Archive for the ‘The presence of God’ Category
Posted by appolus on April 29, 2021
As Jesus faced down Satan in the desert he told that old liar that “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Every word brothers and sisters that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. Man needs bread to live, he has to eat otherwise he will slowly starve to death. What a ghastly sight it is to see someone in the latter stages of starvation. They lose all of their characteristics and begin to resemble one another as they waste away and gauntness takes over. As we sit in our pews week after week, no one dares disturb the sound of silence.
Despite the richness of our gifts and our callings, despite our ability to give and receive words of knowledge, to hear heavenly songs sung in a heavenly language, to hear prophecy’s and exhortations that can speak directly into the heart of what we are going through in the moment, we dare not disturb this established silence.Have we made a neon god? Do we sit in pews and worship a god of our own making? A god that has to dim the lights and break out the ice making machine to create an “atmosphere,” that was long ago lost to slick professional worship teams and men with programs.Listen brothers and sisters, if entertainment brought them in, only entertainment will keep them. Yet how long before they grow weary of the entertainment? Where do they go after the dimmed lights and the religious concerts fail to move them and the smoke dissipates?
If we could see with spiritual eyes as we sat in our pews and looked around, would we see well fed people living on the fat of a land flowing with milk and honey, living abundantly in the life of Christ, edified and well fed? Or rather would we see a people gaunt with hunger, starving for the Spiritual edification that the Lord Himself provided for us. He promised us that He would not leave us as orphans but send the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide us. What happens when the Holy Spirit is silenced and men have decided that they know best?
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Is this what we have done brothers and sisters? No longer can we have the Lord speak to us how He pleases in the midst of the congregation. We have rejected these gifts so that the traditions of men may be kept and we now must not disturb the sound of silence, that silence being the words and the wisdom of man. And in the midst of that darkness we sit, only ever wondering what the power of God truly looks like, and the smoke slowly drifts away.
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Posted by appolus on April 26, 2021
It has been almost seven years now since our grandson was taken from his mother and given to our family. He was a very broken child when he came to us. Have you ever tried to help a bird with a broken wing? It panics and is freaked out as it sees you hand approach. It cannot possibly know that you are driven by love and compassion until your hand closes tightly, not too tightly, around him and he is safe in your hand. This was what it was like when Mason first came to us as a little five year old. The power of the Lord is felt in the power of His love. His ability and patience to take that which is broken, and heal it, is truly supernatural. Here is a wee poem I wrote about that.
The boy with the broken wing.
You were a bird with a broken wing
A nightingale that could not sing
A frightened broken bird that had no choice
Little bird, who has stolen you voice .....I hear your cries.
Can't you see, can't you understand
Come to me, there is healing in my hand
I will hold you and never let you go,
until your wing is healed and love begins to flow
You may have broken this little birds wing
Yet you will hear this little bird sing
Love has put him back together
And he will now be whole...forever
A beautiful bird that love has made whole
You only ever took from him and stole
But he has risen with the morning sun and now he sings
And flies for all the world to see with two beautiful wings
I see you flying son and I can hear you sing
And to the depths of my heart it is such a beautiful thing
Touched by the Hand of God and made complete
Now fly where eagles fly and sing your songs so sweet.
Posted in bible, Charisma Magazine, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, Devotions, gifts of the spirit, God's love, healing, intimacy, Jesus, poetry, revival, spiritual gifts, spiritual poetry, Spirituality, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
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.
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Posted by appolus on April 16, 2021
Can you imagine what it would be like if we witnessed 20 year olds being breast fed by their mothers? Consider how offensive it would be to see adults being breast fed. We would recoil back from that in horror. Yet we have, for the most part, a never weaned church. Here is the definition of weaned-accustomed to managing without something on which they have become dependent or of which they have become excessively fond, or-accustom (an infant or other young mammal) to food other than its mother’s milk.
Most children by the age of one, have been weaned from the breast. In the past and in some cultures it could be two or three years olds, but certainly young children have begun to eat solids early on. They develop a stomach for solids, for meats. Imagine only ever drinking milk gleaned from your mother. If you can imagine that and the undoubted physical and psychological problems that it would create, then you can imagine a building full of people who are reliant upon one man, other than the man Christ Jesus. This is the un-weaned church.
First and foremost, we as Christians must be completely reliant upon Jesus our Lord and the Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to teach us and to bring us into all truth. The Holy Spirit would never feed one of His children on an all milk diet. As babes, yes. As children, as young adults, as mature saints, no, never. Getting meat is a far cry from drinking milk. In the natural our milk comes from our mothers breast, a cow or a goat. Getting meat requires a hunt. One must track something down, patiently employ skills across a broad spectrum, endure weather and deprivation, and all that just to trap or kill the animal. It then has to be skinned, broken down and carried back.
The church has become dependent on something they are very fond of, and is in and of itself the path of least resistance. To sit week after week and allow another to feed you and make no efforts to feed yourself is akin to being a baby. The notion of getting meat and devouring it is alien to this modern day church. It is also alien to society in general who rather than have to hunt for food, simply go to the supermarket. Or to the fast food restaurant, and even then, the drive through. If this system ever breaks down, tens of millions of people will starve to death. If the one man system of church ever breaks down, the same would happen spiritually. I would argue that it is happening, a long slow starvation on a vast crowd of adults who have no “protein,” in their diet.
A man needs to know how to hunt. A man of God needs to know how to communicate from and learn from and hear from God. If the man cannot hunt, he is reliant upon the systems of this world to feed him. If a man who claims to know God but cannot hear from God, cannot learn from God and His Word, does not have the wherewithal to desire to diligently seek out His Truth, then he is reliant upon the one man systems of churches to feed him.
If you have only ever had milk, then you cannot stomach the meat of God. You must wean yourself from the milk and go out and hunt for the meat. If you only know milk you will undoubtedly be carnally minded. You will say you are of this church or that church. You will elevate a man up onto a pedestal. That man, probably your pastor, will become preeminent in your life. When you meet other people and have a chance to share about Jesus, you will share about “your pastor.” You will say things like “you have to come to my church,” or “you have to hear my pastor.’ Your milk diet will exclude the possibility that you simply share about Jesus. Whoever is preeminent in your life, that is who you will share with others.
God calls people out from behind the walls of their strongholds. Outside the camp. Out into the wilderness. Places that require you to be dependent upon Him alone. He will teach you how to catch fish and you will rejoice and praise God for the fish on the line. He will teach you how to trap meat, and you will rejoice that He will bless you with meat. You will become strong and dependent upon Him. You will help to feed others with meat and show them and share with them how you caught it and how they too can get this meat.
None of this will happen while you reside on your mothers breast. None of this will happen when you are dependent upon another to do your hunting for you. Will you diligently seek Him and where He may be found? Or will you sit, week after week and be fed on fast food? Even it were not fast food, the fact that you would become dependent upon another to feed you would mean that you would become atrophied in your spirit man. Overweight or starving, an eating disorder all the same. Stand up, be a man, be a woman and allow God Himself to teach you how to find meat and how to eat meat.
Posted in Charisma Magazine, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, controlling churches, discernment, God's love, God's voice, intimacy, new wineskins, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on April 8, 2021
How many times can a heart be broken
How many tears have to fall
How many times do I have to forgive
Or perhaps not forgive at all
When my steps grow tired and weary
And my sleep has vanished in the night
How can I go on living day by day
And not simply give up the fight
Where can I find the strength to go on
When it seems I have lost my way
How can I lift my head from the pillow
Even if it’s for just for one more day
Then all of a sudden I know He is here
My waiting has not been in vain
He comes to me through the fire and the flood
Through the heartache and through the pain
And suddenly I have the strength to carry on
I rise up on the wings of His love
Who knew I would rise o'r this valley of death
And find myself far far above.
I soar on the glorious splendor of Love
On the wings of the eagle I fly
I feast on the banquet He prepares for me
As I revel in the endless sky
There is a place where the setting Son
Merges sky and endless sea,
A place where different worlds collide
A place where you and I are free.
In God alone we find this place,
Where everything else is stripped away
And there I look into your face
Where endless sky meets ocean spray
Will you sail beyond horizons
In endless seas of blue
Will you fly in boundless skies above
You can as long as you are true.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, gifts of the spirit, God's voice, healing, healing ministry, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, manifest presence, new wineskins, pentecostal, poetry, praise and worship, spiritual poetry, Spirituality, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 31, 2021
The church in the west is starving to death and they are dying of thirst. The tragedy is, that for the most part, the majority that are called after His name do not even know that they are in the midst of a famine and a drought. I thank God for His remnant people who do know, who agonize over the state of the church. Who cry out to God and who want nothing less than for the multitude of people to experience the majesty and the glory and the anguish and the joy of falling down before the throne. Who desire all men to be ruined for this life and to walk with the grand obsession of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is coming a time, and we may be there already, when God is calling His people, His remnant people who have experienced the presence of God, to rise up and testify to it. To testify of what they know of Him. Of how they come into the presence of a Holy and majestic God. Of how it ruins them and changes them. Of how they tremble before the throne of the almighty God. This is what the people are starved of, this is what they are dying from. There is a famine of the Word of God in the land, not the Word preached, but the Word preached with the power and the presence of God. The crisis of the age is a lack of God’s empowering presence in our assemblies. May the glory of the Lord fill His house.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, Church history, church of scotland, churches, end times, End Times Eschatology, False Prophets, false teachers, Fresh Fire, god, God's voice, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, New World Order, pentecostal, prophecy, religion, religious, revival, Rhema Church, spiritual gifts, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 29, 2021
What is nearness to God? We hear that a lot dont we …”are you close to God?” Well we know it has nothing to do with time or space, the Lord transcends both time and space. Time and space cannot contain Him for if it did, He would not be God. A certain Scripture tells us that men can draw close unto God with their mouth but their “hearts are far from God.” If far in this context is not distance then what is it? Another Scripture tells us that David was a man after Gods own heart. In this context the word “after ,” means like or touching.
So, if your heart is far from God it can mean that you are not like Him. There is no communion, no touching, no encounter, no emotion, no joy, no love. The words may be there but the reality of the love of God is not present. A heart after God is expressed by obedience and by love, primarily love. Primarily love because love is the primary motivation for obedience. We can be obedient to God, at least outwardly and with our our words but our hearts can be “far from Him.” But we cannot love Him to any degree and be disobedient to Him.
Dont get me wrong, we can be disobedient to God and still love Him and be like Him, King David may be the perfect example of this, but we cannot stay in that place of disobedience for long. It will not be what we are known for. On the grave of King David they would not write ” here lies a disobedient man,” because even although he had certainly been disobedient to God in many of the things that he did, ultimately that was not who he was and he proved that by having a broken and contrite heart. In 1st Cor 13 we see all the things that we can have. We can speak with tongues, we can have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, I could be mighty in faith so much so that I could speak to a mountain and it would crumble and fall and yet, all of these things would be without meaning if I did not have love.
I could give every penny I had to the poor and even become a martyr for God yet without love none of it would profit me. Yet, if I am close to the heart of God then I will gladly suffer long, I will not envy my brother or sister, I will not think highly of myself but rather regard others higher than me, I will not be easily offended and I will think the best of others.I will rejoice in the truth and be saddened at my enemies downfall, their downfall will promote love in me for them and forgiveness. If I am moving in these areas then I am close to the heart of God because the Lord Himself came down and humbled Himself and took on the likeness of man and walked in all of these truths because He was acting according to His nature. If we would be close to Him we shall endeavor to be like Him.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, god, God's voice, inspirational, intimacy, pentecostal, revival, sanctification, spiritual growth, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 1, 2021
To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19)
A.B.Simpson says “Being filled with the fullness of God is like a bottle in the ocean. You take the cork out of the bottle and sink it in the ocean, and you have the bottle completely full of ocean. The bottle is in the ocean and the ocean is in the bottle. The ocean contains the bottle, but the bottle contains only a little bit of the ocean. So it is with Christians.”
Can you see what brother Simpson is saying? The ocean is God. Have you sunk into the depths of the ocean? The only way for a bottle to sink into the depths of the ocean and not remain just at the surface, is to be full of the ocean. The only way to be full of the ocean is for the cork to be removed. Have you removed the cork? Have you allowed the ocean of God’s being to rush into you and sink into His depths? Many followers of Jesus will remain on the surface of the ocean all the days of their lives, never truly giving themselves over to the ocean.
The cork in the illustration is the heart. Will you open up your heart and allow the Lord to flood your very being? Most of us are very comfortable existing on the surface. Yet, He has called us to the deep. The air inside the bottle must be replaced. The atmosphere has to change. We must be full of something all consuming. And that something is God. We cannot contain all of God but we can be contained by Him. The verb contain is defined as to hold or include within its volume or area.
If we are floating on the surface of the waters, then most of who we are is out of the waters. On the other hand, if we become full of the waters of life then we slowly sink into its depths and become one with the waters. We find ourselves filled with the fullness of God. This is God’s plan for His children. Open up your heart today and let Him flood in and plunge you into the depths of His heart.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 26, 2021
Thank you Jesus that I am an infinitesimal part of who you are, just a tiny chip, but whole in you. A fragment that you captured and placed in the most incredible mosaic. A work of art so incredibly intricate that it would defy any human ability. This mosaic makes the smallest pixels look like the size of pennies. Each fragment, each part of the mosaic is a mosaic all of its own, down into infinity. The Body of Christ. The Church. The Royal Priesthood. Even the vastness of the universe with its trillions of stars seems very basic in comparison to your greatest work of art. Thank you Father for capturing my heart and taking what was crushed and broken and only good for the scrap heap, and restoring it, piece by piece and placing it withing something so magnificent.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 19, 2021
Rev 12:11 ” And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Brothers and sisters, are you ready to wash your robes and make them white by the blood of the Lamb? How shall we overcome the wicked one? Rev 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” The devil has a short time left. The Son of man, the Bridegroom is coming back shortly for His bride and the devil knows it. This is why a worldwide persecution of the saints is coming upon us soon.
Yet the devil is going to run head-long into a people prepared by the Lord through many trials and afflictions, refined by many fires, having been brought through many deserts. They are shining bright and they love not their lives unto death. Imagine an army of saints who would rather die than give one inch to the devil. They will reflect, in the very midst of the great tribulation, the glory of God in every nation. Out of every tribe and every tongue and every peoples God has called His remnant so that in martyrdom they will be a witness to every single person on the planet of God’s glory.
In this sense, God’s glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea in the very midst of judgement. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14) How many of us know that when the sea moves it moves with incredible power? The waves rise higher and higher as the wind blows stronger and stronger. Can you see it saints? Can you see walls of incredible water rise up like the glory of God rising as the winds of the Holy Spirit roars. One can only look on in awe, nothing can stop these waves.This is our calling. We were born for such a time as this.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 15, 2021
Psalm 24:7-8 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.
What is the glory of God? We hear it used so often in Christian circles, but do you really know what that is? Is it just a description, an adjective, something to describe what you imagine God is like or what it is like to be in His presence? The truth is, the glory of God is God Himself. Wherever He is, then there is the glory. It is a dwelling place, it is His dwelling place. Moses had to put off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Now, was the ground holy before the Lord came? Was it holy after He left?
What about the burning bush? When God inhabited the burning bush, the bush was no longer itself for God had inhabited it and it could not be consumed by fire. Yet when the Lord left the bush it returned to its natural state. Does God dwell in temples made by human hands? Is a church building holy? What is a building without the manifest presence of God? What is a person without the manifest presence of God operating in their lives? Where is the glory outside of His presence? How can the world see a manifestation of His presence if that manifestation of that presence cannot be seen in His children?
Will His glory be seen by the world today through you? Will the light from His glory radiate off you as the light from the sun reflects off the moon and lights up a dark world? The moon is a dead object yet it has tremendous influence on the world. If we die to ourselves and live for Christ then we too can have an enormous influence in the world. Our position before God and before the world causes light to shine into this dark world and also pulls it like a gravitational force towards the Lord.. As you speak to people today, remember the glory, move in the glory and be led by the glory.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 8, 2021
2Ch 5:14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
The world has such a low view of God. Some kindly grandfather? A benevolent Santa Claus? A buddy? Of course He is none of these things. For the most part Christendom also has a low view of God. Can I ask you a genuine question? The last time you went to church, were you actually expecting to encounter the Living God? I am not talking about singing loud and jumping up and down. I am not talking about being really interested in a sermon and taking notes. I am talking about encountering God almighty.
The God that is high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple. The God that is majestic in holiness. The God that is full of awe and is marvelous. The God that is so overwhelming that He floods our spirits with His glory and those around His throne can only cry out Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Is that what you were expecting? If not why not? Unless the people have an encounter with such a God, they will continue to have a low view of Him and worship some weak anemic cultural god of their own making.
The church in the west is starving to death and they are dying of thirst. The tragedy is, that for the most part, the majority that are called after His name do not even know that they are in the midst of a famine and a drought. I thank God for His remnant people who do know. Who agonize over the state of the church. Who cry out to God and who want nothing less than for the multitude of people to experience the majesty and the glory and the anguish and the joy of falling down before the throne. Who desire all men to be ruined for this life and to walk with the grand obsession of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is coming a time, and we may be there already, when God is calling His people, His remnant people who have experienced the presence of God, to rise up and testify to it. To testify of what they know of Him. Of how they come into the presence of a Holy and majestic God. Of how it ruins them and changes them. Of how they tremble before the throne of the almighty God.
This is what the people are starved of, this is what they are dying from. There is a famine of the Word of God in the land, not the Word preached, but the Word preached with the power and the presence of God. The crisis of the age is a lack of God’s empowering presence in our assemblies. May the glory of the Lord fill His house.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 7, 2021
As an adjective, the word imperceptible means very slight, gradual or subtle. As a noun it means something not capable of being perceived by the senses. When you think about it, that is how we live our lives, we live it in the imperceptible. Typically today is the same as yesterday and tomorrow will be the same as today. And they form units, yesterday, today and tomorrow and then yesterdays today and tomorrow and so on and so forth. They connect to one another and the days and the weeks and the months often meld into one and the process quickens the older that you get. Seasons begin to fly past and then the years. Someone once said that the days are long but the years are short. It is very true.
What breaks this up is what I call the suddenly’s. Something that happens out of the blue, an incident or incidents without warning. Everyone of us will deal with these and they often change everything. Like earthquakes, they give no warning and then shake the very foundations of our lives. And all too often, when the shaking has stopped, when the storm has passed, when the immediate damage is dealt with, imperceptibility returns. It’s a new reality, but now our yesterdays have once again become our todays and our tomorrows will be the same as today and we begin all over again and the days are slow and years rush by.
The interesting thing is when you become aware of the imperceptible life that you are living. It is almost an oxymoron to say that you are aware of something that is not typically perceived by the senses. Yet, the life that we live in the Spirit breaks up the units of time that we typically find ourselves trapped in. The Spirit of God exists outside of time and space and He bids us to come to where He is. In Him every moment becomes part of the eternal. Walking in the Spirit is to be released from the hamsters cage and taken off the wheel. Living in the imperceptible. We become aware of God and His presence and time means nothing. It loses its grip on us, the chains of its reality are broken in the eternal now.
We are no longer slaves to the tyranny of our fantasies or desires or our wishes for the future. Good or bad, our expectations set up our parameters. They are in fact an artificial horizon of our own making. Walking in the Spirit is to be walking in a land where nothing impedes our spiritual view. We know that we are walking in the Spirit when the only thing that we can see is Jesus our Lord. When He becomes our horizon then time loses its grip upon us and we are set at liberty to walk towards Him.
Even holy things become corrupted when they displace Jesus. When our thoughts have been taken captive by anything other than Jesus then we have become ensnared in the world and its ways. Time, once again becomes our intoxicant. We get lost in the imperceptible. Blinded by its dim dullness. Lord, help us to live in the glory. Help us to live in the eternal moment of your presence where every horizon is a glorious sunrise, the Son of God rising in the hearts of His children. Help us to see the one who lays the beams of His chambers in the waters, who makes the cloud his chariot and who walks upon the wings of the wind (Psalm 104)
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Posted by appolus on February 1, 2021
After David is anointed by the prophet we see an interesting situation develop. There is God’s anointed and there is also the people choice. They both exist at the same time and they both proclaim their allegiance to God. One is a man after God’s own heart and the other is a law unto himself. One has the Spirit of God upon him and the other does not. One loves to be in the presence of God and the other tries to pin him to the wall because he has no access to the presence of God. One is honorable and respectful to the other, and in return the other wants to kill him and wipe out all of his associates. One can speak to God and gain direction, the other can only rely upon his own wits.
Brothers and sisters, what I have just described is what I call “The Saul spirit.” The Saul spirit is the spirit of religion. The spirit of compromise. The spirit of the establishment. The spirit of those who would establish their own kingdoms here on this earth and kill anyone who would challenge their authority. It is fundamentally the spirit of anti-christ. We have seen such a spirit down through the ages wreck havoc on the Body of Christ. Wreck havock on all who have the Spirit of God within them. Over the ages the Saul spirit has dominated the ones who are men and woman after God’s own heart. They have hunted down the saints and time after time attempted to intimidate them and dominate them and crush them and wipe them out. Can I tell you brothers and sisters, the Saul spirit is rising.
The saints have the Spirit of God within them. We are anointed of God. We speak to God and He speaks to us. He leads us and He guides us and He directs us. He has given us great gifts that enable us to edify one another. The greatest gift of all is the gift of loving the truth. We are lovers of the truth. The truth to those of the Saul spirit is negotiable, open to compromise. In order to prevail they would trample underfoot the truth that burns within our bones. The saint cannot live without it, the religious cannot live with it. The truth demands everything and the religious man is not willing to surrender to the truth. He is only interested in the truth so far as it can serve him and his purposes. When the pressure of a demanding world comes knocking at the religious man’s door, he opens up his door and welcomes in the world.
Today is no different than it was in David’s day. There is God’s anointed and there is that which is established. There is enmity between them. So to my brothers and sisters I say “know your enemies and do not be unaware of their strategies.” You must love your enemies without compromising the truth. Know that the Saul Spirit is rising and that you cannot serve two masters. Both require you to walk under their authority, you must choose only one. How can you tell when you look back through the last two thousand years who had the Saul spirit? The Saul spirit hunts down saints and kills them. It burns them to death while telling the world it is doing the work of God. Not too hard to spot.
They have replaced the realities of God with the sacraments of men. Man made traditions that bear none of the Spirit’s power. Counterfeit. Empty traditions of men. These doctrines are the commandments of men who have laid aside the Commandments of God. They reject the Commandments of God in order to keep their own traditions. They honor God with their lips but they know not God in their hearts, and they know it and jealousy drives them mad with hatred, a hatred that is rising up and threatening to consume the saints of our day. Yet the Lord’s anointed, His saints, that is, anyone who is genuinely born again of the Spirit shall not be swayed. They shall not bow the knee to Baal or any other God other than the one true God.
Stand fast brothers and sisters, do not be fooled, know your enemy and never relent to them. Follow the Word of God and the still small voice. Bow down and offer them your heads rather than bow down to their gods. The gods of this modern world, the god of abortion and perversions are no different than the god of the ancient worlds, Moloch , Ashtoreth and Baalim. They rise again as we speak for they know the end is near and their time is short. Stand fast brothers and sister and never bow the knee to the gods of this world. God will pour out His Spirit upon you as the enemy comes in like a flood. You are His standard and He will raise you to stand on higher ground.
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Posted by appolus on January 15, 2021
Probably the most widespread and persistent problem to be found among Christians is the problem of retarded spiritual progress. Why, after years of Christian profession do so many persons find themselves no farther along than when they first believed? The cause of retarded growth are many. It would not be accurate to ascribe the trouble to one single fault. One there is, however, which is so universal that it may easily be the main cause;failure to give time to the cultivation of the knowledge of God.
The Christian is strong or weak depending upon how closely he has cultivated the knowledge of God. Progress in the Christian life is exactly equal to the growing knowledge we gain of the Triune God in personal experience. And such experience requires a whole life devoted to it and plenty of time spent at the holy task of cultivating God. God can be known satisfactorily only as we devote time to Him (A.W.Tozer)
Tozer is really highlighting the fact that diligence in seeking God, or the lack thereof is the primary reason why so many seem to lack any progress at all in becoming more like Jesus. And why they never move from being babes in Christ to being mature saints. This diligence starts with the Word of God. Show me the man or woman who has little time for the Word and I will show you people who are taken up with this world and not the next. They are taken up with the kingdom of men and their place in it rather than the Kingdom of God and walking there.
Being hungry for the Word of God leads to hunger for the God of the Word. And once one has tasted the goodness of God, then it creates a hunger for more. Once one has drunk from the heavenly well, it creates a thirst like the deer that panteth for the waterbrooks and a longing soul. Therefore the Scriptures tell us that we should move on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God (Heb 6) We have to make a decision as to what world we belong to. When we seek His Kingdom first and His Righteousness then the abundant life ( spiritual) and the contented life will be ours as we walk with our God.
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Posted by appolus on January 15, 2021
Jdg 6:13 Oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles which our Fathers told us about saying,”Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
After Gideon gets through with his complaints to God, the Lord speaks to him and says “Go in the might of yours and you shall save Israel-have I not sent you?” (v 14) You see how God refuses to take on board what Gideon has just complained about and again affirms His calling on Gideon’s life? Saints, take heart at this for God has called you. listen to how Gideon replies and see if this reflects your own heart. “How can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manassah and I am the least in my father’s house.” (v15) To which the Lord replies “Surely I will be with you.”
The Lord picked the weakest man from the weakest clan. It’s not about the man brothers and sisters, it’s about the God that goes with the man. If God is with us, who can be against us? This truly represents the remnant believers today. We are the weakest men and women. The reply that Gideon gave to God is the right reply in the right spirit. Without God we are nothing and can do nothing, but by the same token, when God is with us, and He says to Gideon “Surely I will be with you,’ then there is nothing we cannot do. This is the spirit of the genuine saints of God today. They acknowledge their own weaknesses.They have experienced failure and they know what it is like to feel abandoned, this has been a journey and it ends with them knowing their utter helplessness without God being with them.
I want you to remember who you serve this day. No matter what situation you face today, the God who created the whole universe and set the foundations of the earth and hung the stars in the heavens above is with you. For His will and for His good pleasure God has been working on you and He is faithful to complete that what He has started. God is raising up an end time Gideon’s army and filling its ranks with the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Genuine saint, you are a mighty man of valour, you are a mighty woman of valour. What qualifies you to be counted in these ranks? God has called you, God is with you and God will equip you.
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Posted by appolus on December 27, 2020
To be in one world and suddenly in another. To be a pauper, and suddenly to be raised up and out of the gutter. To be taken into the first estate and to marvel at it all. To see the ones who’ve fallen and marvel at their fall. From the highways and the byways the beggars they all came, the blind and the broken, the rejected and the lame. The poor and the afflicted, all were welcomed in, delivered and set free from every kind of sin. And they came rejoicing.
In my wildest imagination I could never have imagined being here. A place of unparalleled beauty, a place where there’s no fear. To come from the lowest reaches and find yourself among the highest mountain peaks, to sit at the feet of Jesus and know that our Creator speaks, is to travel from life to death. Who will come? Wont you come? There is room at the cross for you. And in my Fathers house there are many mansions and one awaits for you, tis true. If it were not I would have told you so. There’s an invitation sent to the highways and the byways to see the God of glory, the universe displays. In all His finest majesty and magnificence He still reigns yet walks beside the pilgrim saint His presence there remains.
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Posted by appolus on December 16, 2020
Psalm 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted in me? Hope you in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Are you downcast today? Has the troubles of life, the trials of circumstances mounted up and overwhelmed you? Are you wandering in a spiritual wilderness? Perhaps you even feel abandoned by God? Has the multitude of your troubles somehow separated you from the presence of the living God? Is the only water you are experiencing right now the tears that fall in the shadows of the night and the darkness of your situation?
There is a term among shepherds called “casting.” It refers to a sheep on its back. If a sheep falls onto its back, it does not have the ability to get upright again. The blood will begin to drain from the sheep’s legs, and the weight of its body will press down upon its lungs and it will begin to suffocate. It will slowly die. Perhaps you feel like you’re on your back today? You do not have the ability to get up again. The situation and circumstances are out-with your control. You do not feel the presence of God, you feel alone and isolated, the joy is gone and you have lost you “song in the night.”
Let me tell you what the shepherd does when He comes upon a “downcast,” sheep. First of all He begins to rub their legs to bring some of the blood back to get the circulation going a bit. Then He takes one hand and grabs the two back legs, then the other hand and grabs the two front legs and hoists the sheep up and over His head and around His neck. He then carries the sheep until it has recovered and only then does He put it back down on the ground.
If you are downcast today brothers and sisters, cry out to the Lord with all the strength that you have left in you. Remember the days when you “used to go with the multitude. I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise.” I pray that today is the day that your joy returns, that you will have your song in the night.
Even in the midst of darkness, may your joy be complete in Him. The good shepherd of your soul will very gently take your face in His hands and say….. why so downcast my child, put your trust in me. See now I will lift you from this place and put you on my back awhile for when you walk with me I will share your yoke and lighten your burden.
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Posted by appolus on December 14, 2020
Ex 33:15… And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here.
We would all agree that God is omnipresent. This means that He is everywhere at the same time. This is an indisputable fact. Yet, the manifest presence of God, the felt presence of God is something entirely different. Moses had no desire to go anywhere unless God was with him and he could commune with Him. How long has it been since you have communed with God in the midst of His manifest presence? Perhaps you never have? Or perhaps you are going through a dry spell? In the midst of one of these dry spells I remember, in my distress, on my knees, just reaching my open hand up to the heavens and crying out to God.
And without any warning, He was holding my hand. And all of a sudden that world was there again. The world of endless possibilities. In this world it does not matter if there are dark skies or endless blue ones when I am holding His hand. Whether it rains or whether brilliant shafts of light break through ominous clouds, it’s all the same to me when I hold His hand. If I can barely see through my tears of if I wear the most illuminated smile, it matters not when I hold His hand. In the depths of trials or when all is right with the world I am at peace when I hold His hand. If I mourn the loss of a loved one or or cannot see my way ahead, I am never lost when I hold His hand.
The sweet all-consuming joy of His presence. This heart of a lion that beats within the chest of a lamb. This all-consuming power of love that rises victoriously above all the battles of life. This is life when we are walking in His presence. What battle field do you find yourself on today? Do you battle the unseen enemy of unforgiveness? Or has someone wronged you and bitterness bangs on your door? Is depression seeking to overwhelm you? Has the power of darkness in one of its many forms come to challenge you today? Perhaps the darkness comes from the outside, or maybe there is hidden darkness from deep within?
Today, right now, close your eyes and reach out your hand into the darkness of your situation. Cry out to Jesus, tell Him how much that you miss Him and ask Him to take your hand. Your situation may not change, but the darkness will flee. You will be blessed in the midst of your circumstances and you will stand upon the Rock which is higher than you. He will carry you on eagles wings as the updrafts of His presence hold you and keep you. Where could we flee from His presence?
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Posted by appolus on December 7, 2020
Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
The more we know, the more our sorrow increases. Grief follows wisdom and sorrow follows knowledge. True wisdom from God is surely mingled with grief because our spirit resides within flesh. When a wise man hears the foolish speak then he is grieved in his soul. It is said that you cannot put an old head on young shoulders and it is true, yet neither can wisdom prosper in the hearts of the unwise. Only those who truly seek after the Lord can benefit from the wisdom of God.
To know the deep things of God, to have been touched at the very center of your soul with something of the knowledge of God brings with it sorrow. No man can stand in the presence of God and grasp something of His majesty and be filled with his eternal beauty and not suffer upon his return from that place. The world grows dim and dark and exists in shades of grey to the one who has stood in this impenetrable light. The closer we move into the depths of His heart, the harder it is to live in a fallen world.
It is a very good thing to know God more and to move in His wisdom. Yet let us be clear, all attachments of this world will begin to lose their grip upon your soul. And one might say then where lies the problem? To the man or woman who walks only in the Kingdom reality it is no problem, yet for the rest who still has something of this world in them, which is most of us, then sorrow and grief are like two intimate companions.
No one knew sorrow and grief like our Lord knew them. Everything stood before Him, He knew it all. He could see the destruction of Jerusalem and He wept. He could see His own rejection and crucifixion and yet He loved. The greater the knowledge of Him, the greater the cost. The greater the wisdom of God in us the more we share in His grief. And yet all of this is offset by the glory and the joy. In this world knowledge and sorrow are life long companions. Wisdom walks hand in hand with grief. And yet for the joy that is set before us let us endure all things looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith and let us ever come before the throne.
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A Call To The Remnant 