Sometimes it seems like I am permanently out of my depth
And situations often seem to be completely over my head
How good it is to fall back upon the Lord
Shut my eyes, take His hand and simply be led
Walking into the wind and the rain
Every step it seems is marred with pain
Swimming up the river in a perpetual spring time flow
Seems to be the way that I must go
Stand and fight or fall onto your knees
Swim with all your might or drown in stormy seas
Get up from bloody battle-fields
With your face into the rain
Swing your sword with all your might
Then swing your sword again
Time and again and wave after wave
The enemy rushes in
And all around the battle-field
You are surrounded by deadly sin
Did you think you’d walk in meadows
Ye soldiers of the cross?
You may not have reckoned for the fight
And that you would suffer loss
The suffering of these present times
Of those the Spirit’s sealed
Cannot compare to what’s ahead
And the glories there revealed
Stand up, stand up stand up my child
Stand up in Christ alone
Lift up your eyes ye Royal priest
And see God’s awesome throne
You are more than a conqueror In Christ your King
Nothing can separate you, not anything
From the glories of heaven and from the reward
For those who stand and swing the sword
I have discovered that men who are zealous for other men tend not to be partakers in the freedom that was wrought for us by Jesus. The irony I have found is that those most zealous for the law and the lifting up of men, are typically lawless. The fulfiller of the law must be relegated by those who would be under the law and so they are lawless, for the Lord is Lord of all. Lawless men in bondage are destined to always be the sworn enemies of those who walk in the freedom of Christ. Jealousy always lies at the heart of the matter, whether Cain with Abel or Saul with David or the Pharisees with Jesus. Those who have the legitimacy of the world and it’s systems , detest those who have the anointing of God. It has always been that way and there can be no other way for there is enmity between the things of the world and God.
This article was originally written as a ‘Special Introduction’ to a reprint of Frank Bartleman’s ‘What Really Happened At Azusa Street?’ renamed ‘Another Wave Rolls In’ published by Voice Publications (USA) in 1962. It is included here as one of the earliest documents we have found that shows the seminal vision of a ‘restored church’ enjoying both recovered truth and the power of the Holy Spirit before Jesus returns.
Arthur Wallis, of Exeter, England, is a son of the late Captain Reginald Wallis and author of the well-known books, In the Day of Thy Power and God’s Chosen Fast. This article is taken from a booklet entitled, “Revival and Reformation of the Church” which in cooperation with the author we have adapted and expanded.
I deem the principles set forth in this article and Kokichi Kurosaki’s book, One Body in Christ, the most important and strategic message we have published. It is one thing to be right with God and enjoy a real measure of personal communion with Him. It is quite another to understand His greater purposes and let our personal experience be properly related to that all-inclusive end.
John Myers, President Voice Publications
The story of the Church by Arthur Wallis………….
“Remember not the former things nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:18,19 RSV
In relation to this theme of revival and spiritual recovery, let us first survey the past, then view some of the significant trends of the present, and finally say a word about the prospects of the future.
THE PAST
If we are to understand what God is doing in these days—if we are to perceive His “new thing” for our day—we need to study the past. Not merely from history books, with their limited human viewpoint, but we must study history as we have light cast upon it by the Spirit through God’s Holy Word.
Let us take a brief panoramic survey of the work of God’s Spirit in the years that are past. As we scan the centuries let us try to discover the principles on which God has been operating. What has He really been after during the years of the Church’s history? This is important, for what God is doing today can only be rightly understood as we grasp the pattern of what He has been doing down through the centuries.
Obviously this is a large subject which could occupy volumes, but here we wish simply to point out what has been the master-strategy behind the successive quickenings of the Spirit that have blessed the Church in the past. In a word, we want to show that every wave of spiritual blessing has not only had in view the immediate renewal of spiritual life in that generation, but also the recovery of spiritual truth. That is, that in all the great spiritual movements through the years, the Lord has been seeking to recover lost truth and bring His people back to original Apostolic Christianity.
This reformation, or “recovery,” aspect of God’s moving through the centuries is unmistakable—and usually has been a balancing thrust in one or the other of two directions. Since truth and experience are inseparable and must be in balance if either is to reach its divine objective, we see the Lord moving either to emphasize doctrine and principle, or and fullness of life and power.
But whatever may be the emphasis or particular truth or phase of experience involved, in the mind and purpose of God there has always been but one final objective in view. That objective is a Church—washed by the water of the Word of God—which shall fully experience and fully express Christ, not only in the earth but in the whole universe.
But let us go back and trace through history this principle in action.
Here is my firm belief. There is perhaps 20-30 million genuine saints in America. This may only represent 10 percent of professing Christians but it is still a huge number. I believe that is why every time I come back from a trip over-seas I know there is something different about this land. Now, it’s not the land nor the myth nor the dream, it is the saints. I thank God in heaven above for the saints of America who have not bowed the knee to Baal. God bless my brothers and sisters who have refused to bow down to the gods of this world. What an amazing thing it is to dwell for so many generations in Babylon and still belong, heart and soul, to our King Jesus. Now the darkness may be increasing in the land, but only because the shades of grey and dimness have given themselves over fully to the darkness that has always been alluring to them. Now the true light, like stars in the heaven, begin to shine out brilliantly as the competing human lights are blacked out. Even one small candle on a dark night, with unobstructed view, can be seen for almost seven mile’s , one small candle!!! Now imagine the greatest darkness there has ever been and think how 20-30 million candles will shine to the glory of God!!!!
Many know that after the sin of Solomon, the Kingdom was divided into two parts, there was the ten tribes to the north, Israel, and the two tribes to the south, Judah. Now in the broadest terms, we can see two kingdoms today. There is Christendom, which for our example is representative of Israel to the north, and there is God’s remnant Church, Judah to the south.
Now Israel had a king and his name was Jeroboam. Jeroboam had a big problem. Jerusalem, the city that houses the Temple of God and His presence was in the south in the land of Judah. Jeroboam’s solution? He creates two golden calves and houses them in two cities, one called Bethel and the other was called Dan. There the people came to bow down and worship the ” god,’ that took them out of Egypt. This form of worship had their own priests and prophets and system of worship which mixed the elements of the truth with idolatrous practices. It was indeed an abomination to God.
What is the comparisons between Jeroboam’s Israel and modern-day Evangelicalism or Christendom? Well, the divided Israel was separated from the presence of God. By sin and error it had been separated from access to the presence of God. And its solution was to set up alternative, counterfeit places of worship where the central aspect of worship was the golden calves. Modern day Christendom by sin and error is separated from the presence of God. And what is the solution of modern-day Christendom? Rather than seek out the genuine presence of God, it merely bows down to idols of Gold and indulges in a counterfeit worship , a man-made, man centered from of worship.
The hot topic these days in the media but even in Christian circles is the coming crackdown on religious freedoms, even perhaps to the point of full scale persecution against believers in America. Yes this is a real threat but I seriously wonder if this is the biggest or most serious threat to Christianity in the west? I believe that Government persecution and removal of our rights are in fact “small fry” issues compared to the unseen enemy “giants” that are presently wreaking havoc in the Christian church – seemingly crushing everything in their path!
Over the last 25 years or so I have watched as this present darkness of spiritual forces have systematically slaughtered and brought untold ruin to Christian families, churches and entire movements! There has been a steady decline in the western church and like many of you I have wept as I have lost friends in the fight. Some of my friends who I grew up with have long since abandoned their faith and many of them are now divorced and others have turned to homosexuality. I have even had some tell me that they don’t believe that God really even exists anymore! It has been heart breaking to watch as so many believers (including close family) have slowly drifted away from the Lord to pursue other things.
But it’s not just “regular Christians” – I have also watched as friends who are Pastors and Christian leaders, have turned their backs on the Lord and completely abandoned their faith. Some are now “Success Coaches” chasing money and others have even become “ministers” in the new age movement, opening themselves up to the occult. And then there are the great company of men who were once mighty in God, who served the Lord with pure and un-defiled motives, but they too have become casualties, swept up in the rat race of success, money and fame, all under the guise of “ministry”.
We must pass out of the realm of the natural and into the realm of the spiritual. We must pass from a knowledge of the understandable to a knowledge of the inconceivable. We must rise from the visible to behold the invisible. We must hear the inaudible and grasp the intangible, explore the unsearchable and declare the unspeakable. (George Warnock)
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:18-19)
To walk in the presence of God is to walk in the Spirit of God. His presence, His glory, His majesty, experienced, is what ruins men for the things of this life. There are bodies of men dedicated to disavowing His presence experienced. They know much of the length and breadth of Gods word but they know nothing of the heights and depths of His glory. God is raising up His remnant saints who know the fulness of God……….bro Frank
I believe with all my heart that Gods remnant children are being raised up all over the world. They are being separated, like the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares. Many of them are in a sort of desert, not of their own choosing, but by the calling of God. In that desert they are learning to depend upon Him entirely so that when the time comes, persecution and so on, that even if none go with them, still they shall follow. Yet that does not change the fact that they have a sincere and genuine desire to have genuine fellowship with those of like-mind, meaning those who burn with a passion for the Lord and are hungry and thirsty for His presence and simply just cannot do business as usual anymore.
This is the process of God calling His own. This is the process of counting the cost. Certainly, when the Lord was crucified, one would have to be found outside the walls in order to be identified with Him. To be outside the walls, to be detached from the system is not an easy or a simple thing, it comes with great cost and indeed if it did not it would not be the decision that it is. This calling is only going to get more intense as we move forward, as the day of the Lord approaches. Yet the Lord has called us to gather together, and all the more as we see that day approach and that is why I believe you will begin and are beginning to see a visible representation of these called out children.
This is the reply to this post from a dear sister who testifies to its reality in her life………… ” I know this is an old post, Frank, but it speaks so profoundly to me. How often has being called out of the system been commented on by others as simply a sort of laziness about attending church or perhaps a bitterness because of strife among members. How can I describe the heart wrenching decision it required, the loneliness and isolation that resulted, the abandoning of an entire culture my life revolved around, the shunning by those who were once friends? How often have I had the Hebrews 10:20 verse thrown at me? So often that I took this verse to the Lord for understanding. What a glorious meaning this verse actually has! How surprised I was the “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” was referring to the very assembling you are talking about in this writing.
The very words used here are used in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 being translated there as “our gathering together unto Him” speaking of the Day of Christ even being echoed in the Hebrews scripture when it says, “as ye see the day approaching”. Following Christ has always been the call to come out, lay down our lives, pick up our crosses and follow only Him. As you have said so many places, in each generation there has been such an assembly. That is the general assembly and church of the Firstborn we draw near to – that is the assembly we dare not forsake. THAT is the assembling of ourselves together IN Him. And the dreadful warning given in Hebrews for those that forsake this assembling together – this being gathered unto Him – and draw back! You have but to read the rest of the chapter to have the unbidden prayer roll out from the heart smitten by the enormity of this glorious call, “Oh God, may I be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of Man in the general assembly of just men made perfect and Jesus Christ the mediator of a new covenant in that day!” “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and not tarry.” Heb 10:37″
In Numbers chapter 13 we see the story of the spies sent in to spy out the land by Moses. In verse 23 we see that they come to the Valley of Eshcol , near Hebron. Now Eshcol means cluster. It was from that valley that they took a branch with one cluster of grapes. Now, the Bible says it took two men to carry one cluster of grapes, they had to put a pole through it and carry it on their shoulders. This was an extraordinary fruitful place. Can you imagine the contrast between the desert and this valley? It must have seemed like heaven itself.
Now brothers and sisters, we know that the majority of spies gave a bad report, not least because very close to that valley dwelt the Anakim, the giants. It was also in this region that the Patriarchs were buried. So we can see just how significant this particular area was. By their burial in this land, the patriarchs were keeping watch and giving claim to the land of promise.
And so what can we take from that? Where the truth and promises lies there is great riches, great abundance. Yet, barring the way to this abundance is the fear of giants. We know that there is an abundant life to be had in Jesus. We know that the Lord came to give us life and that more abundantly. But let’s be honest brothers and sisters, how many saints do you know who are living that abundant overcoming life in Christ? Is it not true that out of the twelve spies, only two had the audacity, the faith and the boldness to go and take the land right away? Perhaps that ratio holds up till this very day? So many, held back by their fears, their lack of boldness. There it is , tantalizingly close, an abundant rich valley with fruit so large it takes two men to carry a cluster of grapes, yet the decision is to turn back into the desert.
Brothers and sisters. There continues to be an anti government movement within Christendom. At the center of this hatred for government seems to be taxes and the Federal government and Obama-care. Now, can we say we are standing on solid ground if we are caught up with land disputes and cattle grazing rights and other such worldly things?
Believers down through the centuries, have paid taxes to any manner of evil governments, starting with Rome. When the Romans extracted taxes from the vanquished nations and from property owners, do you imagine that the money was used for Godly enterprises? Nero himself used to dip Christians in oil and then set them ablaze to light up his parties at night. Should Christians and Jewish people have paid taxes to Nero’s government?
At the very heart of the conception of the American experience lies rebellion and taxes. Nothing has changed, it is still the same. The Word says that God is not mocked, what a man or a nation sows, it surely reaps.Yet in this vast nation there are millions of genuine saints and I thank the Lord that there is, for it is the light of the western world. Ravenhill suggested that a mere 5-7% of this nation was actually Christians. I think it may be more like 20%. Yet even if it is only 20%, that is almost 60 million genuine saints. God is calling His saints, His remnant saints to be readied for the final days of the ages. A great darkness draws near and the Satan himself is on the verge of unleashing evil on a scale never seen before or even imagined.
In an age where many in Christendom claim to be apostles, what are some of the basic signs of an apostle? Apostles tell the people hard truths, very often things they do not want to hear. An Apostle in the early days of the church could show you the stripes on his back. The apostle suffered more than anyone yet encouraged the saints even in their chains. Lastly, an apostle was marked for death because he was such a threat to the enemies kingdom. Yet even in the midst of their dungeons, you could hear the apostle praise God because they had learned to be content with the typically dire circumstances they found themselves in to the glory of God. They had entered into the sufferings of the Lord.
As I was walking tonight, I pondered my place in the river. Now, in Scotland, I grew in the shadow of the mighty River Clyde. It touched all of our lives. We lived by the estuary and it was probably four miles wide and tidal. It was teeming with life, we even saw whales in there every now again. Glasgow, at the head of the river was at one time the second largest city in the British empire and so many ships sailed up and down the river carrying goods to and from every corner of the globe. Almost all of the men of my home town, Greenock, worked in the ship-yards building some of the largest ships in the world. So you can see how this river helped to shape me growing up as it touched every aspect of our lives.
And so in my writing and poetry I relate very well to rivers. Two rivers dominate my life as a Christian and they are polar opposites. One is the river of God and it has always been my goal to be fully abandoned to this river, not just ankle-deep nor knee nor waste but fully immersed in the river that flows from and too God. I have always wanted to be in the very midst of it where the current simply takes me where it will. The other river is the river of life. This I have always struggled with. It has always seemed to me that I am swimming up the river of life. It’s current flows in the opposite direction to my spirit. I think about the salmon. The tremendous journey it undertakes to come back to the point where it all began. The salmon is driven and overcomes every obstacle or dies trying as it returns to the place of its birth.
So there to me is my dichotomy. In life I swim against the current and it can often times be exhausting and weary. It has been that way all of my life. I wonder if it will ever end but I know the answer. Like the salmon, the journey must be completed. I am driven by a force that draws me home, the hand of God. And yet there is a place in God where there is no effort at all and I am going down river in the current of the Holy Spirit. It is effortless and liberating and is a place of rest. I cannot separate these two rivers, one I feel in the flesh and the other I feel in the spirit. Yet I know this, they both lead me home. And whatever obstacle comes against me in an effort to stop me going further, deeper, closer to the source of life itself will be overcome or I will die in the process and even then I will be home. What comes by nature to the salmon, has come to me by way of the Spirit.
I will never leave you
Can you hear Me?
Can you hear Me in the wind?
Can you hear me?
I will never forsake you
Can you see Me?
Can you see Me in the sunset?
Can you see Me in the heavens?
Can you see Me in the ocean waves?
Can you see that I’m the one who saves ?
I am always near you
Can you hear Me?
Can you hear me in the waterfall?
Can you hear Me when the choir sings?
Can you hear me through all the noise?
Can you hear my still small voice?
I will give you rest for your soul
Can you see Me?
Can you see me in the dawn?
Can you see me in the baby born?
Can you see me on the mountain high?
Can you see my glory fill the sky ?
I can see you Lord!
I can see your glory fill the sky
So vast, I ask myself who am I?
I wonder and fall down upon my face
So small, but yet known by you
My God, my King my everything, my faithful and true
I can hear you Lord!
I still my soul and hear you through the noise
I diligently listen and hear your still small voice
Just one word from you overflows my soul
Each syllable is manna from above
It fills me and fills me and fills me with love!
I see you and I hear you
You walk with me each day
You light my path and feed my soul
You are the one who made me whole
You are my Truth my life my way
You came to me and you came to stay.
The song on the video was written last year after I cried out to God. As was walking I remembered this testimony………..
“A man I know of, went into the supermarket to buy his wife a rose. It was his practice to do this every week. He picked the rose that he wanted and made for the checkout lane. As he walked toward the line , the Holy Spirit spoke to him, that small still voice from the Shepherd. “Give the rose to that woman.” Immediately the man resisted. “Lord, that makes no sense. What if she thinks I am hitting on her? What if she thinks I am crazy? What if others hear and think I am a weirdo?” There was such a resistance in his flesh, yet he knew the voice of the Lord, and he knew he had to be obedient. So, he took a deep breath and walked over to the lady and said to her “The Lord wanted you to have this rose.” The woman looked at him for a second, then looked at the rose, and as she reached out to take it, she began to weep. She explained.”My husband died several months ago. Every week , for years, he would buy me a rose. This morning I was feeling so lost and forgotten, I cried out to God and asked Him if He had forgotten me, I told Him that I needed to feel loved.” The man cried too. You see how the Lord loves us? You see how He speaks to His people?”
Well that morning as I was walking and remembering that story, I said to the Lord ” I need a rose Lord.” Later that day I got a call from a dear saint who I had not heard from for over a year. The conversation really lifted my spirits and this person really likes me. You know how it is nice every now and again to talk to someone who thinks you are special? 🙂 Anyway that is where the lyrics for the song ” I asked for a Rose, He gave me a Garden,” came from. Maybe you need to hear from God today. I pray that He talks to you through this song. Aileen Gilchrist wrote the music and sings it with the anointing God has given her
In the Scriptures there are a few different stories of women with alabaster boxes that anoint Jesus, one story says His head is anointed and another His feet. Some say it was Mary Magdalene and some say it was not. Putting that aside, we do know a woman approached Jesus who had been caught up in many sins and we have supposed over the centuries that this woman had been a prostitute, perhaps the one thrown down at the Lord’s feet. I believe this to be so and we can imagine the horror of the Pharisees that this woman was in the same room as Jesus, never mind coming close to Jesus and touching him. We also know that the Apostles themselves were none too happy with the pouring out of expensive oil, most of all Judas of course.
I would like you to think of this for a moment. A prostitute comes to Jesus and has in her possession, an oil, a fragrance that is worth about a year’s wages. In today’s terms, we see something that may represent the value of an expensive, brand new car. She takes this possession of hers and she pours it out for Jesus. If this woman was indeed a prostitute, then we know where she probably got the money for this oil. Can you imagine this scene. A lifetimes savings, something that would represent this woman’s security for her future, simply poured out over Jesus. This is an incredible thing. This oil is the results of a lifetime of sin. She comes to Jesus and in exchange for a lifetime of sin, which she simply pours out at the feet of Jesus, she receives an eternity of love and forgiveness. And the fact that she was such a ” great sinner,” only meant that she received even more love and forgiveness. Brothers and sisters, this brought me to tears as I considered the open arms of Jesus to the sinner, to the sinner still in his/her sin.
” It is amazing how unbelieving a believer can become. One might as well call Christ a liar, and His apostles false witnesses of God, as to deny that God is going to have a Body functioning in absolute unity of the Spirit, with each member in his proper place, and all members working together as one harmonious whole. Here again, there is only one reason why ” believers” refuse to believe it, and it is because we have never seen it wither in our own experience or in the history of the church…….The churches long and bitter history of disunity and strife does not prove that God’s word means disunity when it speaks of unity. If God said it, it is going to come to pass; and if Jesus prayed for it, all the devices of Satan cannot prevent the glorious fulfillment of that prayer of faith.” ( George Warnock)
I read this passage from George Warnock the other day as I was reading a small book by him a friend and brother from Canada sent me. He sent it a couple of years ago and I am just getting around to reading it. It is always exciting when God confirms a word that He gave to you and that is what the above passage was for me. The Lord burned the above truth into my spirit last year. I was out walking in the springtime last year and I came to the entry point of a path that I walk. I was amazed when I looked down the small hill. The path was gone, and had been replaced by a raging river that could not be crossed. The Spirit of God fell on me and He began to show me things.
The Father’s heart is more understandable when we are father’s or parents. We always want the best for our children. We always want them to be safe. Our greatest desire is to hear their heart. The smallest communication on an emotional level is treasure beyond measure. If that is our position, if that is what brings us the greatest joy, now imagine our Heavenly Father whose thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts. Praise God, we were made in His image and He breathed life into us. All good things come down from the Father of lights. That word “light’s,” from James1:17 is better translated “rays of sunshine.” Even on cloudy days, rays of sunshine can break through.
This is the Father’s heart, He never changes, He is always our Father and He always wants the best for us. He desires, today, right now, even a single thought sent to Him. Can you imagine how you would feel if your child, young or adult came to you right now and whispered in your ear ” Dad, I love you,” or ” Mom, I love you,” for no particular reason. Joy would fill your soul and reach the deepest parts of who you are. How can we reach deep into the heart of our Heavenly Father? A gentle whisper, through-out the day ” Father, I love you,” for no particular reason. Expressions of our unconditional love like these are like musical notes sent heavenwards. Let us create today, a symphony together, from all over the world , with mere whispers to the Lord that brings great joy to the Father’s heart. ” Take joy my King, in what you hear, let it be a sweet, sweet sound, in your ear.” http://youtu.be/FcezxpnqFLY
It’s funny what i can learn from Daniel, my Down Syndrome son. Many years ago he came down and asked for a chocolate cookie. Well he had already had his quota so I said no. He went away and came back a few minutes later and told me that God said he was to have a cookie. Now it’s hard to argue with thus says the Lord. For years after that he would say ” God said.” He had confused his own will and desires with God and realized that ” God said,” carried some weight. Unfortunately for Daniel it did not carry weight with his dad and there was no cookie that night and no positive response to ” God said,” unless it was good for him.
How many of us have, over the years, confused our own will and desires with God’s will? How many times have you heard from brothers and sisters ” thus sayeth the Lord,” when they were clearly following their own path? Discerning the voice of God, it is a huge part of who we are in the Lord.
‘ And He gave some. apostles:and some;prophets;and some evangelists; and some pastors and some teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ“( eph 4:11-13) The Church may proclaim an imminent rapture as much as they will, and teach that any moment that the saints will be snatched away from earth to escape the gathering clouds of Tribulation. But this is not the teaching of God’s Word. True, we must always be waiting and watching for His appearing but this is not the ” Appearing,” of modern evangelical theology. The glorious Appearing must first of all manifest in the saints.” (George Warnock)
There is a unity of the faith coming and it will be a witness to the world. Why? Because God’s word has proclaimed it. God is raising up, even now, His ministers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ. And to what purpose? The unity of the faith where they will stand as one ” man.” This present day fractured divided Christendom stands as a witness against ” ministers,” who have been working towards their own ends, building their own kingdoms, striving to bring glory to their own ministries.For countless centuries men have been satisfied with multiple divisions and their own position within the ranks.The proof? Present day Christendom. Far from being a witness to the world, it has been a cause for mocking……….bro Frank
If I were to simply ask the question ” what does it mean to overcome?” or to be an overcomer, I am sure I would get many different answers. The word ” overcomer,” in the Greek means to “Conquer, to subdue, to prevail and to get the victory.” Now if one is earthly minded and walked with the notion that we have been called to live our best life now, one might believe that to overcome is to have victory over the circumstances of our lives. This may include health issues or wealth issues. So to those who believe in that way, overcoming would mean getting a healing when one is sick. Or, if one is dying then being delivered from death. It could also mean that if one is poor, then by becoming rich one has overcome their poverty.
Now, does God heal? Yes He does. Can He raise a man from his death-bed, or indeed raise the dead? Yes of course. Can he take a poor man, a pauper and raise him up to walk with kings? Yes He can and has often done so. Are any of these formulas whereby God must act? No. God alone chooses who he raises up, whether it is from poverty or from a bed of sickness or a bed of death or even death itself and He does it for His own will and His own good pleasure.
So one can definitely say that all these things can be overcome according to the will of God. Yet that is an entirely different subject, I am interested in the overcomers of the first three chapters of Revelation. Who are they? There are three classic interpretations of who the overcomers are, let me just list them and I want you to think as you read these three versions what you believe. Maybe you have never thought about it before? Overcomers are those who persevere by obedience and are victorious in the face of trials and to whom all the promises of Jesus pertain to, so who are they and will you be one of them? ………… Read the rest of this entry »
mediately the man resisted. “Lord, that makes no sense. What if she thinks I am hitting on her? What if she thinks I am crazy? What if others hear and think I am a weirdo?” There was such a resistance in his flesh, yet he knew the voice of the Lord, and he knew he had to be obedient. So, he took a deep breath and walked over to the lady and said to her “The Lord wanted you to have this rose.” The woman looked at him for a second, then looked at the rose, and as she reached out to take it, she began to weep. She explained.”My husband died several months ago. Every week , for years, he would buy me a rose. This morning I was feeling so lost and forgotten, I cried out to God and asked Him if He had forgotten me, I told Him that I needed to feel loved.” The man cried too. You see how the Lord loves us? You see how He speaks to His people?”
A Call To The Remnant 