Hi brothers. Post cancer I have been writing a lot of songs. It seems to be the season that I am in. I am interested in creating songs and hymns that actually say something. It seems that many modern Christian songs are very lacking in any kind of theology and based on a formula of a few words and overlays of music and style. This is a link to 23 of my own songs that the Lord has given me, I pray that they bless you in your your thoughts and worship………………bro Frank
Archive for the ‘The presence of God’ Category
Songs of worship for today.
Posted by appolus on November 12, 2024
Posted in Christian poetry, inspirational, Jesus, new wineskins, revival, spiritual poetry, 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, theology, worship, worship music | 5 Comments »
Who are the chosen?
Posted by appolus on October 3, 2024
2Pe 1:11 For so an entrance shall be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Many are called, few are chosen! How mysterious is the words of the Lord? Who are the called? Who are the chosen? Why are the many not ultimately part of the few? What determines who belongs to the few?
In 2 Pet chapter 1 we see that we are called to add to our faith, with all diligence, virtue and knowledge and self control and perseverance and Godliness and brotherly kindness and love. If these things are ours and we abound in such things then we shall, according to the Word, never be barren nor unfruitful in our intimate relationship with Jesus. Each of these aspects of our salvation is our responsibility to nurture. A fire has been kindled in us, the fire of God in our hearts, and that fire must be kept burning. The fuel is obedience, love and grace and mercy and forgiveness. Doing good to those who hate us. Rejoicing in our circumstances. Allowing light to shine forth from darkness. Letting this mind be in us. It is we who determine our mindset.
The fruits of these works in us must be clearly visible to all. “You shall know them by their fruit.” “You shall know them by their love for one another.” Might I add that we shall be known by the Blood of the Lamb in our lives and the testimony of His works in us, clearly seen. This is the light that shines forth from us. This is the flavor of the salt. And also this “they loved not their lives unto death.” In all of these things we overcome. We overcome in Him. We must not be moved by circumstances, in fact circumstances, be they persecution or afflictions or infirmities, must be borne with the dignity of God that dwells within us. We are Royal priests in a royal priesthood a “chosen race,” a holy nation and we must display that royalty for all the world to see for we have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light! We must not suffer as the world suffers. The world understands suffering all too well, what they do not understand is joy in the midst of it all.
They cannot understand why saints would have peace when there should be no peace. And when we walk in this abundance, with all diligence, then there is an entrance that is supplied to us. This not only refers to when we die and go to heaven. There is a heavenly entrance available to Gods saints in the here and the now for the Kingdom already is and it dwells within us. We must testify of this Kingdom, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness to just this, the Kingdom of God, not just spoken of, but demonstrated to a lost and dying world. And for those who follow this path, the path of the cross and the joy that is set before it, belongs the Kingdom. Yes, many are called, but sadly few take the narrow road that leads to Calvary and resurrection life.
Posted in Babylon, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Devotions, Jesus, revival, Spiritual warfare, 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, Uncategorized | Tagged: bible, faith, God, Jesus, Kingdom of God | 1 Comment »
Where hope is born!
Posted by appolus on October 1, 2024
Isn’t it remarkable where hope is born? Its not where you think it would be. Its not in a good report or favorable circumstances, that’s the hope that is in the world. According to our Scripture hope is born in tribulation. We find hope in the depths of suffering. When our backs are to the wall we see the glory of God. “And not only that, but we glory in tribulations, knowing tribulations produces perseverance and perseverance, character, and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3)
So, hope and love and endurance and overcoming are all born in the fire, born in the crucible of life, a life in Christ. He came to send fire to the earth (Luke 12) and set us ablaze with Kingdom reality that floes in the face of everything that makes sense to the world. It all paradoxical. Finding hope in the fire? Ask the Hebrew children about their faith after they encountered Jesus in its midst. Finding hope in suffering? Ask Paul and Silas about their faith after the midnight hour, after the scourging, after the imprisonment. We discover the Kingdom realities in the presence of our enemies, what ever that enemy might be.
Consider these words “we also glory in tribulations.” (Rom 5:3)This is no mere stoic stance in the face of opposition, this is glory and mercy and peace and joy where there should be none of these things. “I take pleasure in sickness, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions and in distresses for Christ’s sake.” (2 Cor 12:9) So, he glories in persecutions and takes pleasure in everything that life throws at him, for Christ’s sake, for His glory. Everyone of these situations are an opportunity to bring down the glory and give glory to God.
“It has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” (Phil 1:29) That word “granted,’ in the Greek is “charizomai.” It means do do someone a favor. Think about that, God has granted us a favor by allowing us to suffer for His sake. It’s a privilege. And just before that in Phil chapter one we are told, in that context, to “let this mind be in you.” Let this be your conduct, let this be your heart, to understand and know just what a privilege it is to suffer for His sake and what hope and what glory there lies within these circumstances. It is the opposite mindset of the world, it is the Kingdom mind.
And when we walk in this strength, when we walk in this glory, when we allow this light to shine forth from darkness we shall walk with one mind, with one Spirit, with one Gospel, with one Body of Christ, unified by a force the world could never understand, joy and peace in the midst of suffering. For we, brothers and sisters, have set our faces like flint, just as our Lord did, for the joy that was set before Him. The joy that is birthed in trial, in suffering, in persecution and in reproaches, this is what unites us. Many are called but few are chosen and this is what unites the few into one. There in one Body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. (Eph 4:4-6)
Posted in bible, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, hope, 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, Uncategorized | Tagged: bible, faith, God, Jesus, suffering | 3 Comments »
You are my resting place.
Posted by appolus on September 4, 2024
I wrote this today from my meditations on the Lord and my great desire to stay in that quiet place with Him. This is where eternal life is, no matter what storms we find ourselves in.
You are my resting place
And deep within these realms of grace
You are so very near
You perfect love casts out all fear
And deep within this very veil
Where there's no fear and no travail
I'll throw the lines and I'll set sail
Into the depths of your heart
You are my resting place
I find in you a warm embrace
Your peace alone is my one desire
That stands with me in the midst of the fire
So when thunder crashes in angry skies
I'll pay no heed nor lift my eyes
To you alone I'll cast my gaze
Beyond the storm and above the waves
You are my resting place
It's there I look upon your face
You're my anchor Lord, within the veil
Your perfect love it never fails
So when lightening fractures the skies above
The heavens shall open and rain down with love
And I'll be soaked in your heavenly dew
As your hand takes hold and carries me through
So Lord you are my resting place
And I'm awash in a sea of grace
And when the storm is gone and there is no trace
I'll sail on, into the depths of your heart.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Devotions, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
When the weakness of man collides with the power of God-Increasing our capacity.
Posted by appolus on August 29, 2024
It is not that men are inherently weak, it’s that’s God is inherently all powerful. The strongest man that ever lived, whether in body or mind or spirit, finds his proper state before and all powerful God. He falls on his face as one who is dead. He would cry out with the prophet “I am undone. He would not have the capacity to stand in His presence. He would only see his unworthy state. It takes fire from the altar, to alter his state, to enable him to stand, to have the audacity to say “here I am, send me.”
In Isa 40:28-31 God speaks. He announces Himself as . The everlasting God. 2. Lord. 3. Creator of the ends of the earth. He never faints. He is never weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He is not powerful, He is power itself and the very source of it.It is His to give and He gives it to the weak. He is not mighty, He is might itself and from the abundance of His eternal strength, He gives to those who have no strength. Who are these recipients? Who are these weak people? They are the ones who have come to understand that apart from the Spirit of God, they can do nothing, therefore they wait.
Our understanding of our own weakness kicks down the door of our ego’s and allows the light of God to penetrate the very depths of our beings. Death to “self,” is an emptying process. We must decrease so that there can be an increase. An increase of what? The Lord Himself, in us. By dying to ourselves and emptying our “self,” we are creating capacity. And into that capacity flows the fullness of God. ….That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with the saints, what is the width and the length and the depth and height -to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God (Eph 3:14-21)
For those who are filled with the fullness of God, having waited upon Him in our weakness and low opinion of our “self,” shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint. And so the “weak,’ and those who have no “might,” shall fly, shall run and shall walk. In the dying to their “self,” they have increased their capacity and are therefore filled from inexhaustible fountains.
This is the making of the mighty men and women of valor. Warriors for Christ in the battle of the ages. Those who have humbled themselves. The broken and the contrite. The weak and the meek. They all fellowship with God in high and lofty places. To get there they need the wings of eagles. To run the race we need the strength of God. And to walk this narrow walk of faith we must have the power of God
Posted in bible, churches, Devotions, Fresh Fire, inspirational, Jesus, praise, revival, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, 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, Uncategorized | Tagged: Christendom, Christianity, holy spirit, Jesus, presence of god, spirituality, The remnant, theology | 1 Comment »
What is the glory of God?
Posted by appolus on August 13, 2024
The glory of God!! The light that reflects from God Himself is seen in Christ and magnified in our hearts. It has substance, there is an eternal “weight,” that is quite apart from gravity. This weight is the “train of His robe.” It fills the temple and it fills us to overflowing. It fills our deepest longings, It touches the very depths of our souls. It renders us changed forever. Who can stand in His glory? Who could even begin to fathom/know the depths of His love? Isaiah falls down as dead and his heart is rent. The old saints used to talk about the weight of His glory where their heads naturally bowed low and trembling hands are barely raised in the “atmosphere,” of heaven come down.”Time ceases to exist and for a moment or moments we are entirely “taken up,” to higher ground. And all of this ceases to be even the first sentence to describe Him because they are but human words. He is “sensed,” in our very DNA and whoever encounters this “manifest,” presence is changed forever.
God is high and lifted up. He is glorious in His majesty. In the presence of God there is fulness of joy. In this place there is nothing impossible. Our minds are lit up by His mere presence, the manifest presence of God. To come up and into this place is to dwell with Him. This is where we are changed. This is where the attractions of this world and everything it has to offer loses all of its meaning. One moment in the manifest presence of God does more good than a lifetime of struggling against sin. For in this light we see the true darkness of our souls and we long to never again walk among the shadows. This life is but a shadow and this flesh is the vehicle that must be inhabited until that happy day when the mere moments in His presence is transformed into eternity. If we desire God, if we truly desire to come into His presence, then we shall be as the deer that panteth for the waterbrooks.
Humility and brokenness is the door and the lintel that ushers us into this Holy place. Everything about our walk with the Lord is a contradiction to the world. In order to live we must die. In order to be truly rich, we must become poor to the things of this world. In order to lead we must serve. In order to ascend unto that holy place of His presence we must bow low. It is in the deepest valleys that the saint will discover the greatest mountaintops.We must stoop down low on bended knee in order to ascend that hill and truly see. The greatest danger of the one who brings trials and tribulations and persecutions upon the saints is that they create the perfect environment for the most radical encounters with the Living God that they will ever have had. This is why the saint who genuinely desires a radical encounter with the living God is such a danger to the enemy of our souls. If he pushes too hard against the saint, he pushes Him deeper into the heart of God and that becomes a witness that has a life all of itself. The Spirit of Glory that stands for all time.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's love, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence | 4 Comments »
The opiate of modern worship.
Posted by appolus on August 8, 2024
1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him.
There are two broad categories of people within Christendom. They are not equally proportioned. One represents the vast majority and the other a remnant, a portion, “the few, as opposed to “the many.” This distressing spirit, spoken of in relation to Saul, is alive and well among the merely religious but who, nonetheless, call themselves after the name of Jesus. They seek the same comfort that Saul sought. And we see unfolding with David and Saul, an ancient battle that has always existed right from the times of Cain and Abel. In the end, one hates the other and determines to destroy the other. For the last 2000 years, the religious have mercilessly hunted down the genuine saint just as Saul hunted down David. David had what Saul did not. It really came down to jealousy.
In the beginning, Saul would get momentary relief when David played upon his harp. Modern day worship gives momentary relief to the merely religious. Its an opiate to them. Remember, the distressing spirit would leave Saul, but his relationship with God still ceased to exist. And then, of course, the distressing spirit would return. Like drunkenness, it lasts for but a short while and when one sobers up, they are distressed once again. The real malady is the malady of the soul. The only true solution is to come to Jesus on His terms. And His terms? Very simple, He requires your whole life. Those who try to save their own lives shall lose them, but those who lose their lives for His sake gain eternal life.
Therefore, feeling good when worshiping is simply temporary if you are not rightly related to Jesus. A pain killer alleviates the pain for a while but the source of the pain remains. It is only when the spirit is truly touched and changed forever that we are relieved of this deep malady of the soul, distress. God has a controversy with those who have not bowed the knee to Jesus and that controversy causes us all kinds of problems. Note that in this Scripture it is God Himself who sends this spirit and it is God alone, through His Son Jesus that can alleviate us from it. Men will try multiple religious acts to circumvent the need to be obedient to God and lay down their lives. Bonar writes……………..
“Men try rites, sacraments, pictures, music, apparel and the varied attractions of ecclesiastical ornament, but these leave the spirit unfilled, and its wounds unhealed. They cannot regenerate, enliven, heal or fill with the Holy Spirit. They may keep up the self satisfaction and delusion of the soul, but that is all. They bring no true peace, nor give rest to the weary, they do not fill they merely hide our emptiness.” Every Sunday in churches throughout the land and across the world there are a myriad of programs and liturgies and music that merely hide the emptiness of those who sit in pews, unchanged week after week.
What would have saved Saul? Obedience to the Word of God. We are called to obey the Lord our God with our whole hearts, holding nothing back. And the evidence of the reality of our genuine obedient relationship with Jesus is a changed life. You can raise your hands in worship every Sunday but without this changed life it is a futile as the worship of Saul. Saul was not worshiping God, for true worshipers obey God and are changed, no Saul was seeking momentary relief from his inner anguish. He just wanted to feel better. We may look upon the raised hands of a crowd and imagine that it denotes something, but the “Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7)
Posted in Babylon, bible, Charismatic, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Church history, churches, Counterfeit Jesus, deception, Devotions, Jesus, praise, praise and worship, religion, religious, 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 | 6 Comments »
All is well!
Posted by appolus on July 21, 2024
Nothing more is needed
Nothing less will do
The love of God it frees the soul
He died for me and you
The sun, it is no good to me
If I cannot see it's light
So without the knowledge of His love
Then my day is simply night
It's when I'm drawn unto the light
That darkness flees away
Then my hungry soul can now proclaim
My night has turned to day
I know thy name, I've seen thy light
It raised my soul from hell
And now I say with all my might
Of my soul, that all is well!
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, Devotions, healing ministry, 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 | 1 Comment »
To crucify rather than to elevate.
Posted by appolus on July 2, 2024
We are warned in the Scriptures that the times would come when men and women will not put up with sound doctrine, instead, in order to suit their own desires, they will gather around themselves a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears desire to hear. They will turn away from the truth. (2 Tim 4:2-5) We are warned that there are whole groups of “teachers,” ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach, and that for the sake of dishonest gain ( Titus 1:11)
We are instructed by Paul, therefore by God, to watch and remember. Remember what? Watch for what? Remember that for three years he did not cease to warn us, night and day….with tears. Warn of us what? What would disturb the Apostle so greatly that it was his daily warning for years? Savage wolves that will (not might) come in among you and scatter the flock. Also, from among our own ranks, men would rise up and draw away disciples for themselves. False representatives of Jesus, stealing His preeminence and all for the sake of “dishonest gain.” Their gods would be money and reputations, power and prestige (Acts 20:28-31)
Part of the problem is that these hirelings, these wolves in sheep clothing, preach to willing dupes. The people, for their part, have embraced a system not found in the Scriptures. They wanted a king and they got a king.This is not the first time God has been rejected in favor of a king. Think about King Saul or even Moses, where the people would rather have Moses talk to God then to them, as opposed to them talking to God themselves. Jesus was rejected for a man of the people, Barabbas then the crowd cried out that they have to king but Caesar.
The very heart of man always wants an intermediary rather than deal directly with God through Jesus. A priest, a prophet, a minister, a senior pastor. Each of those positions not only come with finances but come with power and authority and position. They love to pray publicly to be seen, they love the best seat at the table , they want men to call them teachers, or worse, fathers.All of this appeals to the Lucifer in them, to the Diotrophes in them, to that part of the soul that wants, desires, craves for, the preeminence. It’s truly the original sin, the sin that caused Lucifer to fall, and it beats at the heart of every human in their flesh. It should never be elevated, it should be crucified.
Posted in bible, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, consequences of sin, Daily devotional, deception, Devotions, end times, false teachers, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
A cancer update-the peace of God.
Posted by appolus on June 17, 2024
Posted in bible, cancer, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, faith, God's love, healing, healing ministry, hope, Jesus, revival, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant | 7 Comments »
Cancer update-post chemo
Posted by appolus on June 4, 2024
Posted in bible, cancer, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, God's love, Jesus, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant | 1 Comment »
Shall the wheel keep turning.
Posted by appolus on May 24, 2024
I shall arise and go down to the Potters house. And there I shall hear the word of the Lord. I shall see a work upon the wheel. And the clay is marred in the hand of the Lord. And the wheel keeps turning. Brothers and sisters, have you put yourself upon the potters wheel? Have you put yourself into His hands? As it seems good to the Potter, will you allow yourself to be remade? Can I suggest the obvious? We are the clay, He is the potter and the turning wheel is life with all its circumstances.
Shall we yield to it all? Shall we allow ourselves to be broken to be remade? Or, shall we cry out to God night and day for a change in our circumstances? Shall we demand that the Lord heal us, that He deliver us, that He, in effect, serve us? If we ask for the wheel to stop turning then we shall cease to grow. When the fire comes, and it shall come, what shall we cry out? If we cry out that “even if our God does not deliver us, we shall never bow down to the gods of this world,” then the wheel keeps turning.
When we are faced with great loss and we cry out “The Lord gives and the lord takes away,blessed be the name of the Lord” then the wheel keeps turning. If we find ourselves in the depths of a dungeon with the skin torn from our backs and we begin to praise the Lord in the midnight hour, then the wheel keeps turning. Whatever is upon the wheel shall be either a vessel for honor or a vessel of dishonor. If the wheel stops turning then whatever exists upon the wheel is the finished vessel.
Jesus told us in Luke 14 that unless we love Him more than father or mother, wife and children, brothers ans sisters then we cannot be His disciples. And in Matt 10:38, in the same context as Luke 14 we see that if one refuses to take up his cross, that one “is not worthy of Me.” Is there a line in your sand? Is there a bridge too far? The day will tell that story. For when that day comes, and is surely comes for all who name His name, what cry shall we hear? “Lord please stop the wheel?” Or shall we hear the cry of the disciple “whatever it takes Lord, blessed be Your name.” For one, the wheel stops and for the other, they go on from glory to glory as they glorify Him. The choice belongs to us.
Posted in bible, cancer, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's voice, Jesus, manifest presence, revival, scripture, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant | 5 Comments »
A cancer update-last chemo session coming up.
Posted by appolus on May 6, 2024
Posted in bible, cancer, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, faith, God's love, healing, Jesus, revival, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant | 1 Comment »
Trials are open doors to the treasures of heaven.
Posted by appolus on April 27, 2024
The older I get in the Lord, the more I see it’s not about answers from God. Self seeks answers. The immediate problems of life presses in and we desire to be through it. We want acceptable solutions. Yet where is God in our many graspings? What good is the glory gained on the mountaintops if it can not be seen in the darkest valleys? Should not our greatest desire in the world be that the valley is, to us, the mountaintop?
In the end, the glory of God covers everything, as the waters cover the sea. Whether that sea rages or is tranquil, should we not lie down and sleep in the boat? Shall we not sleep in the lions den? Shall we not praise Him in the dungeon? The mountaintop experience should only serve to give us the strength to reflect His glory in the valley. Did not the Lord come down from the glories of heaven? Did we not see Him glorify His Father in the deepest valley as He hung there nailed to a tree? Shall we not enter into His rest and cease from our works? Cease from our running to and fro.
Oftentimes the sadness of loss or trials becomes dark clouds that obscure the sun. Yet above the clouds, above the mountain tops there is a perpetually blue sky. Sometimes we simply need a single ray of sunshine to penetrate the dark clouds to remind us of this truth. And that ray reminds us of the glory that we reveled in and will one day spend eternity in. A shaft of light is what we must pray for when we are in the darkest reaches of the valley, and this light shall lead us through it. Our lives are like a vapor and soon enough we shall stand in eternal glory, but before that we must find the glory now.
He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies so that we may, with Paul and Silas and every other saint who suffered unspeakable losses down through the ages, glorify God in the very midst of our situations. In the light of this glory all loss is subsumed into Him and our spirits can truly say that our eternal desire is to be found in Him. The road home to glory will be a difficult one for all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus, but it will be a vital one.
See God’s glory and live. Cast your eyes unto the heavens and live. Cast your eyes to that eternal horizon and live. There is life in His glory and life more abundant. Find that now brothers and sisters, right where you are, and the road forward will open up before you, one day at a time, indeed one step at a time. The difficulties of life will become open doors to the treasures of heaven. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and the glory.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, God's voice, inspirational, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, spiritual growth, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God | 7 Comments »
A cancer update-the glory of God!
Posted by appolus on April 18, 2024
Posted in bible, cancer, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's love, healing, Jesus, manifest presence, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant | 7 Comments »
Falling and rising!
Posted by appolus on April 11, 2024
Heavenly seeds are sown in the shadows of winter
Where the only light to be found is but a flicker
Yet come the spring, that which fell and died
Rises with the summer sun and is glorified
Tribulation may be the soil beneath our feet
Yet the glory is the blossom and the fruit
And storms and trials may be our lot
But Christ Himself is our very root
We can glory in the cross and in the shame
And we can do it all for the sake of His name
Yet the seed that falls and dies in the ground
Shall rise again in glory, and in Him shall be found
So cry aloud with all your might beneath the soil
For neither principality nor power can despoil
The coming glory of the day that follows night
And the saint who praises God with all their might!
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, Latter Rain, poetry, revival, spiritual growth, spiritual poetry, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
If I ever have to leave you.
Posted by appolus on April 6, 2024
Posted in bible, cancer, Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, Daily devotional, Jesus, poetry, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, worship, worship music | 4 Comments »
Oh blessed Grace.
Posted by appolus on April 6, 2024
He is crowned with righteousness
We are crowned with grace
And by the Blood of Calvary
Of sin, there is no trace
He is crowned with Holiness
We are crowned with Love
From the depths of His dwelling place
His grace shall be enough
His grace floods every part of me
In the depths of the midnight hour
Yet more still, shall it surely be
Come the dawn with all its power
It was grace from the very beginning
And its grace to the very end
And the love of God sustains me
Upon which I eternally depend
His grace, His grace, is sufficient for me
It saved me and keeps me each day
And throughout the span of eternity
Its forever on display
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, Christian poetry, Daily devotional, God's love, Jesus, poetry, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Entertain or enter in?
Posted by appolus on April 3, 2024
I could not sleep last night, a mixture of the chemo and the prednisone no doubt. It has happened many times since I began treatment, but last night I awoke with the phrase “entertain or enter in.” The Lord was laying something on my heart. It occurred to me that if you take the letters “ta” out of entertain you are left with enter in. And yet, the definitions could not be more different. The Greek word for entertain is “psychagogia,” meaning “amusement-diverson-distraction.” The Greek word for”enter is “bo,” meaning “to go out or to come in.” The choice seems clear, be amused, diverted or distracted, or enter into His presence.
Interestingly enough, if you look at the two letters “ta,” in the Greek it means “the third person,” meaning “when you are speaking ( or singing) about someone else rather than directly addressing that someone.” Speaking in the third person you remain detached. Are we remaining detached from God in our modern day version of worship? Are we merely being entertained, an amusement or a distraction? A distraction from what? From actually entering in. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise (Psa 100:4) Enter into the joy of the Lord (Matt 25:23) For He who has entered into His rest has himself rested from his works (Heb 4:10) Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter in (Matt 7:21)
It makes my heart long for stripped down, simple/profound congregational worship, something the modern day worship ” team,” has wholly set aside for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is to entertain. We don’t need to be entertained and sit by as mere spectators/fans, we need to enter in. Enter into what some might say? Enter in by the only door available, Jesus and Him high and lifted up. And let every voice sing as unto the Lord and face heavenwards and not towards a “stage,” a place for actors. Let us take the “ta,” out of entertain and let us who know Jesus, enter in.
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Love who wears a crown.
Posted by appolus on March 28, 2024
The love of God has taken me
From the miry clay and set me free
Tis all consuming it knows no end
My Lord, my Master and my friend
A love that barely sees through tears
A love that lasts throughout the years
A love in which there is no doubt
A love in Christ is paramount
A love that sets my heart on fire
A love that takes me ever higher
A love that's never let me down
A love that ever wears a crown
My heart is fixed on Christ alone
Who ever sits upon His throne
He also dwells within my heart
And we shall never be apart
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A Call To The Remnant 