You must become temporary residents or travelers in this world.
We have put our roots down in a world that we are only passing
through, to the point that the culture has overtaken faith. 1 Peter 2:11.
Peter tells us to be aliens to this world and to abstain from fleshly
desires that war against us. What are these things that war against
us? The very culture of self that we live in today – from sexual
perversion to self-centered greed, to the attitude that we deserve
anything we want. This culture has brought down basic values and
destroyed the family in this nation. Just like Lot in Sodom, we have
grown so comfortable with the life it provides us we don’t even care
about the sin around us. We have adjusted our religion to fit the
culture. We are at a point where nothing shocks us anymore, but
as long as we can keep our comforts it’s OK. We love this world
and the things it affords us so much, we have missed the narrow
path and are trying to turn a deaf ear to the warnings of God for us to repent.
Faith is of two kinds: nominal and real. The nominal faith is the faith that accepts what it is told and can quote text after text to prove it. It’s amazing how nominal faith and nominal belief can weave these texts into garments, cloaks and curtains for the Church. Read the rest of this entry »
Men are so determined to do it themselves that when a man is saved, that is not the end. He now has to be broken, he has to know that everyone of his efforts will lead to nothing but defeat. It may take one year, it may take fifty years, but every genuine follower of Christ will be broken and when the brokenness comes and total surrender comes, then, and only then do they realize that it is all God and none of them. We are the recipients of mercy and grace, not of wages. Read the rest of this entry »
As many of you may know, “The Christian Children’s fund,” has just changed its name and taken the “Christian,” out of it. In the coming days and years, the name of Jesus will become more and more offensive as the enemy begins his concerted attack against the King of Kings. Read the rest of this entry »
The moments I have spent in your sanctuary, rob me of all of my words and render them all meaningless. I feel heavenly words in all of me, not just in my brain and in my mouth, but in my very essence. Who and what you are is in my very DNA in your presence, and every particle of me glows with who you are in your presence , and I know that I cannot dwell there for I would that I would never leave that place. And so that I can go on living I must only dwell there for a moment, but oh what a glorious moment, these moments are my very life. Read the rest of this entry »
Yes, even in the very depths of our trials, we can call upon that name, the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name. The name by which everything must bow. Darkness must flee at that name, mourning must flee in the presence of Jesus. Hopelessness becomes hope in the presence of the Lord. Bitterness becomes forgiveness, strife becomes peace, captivity becomes freedom Read the rest of this entry »
Only eye-witnesses to His glory will suffice as the days of history draw to a close. To tell others a story that you have been told is not good enough. Can you say, with the prophet “My eyes have seen the King?” Have you experienced the fullness of God? Has your whole “house,” been shaken by His majesty and His splendor? Is your feet beautiful? Read the rest of this entry »
This peace which surpasses all understanding comes within the circumstances themselves, and not when we are alleviated from them. It can only come in the midst of the fire. The question is, do we really want to be more like Christ? Do we really want this peace? Or, do we simply wish an escape from our circumstances, most of which are of our own making. God is a God of perfect justice and the scope of that perfect justice is a frightful thing indeed, but only to those who seek to justify themselves.
This intimacy, this presence is the key to all aspects of our Christianity. There is no difficulty in Christendom today that could not be resolved by the presence of God. That is why it all comes back to Calvary. Calvary is the expression of absolute Love, absolute surrender, absolute victory. It is the totality of the expression of God’s love for the world. Read the rest of this entry »
You have gathered here today in defiance of darkness and tyranny. You have come here to fight as free men and free men you are, for it is I that gave you that very freedom. So you see with your eyes that you are few and they are many, you see that you are vastly outnumbered. Will you fight today?Read the rest of this entry »
There is a time for shouting and praising God, but if we are ignoring the knocking, then we must stop shouting. If our lives are not reflecting the Glory of God, if we are not becoming like His Son, daily, then all of our shouting and praising God will just be so much noise. How tragic for the church of the living God if, when He looks down, He does not see praise but just a group of people making a noise.”Read the rest of this entry »
“Jesus has many who love His kingdom in heaven, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share His feast, but few His fasting.All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to suffer for His sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of the bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion. Many admire the miracles, but few follow Him to the humiliation of the cross. Many love Jesus as long as no hardship touches them.”
This is a vision that I had as I stood on a terrace in Croatia. My wife and I went there last year on our 25th anniversary. Before I went the Lord had shown me that I would meet someone there and that it would be significant, just did not know that He was talking about Himself. The whole piece was my vision, He gave me a new way of writing my testimony and of writing about coming into His presence, then the Word that He gave me for the church, I wrote in red at the end. I pray that this will challenge and convict you………….
They will gather together and throw in their gold and rise up and play, or in this case, fall down and play. You see the people are without leadership, and the Lord has with-held His rain. So the people have demanded gods to go before them, listen to what they said to Aaron…”make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. “
Madam Guyon writes…………….I am deeply grieved that so many in this day(she lived 300 years ago, people never change)even some good people, allow themselves to be led astray by the enemy. Has not God warned us against false prophets and lying wonders of the last days? All true prophets have spoken in the name of the Lord-”Thus says the Lord.” The enemy gains great advantage because people love extraordinary manifestations, signs and wonders. I believe the inordinate love of external signs is used of the enemy to draw people away from the Word of God and from the inward way of faith.The signs that come from God encourage you to die to yourself. (Intimacy with Christ..p21)
string> If you are known personally by God, If He knows every hair of your head, then how is it that you could ever imagine yourself insignificant? Is that not a lie from the pits of hell? How much evil and mischief has the enemy of your soul been able to achieve by simply convincing you that you have no worth and are insignificant?Read the rest of this entry »
The only true path is the path that begins with and ends with “Yet not my will be done but thine.” This is the glorious path of victory, the path of faith, the path of death but this path leads to life and that more abundantly. It will be the life that He chose for us, with all of its trials and tribulations, but to be in the radical center of His will is to be on the narrow path that leads to life.Read the rest of this entry »
Its about being transparent in our walk with Him. Its about taking back ground and being more effective for Him. Its about the fact that darkness must flee when it is exposed to light. This is the battle and it mostly takes place in the mind, the flesh demanding that it be protected at all costs, not wanting to be “humiliated,” or “humbled,” in the sight of man.
If it was not for this fire, that rages in the night
This blood that runs like molten to my soul
I would fall into the darkness, never more to fight
My light would be consumed and the dark would take its toll