scripture. It is important to know, that despite the fact that your flesh has been nailed to the cross, it does not mean that your flesh is dead. It does mean it is defeated. Now the question is “shall you surrender to the nails?”
Now, crucifixion is, by design, a long , slow death. In this, the Romans were barbarically ingenious. They had designed a means of death that would take a very long time. So, although we often understand our need for the flesh to be crucified, we have little understanding of the process. Many theologians will simply say that the flesh is crucified therefore it no longer has any influence over us. This is wrong. It is important to remember that a crucified man is not a dead man as such, he is a crucified man. Death will come, one is indeed dying, but how long the death? That would depend upon our fight and our struggle against the nails.
In the end, this life that we lead is a crucified life. It is life on the cross. If we could see men with Spiritual eyes, we would see the men and the women of Christ with a cross upon their backs. It is the mark of the genuine saint. Victory comes on the cross. It is the ultimate victory to be able to say from a cross “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.’ There is no sanctification unless there is a cross upon your back. So saint, this day I ask you, shall you surrender to the nails? Let go and commit your spirit to the Lord this day. You can struggle or you can surrender.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's voice, inspirational, Jesus, revival, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, 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 | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on May 28, 2021
As I walk each morning I am always on the lookout for deer. It is a heavily forested area I walk through and so it can be difficult to see anything. Of course you could walk at dusk or dawn and increase your chance of seeing them, but you just never know. I was walking the other day and looking into the foliage and suddenly realized that I was looking right at the deer and she was looking right back at me. It was as if just one second before she was invisible but then she just appeared before my very eyes and I wondered how I did not see her before. I took my grandson with me a few times, I really wanted him to see the deer, he really wanted to see them. I took him at the right time and the right places but we never saw one.
I thought about the manifest presence of God. I thought about seeking God. I thought about the wind and how we never know where it will blow next. It seems to me this is the way with God. If I only walked every now and again, or gave up walking because I never saw deer, it is likely that I would never see the deer. Yet, because I walk every day and seek every day, all of a sudden, there is the deer right there, looking at me. As it is with the deer, so it is with God. He is looking for those who will search diligently for Him, in fact the word says He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And the reward? “I am your exceeding great reward.” To ” know,” that He knows you, that He sees you, that He is watching over you. May our souls long after Him today and every day and if they do, all of a sudden, He is there.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Devotions, God's love, hope, Ignited Church, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, revival, signs and wonders, spiritual growth, Spirituality, 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 May 24, 2021
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
What a great tragedy that all men sinned and had fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus our Lord is the glory of God. When men fall short of God’s glory they fall short of Jesus. He is our prophet, our priest and our King. The prophets had longed to see the day that the Messiah walked the earth, and now, here He was. Yet He had come not to bring righteousness to men through the law, but by grace through faith. The unmerited favor of God would be extended to all men, the Jew and the Gentile. All had fallen short of the glory that was manifested in Christ the King. Yet now all the world would be extended this righteousness of God by faith. Trust in God and believe in Him and you shall be saved. Saved from sin, saved from death, saved from darkness saved from eternal darkness.
And now we who know Him, do not fall short of His glory. We stand amazed in it. We revel in it. We children of the living God are one with the Father and the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:(Joh 17:22) We are one in Him and we have beheld His glory. We no longer fall short of it, we are immersed in it. This is our destiny, that the world will see Christ in us, that they will see His glory from afar, and be drawn to it so that they too may behold His glory and not fall short of it. If He be lifted up by sanctified saints baptized by fire, then they that are drawn to Him shall also be engulfed in the fire of His glory.
God has no pleasure in those who draw back from the glory. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.(Heb 10:38) The saints of God ever want to please their Father in heaven. God’s overcoming saints are not those who draw back. They are those who with boldness enter into the holiest by the blood of Christ our Lord. By a new and living way we draw near, through the veil, into the presence of our High priest; with true hearts and holding fast the full assurance of our faith. Men who profess His name may draw back and fall short of His glory, but we saints shall draw near and stand amazed in the glory. And the world will know that Jesus and all His glory was sent from heaven as the manifest expression of God’s great love.
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Posted by appolus on May 21, 2021
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Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven:
A door opened in heaven!! What is this, what can it mean? If such a door existed and we had access to it should we not find it and walk through it? Just a few sentences earlier we hear about the door;Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.(Rev 3:20)
There is, it seems, a door that we as children of God can open, and when that door is opened we can sit down with the Lord at His banqueting table, glory to God. Again a few sentences before that we hear Jesus say I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.(Rev 3:8)
This open door to glory, this door to heaven, this access to the throne room belongs to the child of God. The ability to come before the Father and bow down and cry out Abba uniquely belongs to the enduring overcoming child of the living God. No man can shut this door, no power on earth can shut this door, Satan himself cannot shut this door. It has been given by the hand of God to His child and no one can rob him of it.
This is the glories of walking with the Lord with an open heart, to walk in His presence and according to His ways. This is the promise of Jesus to His faithful followers, that no matter what happens, no matter how dark the hour , no matter how fierce the opposition, the saints can walk in the glories of God and have access to His throne and to His presence and that He would keep them from the hour of temptation.
Now that word keep is better translated guard. To the loving Church who does not deny the name of Jesus and keeps His word, He guards them from that hour of temptation that is coming upon the world. Temptation loses its power for those who draw near to Jesus. To draw near to Jesus we must have an open door in our hearts, our hearts must be open to His glories and then we shall have the power to stand fast and let no man steal our crown.
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September 16
Posted in bible, Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, hope, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, revival, scripture, spiritual growth, Spirituality, 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, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on May 10, 2021
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being,
If we are passionate worshipers of Jesus, then everything else is secondary. If Jesus is the primary object of our passions, then everything else becomes the by-product. If we ever get that wrong, we cease to be effective. If soul winning is our primary object, we cease to be effective soul winners. If faith is our primary object then we cannot be faithful. If Holiness is our primary object than we cannot be holy. If revival is our primary object then we will never see revival. Outside of Jesus being the primary object of our lives then we immediately begin to lose ground in every aspect of our walk, whether we are pastors or teachers or whatever role we have in the Body.
I would argue that the saints who have rocked this world for Jesus are the saints who have walked in intimate communion with Him. He is the source of all love and majesty and glory and power. Only by abiding in Him ( Him being our primary object) can we walk in forgiveness and mercy and grace. Out of the abundance of the passion that we experience as we walk with Jesus as our grand obsession comes the overflow that changes those around us and brings light into a dark world. Are you being ineffective in your walk? Have you wondered why? Is Jesus the primary object of your life? Is there joy in you life? Is there glory in your life? Are you an over-comer? Do you have a thankful spirit?
Listen saints, if Jesus is truly the primary object of your life then what flows from that is love, joy, peace, faithfulness, thankfulness, forgiveness and so on. How often have I heard a saint say, on any one of the aforementioned issues “I need to work on that.” That is quite exactly wrong. No amount of “work,” can muster up joy nor thankfulness nor love nor any of the issues of the heart. He must be our all in all. In Him we live and move and have our being. Jesus Himself is the answer to any problem you are having, any problem. The answer lies in Him alone, the answer lies before the throne.
Whatever you seek to achieve in the Kingdom of God comes directly from the depths of your relationship with Him. Find a man who is passionate about sports and he will bore your pants off speaking about it. Find a man who is passionate about politics and he will rip your shirt of telling you all about the latest policies and issues and the state of the world. Find a man who is truly passionate about Jesus and you will find a man who is changing the world. Out of the abundance of our passion flows the power of God.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, inspirational, revival, spiritual growth, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on May 7, 2021
Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
The question is, are you content? I would argue that the whole world is looking for contentment. I certainly thought when I became a Christian that the Church would be packed full of contented people, you can imagine my disappointment. It seemed to me that most folk that I met in the church were very much like the world when it came to contentment. The world makes every mistake possible while attempting to achieve contentment, yet so do many Christians. Many people in the world believe that contentment comes through material possessions and good personal relationships. While these things are nice, they could never possibly bring the deep kind of contentment that Paul is talking about.
Now some good Christian folk would argue that your personal relationship with Jesus brings you the kind of contentment Paul is speaking about in this particular Scripture, it’s simply not true but it makes it possible. In fact only through Jesus is it possible, but He aint doing it for you. Paul had to learn to be content. It was not a question of his relationship with Jesus, rather it was a question of enduring and overcoming as he walked through fire and flood. There are choices to be made as we move along the narrow path of life. We choose to endure. We choose to give thanks. We overcome much as Jesus did in the garden when He submits His will to the Father’s.
The key word I would argue in understanding this is “learned.” He had learned to be content, there was no magic wand. No one came along and laid hands on him and suddenly he was full of contentment. Paul, time and again had to walk through the fire and continue to praise God. We see in another Scripture that we are admonished not to be anxious at all but to pray and give thanks and make supplication to God and if we did that, something supernatural would happen, a supernatural peace that passes all understanding would actually stand guard over our hearts.
Can you praise God today in spite of your circumstances? If you learn to do this, if you walk through the fire with your hands held high, trusting in God, you will come to the place that Paul came to. You will discover that peace and contentment will have nothing to do with your circumstances, which are ever-changing, but have everything to do with praising and trusting in God who is never-changing. Choose to praise the Lord in the lower reaches of the dungeon, and you will learn to be content.
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Posted by appolus on May 3, 2021
(Rom 6:6-7) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
In the emptying process He removes the stones and rocks and the clods from our hearts and refines the flesh. The desires of this world loses all of its allure as He draws us to Himself. If we yield to the process then He draws us closer. I would love to say that in my experience it has been a one-time yielding, but no, not so simple. Time and again the calling comes. The deeper and the closer we come, oftentimes the deeper the cut. Shall we yield to the surgeon’s knife? Shall we yield to the sculptor’s chisel? I would say that only a vision of heaven itself could draw us to such yielding. It is not just a matter of revelation, inspiration is a vital aspect of our relationship with the Lord.
Just one moment in His presence. Can a single moment ruin us for the things of this world? Is it possible that after that moment the world turns to black and white? Then another miracle happens. As we begin to look at the world through those captivated eyes, the color begins to return but it’s not the color of the world, it’s the color of heaven. Now one truly sees the sunset because one has been intimate with the artist. I can see a waterfall and my spirit soars because I know the hand that crafted it. The mountains raises me up to higher places, to the place where they were born. The stars in the heavens draw my eyes upwards and my spirit follows the path of my gaze and I find myself in higher places. The hand of a child, a single ray of sunshine through the clouds, a wave that crashes onto the shore, soon enough I see my Lord in all of it. I see His beauty everywhere.
Yet the darkness prevails and time and time again it comes against the light. Yet, out of that moment, out of His presence there is born an eternal longing that no darkness can quell just as no hand could hold back the tide. He comes. Yes and He comes again to those who would wait upon Him. How long shall we wait? However long it takes. This is the kind of love that would wait a thousand years. The kind of love that would fill an ocean with tears. The kind of love that was birthed in heavenly places. The kind of love that shines upon a thousand faces. And so we yield, and so we die to this world. And we are drawn ever closer to the next until the day comes when we step over into the world that has touched us and called to us.
There is glory in all of it. It is a grand tapestry and we are but a thread. Can we see the vision of the artist? Can we see the vision of the sculptor? It is not so important to see the vision of the artist or to see the finished sculpture, it only really matters that we see Him, Him who creates it all. And in seeing Him we see everything in a single moment. Now with eyes that have gazed upon the Master we see it all so differently. Have you seen Him? Can you see the world through the eyes of Him who made it all? It’s a glorious vision and it continually draws us.
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Posted by appolus on April 30, 2021
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.(Joh 1:1-5)
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All praise to God, the Word was made flesh. The love of God, the wisdom of God, the power of God, the mercy of God, the glory of God, the plan of God, the long suffering of God. All of this and much more manifested in the Word made flesh. The very representation of the God-head, manifested in the Son of God and walking among us. God commanded that light would shine out of darkness, and so into the darkness of our world stepped the Word of God made flesh, Jesus. Life, overcoming death. In death He would bring forth life. Out of the darkness of Calvary, the greatest darkness ever known, shone the greatest light ever known. The culmination of the sin of man was overcome by the one without sin.
This great light than shone out of the darkness of Calvary is the life of men. Men may be dead in their sin but the light that shines in the darkness brings life to those who are dead. This is the work of the Lord and it is a marvel to behold. In Him is life and those who know Him walk in the newness of that life and it dwells within them. This light beckons to those who are dead in the darkness of their sin to come to Him and let His light shine upon them. Man will do one of two things, he will run to it or he will run from it. Those who run to it are consumed by it. It overwhelms them and transforms them and fills them with unspeakable glory. They have penetrated and have been penetrated by impenetrable light. The glory of God and the redemption of man, purified as His own special people.
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Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, new wineskins, religion, revival, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The Psalms, the remnant, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 26, 2021
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Imagine you are crossing a great river. The world is on one side and you are headed toward the other side, the heavenly side. Each time you are obedient, each time you turn your back on sin, another stepping stone appears before you and you move forward towards your goal. One step at a time on the road to glory. It is by obedience that we make forward progress towards a deeper walk with the Lord and we overcome.
Now, there are two main categories of obedience. One is a legalistic obedience and the other is glorified obedience. Brokenness, submission, surrender and love must be the building blocks of our obedience. If we simply try to be obedient without first taking these steps, revealed to us through the word and the Holy Spirit, we will discover that there is an obedience that binds us in chains and the weight of these chains will drag us down and drown us. Yet, obedience born out of love and a desire to please the one that we love frees us and fulfills us and propels us on.
Glorified obedience, one motivated by love and awe of a righteous holy God and a revelation of Calvary is like the watering of a tree. There can be no fruit produced unless that tree is watered by the living waters of obedience. Striving to be obedient without the fruits of brokenness will lead to a desert landscape in which nothing can live. The motivations of our heart, the seat of our affections that sets our eyes upon Jesus and the Holiness of God takes us from glory to glory.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's love, healing, intimacy, Jesus, religion, religious, revival, sanctification, spiritual growth, Spirituality, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, the remnant, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 25, 2021
What does it mean to rob from yourself? In the natural, it would be quite impossible to rob from yourself for after all, everything that you have, according to this world, is your own. So quite naturally you cannot rob from yourself. Yet in the realms of the Spirit, in the Kingdom of God, you can most certainly rob from yourself.
Let us say that God has gifted you in some way. Denying that gift is robbing from yourself. You are taking from yourself what was given to you by God. You can rob yourself of peace. You can rob yourself of joy. Contentment, self control, holiness, all of these things you can rob from yourself. We like to blame the devil for a lot of stuff, but most people that I have ran into with this problem are simply robbing themselves. Do not get me wrong, the devil will take full advantage of the circumstances. Yet, when we take from ourselves that which was given to us we are robbing ourselves of the good gifts of God.
We can even rob from ourselves by taking what does not belong to us. Now that does not seem to make any sense, right? Bear with me. When you look into your future, whether it is tomorrow or next week or next month and you take from it and add it to your reality today, you are robbing yourself of today’s peace with tomorrows troubles. Tomorrow does not belong to you. In the realms of your imagination you have created any number of scenarios for yourself which you have no possible way of knowing if they will ever come to pass. Your taking out a loan of fear and paying a huge amount of interest on a debt that should not exist. Foolish man or woman, how do you even know you shall be alive tomorrow?
You are not only robbing from yourself but you are robbing from God, He alone holds your future. It is disobedience. Repent of that and give that borrowed/stolen burden to God right now. Take what you have been given and live it to the fullest today. Live in the glorious gifts of joy and peace and grace and forgiveness. Live in contentment with thanksgiving. Understand and know what the Lord sees when He sees you. Do not take from the past and steal from the future and nullify your present. If you do, you will be robbing from God and robbing yourself of the promises of God that are enjoyed through obedience.
In the days in which we live, that grows darker with every passing moment, we must grasp a hold of who we are in Christ. Is it any wonder that identity is front and center in society and in politics? Identity is under attack across the board and now where is this more true than among the saints. Yes, saints, that is what you are. We have to understand about His righteousness and how we have been called to walk in it. Lift up your eyes and look upon Jesus. To look upon anything other than Jesus in your life is to magnify everything that is not of Him. Do not identify yourself as a sinner saved by grace. That is not your identity. You are an adopted child of the living God. You are not a sinner you are a saint. If you do sin, the Lord Himself has made provisions for that. Do not aid and abet Sin in robbing from you that which God has provided.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8)
Do you see what Jesus is saying there? He is not primarily giving you power to witness( although you will have that) He is giving you the power to be a witness. Can you see the difference? It means that by your very life, Christ in you, the hope of Glory, will shine out into the darkness of those around you. They see you, they see your changed life, by the power of God, and they see the reality of what God can do. How He has truly overcome hell and death and sin.That is the victory, that is the promise, that is the hope to a dying mankind. Talk is cheap, any religious man can do that, but a life that exemplifies the Word of God is the power of God and the testimony of God.
Therefore, by robbing from yourself you are robbing from God and robbing a dying world that is all around you. Let the power of God be seen in you. The very least that we can do as saints is to live an exemplary life before God and before men. Quit running to the lowest common denominator and pronouncing that to be your title. There is only one entity that wants that and it is not God. The world already understands what it means to be a sinner. It is your changed life, the victory over sin that causes them to reflect upon their own life and know that there is something more, there is hope, hope for the hopeless. Live out your title, you are a precious child of the Living God. Live your life by the power of God and be His witness. The kingdom of darkness already has its representatives. Let the Kingdom of God be seen in you among men.
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Posted by appolus on April 23, 2021
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
Perhaps you have a heavy spirit this day. You may be having a hard time imagining that things will ever change. It seems to you that tomorrow will inevitably be like today because today was just the same as yesterday, and on it goes. For whatever reason you cannot seem to shake this of. The Lord has provided us with a solution and a way of escape from every situation. He says that we should put on a “garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” If you will begin to praise Him right now, even although you do not feel like it, then the spirit of heaviness will flee.
He will lead and guide you through this difficult part of the journey. In the world, when a person is most at risk and in great danger, they rely greatly on their five senses. In the Spirit it is not so. As you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, as you negotiate the most dangerous parts of your journey, the Lord asks that you would suspend your senses, close your eyes and let Him lead you. He will lead you step by step, minute by minute, day by day and far from feeling vulnerable because you have closed your eyes, you will feel more secure than you have ever before because you have surrendered your ability to cope, and you are completely dependent upon Him
I know it can be difficult when all you can see is trouble. When all that you know is heartbreak, when everything that can go wrong seems to be going wrong. Yet if we had spiritual eyes we would see an innumerable host of angels, a cloud of witnesses, a host from heaven and most importantly, the Holy Spirit making sure that you are not crushed, that you are not overwhelmed with despair. We have, within our broken vessels, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God and we see this as we gaze upon the Lord Jesus in our hearts. For we that live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Out of the darkness of our situations, God Himself has commanded light to shine forth. And so we know that all things in the lives of those who are called according to His purpose, work together so that the grace of God may abound, through the thanksgiving of the saints even in the midst of many trials, to the glory of God. These affliction that you are suffering through, while you are going through them, seem so very long, are working in you to produce an eternal glory of great significance. Lets close our human eyes and lift our spiritual eyes and look upon the things that cannot yet be seen, for they are eternal.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's love, healing, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, new wineskins, pentecostal, revival, scripture, spiritual growth, Spirituality, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 20, 2021
To be chained in Christ
Is to be free indeed
Free to die and free to bleed
Free to walk the pilgrim way
Free to die to self each day
To be lost in Christ
Is to be found
To feel His presence all around
To plunge into the Father’s love
To walk with Him with grace from above
To be dead in Christ
Is to truly live
To truly love and to forgive
To live this life and so much more
To honor, worship and adore
To live in Christ
Is to surely die
To walk with Him who dwells on high
Alive to Christ and dead to sin
Gloriously filled from deep within
To reign with Christ
Is to surely serve
A testimony to preserve
Of the glorious King who reigns on high
Whose glory fills the earth and sky
To walk with Christ
Is to surely run
To know the journey’s just begun
To run and run and never tire
To soar with wings and ever higher
To dwell with Christ
Is to surely roam
We’ll never settle till we’re home
Pilgrim saints along the way
Ever closer every day
The paradoxes that we find
In Christ alone renews the mind
The way that seems so right to man
Is opposite to our God’s plan
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, Devotions, God's love, God's voice, healing, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, new wineskins, poetry, praise and worship, revival, spiritual growth, spiritual poetry, Spiritual warfare, Spirituality, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 18, 2021
A poem for all the people who grew up in less than perfect households
.
He who walks upon the sea of tears.
I am fragile I can be broken
Broken by the words spoken
Can't you see your words are clawing me apart?
Can't you see how you're crushing my heart?
How my heart longed to hear warm words spoken
To be warm and whole and not to be broken
Why didn't you just reach out and touch me?
And cover me and hold me in love.
The broken child in you
Now breaks the child that you can see
Two broken children collide
Only wanting to be free
I am fragile I can be broken
Broken by the words left unspoken
And this brokenness is now a void in me
That is deeper and wider than the deepest sea
What can fix a broken heart?
And fill this vast expanse in me
What can fill an endless void?
That's deeper than the deepest sea
So many tears, enough to fill an ocean
Shed by all the children, broken
A Saviour comes and walks upon this sea of tears
He calms the stormy sea and quells the fears
I have come to mend the broken heart
To heal the wounds where you were torn apart
I have come to set the captive free
To dry up every tear that fills the deepest sea
I hold the universe in the palm of my hand
I cause the blind to see and the lame to stand
And all the stars in the heavens, I know them all by name
And I will touch you and you shall never be the same
The words I speak they are life and they are love
I know every sparrow that falls from above
I created the sun and the moon and the pouring rain
I still the stormy seas and I take away the pain
Come and bring your emptiness to me
And I will fill you with a love that's deeper than the sea
Come all you that are broken and contrite
And I will heal you and set you free this night
And so I came and took my Saviour's hand
Out of the pit on the solid Rock I stand
A broken heart replaced and reconciled
Standing whole and new, I am my Father's child
And every word spoken, they are life to me
Your love and Your kindness, they have set me free
And by thy Spirit my eternity is sealed
And by thy love my broken heart was healed.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church, church of scotland, Devotions, God's love, God's voice, healing ministry, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, manifest presence, new wineskins, pentecostal, poetry, religious, revival, spiritual growth, spiritual poetry, Spirituality, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 14, 2021
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
I have a GPS system in my car. I simply put in the address and follow the blue line and I inevitably end up at my destination. Yet even with this system in place you can take wrong turns and the system will automatically “recalculate,” and give you new directions to get you back on track. This almost always involves “taking the next exit,” or doing a “legal u-turn when possible.” Sometimes when you take the wrong road but it runs near to or initially parallel with the correct road, the system still believes you to be on the right road.
As the wrong road slowly veers away from the correct road, the system at some point finally figures it out and re-directs you. Much of Christendom has taken the wrong road. Initially it runs almost parallel to the correct road and, without discernment it is almost impossible to know that you are on the wrong path. Most will simply plow ahead down the road they are directed and it’s at a point of getting lost that the person realizes that they have went astray.
When Amelia Earhart attempted her epic flight, it is reckoned that she only had to be a tiny fraction off in her calculations to miss the Island that was in the middle of the vast Pacific ocean, by hundreds of miles. To continue flying and being slightly of course, would take her ever further away from her destination. Today, Christendom is moving further and further away from its destination.
When the destination ceases to be God Himself, and the destination becomes something other than His presence, His Tabernacle, His alter, His throne room, then we simply get further and further away from Him and the narrow path that leads to Him. Only by getting off at the “next exit,” or doing a “legal u-turn” can we get back on the narrow path. The address, the destination itself must always be God Himself. Are you headed in that direction, is that what is plugged into your spirit, is He alone your destination?
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Church history, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, inspirational, pentecostal, religion, religious, revival, spiritual growth, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 9, 2021
We hear a lot about the glory of God and encountering God. I have written much about it over the years and it has radically transformed me. His manifest presence is overwhelmingly glorious and jarring, and powerfully transformative. No one can encounter God in such a manner and not be fundamentally changed. If you are not changed, you did not encounter God. Every saint must encounter God and His manifest presence.
Yet, in the span of this life and by the way we measure our lives, these encounters make up a very small part of our time on the narrow walk home. They are vital, but they are like landmarks along the way. The vast majority of our time as saints is spent in the wilderness, the deserts, the high mountain plains. We journey through trials and tribulations. We spend seasons in silence. We have many times when we cry out to God. We pass through doubts and fears and deep flooded valleys.
I watched a documentary once about the Pacific Crest trail. It runs for 2640 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington State. One of the hardest and most arduous parts of the trail is right at the beginning where hundreds of miles of desert have to be traversed. You will be hungry, thirsty and very cold at night and then suffer the heat of a blazing desert sun through the day.
When you eventually come out of that terrain, you will hit the mountains. The hikers stated that if they had not been conditioned by the harsh desert hike, they would never have had the stamina to make it up and over the mountain passes. Can you see how that works brothers and sisters? Without the great spiritual trials of our lives we would not be conditioned to make it up into the mountains and over them.
In a show called “Running with Bear Grylls,” the host takes celebrities on two day hikes through very difficult situations. On one of the shows they were in Norway, a very cold and rainy country, not unlike my home country of Scotland. He wanted to show his guest an exercise they do in special ops training. He made him create a burning ember on some bark from a tree. He then had to enter a freezing lake up to his neck and tread water for several minutes with this burning ember held aloft.
Now this is a test of endurance. The fight is against the body which is beginning to shut down. The burning embers will be his salvation when he gets out of the freezing water. When he gets out, he needs to have the wherewithal to take that burning ember and make a fire. After he makes the fire he has to get his compass out and set his bearings so that he knows which way to go when he is warmed back to life.
All of this is to test the ability to continue to think when all around you is in chaos, when your mind and body are in full rebellion against the circumstances that it finds itself in. Saints, we are regularly tested like this. I put it to you that the ember that is held aloft is the burning Holy Spirit and the Word of God. No matter what, it has to be held aloft. The compass is the same. No matter what the circumstances are we have to be able to set our compasses and know which way to go, the compass is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
And then, all of a sudden, we encounter the Living God again. It can be on the mountain top, but it is just as likely to be in the depths of the valley. The Mountain will manifest itself in the valley. Suddenly the Sun rises in the depths of the darkness and warms our cold hearts. Suddenly I know He is there. Suddenly I feel strength coming back into tired and worn out limbs. My waiting has not been in vain. Like a long lost lover, He returns. The one for whom my heart ached for is there.
And for some glorious moments I am revived in every part of who I am. The journey which I thought I could not complete suddenly becomes possible again, all things are possible when my Lord visits me. And from that place I take the lingering embers of His presence and they are life to me. The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, the long narrow path home. And I keep going, knowing that there will come again this oasis of His glory. Again and again, until I am home. Keep going saints. I love my fellow sojourners.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, manifest presence, new wineskins, pentecostal, spiritual growth, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 7, 2021
Psa 97:5-6 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.
No one stands in the presence of God, all are silent before His majesty, all are hushed as awe descends like a blanket upon the heads of His people and their heads are bowed and their hands raised up and trembling. Not because they were instructed to bow their heads or raise their hands , sit , stand ,or jump . No, no, not in the presence of God. One assumes a position before the living and the mighty God just as a natural instinct. No instructions are required as one is prostrate in His holiness. Every part of who you are is penetrated by light. It is glorious and traumatic all at the same time.
And the oil that dwells within your chest is set aflame by this light, this fire from the throne itself. “Did not our hearts burn within us as we walked with Him?” Yet we are not walking now, we are in the throne room itself, God has come down. Our whole body burns with a beautiful warmth. All things are possible, eternity stretches out before us and we never want to leave this place. The candlestick burns. God speaks, sin melts like wax, refining, yes refining. We offer ourselves and the dross that lies within and the Lord says “Come.”
What we have today bears no resemblance whatsoever to what God initiated. We have man centered church. Programs of men. Teachings of men. Musical programs. None are bad in and of themselves, they are just not God ordained. Religious social clubs. I believe that shortly, God’s people will come out of the social clubs because they will be desperate to rediscover the glory and the majesty of God and they will seek Him where He can be found.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, gifts of the spirit, inspirational, intimacy, leaving the church, pentecostal, praise and worship, spiritual growth, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The Psalms, the remnant, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 6, 2021
We were warned in 2 Cor 6:14 not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. So of course the question becomes “what is an unbeliever?” In the context of the Scriptures and the times of the Scriptures being written, a believer was someone who had trusted God with all of his/her heart.
Someone who had counted the cost. Someone who loved not their lives unto death. Someone who was willing and desirous even, to suffer for the cause of Christ, someone who would even rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus. This was a believer, and an unbeliever was someone not willing to do these things. What fellowship could one have with the other? What fellowship can hot have with lukewarm? One is desirable and the other is vomited out.
How does this apply to the modern day church? People like Tozer and Ravenhill spoke of the tiny percentage of professing believers that are actually saved. Let us be really generous and say that 30% of professing Christians are actually genuine believers, that leaves 70% who are not. Next time you go to a church building, look around and consider these numbers. The question then becomes, ” are you unequally yoked,” based upon a Scriptural model of what it means to be saved.
We are asked “what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness.” One is darkness, the other is light. Listen to the instruction given “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” Have you given serious consideration to this commandment from the Lord? What does it mean to you? Come out from what? Be separate from what? Do not have fellowship with who? These are serious questions and I cannot answer them for you.
All I can say is, if you go back to the second paragraph and see the traits of the saint, is this who you fellowship with? Jesus talks about vomit when it comes to lukewarmness. Could He make it any clearer? Are you gathering with lukewarmness? I would put it to you that you are in direct violation of the commands of God if you are. Fellowshipping with other saints is not about ticking a box. It’s not about a three minute conversation in the foyer after a “service.” It is at least two passionate like-minded individuals getting together to talk about their common passion, Jesus!!! This is what we are driven to do if we indeed have the Holy Spirit burning at the core of who we are.
We would talk about Jesus, we would talk about His word, we would talk about how He talked to us. We would talk about how He just brought us through whatever He just brought us through. We would talk about the passion of coming into His presence. We would talk about the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon us and how it was sanctifying us. We would talk about our love for one another. We would confess our faults and our failures and our sins to one another. We would talk about how He raised us up when we were down. We would sing the glories of Christ our King together.
We would talk about a word of knowledge He gave us, we would share a word of wisdom, a word in season, an exhortation. We would rebuke and correct one another. We would love one another enough to do all of the aforementioned things. The hours would fly away as we spoke about our common passion. Our bonds would grow deep and our unity would grow strong. It would not be the name of our denomination that bound us together, there would be no such thing. It would not be the four walls that we shared that would bind us together. It would be Christ alone, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that would unify us. Our identity would be in Christ alone.
We would share what the Lord had taught us and in the sharing we would be teaching one another. We would stand up and testify to His power in our lives. We would stand up and testify to the magnificent beauty of the King off Kings and of the things that we had seen in the Spirit. We would shed tears together. Tears of joy, tears of pain, tears of sorrow. When one of us suffered and testified to the suffering we would all suffer. When one would testify of great joy and overcoming an obstacle we would all have great joy together. We would pray together, genuinely pray together. We would be one in our prayers. That is the gathering brothers and sisters. I would say to you that almost none of that can or does happen when the majority of the people that we gather with live, at the very best, in lukewarmness or even outright darkness. How can light fellowship with darkness? It cannot. Consider your position saint.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Frank Bartleman, Ignited Church, Jesus, leaving the church, new wineskins, pentecostal, religion, revival, spiritual growth, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
Posted by appolus on April 5, 2021
Mat 14:14 And Jesus went out and saw a great crowd, and He was moved with compassion toward them. And He healed their sick.
There is a great multitude today who are desperately hungry and thirsty. All over the world the people dwell in great darkness and the darkness increases every day. Hell has opened its vaults and is beginning to spew out evil with increasing speed and urgency because it knows its time is short. There is desperate darkness coming and it is coming at us with alarming speed. Yet, as in the time of Noah, the world is mostly ignorant of the impending disaster about to befall it. Like the children of Israel when Jesus cries ” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”
How do you feel about the world? Do you fear the world? Do you avoid the world? Do you deliberately keep your distance from a people you know are plunging headlong into darkness? Perhaps you fear the confrontation that would take place if you challenge the world or even just stand your ground? There are a couple of things I know about the world. God so loved it that He gave His only Son for it so that they could find deliverance from their captivity and their darkness. Jesus had compassion toward the multitude, the crowd. The very same crowd He knew would be calling for His blood soon. The very same crowd He knew that were hurtling towards destruction.
Only a mere 35 years after the crucifixion Israel was destroyed as a nation. Do you love the world as our Father in Heaven loves it? Will you demonstrate that love today if the Lord points one of the crowd out to you to minister to? Be ready, the Lord is looking for wiling hearts who want to walk in divine appointments. If we hate and despise the world because of its wickedness then we will never be ready to share the good news of the Gospel. It is the heart of love, ever steadfast in the truth, that is ready for divine appointments. We can be fierce in our stance for Christ, but it must flow out of a loving heart. Lord, increase our love this day for what you love.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, religious, revival, sanctification, spiritual growth, Spirituality, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
A Call To The Remnant 