Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Posted by appolus on March 18, 2020
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
In another Scripture, Heb 11:6 we are told…. But without faith it is impossible to please him. You see the connection? Walking in the flesh is the same as having no faith in the Lord. In Romans 8:5 we are told…. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Now if we look at two words here it is instructive for us. First the word “mind.” This word means to set our affections on, the thing that captures our thoughts. So, if we mind the things of the flesh then our affections are set upon the things of the flesh and our thoughts are taken up with the flesh. Now, it is important to identify what the word flesh means here. The Greek word is sarx and means in this context “the symbol of what is external.”
So if you are walking in the flesh then you are taken up with the external things of this life and not the interior life, the life of the Spirit. Now the external things can mean a multitude of things. It can mean our outward circumstances, our careers, our position in life, our cars, our houses, our politics, our appearance and so on. If these are the things that occupy our minds then we cannot be walking in the Spirit and we cannot be pleasing to God. Rather, to be walking in the Spirit is to be seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. This pleases God and He is a rewarder of those who follow this path. His reward is His presence and in His presence there is fullness of joy. Peace and love and forgiveness, contentment and holiness is the landscape of the Kingdom. Wont you walk in the Spirit today? Put away the things of this world and mind the things of God and His Kingdom and possess what the Lord has delivered to you.
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 remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 16, 2020
Ask the average pastor in the land if he would like the presence of God to come into their gathering and he will invariably say yes. This brings to mind a couple of things. First, the Lord does not come down to enhance the ministry of men. He comes down when He is exalted, when He is glorified and when He alone is lifted up.The Lord must be preeminent in our gatherings. You can have perfectly pleasant meetings week after week, hear good sermons, have good bible studies and so on and so forth and feel good about all of that, but this has nothing to do with His preeminence and our encountering Him and His manifest presence.
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.(Mat 21:12)
We see in Matthew 21:12 that when Jesus came into the temple, the first thing He did was clean it up. He threw out everyone who was making merchandise out of the temple. If you are in that temple and were making a living out of it, you were unceremoniously ejected. It would have been shocking and humiliating for the Son of God, with a “scourge of small cords,” to whip you and drive you out right there in front of everyone. So in our day of the industrial church, huge buildings, mortgages, coffee shops and bookstores and a multitude of “ministries,” to be supported, what would He do with all of that?
Men cannot have Jesus be preeminent in their gatherings, for in a moment of time most of their programs would be scrapped. Those making a living wage would be fired and the coffee shops and book stores would all be demolished. A huge amount of men, delivered to the spiritual industrial complex from seminaries and Bible schools which are part of the industrial complex, would be driven out. The idol of the pulpit would be destroyed. Men who have became mediators to a vast collection of spectators would be replaced. The gathered people would be participators and not passive nodding heads with the occasional amen. They would be compelled to rise to their feet in the glory of His presence and cry Holy. The Holy Spirit would lay upon a man’s heart a wonderful exhortation and upon another a scripture and a teaching. Someone else would have a song.
Let us look at the exact word our instructions from the unchangeable word of the Living God. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret (1Co 14:27) Now brothers and sisters, is that ambiguous or is not rather straightforward? Stop right there and consider the words of this scripture. Do you have an objection to it? If yes, why? If you accept this as true. what hinders you in fulfilling this? Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge(1Co 14:29) Hard to understand? Ambiguous? Agree with the word of God? Yes? What hinders you in fulfilling this? Are you not without excuse and do we not cast Scripture’s instructions aside in favor of the traditions of men? All of this would only take place if Jesus was preeminent among us. So, is Jesus in your “temple?”
I say all of this to the established “church,” for in fact we the saints are the “Church,” we are His temple. Church is not a place that you go to, church is something that you are born into. The Body of Christ is just that. Not a place but a people. We have our marching orders from the Scriptures on how the Body should be when it gathers. What has happened is that we are so far removed from the truth of that and the reality of the gathering, that if there was a genuine desire and attempt to Biblically worship and gather together, it would not be a reformation but rather a revolution. The first thing that happens in revolutions is that the old order is replaced ( or in secular revolutions probably something worse) The definition of the word revolution is “the overthrow of a government, a sudden and grand change or the movement of one object around the center of another object, an example being the movement of the earth around the sun.
Given the above examples of revolution, we see that many of them fit into our conversation. The overthrow of a government. This would be the dissembling of the denominations and the old order of meeting. A sudden and grand change would describe what it would take to return to the organic and biblical gathering. And the last example would be coming full circle, completing the revolution and coming right back to where it all began. Jesus would be the center of it all and everything would revolve around Him, everything. Man would be replaced from the center, the pulpit would be replaced from the center and Jesus would take back His rightful place and the Holy Spirit would elevate Him in the hearts and minds of the people. The same Holy Spirit would edify the saints in the manner He has already prescribed in the Word. The Word never changed, it was we who left it behind in favor of our own traditions. We elevated men and we shuffled the Lord Jesus off to the side. We relegated Jesus to where He was a mere adornment.
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Posted by appolus on March 16, 2020
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
How deep the love that cries “forgive them Father?” How dead to the flesh a man must be to cry “hold not this charge against them.” How transformed must his flesh be that he has a vision in the midst of being stoned by his countrymen? And brother Stephen was taken home loving those who bore the stones.
Would I respond in such a manner?? I pray that I would. I pray that every trial and tribulation I now suffer is a mile run by one who trains for a marathon. Can I see my trials as blessings? Can I walk counter to modern Christendom and count my trials as I count my blessings? This is the deeper life brothers and sisters. This is the counter-culture. This is the way of the cross.This is the narrow path. Can we arrive at such a place as to rejoice in our sufferings? How can a man rejoice in his sufferings? Well, a man cannot, only a saint empowered by the Holy Spirit can.
There is no key or magic wand on how to rejoice in the depths of suffering. There is only encounter, there is only desire, there is only that thirst spoken of by David when he spoke of the deer that panteth after the waterbrooks. Make no mistake brothers and sisters, this place, this walk of the saints, this place of peace that surpasses all understanding is born out of fire. We have to encounter the Lord Jesus in the depths of the fiery furnace.
Is there another way? No. It’s the narrow path, it’s the taking up of the cross, it’s the decision made in the garden of Gethsemane and even that is not it, there is still the death, even the death of the cross. Many men will die for the cause but how many are willing to die for the cross?
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 persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on March 12, 2020
As I was walking and praying this morning, the Holy Spirit dropped this word into my spirit-suddenly. The definition of the word suddenly is “quickly and unexpectedly.” In my own very recent past I have encountered some dramatic suddenlies. About six weeks before Christmas, one of my best friends, who was 67 and a wonderful man of God, was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told him that without treatment he had about six months, with treatment maybe a year. Shortly after he began infusion treatments and about four weeks after that he died-suddenly. Last year my neighbors husband, who was about the same age as my friend had some pains. He went to the doctors and tests were taken. The day after they told him he had cancer, he died the following week-suddenly. Two weeks ago, by beloved four year old dog Jack got sick on the Friday. Took him to the vets, got blood work and meds, a day later he died-suddenly.
We are never very far away from suddenlies. They can strike out of the blue and plunge us into a certain kind of darkness. Yet there is another kind of suddenly. Suddenly in the upper room the Holy Spirit comes. Suddenly we who were one moment in darkness are flooded by the light of His presence. Given the nature of this life we saints should be more prepared for suddenlies than anyone else. The solid Rock upon which we stand is not shaken. Others who stand merely in this world can be shaken to their core and suffer irreparable damage. We who stand upon the Christ, who know Jesus intimately can never be destroyed by the circumstances of this world. We can surely suffer, but not like the world suffers. The world suffers alone and can be inconsolable. We have a comforter is that not right saints? His name is the Holy Spirit. The Lord says He would not leave us as orphans. No, He would send the Holy Spirit to us and by the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus Himself would take up residence in our hearts and that is our strength. That is the source of our light when darkness threatens to consume us. He is the source of our peace and joy when we have suffered grievous loss. As long as we are found in Him.
“And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.” We are His temple brothers and sisters. It is up to us to continually seek Him in our every day walk. It is in the daily seeking of Him and the finding of Him that we strengthen ourselves and prepare ourselves not only for the suddenlies of this world but also of the end of this world which is soon upon us. And who will stand in that day? Who will be able to stand in the refiners fire? His saints. His saints full of His oil. His prepared saints. Oil not just in the lamp but in the vessel. Those who are intimately connected to the two olive trees of Zechariah which represent the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. To be intimately connected with our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit means that our lamps will never go out. We have an eternal source of power and light from the inexhaustible supplies of heaven itself. There shall be many suddenlies in the days to come and by them will come much darkness, but we, the bearers of the light shall shine greatly in the gross darkness.
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Posted by appolus on March 12, 2020
Matt 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth
What are the riches of our dwelling place with the Lord? Out of the beauty of dwelling with Him do we have the finest gold of unconditional love? Are the walls of our dwelling place encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy? Are the windows of our dwelling places draped with meekness and humility?
Do trophies of grace hang on every wall? Are they framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness? Do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue gold and silver? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have?
Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something and the lengths we will go to protect it. Guard your hearts brothers and sisters in Christ, for we have an enemy who seeks to steal and destroy what we have. Satan knows the value of what we have oftentimes more than we do.
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Posted by appolus on March 10, 2020
It is interesting that it is reckoned that the tower of Babel was being built in response to the great flood that had happened hundreds of years previously. Rather than men believing God when He said He would never flood the world again, men chose rather to believe in the power of their own might. In effect they had thrown of the Word of God and chose to believe a lie. They would build a tower to the sky so that they could create a means of escape.
Men are not so different today. They store up money to the sky in an effort to ward of poverty. Yet a virus that cannot be seen with the naked eye has caused the loss of almost four trillion dollars in just a couple of weeks. This world is built on sinking sand. It is reckoned that the ancients worked on the tower for well over a hundred years. All that time, all that effort and money and resources and one nod from God and it all comes tumbling down in the midst of mass confusion. Sinking sand. Make plans, build bigger barns and never reckon that in thee twinkling of the eye God can, this very night “require our soul.”
How then shall we live? In the will of God according to the Word of God. Whether we live or whether we die our primary aim should be to glorify God. Seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness comes at the end of chapter six in the Gospel of Matthew. This section is where we are told not to be anxious, not to worry about the things the Gentiles worry about. This is not series of suggestions Jesus is making, He is telling us how to live. To live any other way than this is to be living outside of the will of God for our lives. In other words, sin. Its not our nature or our character, nor is it simply our circumstances that creates a state of anxiousness, it is rebellion against the will and the peace of God.
Jesus told us to consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed in the splendor of the grass of the field which today is but tomorrow is cast into the oven. If we shall possess the fullness of God and walk in a peace that surpasses all understanding, we must trust God in God and not the works of our own hands. Whatever we attempt to build to shelter us from the ravages of this world can all come tumbling down in the blink of the eye. A tower built upon shifting sands, the wisdom of man and not the Word and the power of God. Let your eye be upon God and His eye shall be upon the sparrow.He watches over us.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 9, 2020
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Are you wearied of living in fear? Fears of all kind are the enemies of our soul, indeed oftentimes fear is the opposite of faith. In the end, fear is actually sin. I do not say that to bring condemnation upon anyone, simply to identify it and highlight how it can separate us from our relationship with the Lord. God does not condemn us in this but He would that we would live in the freedom that He has made us free with.
When we run away from a situation or hide from it because of fear, it never solves the problem, it still lies in wait for us as we go around the mountain again. The obstacle must be confronted if we are to pass it by and move on upwards. Every single time we give into fear we are saying “Lord, you are not Lord of my life,fear is.” And in this we recognize the fact that we are slaves to sin and not servants of God.
We cannot be slaves and free men all at the same time. If the Lord has set me free, if He has come and opened up my jail cell, what was I doing still in the cell looking out through the bars at the world? Why had I not walked through the door that the Lord had opened? Was it safer for me to stay where I had become accustomed to?
There comes a time in our lives when we decide that we have to get up and get out of that cell. The Lord did not open it and free us just so that we could be technically free, He wants us to be actually free. I don’t know what is keeping you in that cell this day but we both know the Lord who opened the door. He bids us to step out of the shadows of the cell and slavery and to walk out and into the light of freedom. One step at a time, one day at a time, listen and follow Him one word at a time.
Step by step. As you overcome in Him you will be putting distance between you and your former cell or self. There will come a time when you will look back and be astonished how far you have come in Him and how by the power of His Spirit you have overcome. You were called to freedom. Take that first step this day and deal fear a lethal blow by being obedient to the Word of God and His still small voice.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 3, 2020
Mar 4:39-40 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
My son Daniel, who has Down Syndrome had Frisbee golf with the day summer camp that he went to many years ago. He was very excited about it. When we got up that morning it was apparent that the weather was not good. As we left for the camp at 9am it got really dark, in a way that you have to live in the Mid-West to really appreciate. It was as dark as night and the rain came on very heavy. It takes about twenty minutes to drive to camp and Daniel and I would typically have a time of worship on the journey there. Half way there he tugs on my shirt. I turn the music down and Daniel says with his broken language skills “I’m gonna sing to the storm.” It just struck me, it was so profound. I turned the music back up.
As we continued to worship (Daniel with his hands raised to God) I began to wonder, “Lord, are you going to clear this up?” I began to cry as I considered the very simple faith of my son. Brothers and sisters, before we got to that camp, the light broke through the darkness and the rain stopped. I was quietly shedding a few tears at the Lord’s dramatic response to Daniels prayer , not Daniel. He gets out of the car and he is muttering and he is speaking for God to the storm and he says “see storm, you’re not the boss of me.” And as soon as he said it I thought of the Scripture, Mark 4:39– And He awakened and rebuked the wind and said to the sea “Peace be still!” And the wind ceased and there was great calm.
I had such a time with the Lord on the way home as I considered who He was. When was the last time that you “sung to your storm?” Maybe you are in the midst of a storm right now. Maybe it’s as dark as it ever has been in your life. Saint, this storm does not have mastery over your life. We serve a God that in the midst of the most violent storms can say “Peace be still.” And suddenly there is peace. Can you sing to your storm today? Can you praise God even in the midst of your greatest trials? When the enemy of your soul says “let’s hear you sing now,’ can you confound him and sing out? When your back is to the sea and there seems to be no way of escape, can you, in faith, begin to praise Him because you know that all power belongs to Him?
Praise Him today brothers and sisters, no matter what your circumstance, praise Him today. And the light will break through into the darkness of your situation as you lift Him up above your circumstances and He takes you up with Him. He is high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple. He is glorious in holiness. He inhabits the praises of His people. He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, and His banner over us is love.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 26, 2020
Gal 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Walking in the Spirit is walking in fulfillment of His word. When someone offends me, but I do not take offense, I am walking in the Spirit. When I am insulted, yet I do not care because I am dead to myself and alive to Christ, I am walking in the Spirit. When I love the unlovable I am walking in the Spirit. When I agree with my enemy quickly and he is disarmed then I am walking in the Spirit.
When I look upon a woman, not with lust but with pure eyes then I am walking in the Spirit. When I refuse to be anxious but make a conscious decision to do all things by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving then I am walking in the Spirit. All these things and so many others brothers and sisters is the fruit of my walk in the Spirit.
As I do all these things and the peace that is beyond understanding fills me completely, then I know that I am walking in the Spirit of the Living God and my heart literally burns within my chest. And as it burns, it gives off a light that men can see and they are drawn to Christ in me. When this happens, I know that I am walking in the Spirit! My part is to surrender and yield to the Spirit that is within me. I must also be able to hear that still small voice that leads and guides me.
I must also be genuine in all that I do, my outward actions must be a reflection of my inner life. That right there is the difference between life and death. I must cultivate my relationship with Jesus because my ability to walk in the Spirit is directly tied to Christ in me and my relationship with Him. I must be able to come into His presence. It is only by walking in His presence, which is walking in the Spirit, that I can be used of Him to be light in the darkness.
Experiencing His manifest presence as opposed to having a faith in information is life and manna to your soul. Giving a mental assent to an abstract truth cannot feed us, we can only be fed in the Spirit. If we are walking in the Spirit we can be fed, it is then that not only are we fed by bread alone but by every word that proceeds forth out of the mouth of God. It is in the context of His leading and His guiding that our souls are edified. It is in this walk that the desires of the flesh begin to recede and Christ in us begins to increase. May He increase in your life as you walk out your life in the Spirit for there is no other way that He can increase and be lifted up.
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 remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 21, 2020
The photograph that you see is of a shipyard worker who refused to give the Nazi salute. Never underestimate the courage that it took for this man to refuse to salute evil. There was a devilishly simple yet brilliant strategy that compelled all of German society to give each other the Nazi salute. Fail once to return the salute would arouse suspicion, fail a second time and you would more than likely have the Gestapo knocking at your door and looking into your background. And so the Nazi salute had become a kind of social litmus test to see if you were loyal to the state. I want you to ask yourself this question. If you, as a born again Christian, were alive in Germany during the war, would you give the salute or not? Would you have the courage of your convictions? Would you simply rationalize it away with thoughts like ” well I know it does not really mean anything so why cause a stir?” Wrong, it does mean something. It is symbolic and it was an issue of conformity. This is how evil rises. The inability to stand apart from the crowd. Do not be fooled, we are already in the midst of a society that is compelling us to conform. Will you conform, will you bow to the gods of this world?
At a church I attended for about ten years, early on the Holy Spirit convicted me not to stand and applaud for any man. God alone deserved me standing to my feet and He alone deserved my applause. You may not agree with my conviction, but it was just that, my conviction. It never got easy. Every single time I was aware that I was the only one seated in a room full of people standing and applauding, sometimes wildly. I felt the eyes of those around me on me. I could almost read the thoughts. “Who does he think he is?” “Look, he is too good to stand.” I could actually “feel,” the pressure to conform. My own nature working against my spirit along with the spirit of man. We identify this in teenagers and call it peer pressure. We know that it is powerful. This thing called peer pressure never leaves us. There is something in us a men and women that wants to fit in, to be popular or at the very least, not to be hated. No one really wants to stand out in a hostile crowd. Yet is that not exactly what we are called to as born again Christians?
In 250 AD the Roman emperor Decius issued an edict to the Roman world. The edict demanded upon pain of death that everyone in the Roman empire must perform a sacrifice to the Roman Gods and call for the well being of the emperor. Typically burning incense would be good enough but here is the kicker, it had to be performed before a Roman magistrate who would then issue a signed certificate. You might think this was a disaster for the Christian community and would totally decimate it. Yet, in Carthage, so many “Christians,” showed up on the particular day to perform the sacrifice that it had to be extended for two days. This caused a serious rift in the Christian community that never healed. Those who sold out to the state were seen by the minority or remnant as traitors who had committed monstrous tyranny by denying the Lord Jesus while acknowledging the gods of the Roman world. This would not be the last time events of this magnitude occurred and the sifting would continue.
I would like to put it to you that we are seeing similar events taking place now which will only increase in intensity. Litmus tests and the gods of this world are, as we speak, demanding that those who hold to the name of Jesus bow down to them. Denominations of varying sizes are falling and many are falling over themselves, just as in Carthage, to join in and be identified with the world so as to have their favor and avoid any of the consequences of standing up to they tyranny of conformity. Yet, in every village and in every town and the great cities of the world wherever the name of Jesus is named, there will always be a witness that refuses to be identified with the world, who refuses to give the salute, to bow the knee, to burn incense to the gods of this world. Daniel threw open his window and prayed openly in defiance of the world and its edicts as did the Hebrew children. What say you saint? Will you refuse to stand, will you refuse to bow down to the gods of this world? It may cost you everything in this world but you will certainly gain the next.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 21, 2020
Mat 25:21 His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.
The seasons of God are good. One of those seasons is a time for weeping and mourning. Yet, if that is all that we have, if we live forever in a perpetual winter of weeping and mourning then nothing will ever grow. We will not grow and neither will our effectiveness for His kingdom. Neither will we grow in the knowledge of God. There is a time to rent our clothes and throw dust on our heads, yet if this one season becomes the whole then we render ourselves weak and ineffectual. Our real strength comes in the Joy of the Lord. If we cannot put on a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness then we will not be able stand in the evil day. We will be overcome by trial and tribulation and persecution.
When the Israelites were captured and taken from Jerusalem, their captors sat them down by the river of Babylon and taunted them. They said to them, “let’s hear your songs of Zion, let us hear your songs of victory now.” And the Israelites who were famous for their songs of praise to God, hung their harps on the willow tree, unable to sing, overcome in spirit in their defeat. The enemy had not only robbed them of their earthly freedom, they had robbed them of their joy, their essential core. They no longer had a song in their heart or on their lips. The willow tree upon which they hung their harps represented weeping. Their praise was silenced and only their weeping could now be heard.
Can I ask you something? Have you hung your harp on the willow tree? Have you suffered a loss or a defeat that has robbed you of your song? Do you find it impossible to praise the Living God? Has your mourning went on too long? When our mourning and weeping goes beyond what is natural we will find ourselves in trouble. Now, our hearts will be filled with something. If we have lost out song or our joy then our heart will be filled with some level of anger or bitterness or cynicism, perhaps all three.
The Apostle Paul and Silas shows us the way when we see them praising God in the midnight hour. They had been whipped and scourged and found themselves in stocks in the lower reaches of the dungeon. When they seemingly have nothing to praise God for they begins to sing His praises. And we see something very spectacular happen. The whole building shakes as the power of God falls upon that prison. The doors are supernaturally opened. What God done for Paul and Silas he can do for you. Will you praise Him today? Despite your circumstances will you praise Him today? If you do, you will see the doors of darkness open before you and you will be able to step out into His marvelous light.
You see brothers and sisters, we have been called not only to be a witness to the world but we also testify against principalities and powers. In the opening chapter of Job we see God boasting about His faithful servant, and right away the accuser of the brethren fires back that Job is only faithful because God has blessed him and protects him. The accuser tells God that if the circumstances were different Job would curse Him to His face. Right there brothers and sisters, can you see it? Can you see why it is so important to praise the Lord our God even in the depths of out trials and difficulties?
When we do that we shake the universe for we not only prove by our actions that no matter what, our God is worthy to be praised and we will praise Him. We also prove, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, that the enemy of our soul is a liar and that our love for God is unconditional. There is something really big playing out in your lives brothers and sisters even if you cannot see it or you think your life is insignificant, it is not. Join the hosts of heaven as a witness against the enemy this day and praise the Lord your God.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 17, 2020
Some of us have had the great privilege of seeing the majesty and the glory of God’s creation in places like Niagara Falls or Yellowstone Park or the mighty peaks of Colorado. There is the breathtaking beauty of the Columbia river gorge and the mighty forests of the pacific northwest. Killers whales in their natural environment of the coast of British Columbia or Bald Eagles soaring over magnificent valleys. The Sierra Nevadas rising straight up like a glorious towering cathedral encapsulated in the dramatic Half Dome or its nearby cousin El Capitan. Four thousand feet above the valley floor and eight thousand feet above sea level, the magnificent monuments to the glory of God were first thrust up from the earth and then carved out by glaciers. Imagine four thousand feet of solid ice carving its way through solid granite inch by inch until all that is left is the grandeur and the glory of God. If the heavens declare the glory of God, and they do, so too does the architecture of our landscapes.
Now consider this brothers and sisters. You are more glorious than the stars in the heavens and the mighty mountains and raging rivers. When God saw His handiwork in the heavens and the earth He said that it was very good. Yet in you He breathed His very life and you became a living soul created in the image of God. Now when you came to Him you were like a piece of clay taken from the ground. You were without form and in your spirit you were void. You had a soul but the poison of sin had robbed you of a spirit that was alive, you were dead in your sin. And yet the Lord took that piece of clay and He prepared it. The Potter put you upon the wheel and by His very hands He is shaping you for His own good pleasure. You, saint, are His creation. He is shaping you and molding you for His glory. You are His El Capitan. He causes you to rise up in your spirit higher than the loftiest peaks in the world. You can soar above the eagles, in fact you can rise all the way up to heavens throne. Your role in all of this is simply to yield to that Master’s hand and trust Him. He knows what He is creating in you. He saw it before He began. Can you see it? Do not lose sight of what the Lord has done in you and what He is still doing. Remember, the Lord is faithful to complete that which He begun in you. You are His creation and you are being rightly shaped to fit perfectly into His plan. Take a moment and give glory to God and magnify Him in your heart today as you consider His handiwork.
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Posted by appolus on February 17, 2020
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Most of us have a concept of prayer that is all about talking. We start of by giving thanks, then we make our requests, we pray for family members and before we know it has become ritualistic and barren. Prayer should be much more like breathing. When was the last time you thought about breathing? You’re probably not even conscious of your breathing yet you do it continually and it sustains you and gives you life. Prayer is our relationship with God. They are one and the same. If we attempt to separate them then we will get lost. There are no formulas, no secret methods, prayer is being in the presence of God.
Prayer times and quiet times are good. For many this is our moments when we connect with God. In the morning and in the evening before we go to bed. Yet if we have neglected His presence all day, our prayer times will not be as effective. In our minds we must take God every-where we go, whispering to Him all through the day as we face the challenges, trials and temptations that come with life.
Begin to see God everywhere. Don’t simply walk out the door and leave Him behind to pick Him up again in the evening. Let the Lord invade every part of your day. You will be amazed at how this will change everything. You will not just be talking to Him in your prayer times and quiet times, He will become an integral part of everything that you do and think and say. Remember, He is the reality, the world we go out into every day is but the shadow, walk in the reality of God.
Each whisper, every God-ward thought, every word spoken, each moment of silence spent in His presence is like a musical note to the Lord. The Scriptures refer to the Lord as “He who sits above the circle of the earth.” And so He who sits above the circle of the earth sees each and every one of these musical notes from around the world from the Body of Christ rising up in a majestic symphony of love and worship and it is a sweet, sweet sound in His ears.
Wont you become part of that symphony today? Let your day be filled with thoughts of Him. Release whispers of love to add to the music of prayer. Simply whisper the name of Jesus all throughout the day. Remind Him of how much you love Him and thank Him continually for the day, no matter what kind of day that your having. Rediscover that bond of love and joy and peace that comes simply by being in His presence. When you do this brothers and sisters, your prayer life will change dramatically, but not only your prayer life, life itself.
For when we walk in continual prayer we begin to see the beauty of the Lord everywhere. If it rains, we see His beauty in the raindrops. If the sun shines then we see His beauty as the flowers turn themselves around to face the glory of the risen Son. If it is cloudy we can see his beauty break through the clouds in beams of light that remind us that despite the momentary darkness, He is not finished with us and that His light is ready to break through the darkness of our situations and this world. When we fly above the clouds we discover that there is a perpetual blue sky. In the same manner brothers and sisters there is a table set before you. Can you see it? Goodness is the meat to the hungry soul found in the Word of God and mercy is the living waters of life to the thirsty saint found in His presence. It is His promise that these shall follow you all the days of your life.
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Posted by appolus on February 14, 2020
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 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 3:17-19)
If it’s the moon they say 250,000 miles or if it’s the sun they say 93 million miles. But after that they start talking in light years. They say that there are bodies millions of light years away—say 10 million just to get a start. So if you want to know how far it is from earth to that body I’m talking about, you multiply 5 trillion, 862 billion, 484 million by 10 million. Doesn’t that stun you? It makes my head ache! Seen over against this, you and I are terribly small (A.W.Tozer The Attributes of God)
Can you see what Tozer is getting at? He is showing us just how vast the universe is and yet how infinitesimally small it actually is in comparison to God almighty. This is beyond our ability to comprehend. It is too big. Yet right there in the Scriptures it says that those who have Christ in their hearts, and are rooted and grounded in love can indeed comprehend God. Think on that a while. Comprehend God. We can know the breadth of His majesty. We can know the depths of His love. We can know the heights of His glory. In short, we can know that which is beyond knowledge. We can be filled with the fullness of our God who is infinitely vast. This is astonishing that we can enter into and be filled with His fullness. It’s is an invitation by our Lord who owes His creation nothing. And yet He beckons us to come into the glory. Our God wants to share this with us. And there is purpose in it.
For this purpose Paul bowed his knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus, his Father and our Father. The purpose is that we faint not in the midst of tribulations. When we apprehend His glory we comprehend His glory. When we comprehend His glory we are strengthened by His might in His Spirit in the inner man. On the outside we may be in prison, we may be hard pressed on every side, perplexed and persecuted and struck down but we stand fast and we are not overcome. We stand and do not fall because He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think according to His power that is in us, the fullness of His power. Glory to God in the highest. He causes us, whose heart He dwells in by faith and who are rooted and grounded in love, to stand.
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Posted by appolus on February 12, 2020
It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth (Matt 15:11)
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus would say that it was not what man takes into him that defiles him, but it is what comes out of him that can be defiling. As I was praying I caught a vision of tall trees, a vast forest. It occurred to me that trees soak up the carbon dioxide that we as humans breathe out, and in turn the trees turned this poison into life giving oxygen.
We, the children of God are the trees of the world and we move in harmony to the wind of the Spirit. We take upon us the offenses of this world. The hatred, the bitterness and the false accusation and we do this all in our every-day lives whether it is with coworkers or family and friends or even brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to this brothers and sisters.
Do you have the grace and the faith and most especially the love to be able to fulfill your role? Are you dealing with difficult people right now? Have you been hurt and offended? Breathe deeply brothers and sisters, yes take it in and breathe out life giving love in response. The closer these people are the more difficult this will be. Who can hurt us more than our spouses and our children? Yet the degree of difficulty only magnifies the love and the power of God in us. Nothing tills the soil of our hearts more than this. Nothing removes the stones in our own hearts more than this. It is power in the Kingdom and weakness in the world. What Kingdom shall we walk in saints? How then shall we grow?
You have been supernaturally created to be able to take this poison and darkness and expel love and light in its place. It is our calling. When we stand before the Lord, I am fully convinced that this will be our offering to Him. For what reward will the world give you to take the insult? Where is the pat on the back for returning love for evil? There will be no recognition, no standing ovation in this world, but the Lord will see and what He sees is pure gold. And this is the treasure that will meet us in the world to come.
Into the darkness of this world we shall bring the light of Christ, for we are the bearers of the light. The love of Jesus our Lord, the love of God the Father, poured out upon us who deserved nothing is a monumental thing. In the light of this love we have been called to love the world. We who have been forgiven for so much have been called to forgive. Will it tear the flesh from your back? Will it scar you? Certainly it will. Look to Calvary and see the scars upon our Saviors back, see how they pierced Him and hated Him. You scars tell the story saints, it tells the story of His glory. Not on some majestic mountaintop but down in the mud and the mire of the deepest valleys. This is how we share His glory. Treasure in the Kingdom and garbage to this world. Diametrically opposed worlds separated by paradoxes. Jesus sees your scars, and the secrets that He sees He will one day reward you openly for. Maybe not in this world but certainly in the next.
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Posted by appolus on February 12, 2020
Who will join me in the valley
Where swings the sword and flows the blood
Where the gates of hell are fully opened
And the enemy comes in like a raging flood
Up and out from these depths He came
His standard fluttering in the wind
Victory in Christ our Lord and Saviour
For every man who ever sinned
Who will lay their burden down
Broken and contrite beneath his feet
Who will be washed in the Blood of the Lamb
Who will march on forever and never retreat
Where swings the sword and flows the blood
In the valleys darkest mire and mud
There march the soldiers to drum and beat
There falls the darkness to utter defeat
In Christ our King we stand or fall
Upon the Truth we are standing tall
One in Him or not at all
The battle belongs to our God.
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Posted by appolus on February 10, 2020
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
Only that which flows from an uninterrupted gaze on Him is real. Everything else is the shadow of the object. Granted, the shadow of the Lord is more powerful than all that can be seen, and one can even enjoy the heat from the sun in the shadow. Yet the glow from the face of Moses was not the glow of a man who stood in the shadows. I believe that the Lord can pour out his unadulterated light if it is not diffused by the efforts of middle men or intermediaries.
Can it be that simple? Can we simply come into His presence and be changed? Does everything begin and end with the Lord Jesus? How does one continue to look to Jesus? It is a conscious act of the will to take our eyes of our circumstances and cast them upon Jesus. This is the great battle of our lives, not our circumstances. Our circumstances can simply be doors that if walked through lead directly into His presence. It is in that place, looking unto Jesus, that we are changed. Trust is the key that opens the door. To trust in God is to walk through the opened door of our circumstances into the throne room of God.
There are two Kingdoms. The kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. One is seen and affected by our senses and circumstances. The other is unseen and if walked in, relegates our circumstances to mere opportunities to go deeper into its depths. Now these two kingdoms compete for our attentions. You must cry out to God every day to bind up the reality of the kingdom of this world and to loose the reality of the Kingdom of God in your life. Cry out to God to give you eyes to see what He sees and how He sees it. Can you imagine the prospect of every situation you face being an opportunity to grow in grace and power? This is the Kingdom reality, will you walk in it today?
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Posted by appolus on February 7, 2020
A trimmed down Gospel never saved a soul. A trimmed down diluted, edited religion is not the religion Christ died to establish. Heaven is not filled with weaklings who had to have someone go along and help them over the rough spots, it is full of soldiers and martyrs and the dreamers and the prophets and the clean man who loved his God and loved his generation and lived and died living a good life-a hard life. (A.W.Tozer)
In this quote Tozer identifies that saints will live hard lives. They will not be loved by the world, they probably wont even be loved by their own families. A saint living a Godly life reflects badly upon those who are not. A saint living a bold and unashamed life in Christ reflects badly upon the ones who are not, whether of the world or religious professors. A saint who speaks the truth in love with fear and favor for no man reflects badly upon those only share convenient truth. I know a man who refuses to use the word sin when preaching. It is too offensive and he loves people too much to use the word sin. Apparently he is more loving and Holy than the Word of God and Jesus Himself. Instead he uses the words “errors,” and “mistakes.” He will actually say that Jesus died for your mistakes. This is the essence of being ashamed of the Gospel. A trimmed down edited for local consumption Gospel but not the Gospel that Jesus died to establish.
Grace is high-jacked in these circles, the Gospel is edited and men believe it to be virtuous, it is not virtuous it is cowardice. It is not the language of the soldier for Christ. Nor is it the language of the martyr or the prophets or the good men who strive with everything that is in them to speak the truth in love. These men are not ashamed of the Gospel before a wicked and adulterous generation. Listen to how Godly men, filled with the Spirit spoke. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?………Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Act 2:36-37) You see how the language of the Holy Spirit speaks? He reminds the crowd that they crucified Christ and then when they are shaken to their very core- that they should repent. Repent of what? Their errors? Their mistakes? No, their sins.
You know who hates the concept of sin being spoken about? The author of sin. The deeper we move into the last days the more he becomes infuriated with the word sin. He has managed to get society to all but outlaw it. It will be soon. It will be hate speech to call out sin, especially the favorite sins of a wicked and dying society. At best you will be mocked for using that word. The soft men will tell you they do not use it because they love people so much and do not want to do or say anything that would allude to it, rather they say things like “well, we have all made mistakes.” How badly this compares to the saints of the first century. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.(Act 3:14-15) Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.(Act 4:10) The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.(Act 5:30) Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:(Act 7:52)
Can you see the language and the power and the boldness that penetrated the hardest hearts of men and established the Church? They were not ashamed of the Gospel, the full Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Calvary was an amalgam of justice and mercy intertwined on the cross. It is where sin was judged and grace was found. Preach one without the other and your words will never penetrate the hard hearts of men. You will create religious men or anemic converts. There is a baptism of fire for the soul that has been penetrated by the Holy Spirit. And out of that fire they cry out- and out of that fire they are plucked by the hand of grace, the Lord our God. Errors and mistakes are what happens when you take an arithmetic test. Sins dealt with and souls saved is the work of Calvary.
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Posted by appolus on February 7, 2020
1 Cor 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you have the victory saints? What is “the victory?” In verse 54 it says that “Death is swallowed up in victory.” There are many kinds of death just as there are many kinds of victories. There is of course physical death and for those saints who “have the victory,’ then every aspect of death’s power, fear and dread and darkness are swallowed up by the life of Christ. For we know that because He lives then so shall we. The darkness of this world shall be swallowed whole by the light of Christ that is brighter than a thousand suns. Let all you suns of the universe hide yourselves in shame as mere candles in the wind when my Lord appears.
And because we “know” Him we have already been touched by the glory of His light. Can you feel it’s glow even now deep within your heart? It burns at the center of who we are. There is life in this light of God. There is power and there is victory and because there is we can say with full authority to death- where is your sting? Oh grave where is your victory? You have been defeated and you have been swallowed whole. The victory belongs to Jesus. His very life is our victory and His eternal throne means that out victory is eternal.
And therefore if death has been overcome and we ourselves have died to this world then we are now alive to walk in His Kingdom. And in this Kingdom we walk in victory. In every situation we have something that belongs to Jesus and was created by His very life. The light of Christ. It overcomes every darkness saints. When you apply this light to whatever battle that you are in you will find the victory. There is victory in the glory. Just as the glory of God fills all of heavens chambers that are vast beyond imagination, then it also fills you. His glory is your victory. For it’s release from your spirit lights up the darkness of every corner of your soul. When the deer pants for the waterbrooks and finally finds the fresh springs that flow from heavens throne then she rejoices.
Victory. That is what you have today saint. It lies within you for the Lord rules and reigns in your heart. You are a single tear drop away from His glory. No matter your situation today saints, search, like the deer, for the waters of life, the glory and the victory that lies within you. There is a fountain, an eternal spring and its waters have life and they have been prepared for your use. Desperation is often the key that opens the door of humility revealing the source of life and victory. Jesus is the life and the light , the watererbrooks, the eternal springs and the glory and the victory.
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Posted by appolus on January 30, 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 all know and would 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 very silently, 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 all 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 your circumstances. 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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A Call To The Remnant 