Those who hear His still small voice
Lie down in the night in peace and rejoice
Even in the midst of the midnight hour
There is glory in His praises and with them brings power
He leads us beside the eternal still waters
into lush green pastures He has surely brought us
Goodness and mercy follow all the days of our lives
To a banqueting table we can barely describe.
His table to us is His manifest presence
By the Spirit of God we speak with great eloquence
Words that flow from the Kingdom within
From the beauty of Holiness that lies therein
Evergreen trees give their fruit in all seasons
There are a million ways to praise Him and a million reasons
To rise up and with the morning sun and cry holy
To walk in humility, to be contrite and lowly
He has planted us beside His holy river
He has established us in His heart forever
And forever and a day and forever it shall be be
For into our very hearts He has placed eternity.
Archive for the ‘The Psalms’ Category
Eternity lies within.
Posted by appolus on May 16, 2023
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, poetry, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Absalom- and the remnant saints leaving the church.
Posted by appolus on March 14, 2023
Over many many years Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel. You see, Absalom wanted what his father had. He wanted the exalted place among the people. He would rise up early and stand beside the gate and those who came looking for the king, he intercepted them and spoke to them. They were not his people, they were his fathers people but Absalom, falling foul to that most ancient of sins that caused Lucifer to fall down from the heavens, desired to have what was not his to have. And so he wooed the hearts of the people away from their King.
Is that not the very essence of religion? There is one mediator between man and God and His name is Jesus. How many men and religious institutions have sought to replace Jesus over all the centuries? One pretender after another, rising early in the morning, slowly and deceptively seeking to displace God and stealing the hearts of the people away from their rightful King. And all the worse is the fact that so many of these men and institutions knew something of the mercy of God, had been blessed in many ways by His goodness and His forgiveness. They had been touched by His love and by His word which only serves to make their deception and their desire to have what He alone has all the more treacherous.
And so finally David hears of this rebellion against him. Oh what a dagger must have penetrated his heart, to know that his very own had turned on him. One that he loved and had forgiven and had showed mercy too, and he repaid all of that with hatred and animosity and a heart bent on taking what was not his. It is hard to imagine the anguish of David, now no longer a young man, having suffered so much in his life and so much of it undeserved, now as an older man, having to flee from everything that had been his. The city of David, the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant would all be left behind and he and a remnant few would flee the jealous forces that were arraigned against him. They would flee into the wilderness.
Today there is a remnant few who have fled into the wilderness. They have left the city behind with all of its religious trappings. No walls, no tabernacle, no ark of the covenant. Stripped of all the religious trappings, they have something that David had. He had the presence of God with Him. Not that which represents the presence, but the actual presence of God. While religious men hung onto the trappings and rituals and icons, for that is all they have, David goes into the wilderness, the remnant go into the wilderness with God Himself. And as he ascended Gods holy hill he wept, he and the people with him wept. With tears the seed is sown brothers and sisters, tears of sorrow for what has become of something that should have been so beautiful and brought glory to God, but has been so thoroughly corrupted by men who desire to steal the glory of God and steal the hearts of the people.
Do not despair in the wilderness brothers and sisters. In God we have peace no matter what men think about us. In God we can rejoice despite the fact that the forces of Absalom are arrayed against the remnant few. Listen to some of the things that David says in this time and be comforted…… Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice…… because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee……….I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches……….From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I……………………. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
There is an inevitable end to the forces of Absalom, those who would attempt steal the glory of God and from His King. David speaks to this very thing and to those very forces in psalm 63……But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Glory to God saints! Is the end we shall come out of the wilderness by the power of God. The soul that weeps, the soul that thirsts after God in the wilderness shall find joy and inexhaustible waters of life even in the driest deserts and when He comes again into His rightful place then all of God saints will rise up and cry Holy.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, End Times Eschatology, Eschatology - Study of the 'End Times', False Prophet, False Prophets, false teachers, Jesus, leaving the church, manifest presence, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 3 Comments »
When the invisible becomes visible.
Posted by appolus on March 12, 2023
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made by things which are visible.
The world was made, this visible world, by that which cannot be seen! Now this drives men mad. They demand an explanation. They must know. They have to be able to explain their situation. It strikes at the very roots of science and all things natural, explaining our surroundings and how we came to be and what will become of us. And the Lord laughs. The wisest man who ever walked the earth is as a fool to God. Even that which they had was given to them. Yet before we as Christians smugly scorn the men of science who by their desire to understand and explain their natural surroundings and throw off God in the process, how do we operate? Do we trust in the invisible God for our lives? In verse 27 of this chapter we see that Moses endured, not fearing the wrath of the King , by having faith in “Him who is invisible.”
Can we walk as the great men of the Bible walked? Noah built a boat when there never had been a boat nor any rain had fallen from the sky. What he was doing was ludicrous and he was mocked constantly by the world. Could you do that? Abraham, the father of faith, got up and left everything to go …….where? He did not know. Could you do that? Moses, when he became a man, refused to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin and all the world could offer him,. Rather he chose “the reproach of Christ,” as opposed to all the treasures of Egypt. Shall we do that brothers and sisters. In the end faith is about following the invisible God and not knowing what is around the next corner. Faith is about choosing God over the riches of this world. Faith is about praising God whether we live or whether we die, in sickness or in health, in riches or in poverty. The one constant thing in the seeming madness of this world is the invisible God in whom we trust.
The word of faith folk need to be healed. They need to see their healing. They need to be wealthy, they need to be able to see their wealth and count their wealth. They need favorable circumstances, they need to be assured by them. And when they see all these things or desire all these things for themselves they call it faith but of course it is the exact opposite of faith. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Trusting in God is the evidence of our invisible God. And it enrages the enemy of our soul. For two thousand years he has sought out saints and in the tearing away of all the things that can be seen, he hoped to tear away the thing that could not be seen. The cry of faith and the heavenly song from amidst the flames of the martyr being burned at the stake is the trumpet call of victory and the death knell in the ears of the enemy of our soul. The final victory will come when all the saints are gathered to a place where God, by His own hand has built. It lies at the end of the narrow path that cannot be seen. Where the invisible cross upon our backs are removed and we see the invisible God in all His manifest glory and we know as we are known.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 3 Comments »
Do not make the Lord sorrowful.
Posted by appolus on December 29, 2022
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
It is always surprising to me just how many within the confines of Christendom deny that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. And yet here in the scriptures, very plainly, we are told not to grieve the blessed Holy Spirit. The Greek word here for grieve means to make sorrowful or to distress. Can we make God sorrowful? Can we cause Him distress? Yes indeed we can and it is the knowing of this and the proper understanding of this that creates the lines within which we walk the narrow path. Stray across the lines and we cause our Father grief. He is grieved when we do not act according to the nature He has given us but rather we act as the old man would have acted. ” Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” This is the pleas of David in his great penitent psalm 51. Now, had God abandoned David? No. Yet David had fallen from His good graces and it was required of him to come to His Lord and make confession. And there is no doubt that the joy of His salvation was restored to David.
And so we find in this chapter 4 of Ephesians two sets of instructions. We are to “put of,” all manner of conduct of the old man. And we are to “put on,” all the characteristics of the new man. It is entirely clear that the putting on and putting off is our part. This is how we cooperate with the Lord. We have been delivered from the power of the old man and we have be transformed by the renewing of our minds as the new man. Examples given for the the conduct of the old man are lying, anger, stealing corrupt words, bitterness, wrath, outcry’s and speaking evil of men with malice. Conduct of the new man are truth, forgiveness and peace, honesty, hard work, imparting grace to those who hear us, kindness and being tenderhearted. This shall be our walk until the day of our redemption when this corrupt body is raised in in-corruption. In all tender relationships there is the fear of offending the one that we love and so it is, more completely, with our relationship with the Lord. In fact, it is this tenderheartedness and love that “keeps us.” The power of law was replaced with relationship. In this the law is fulfilled. Our motivation to walk in the Spirit of God is love. Religious men know nothing of this. They are kept by the rule of the law which they fail, without redemption. We the saints are kept by our love relationship with Jesus, which we never want to grieve, but when we inevitably do, He has made provision for us before the throne of grace.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, discernment, intimacy, Jesus, religious, revival, spiritual gifts, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
A warning-we must return to our spiritual roots.
Posted by appolus on December 26, 2022
I believe God will ignore most of the Evangelical churches standing today. They have what they want, they are satisfied with what they have, and there is no room in their program for the Holy Spirit to do His thing…………………to go forward requires that we go backward to rediscover and reclaim our spiritual roots. We have abandoned our roots and are wandering helplessly in a spiritual desert………what is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint, and the chances are pretty high that God may have to start all over again,my prayer is that it happens quickly…..I am not sure this can begin in todays church. I am absolutely sure it cannot begin in most denominations (Tozer- Alive in the Spirit)
Now can I suggest that since this was written over fifty years ago, brother Tozer could be even more emphatic than his above statements. In Psalm 11 David asks “What can the righteous do in the foundations are destroyed?” What will happen when the average Evangelical church has exactly what it wants but is given over to leanness? ( psalm 106 13-15) Can dimmed lights replace leanness? How about musical concerts? Smoke machines? What disaster has befallen us? We are exceedingly lean people wandering lost in a desert of our own request and all we have to encourage ourselves is crowds? Somehow, if we have many folks walking through the doors and three services on a Sunday then maybe no one will notice the leanness? If they do we just need to make it darker or increase the entertainment value. Lets start to teach them how to live and somehow ignore the fact that the Holy Scriptures first teach us how to die.
Our spiritual roots which Tozer advises us to go back to can only be found in the Scriptures. If the programs have become the service then the service has to end until the only program available is the Holy Spirit’s program. What? If we shut down the programs who is going to pay the light bills and the staff’s salary. Someone might whisper “maybe we could just meet in our homes,” and upon overhearing this the professionals howled in protest. Now if we are to return to our spiritual roots where would a man give a word of wisdom? Where would a woman give a tongue? Where would one give a prophecy? Obviously not in the professional gatherings, only the ordained experts and trained worship leaders can be heard there. No scripture for that but lets not let that get in the way of the fact that this is how we have always done it for decades and centuries. Tozer goes on to say ” the next generation or two will face a challenge that cannot be overcome in the natural. Throughout history God has selected certain people to come out of the established church and start over again using biblical authority. What is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint.”
Tozer gave a dire report on the state of the Evangelical church and its denominational counterparts fifty years ago, since then they have plunged down into the depths of leanness and depravity. One could only imagine the horror of men like Tozer and Ravenhill and even Wilkerson if they saw the depths to which the established church has fallen. Lean churches produce lean leaders who produce lean converts and that’s the best of them. The others will cross land and sea to make one convert and make them twice the child of hell than themselves. What can we do if the foundations are destroyed? We must discover anew the proper foundation that is laid down in Christ and the Apostles and the prophets. We must raise spiritual walls using only the Word of God. We must be found in these days of danger in our high towers. The righteous run into to it and they are safe. The high tower, the fortress, the deliverer, my shield in whom I trust. Upon Christ alone and upon His word we must go forward, baptized in the Holy Spirit that emboldens us to stand in such a day. This is our spiritual roots.
Posted in Babylon, bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, Church history, church of england, church of scotland, churches, Daily devotional, Devotions, Fresh Fire, gifts of the spirit, Jesus, leaving the church, revival, scripture, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
We are sons and daughters, we are one in Christ.
Posted by appolus on December 8, 2022
Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Sons and daughters of the living God. What a tremendous privilege brothers and sisters. Having been baptized into Christ, we now put on Christ. Seems like a strange turn of phrase the Scriptures use but there it is, we put on Christ. In the morning you deliberately get dressed and go out into the world. You put on your clothes. If you are a policeman or solider or fireman or many of the trades, you put on your uniform, you put on your work clothes. A business man or woman? Probably a suit of some kind. In a sense it is part of your identity. It denotes something to others. There are standards of dress and codes that we adhere to. Yet, in the putting on of Christ, we clothe ourselves in His righteousness. We awake in the beauty of His holiness. People can see who we are in Christ oftentimes just by our countenance. “There is just something about him.” “Oh, she is the real deal.” He shines through us. We are clothed inwardly with His holiness and it shines outwardly into a dark world. We are one in Christ. It does not matter if we are “Jew or Greek.” It does not matter if we are,” slave or free.” Neither does it matter if we are male or female for we are all one in Christ! The former boundaries of who we were are swallowed whole in Christ.
We are justified by our trust in Christ and the world can see it. Those who trust the Lord walk with a quiet confidence and dignity. The treasures that the Lord has invested in our earthen vessels are plain enough for all the world to see. You are Abraham’s seed and you are heirs according to the promise made to him, glory to God. Sons and daughters. Covenant children no longer bound by the law but rather graduates in the Kingdom of God, fully qualified in Jesus to walk in Kingdom power. The law was added for transgressions till the Seed came, our glorious Savior. If the law could have given us life and righteousness then salvation would come through it, but it could not, it could but point us to Christ and when He came for those who bowed the knee, they/we were glorious liberated. Imagine going back to something that could not give you life, to a place where your own righteousness was but filthy rags! What was begun in the Spirit shall be finished by the Spirit. It is evident to you and I that Christ was crucified for us and we know this by revelation. It has transformed us. It has saved us. It has redeemed us. It has taken us up to higher ground. It makes us to walk in the greens pastures of His righteousness and holiness. Imagine how foolish it is to think that all of this, which began in the Spirit could now be fulfilled by the works of the law and of the flesh. Never! It is Christ first, last and forever, and only , ever, by the power of the Holy Spirit, sayeth the Lord.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »
The imperishable Crown!
Posted by appolus on October 23, 2022
1Co 9:25 And every one who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown; but we an imperishable.
We have to run this race in such a way that we are trying to win. An athlete is totally committed to his or her sport. They will not do anything that would undermine their ability to be in the best shape that they could be. This is a fairly simple truth which has been preached on a lot and few would disagree with the truth of it. Yet, the context of chapter nine is money. It seems like Paul is complaining about not being supported financially. He then lays out the reasoned argument as to why he should be just like some of the the other Apostles. He says things like “who plants a vineyard and does not eat of the fruit?” And again “you shall not muzzle the ox while it treads out the grain.” And then he uses the always interesting word “nevertheless.” This adverb is used in a sentence after a concession. He concedes that the rule is that he should be supported “but.” And it is the but that is interesting.
“We have not used this but endure all things lest we hinder the Gospel.” “That when I preach the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.” It follows that just because you can do a thing, does not mean you should. An athlete does not have to train every day. He or she does not have to rigidly watch their diets. They have the freedom to do such things, but would it be wise? Would it hinder their ability to run the race properly? And of course, it would. This is what Paul is saying in chapter nine, which is so often used in defense of countless ministries being supported. Paul disciplines himself and refrains from what could be lawfully his “lest when I have preached to others I myself should not be disqualified.” The gospel is central to everything that Paul does. He lives and breathes the Gospel. He even goes as far as to say that “it would be better for me to die than anyone should make his boasting void.” Death would be more appealing to Paul than anyone accuse him of preaching the Gospel for money’s sake.
This passion that causes us to run the race is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! The genuine saint is horrified if he or she would do anything that would bring their Lord and His gospel into disrepute. They would rather suffer the loss. Saints, how then do we run this race? In some kind of half heart-ed measure? Shall we not run this race of life like the top athletes who disciplines their body in order to win the price? And that price is but for a perishable crown, something that can never last. Yet we for an imperishable crown! For holiness sake! For glories sake! For righteousness sake? For Christ’s sake! These are all eternal. With our eyes firmly set upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel, we run, not like those of the world who run for money and for fame and for fortune. Our treasure lies in heaven above. We store up our treasure by running the race with everything that we have, holding nothing back. Laying down every single thing that would hinder us and the Gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom. This is our calling brothers and sisters, to lay it all down, starting with our rights. Paul was laying down his right.The only right we really have is the right to suffer and die for the cause of Christ! And we know that those who suffer with Christ shall reign with Him. That is our reward, that is our “imperishable crown.”
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, discernment, faith, false teachers, Jesus, organich church, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me!
Posted by appolus on September 16, 2022
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
This glorious Scripture was fulfilled when Christ stood in the temple and expounded this verse and told the world, that this Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. The Spirit of the Lord God was upon Jesus. It is He who is anointed to preach the good news to the poor. He may speak through us, but by the power of the Holy Spirit it is Christ Himself that speaks to the poor. Only Jesus can heal the brokenhearted. Only Jesus can proclaim liberty to the captives, and only Jesus can free those captives from their chains and He would do it all through us, the priests of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. The dove descended upon the Lord Jesus and we must be immersed in the same Holy Spirit. We rise up in that power. We are a royal priesthood, a Holy Generation. We are the chosen ones of the Lord, royal priests in a royal priesthood.
When they see us brothers and sisters, they must see Jesus. We are a manifestation of Jesus to the world by and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything is done in the name of Jesus because there is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be saved. There is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be freed from His bonds. There is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be healed. There is no other name under heaven whereby the blind eyes are opened and the crushed heart is restored. We saints are clothed in the garments of salvation. We are covered by the robes of righteousness just as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Just as a garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so to the Lord our God causes righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. We are a living demonstration of His righteousness and we can do nothing more than praise Him from the depths of the inexhaustible wells of our salvation. Never forget who you are in HIm brothers and sisters.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, faith, gifts of the spirit, Jesus, revival, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, Spiritual warfare, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Can we wait on Him?
Posted by appolus on September 3, 2022
Do we allow space and time in our religious services for God to move among men? Do we have the faith to stand in silence and wait on God expectantly? Silence, for some reason, scares us. If we pray and teach and believe that God is going to come to us, then why not stand and wait for Him? Perhaps there is less faith involved in noise? Perhaps we have no real expectation of God to show up in our services? Perhaps we do not really want Him there? Perhaps all we want is a word about Him and not a word from Him? A word about Him is something we can handle, a Word from Him directly is and always has been life changing and radical. Do we really want our lives radically changed? Or are we content with what we have, content to stand at the door of our tents and watch Moses or Joshua go outside the camp and enter the tabernacle?
To You silence is praise, O God, in Zion; and to You is a vow paid. To You who hears prayer, all flesh comes. Things of iniquity are mightier than I; as for our transgressions, You shall purge them away. Blessed is the one whom You choose, and cause to come near You. He shall dwell in Your courts; we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple (Psa 65:1)
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
Surely He has borne our griefs?
Posted by appolus on August 25, 2022
Isa 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
This is a rhetorical question by the prophet. It is an astonishment that when the Savior comes He shall be rejected. He shall be treated worse than any man. In fact, He shall be so marred as to be almost unrecognizable as a man. He was a tender plant that sprung up, but He sprung up as a root out of the dry ground. He was despised and rejected by His own. His walk would tread the path of sorrows and He would become very familiar with grief. Indeed, He would bear our griefs and carry all our sorrows. Can you imagine the weight of all the sorrows of the world? They would lay stripes upon Him, our stripes. They would wound Him, our wounds. He would be humiliated, our humiliation. They would put nails in His hands and feet and a crown of thorns upon His head, they all belonged to us. And in a cry that echoed throughout all of eternity He would cry out “My God, My God, why has thous forsaken me.” That is our cry, that should have been our absolute despair, yet, He bore it all for us.
The greater astonishment is that after two thousand years He is still rejected today. He was led like a Lamb to the slaughter and this world today would slaughter Him still. And yet even now He loves the world. He calls out to them. To those who would slap Him and mock Him and pull out His hair and spit in His face, He still says “come unto Me.” What love is this? If there is no greater love in the world that a man would lay down his life for his friend, and there is not, then what does laying down your life for an enemy mean? Are you not astonished? Should not the mouths of Kings be stopped as they stagger at this revelation? God the Father sacrificed His only Son so that we might live. Has it even entered into the hearts of man what awaits those who have rejected this sacrifice? If the Son of God Himself cried out from the cross in despair, what shall mere man do in that day as he stands before the magnificence of God? Who will believe this report while there is yet light?
Posted in Babylon, bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's love, Jesus, manifest presence, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
The shallow world of what passes for the church.
Posted by appolus on July 21, 2022
If our evangelism has become shallow, then it is only because our Christianity has become shallow. If our evangelicalism has become mechanical and predictable, then more than likely so have our lives as believers. If our proclamation of the good news is merely verbal and formalized, then that it is a sure sign that truth has become mere words and formulas in our daily walk. I cannot draw someone to a place I am not in myself. We can always speak the proclamation, to do so requires only that we remember the correct words. However in order to move men, we need also to be the proclamation, and that requires a life immersed in the Spirit of Truth (Art Katz, The Spirit of Truth)
Can you see what our dear brother Art is saying here? It is not good enough to make a proclamation, one must be the proclamation. Another pastor said that “I am not waiting on a move of God, I am a move of God.” Can you see the difference between mere intellectual assent to abstract truths and those whose lives are the truth? One knows about it, the other walks it. Jesus is the word made flesh. If we are to draw men to Jesus we must be in the place that we seek to draw them too. We cannot speak of coming to Jesus if we do not dwell in the glory. Our lives must be a manifestation of Jesus. It is not good enough to just talk to someone about Jesus ( I wish we really had that problem) they must see Jesus when they see us. After all, are we not living epistles read by men?
In the last several generations of Christendom, one shallow generation has followed after another. Each generation shallower than the one that went before them. What a tragedy that the church has been slowly and surely all but swallowed up by the world. In politics either the Liberals or the conservatives say something like ” I did not leave the party, the party left me.” This too could be applied to much of Christianity. Denomination after denomination has fallen and left its true believers behind. No longer could they be a part of the most shallow generation of Christianity that has ever walked the earth. And if shallowness was its only problem, that would be bad enough, but it is outright wickedness that walks the halls and assemblies of men today.
There must be a manifestation of Jesus on the earth today. He has to manifest Himself in us and He only does that in willing obedient servants. He has His people still, He is never without a witness. They are people who not only know the Word but who are themselves living epistles easily read by men. They are not “just a sinner saved by grace,” God forbid. No, they are sons and daughters. The Word of God is in them and by the power of the Holy Spirit the Word becomes life. It does not become life in the hands or mouths of those who are spiritually dead, that is the realms of religious men and pharisees. Life begets life. Glory leads to glory. Love and mercy and grace leads to the manifestation of love and mercy and grace. The talents given to each saint are multiplied by their willingness to share what they have as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, we stand like well fed men and woman in a land that is dying from famine. The fat on our bones, so to speak, speaks to the life that is in us. Can men see that you are well fed? Do you stand out among the dead and the dying? Are they drawn to you because of the depths of Christ in you? Are those who dwell in the shallow places drawn to the deep? We must ask ourselves these questions for our calling is but salt and light. If we are not salt to the world, then what is our purpose? If we are not light to the world, then why are we alive? Tragically, over the generations, the people in the shallow end, the world, have drawn many to them instead of the other way around. We must fulfill our purpose here on earth. and we can only do that by dwelling where the the glory is for all the world to see.
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Looking back at Sodom.
Posted by appolus on July 5, 2022
Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut thy doors behind you.
There is a time coming of the Lord’s “indignation.” Now, in our present day language this word has lost its true meaning. The word in the Hebrew is zah-am. It means, figuratively, to foam at the mouth, to rage to be in a fury. Imagine such a time when the God of all creation is furious. And the Lord’s advice to His people is to separate themselves, to come into the innermost part of who they are in Christ and stay there. God has set us apart, we are a called out people. We have been called to shut the door to the things of the world and to be locked in with our Lord and our God. The intimate part of the house is the bedroom. We have been called to intimacy with our Lord and God. It is this very intimacy, this overwhelming love and desire for our Lord that initiates the separation from all else. Without this love, without this desire, how can we be separate? If we have competing loves in our life then we shall never make our way to the chamber and shut the door. We will, in a sense, look back at Sodom and we know how that turned out for Lot’s wife.
Psa 27:5 “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” He has set His people upon the Rock. We are called to come away with Him that He may hide us under the shadow of His wing. Who hears the call? One must be able to hear the call. One must be able to know the still small voice that speaks even amidst the whirlwind and the earthquake. To those who have ears to hear, no matter how loud the noise and how great the distractions, they shall hear the call. For the heart has panted for the water-brooks and the soul has longed after the one that they love. At His calling they shall come. They shall abandon all else for they abandoned their life to their Lord. And they shall come into that place and shut the door. “Come my people, enter your chambers and shut the doors behind you.” The Lord is calling, shall you stay in the world in the day of His indignation? Or shall you enter in?
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I would have died.
Posted by appolus on June 19, 2022
Psa 27:13 I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Can I go a wee bit further brothers and sisters. I would have died unless I had seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I have seen His goodness. I have laid down in that goodness the way a child lays down in the arms of his mother. He has been so good to me. I am not hoping in some goodness in some future time, I am alive because of the goodness of God. He was good to me in the depths of the fire. When everything around me was falling to pieces, when I was hard pressed on every side, He was good to me. When I was lying wounded on the battle field of life, His goodness came charging in on a white Horse and picked me up. When I could see no way ahead and despair began rising like mighty floodwaters all around me, His goodness lifted me up to higher ground.
The Lord is my strength and my shield and my heart rejoices in Him. ‘When my mother and my father forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.” Many saints have been rejected by their loved ones for a myriad of reasons and the Lord is with them through it all. His goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. In the great dark dungeons of our lives, Gods goodness light up the way out. When we are faced with challenges that we simply cannot face, His goodness brings strength to our inner man. “In the time of my trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion.” Oh brothers and sisters, I know this pavilion, I have hidden there many many times. In the secret place of His tabernacle He hid me and set me high upon a rock.
The greatest desire of my life has been to dwell in the house of the Lord. His pavilion, His tabernacle. I want to dwell there all the days of my life to behold the beauty and the holiness of my God. Yes indeed, I would have died if I had not seen these places, not hidden in these places, not run into that High Tower. The Lord is my light and my salvation and my goodness and He is the strength of my life. My own strength has failed me so many times, and I am glad, for in my weakness, I experienced the goodness of God. In my weaknesses I boast. I can do no other. And in that boast the power of Christ rests upon me. For surely, when I am weak, He is strong in me. When I am dying, His goodness is displayed in me. When I come to the end of myself the Lord Jesus is there for all the world to see. Lord Jesus, be glorified in your servants
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Devotions, God's love, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
When He arises to shake the earth mightily!
Posted by appolus on June 5, 2022
Isa 1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
In verse five we see Isaiah’s description. The whole head is sick. The whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot to the head, there is no soundness. Wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, they are open wounds for all to see. This is our world today, there is no soundness in it. There is no nation that has distinguished itself, they are all alike. The only thing that has averted all out disaster and ruin raining down on us like fire from heaven is the very small remnant of God’s people around the world. They are a gift to the world. The only light that presently exists is the light of remnant saints.
Christendom is a forsaken people, such has been their fall. Their house has been left to them desolate. Shall they be forgiven? Shall they humble themselves in the sight of the Lord? Is their coffers not full of silver and gold? Do they not worship the works of their own hands, in fact is not the work of their own hand all that they have? Isaiah says to such a people “Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty.” (Isa 2:4) Proud men shall cry out in terror and flee from the Glory of His majesty. The “very small remnant,” shall not flee from the Glory of His majesty, but rather they shall run into it and they shall be safe. His glory is their high tower. His majesty is their very life blood. His presence is their very existence.
He has stretched out the heavens like a curtain. His ministers are a flaming fire. The clouds are His chariots and He walks upon the wings of the wind. He looks upon the earth and it trembles, He hides His face and the whole world is troubled. His glory shall endure forever. His hand, for a moment, is stretched out to a undeserving people. Shall the haughty humble themselves? Shall they give up the works of their own hands? Shall they abandon the many centuries of tradition that has caused them to wander so far from the source of all life? They only life that exists is in Him. When He arises to shake the earthy mightily, and He will do so very soon, will He be a terror to you and will you flee from the glory of His majesty? Fall down now and live, or, enter into the rock and see if you can hide from the terror of the Lord to come.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, church, consequences of sin, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, End Times Eschatology, Eschatology - Study of the 'End Times', Extreme Prophetic, God's voice, Jesus, revival, Spiritual warfare, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 3 Comments »
Have you quenched the Holy Spirit by your disobedience?
Posted by appolus on May 26, 2022
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | Leave a Comment »
The plague of your heart:the redemption of your soul.
Posted by appolus on May 26, 2022
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | Leave a Comment »
Alumni of the wilderness.
Posted by appolus on May 24, 2022
Mar 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
As soon as the Spirit descends upon Jesus, He is “driven,” into the wilderness. He is separated from everything He has known up to that point and He finds Himself in a desert. Paul, after his own encounter, did not go to Jerusalem, but rather he goes to Arabia. Paul too was separated, separated from the Pharisees of his former life, and also separated from the leadership of the saints in Jerusalem. Jesus would deal with His identity in the wilderness. The Devil will seek to cast doubt into His mind. He asks “if you are the Son of God,” he asks that twice. When Jesus stands His ground he is tempted with all the kingdoms of the world and all of their glory. Yet Jesus knew of a much greater glory, the glory He shared with His Father. He knew of the glory and the majesty of union with God.
Paul’s own identity would undoubtedly be challenged in Arabia. He was no longer a Pharisee. He no longer belonged to the religious order. He was stripped of his earthly titles and positions. Through all this he would discover exactly who he was in Christ. He would emerge from this “isolation,” with the confidence that can only truly come by encounter. Paul was not taught by men, He had revelations from God. He was taught by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A very different man comes out of Arabia than had went in. He carried the authority of God because the encounter and the revelation changed him. Man did not promote Paul. He did not climb ecclesiastical ladders. His position was established by encounter. His identity was established.
What is your identity brothers and sisters? How were you established in your walk? Did you walk through barren landscapes away from the eyes of man? To be driven into the wilderness is to begin a journey of identity. To “know” who you are in Christ. To have stood your ground against the lying enemy. To be taught by God Himself. To be supernaturally ministered to by the hand of God. To know in the very depths of your being that you do not live by bread alone but by every word from your Fathers mouth. To find yourself, quite apart from men and their establishment and order. When God establishes a man, that man carries the authority of the very God who established him. He does not need titles. He does not have to curry favor from any groups. He or she simply are who God said they were and who God made them to be. Stand fast in your calling brothers and sisters, alumni of the wilderness.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 7 Comments »
Actual experience or second hand truth?
Posted by appolus on April 28, 2022
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, faith, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | Leave a Comment »
Let us see the glory of God!
Posted by appolus on April 5, 2022
Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit. looked heavenwards and saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Was this a church gathering? Was he in a room full of believers enjoying the corporate presence of God? Far from it, he was confronting the religious men of the day. As he was seeing these things they screamed and ran towards him and with great violence, dragged him out of the city and stoned Stephen to death. He, had committed a capital crime. He had torn down their idol, the Temple, by saying God did not dwell in temples made by human hands. He then accused them of being stiff-necked, it means obstinate and stubborn. He said they were uncircumsized of heart, meaning they were not children of God. And then, he accused them of killing the “just one,’ the Christ. All of that was true.
What Stephen said back then, we have seen play out for the last 2000 years. Religious men are still un-circumsised in heart, meaning they do not actually know Jesus. They still resist and reject the Holy Spirit in their midst. They still worship their “temple.” God’s children are still the deadliest enemy to those who are of the flesh. Yet no matter what, the key is to be “full of the Holy Spirit.” Being full of the Holy Spirit was not a random occurrence for Stephen. In Acts chapter six we are told that Stephen was chosen by the whole multitude because they knew he was a man “full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” Brothers and sisters, we are called to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit. God prepares a table for those who are full of the Holy Spirit, in the presence of their enemies. Even when they are walking through the valley of death, they fear no evil, for goodness and mercy and the Living God has followed them all the days of their new lives. He is faithful, let us be faithful. He has given the Holy Spirit, let us be full of the Holy Spirit.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Will you rejoice in your suffering?
Posted by appolus on April 3, 2022
Act 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
How far we in Christendom have fallen. Where is the generation that rejoices in being counted worthy to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? The apostles had just been beaten, and yet they rejoiced. They had just suffered greatly, yet they rejoiced. They could not believe their good fortune that they had been counted worthy. The disciples and the saints were not praying for them not to be beaten. They were not praying for God to minimize or stop their suffering. Rather, we read, that the saints were praying that the apostles would have even more boldness. And when they were praying that prayer, the whole place was shaken and they were all filled afresh.
How do you pray saints? When you or one you know is suffering for the cause of Christ, how do you pray? Do you pray as the saints in the early Church prayed? Are we so westernized and have we suffered so little for the name of Jesus, for so long, that we forget how to effectively pray, to the point that the everything is shaken and we are filled afresh? The Holy Spirit initiates boldness, and when that boldness is acted upon He fills us again…… and again……..and again. When the apostles are dragged in front of the Sanhedrin for violating their previous orders of not mentioning Jesus. Here is their reply. “We ought to obey God, rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree……….and we are His witnesses.” We too, brothers and sisters, are His witnesses, it is our calling, it is why we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Exercise boldness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and He will continually fill you, even as you rejoice in suffering for His name sake.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, churches, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »
A Call To The Remnant 