Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. (Hab 3:17-19)
Have you ever seen the mountain goat traverse almost vertical sheer cliffs? It is a sight to behold. In the making of these goats God withheld fear. It is as if the mountain is not there. There is something in their very make up that causes them to move with ease in surroundings that would kill almost any other living creature, God made it so. When gross darkness comes upon us brothers and sisters, there is a perfect love that casts out all fear. We traverse the mountains and the valleys and the shadows of death with power and love and a mind that is stayed upon Him. He is your strength and He will make you fearless when the time comes and you will walk in high places. Even in the midst of great turmoil and chaos, peace will reign in the hearts of the saints whose eyes are stayed on Him.
The title of this piece is very controversial. I have lost friends over this subject. I do not take it lightly. It is quite an audacious thing to say that the very system that most of Christendom labors under is un-biblical and flawed but there it is, that is what I believe. The mere fact that it has existed in some form or fashion for countless centuries in no way legitimizes it.Β If it did, then the Catholic church would be the most legitimate church out there. It seems plain enough that in Scripture, Christians met in their homes and their very homes became places of worship, houses of prayer if you like. The outside world saw life in these people, saw love in these people and God Himself added to them daily. Think about all the church programs that are designed to ” get,” new members or to somehow stop the ” revolving door,” and keep the folks who come and visit. Yet the early believers had no such programs.
What led people to the truth was the very life in those who represented it. A burning love and passion for Jesus.Β They had no desire to bring folks to their particular house, or tell people that they must hear their particular teacher or pastor, no their singular obsession and passion was for the one who radically transformed their lives and it was now no longer them that lived but Christ lived in them. Therefore they were not afraid to die for Jesus , in fact, the early Church counted it as a great honor and thanked God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Him. This was the life of Christ burning in their bones, coursing through their veins, it completely dominated their whole lives, their life was about His life in them and this drew others to Jesus. God Himself was given all the honor and the glory for the drawing of others to Himself as of course it should be. Consider the words of T.A.Sparks……………………………
The Lord has not called upon us to form churches. That is not our business. Would to God men had recognized the fact! A very different situation would obtain today from what exists, if that had been recognized. It is the Lord Who expands His Church, Who governs its growth. What we have to do is to live in the place of His appointment in the power of His resurrection. If, in the midst of others, the Lord can get but two of His children, in whom His Life is full and free, to live on the basis of that Life, and not to seek to gather others to themselves or to get them to congregate together on the basis of their acceptance of certain truths or teaching, but simply to witness to what Christ means and is to them, then He has an open way….Read the rest of this entry »
Joh 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
The beginning of a manifestation of His glory. This would culminate in the greatest manifestation of Gods glory here on earth, the transformation and the regeneration of a human soul. To take what is dead and bring it back to life again.To take what is broken and to restore it. To take what is captured and to set it free. The earth cries out for such manifestations of glory in our day, yet perhaps the church is crying out for other things?
Psa 125:2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
The Lord Jesus is as a mountain to His people. He is our higher ground. He towers over our valleys and beckons us to come up higher, to come to Him and rise above our circumstances. When you are in the valley of weeping lift up your eyes and see where your help comes from. Three times a year the people of God were called to come up to Jerusalem, to the temple of God. Psalms 120-134 are songs of ascendancy. It was vital for Gods people to come unto the sanctuary at various times throughout the year. This would give them the strength to dwell in the valleys and plains where they lived. Jesus, in a larger sense, came down from the mountain of heaven to the valley of this world. Time and time again He retreated to the mountain. He shared some of the greatest truths from the mountain, consider His ” sermon on the mount.” He would retreat to the mountain and get alone with His Father. Brothers and sisters, do not neglect this higher ground. One must come up and into the presence of God if one is to navigate the deep valleys of life.
A wise man once wrote ” Friction is the polish that shines our graces.” Another way of saying that could be ” suffering is the path that leads to glory.” Now, this is never a popular teaching, but suffering is a gift from God in the sense that it helps to sanctify us and shape us and teach us. The flesh screams out against ever going down that path. As mere humans we would never personally choose to go down such a path. Yet do you know what that path is called? It’s called the narrow path and it leads to life. One might ask ” how can trials and humiliations , pain and suffering and even sometimes death lead to life?” As Christians, do we really need to ask that question? This was the life of Christ. He was acquainted with suffering, He was a man of sorrows. Some would teach that He suffered so that we would not have to. This is not true. He overcame suffering and hell and death so that we could overcome too in His name and by the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures tells us that “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; (Heb 5:8-9)
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;(Php 1:29)
If you are suffering today and in the midst of a sore trial, I want to encourage you. God is in control. He knows and He sees. There is nothing lost not a single tear. One day soon, all of those tears will be wiped away in the glories of heaven.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Mat 4:8-9)
In this encounter with Satan, this is the final test for Jesus in the desert. Look at what Satan wanted, this is what he wanted over and above all other things, he wanted authority over Jesus. He would gladly give him all the kingdoms of the world and all the glory that goes along with that if He would only bow the knee to him. Of course Jesus refused.
I want you to see something in this. Satan wanted the authority and the preeminence that belonged to God alone. This is the sin that Satan was guilty of, this is the genesis of pride, listen to his words……Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:” You see, you can have everything this world has to offer if you will only bow to the authority of man which is ultimately the authority of Satan. This is where the struggle began and this has been the ancient struggle which will finally be dealt with at the return of Jesus.
The challenge to every saint in every age is what they do with established authority. Now they hated Jesus and Jesus told us if they hated Him then they would certainly hate us. Who would hate us? The rulers of this world, religious or otherwise. Why would they hate us? Jesus refused to bow His knee to the ruler of this world who is the ruler of rulers. Genuine saints have received the love of the truth and they abide in it and it has set them free. Those who perish and are deceived are those who would not receive the love of the truth.
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2Th 2:10-11)
Brothers and sisters, those who have received the love of the truth which is a gift from God are the persecuted saints down through the ages. They are the deadliest enemy of the father of lies. They will not bow the knee to him nor any of his emissaries even if they appear as an angel of light. This ancient battle of darkness against light started when Lucifer, in his mind, exalted himself above the throne of God and then would have Jesus bow down to him. There is a deadly fury of all of hell that comes against the one who refuses to bow to anyone other than Christ. It will culminate soon when all the world will bow down to the god of this world who is a pretender to the rightful throne of Christ. He will command all men everywhere to bow down to him, the saints will not. For they love the Truth more than they love their lives. When Jesus comes in all His glory then every knee will bow of those in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
The Waning Authority of Christ in the Churches
A.W. Tozer
Here is the burden of my heart. While I claim for myself no special inspiration I yet feel that this is also the burden of the Spirit.
If I know my own heart it is love alone that moves me to write this. What I write here is not the sour ferment of a mind agitated by contentions with my fellow Christians. There have been no such contentions. I have not been abused, mistreated or attacked by anyone. Nor have these observations grown out of any unpleasant experiences that I have had in my association with others. My relations with my own church as well as with Christians of other denominations have been friendly, courteous and pleasant. My grief is simply the result of a condition which I believe to be almost universally prevalent among the churches.
I think also that I should acknowledge that I am myself very much involved in the situation I here deplore. As Ezra in his mighty prayer of intercession included himself among the wrongdoers, so do I. βO my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavensβ (9:6). Any hard word spoken here against others must in simple honesty return upon my own head. I too have been guilty. This is written with the hope that we all may turn unto the Lord our God and sin no more against Him.
Let me state the cause of my burden. It is this: Jesus Christ has today almost no authority at all among the groups that call themselves by His name. By these I mean not the Roman Catholics, nor the liberals, nor the various quasi-Christian cults. I do mean Protestant churches generally, and I include those that protest the loudest that they are in spiritual descent from our Lord and His apostles, namely the evangelicals.
It is a basic doctrine of the New Testament that after His resurrection the Man Jesus was declared by God to be both Lord and Christ, and that He was invested by the Father with absolute Lordship over the church which is His body. All authority is His in heaven and in earth. In His own proper time He will exert it to the full, but during this period in history He allows this authority to be challenged by the world and ignored by the church.
Recently we heard President Obama, at a prayer breakfast of all places, speak to a very diverse crowd including the Dalai Lama. In trying to establish a historical immoral equivalency between ISIS and the Crusades and the inquisition he erred. In actual fact there are not two or three or many historical incidents and periods from which to draw from and deem them to be equivalent. There is but one evil and it is ancient. It has been present at every barbaric act ever carried out in the name of religion. It is presently uniting the world through horror. In order to see the bigger picture you must be able to draw back the lens, come up higher. The view encompasses the beginning and the end. The world will come together, there will be a new order and that new order will be the deadliest enemy the genuine saint has ever faced. If you can believe it, it is already unfolding, hiding in plain sight. Because of the horrors and barbarism of ISIS and other groups, we are unwittingly coming together and uniting together, on face value to fight evil, but the intent of this evil is to unite the world against everything called fundamentalism. The world is a chess board and men, even the most powerful men, are but mere puppets, proxy’s in an ancient war of darkness and light. One hates the other. The conclusion is soon to come when Christ appears. Genuine saints must keep their eyes upon Him and walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. May you have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is showing and saying to the Church.
Brothers and sisters, there is a coming storm. Even now the dark clouds are gathering over the land. War is on the horizon. The end of ages are upon us and the enemy of our souls knows it well. He will come against the saints first with great deception and then with great fury. A time is coming, a war is coming such as has not been seen before. Who will stand? In every stage of history men have made their decisions and their stands. Many men have stood on the wrong side of history. It is one thing to stand on the wrong side of history, it is quite another thing to stand on the wrong side of the ages.
Today the saints must establish in their hearts what they are living for and what they are willing to lose everything for. Are you living for all things eternal? Will you be willing in the coming days to lose everything? In that day, there will be darkness and various shades of grey on one side, and there will be light on the other. There is no darkness in God. We cannot stand in shades of grey. We will be compelled to choose. Even now the world demands compromise to the Word of God. Every institution will fall in line with the world or it will fall. Praise God some will choose to fall, most will fall in line.
A famous group of colonists once declared independence from great Britain and a shot was fired that was heard around the world. There will be a declaration all too soon that declares allegiance to God and God alone and further declares total dependence upon Him. When the colonists signed that declaration, death was assured for them in the event of defeat. They were, with their signatures, totally committed to the cause and willing to pay the ultimate price. If mere men can make declarations and give their life for that cause, what will an army of saints around the world achieve by their own declaration? And how will we declare such things? By our lives and the stands that we make. This will be universal. And the result? The greatest witness of Christ the world has ever seen in all of ages past. I pray I live to see that day.
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Daniel speaks of a time when the saints will be worn down. I believe the process of the saints being worn down has already begun. Times have been changed and wrong has become right and truth, at best, is relative. This is wearing the saints out as they struggle to come to terms with these fast changing circumstances. There has been a blitzkrieg so to speak in the realms of the spirit. Compromise and unrighteousness has surrounded the saints. We are an obstacle that at some point will have to be removed if the enemy is to have total dominance. More laws will be changed and we will witness more compromise by Christendom
If you recognize this, then I want you to be encouraged saint. We have been called to stand. Even although many will fall away, we have been called to stand. There is an evil day ahead and the saints have been called to stand in that day. Now how are we to stand in the midst of this battle? We have been called to stand fully equipped with the armor of God, this is how we will stand and the enemy knows it, so he has come against every aspect of our armor in the last several decades, knowing the time is short.
Some write diaries and others keep journals, the poet records his time with a piece of his heart in each poem. These poems below are a journal of 2014. I pray that they bless you. It starts from last January and follows my year. They are written from a heart that seeks to be transparent…… Frank
January 2014
LOOKING FOR SOME HIGHER GROUND
Iβm just lookin for some higher ground
But life keeps tryin to drag me down
When your walking with your face into the rain
Sometimes you wonder if youβll see the sun again
Eyes down, one step in front of the other
Until you think you canβt go any further
Then the rain gets heavier and begins to take its toll
Until your stripped down to your very naked soul
The waters rise and cover all of me
Until thereβs only waves and nothing left to see
I am dying there somewhere beneath the flood
Covered by the waters and feet caught in the mud
And suddenly a hand appears from up and out the waves
And a man walks on the water, the storm He calmly braves
He takes my hand and stills the storm and suddenly thereβs no sound
And all at once I find myself alone on higher ground
I hear His voice, He speaks to me, itβs time to journey on
In the darkest storms I have discovered just where faith is born
Transfigurations on the mount are such a glorious sight
They give me strength to journey on into the darkest night
We are called unto the battle of this there is no doubt
The faith thatβs born from every storm enables us to shout
When the battle it is raging and the enemyβs all around
We know that we are standing with Him on higher ground.
THE DOOR-KEEPER
In His presence there is joy beyond measure
To feel His touch is heavenly treasure
To rest in the arms of our glorious King
Is to lay down and listen to the angels sing
Your presence lets me walk upon water
Your presence sustains your sons and daughters
In your presence the lions mouthβs shut tight
Your presence brings hope to the darkest night
Oh for the joy of a single touch
I am overwhelmed it is almost too much
In your presence the darkness disappears
In your presence there is a river of tears
And this river it flows from Your throne
From the heart of God to the heart of His own
Time stands still it exists no more
When I am the keeper of the temple door
When I pass through the valley of weeping
I am blessed to find Godβs not sleeping
Indeed my tears become pools of blessing
And comfort for those who require refreshing
One day in thy presence is all that it takes
To stand firm in my God when everything shakes
And though trials and temptations often come nightly
No good thing He withholds to those walking uprightly
One day at a time each day in your presence
Reminds me of your beauty, your very essence
Where even the sparrow has found its place
To dwell in the arms of eternal embrace
Oh blessed is the man who trusts in thee
Who has knelt before bloody Calvary
Who night and day and with all of his heart
Seeks to walk with His lord and never apart.
In Matthew 24 , on the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask Jesus what the signs of the end of the world would be. Jesus first warns them not to be deceived by man. He then tells them β Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places,all these are birth pangs. Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations for my nameβs sake.β (Matt 24:3-9)
In one short paragraph, the King of Kings looks down through the corridors of time and gives a sweeping lesson on what the future holds for mankind. Only God can speak like this and when He does we should be hanging on every word. What is birth pangs? If Jesus uses this example, it is definitely worth looking at and studying. Birth pangs is labor pains. In another translation the phrase β the beginning of sorrows ,β is used. When a woman goes into labor, there are three stages.
1. Early or latent phase.
2. Active phase.
3. Transition phase.
The duration of the early phase is the longest, averaging around eight hours. The pain can be simple backache. You can still walk around, in fact that is sometimes more comfortable than sitting. Most woman spend these hours at home, or they can be checked into the hospital and sent home until labor becomes more active. Feeling of eagerness and excitement are not unusual. It is important at this stage that energy is conserved for the work of labor. Then comes the active phase. This is marked by regular contractions that become longer and stronger and closer together. When you are in active labor you will be concentrating on the task at hand and will not feel like doing anything else. Pain mediation is often given at this time.
After active labor comes the transition phase. This is the most difficult time of labor, and fortunately, this is the shortest period of time lasting from 30 minutes to two hours on average.Brothers and sisters I believe that we are in the early or latent phase of the birth pangs and are soon to shift over to the active phase. All of these phases are leading to the great tribulation. Jesus Himself said that after these phases we shall be delivered up to afflictions and we shall be killed and hated by all nations. Get ready saints, open up your spiritual eyes and see that there is a red sky in the mornings. These are the signs of the times and we should know in our spirits what the Spirit is saying to us.
There is a red sky in the morning
And its calling you and me
It is a heavenly warning
Of just how things are going to be
Behold the King is coming
And He is coming in the cloud
And every eye shall see Him
And every knee is bowed
And in those days, theyβll fall away
And the tribes of the earth shall mourn
They shall revile the precious Son
And upon His name pour scorn
And of that name which is above all names
They shall mock and they will deny
Yet every man shall see the Son
In His glory in the sky
There is no name under heaven
Bt which a man is saved
It’s the glorious name of Jesus
And the road to hell is paved
With well-intentioned people
Who fear man instead of God
Who have a form of Godliness
But deny the power therof
And so to some it may be nothing
To remove Christ from their name
But its a Christless Christianity
That will bring everlasting shame
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In the Christian world, in the kingdom of God, there are no bridges over troubled waters. The children of God are compelled to pass through the waters. And when we do, we are promised that God will be with us. To pass from the wilderness of this world into the Kingdom of God there are many troubled waters to pass through. There is an old negro spiritual song called ” Wade in the waters, Gods gonna trouble the waters.” Has God troubled your waters? Does He cause you to pass through the waters? Are you passing through them right now? Can I tell you that the life dedicated to Christ is a life of troubled waters. We cannot go around them and we cannot go over them, we must go through them. In Christendom, many refuse to pass through the waters, yet this is Gods calling. The outer court, the court of the gentiles is filled with those who refuse to pass through the waters.
“A generation that knows only what God said will be followed by a generation that doesn’t believe what God said.” (A.W.Tozer)
It is so vital to know God.To know Him in His Spirit, know Him in His being, know Him intimately in the depths of who we are. To be found in Him,to be vitally connected to Him and know His presence, His presence being like manna to our very soul. I believe that Tozer’s words in the above quote have came to pass. At least one or two generations have passed that knew only what God said and have produced a generation that does not believe what God said. The wind has been sown and now comes the whirlwind. The seed of mere mental assent has harvested a crop of headless stalks that are no good for consumption and can feed no one.
How many of us βknow ,β that the day of the Lord is coming and it is coming soon? This has nothing to do with proofs or opinions, you just know in your spirit, there is a witness in your spirit that speaks to you and you βknow.β I could talk about signs and prophecies being fulfilled but I do not wish to do that in this word, you already βknow,β that the Bridegroom is coming for this is a word to the remnant. Who are the remnant? Well, they are the Church, not to be mistaken for the established church. God is calling His people, His remnant, from all over the world which includes the established church to come out.
There are still many brothers and sisters within the established church but they will eventually leave. This is not a calling from man; it is a calling from God.God has all but withdrew His Presence from the established church. Eze 10:18 And the glory of Jehovah went from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubs. The continuing purpose of the remnant within the church is to be a witness to those who would also come out and establish judgment on that which calls itself the church.
The remnant are further identified in Eze 9:4 And Jehovah said to him, Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst.
They have been identified with a mark on their foreheads. They mourn and are deeply saddened at the condition of the established church. Those within the established church will not be able to identify their state for they allowed themselves to be blinded by their love for the world. They so identify with the world that they look just like it. They will be friendlier to those of the world than to those who mourn for the state of the church. The remnant will be and are increasingly marginalized within the four walls of the church and they lose their voice. Fellowship is ever more difficult to find as most in the established church simply have no idea where they are coming from. This process is happening across the spectrum of the established church, whether it is in the βPentecostal,β circles or the more conservative Evangelical movement.
This isolation that the remnant feel eventually compels them to reach out and find other like-minded people. This reaching out reaches across denominational lines and βstrange bedfellows,β are popping up everywhere. The remnant are not to be confused with βchurch-hoppers,β in fact the opposite is true. The remnant try everything to make a difference in their churches. They go above and beyond but there is simply no breaking through to the worldliness that they find. This is a hungry and thirsty people and they will eventually be compelled to move on in the hope of finding some water in a dry and thirsty land, they are desperate for the βformer rains.β
God has begun to pour out His former and latter rains. The former rains have softened and are softening the soil to receive the remnant. The process is in flux all over the world. The winter planting of the wheat has begun for the last time. The Bridegroom is coming and the Bride is being made ready. Not righteous mind you, it has already been made righteous by the Blood of the Lamb; it is being prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom. The mansion has been prepared, the bridal chamber is ready and now the wheat, the Bride awaits the latter rains, they await the sounds of the trumpet. Godβs remnant have been and are being prepared and it is they who call down the latter rain. Before they call down the latter rain they call for repentance.
They rend their hearts, they fast, they weep and they mourn. They assemble themselves, gather themselves together. They weep between the porch and the brazen altar which has all but been abandoned. It is they that have been marked by God, the remnant that do these things. It is upon these people whom the latter rains fall. The latter rains enlarges their capacity, they grow stronger in their spirits as the Lord pours out His Spirit upon them. This is not a good sign for the world or for what passes as the church. The remnant begin to dream dreams and see visions. In these dreams and visions they see that the Day of the Lord is at hand. They begin to prophecy against the world and the established church. They call them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment. And even at this stage the remnant are being called by the remnant. Even now it is the valley of decision; it is still not too late for the heart to rend itself to God.
For the remnant, the called out ones, the chosen of the Lord, will stand in a continual downpour of His rain. Those who formerly thirsted, shall thirst no more. And directly proportionate to the outpouring of Gods Spirit will come persecution. Yet, this only drives the remnant deeper into the heart of God, which still infuriates the enemy of our souls even more. The remnant will then experience a fountain of living water that flows continuously βfrom the house of the Lord.β (Joel 3:18) And the valley that the remnant have been called to is flooded with living water from the throne-room itself (Rev14:7, Rev 19:6) The name of this valley is Acacias. This was the last known location of the children of Israel before they entered Canaan. (Num 25:1, Josh 3:1) This will be the last location of the Bride before the Bridegroom comes and they enter in and the door is closed behind them. Just because some folks have co-opted the phrase ” latter rains,” does not mean that the latter rains shall not fall. They are coming.
Joy and sorrow walking hand in hand
There is laughter through the rain and fire in the land
Look and see the wounds that pierce my heart
Causing me to stumble and tearing me apart
I can barely imagine there’ll be any tomorrows
And then I consider The man of sorrows
So acquainted with grief and rejected by all
That when I am lost I can hear His call
My love has failed it’s the end of emotions
I am drowning in fears in the deepest of oceans
The bridge to my heart is slowly being raised
Unless it is lowered there’s will be dark days
I cry out to God, fill my heart with your love
Don’t leave me in this place, come down from up above
I wait in the darkness I wait all alone
For wings that will allow me to fly to your throne
And suddenly I have wings and I know how to fly
Above all the tears to your glory on high
I fall to my knees for I cannot stand
As I take a hold of your outstretched hand
Jesus was a man acquainted with sorrows. It is not a part that we as Christians like to dwell on too often but there it is. When we are physically attacked, we at the very least, throw up our hands to protect ourselves. Yet when our heart is open, as it must be to walk with and serve the Lord, then it is utterly vulnerable to attack. It is so tempting to allow our hearts to begin to close down, it is even a knee jerk reaction to hurt and pain that comes and comes and comes again. I have cried out to the Lord so many times to fill my heart again, even when I had not the slightest desire. This is the Word of God doing itβs work, when our own love fails, when we come to the end of our emotions, when anger and bitterness and melancholy seek to drown us or perhaps apathy sweeps down like an avalanche to try to cover everything up, then we cry out to God for what we know is right and we wait.
For those who wait upon the Lord, for those who have grown weary or tired and faint, suddenly the presence of God lifts us and carries us beyond and above, high above the cares and pain of this world. He makes us lie down for a while in green pastures, He leads and guides us and comforts us. He feeds our hearts and waters our thirsty souls. He prepares a table before us right there in the midst of our circumstances and we are strengthened to carry on. Every time we walk through the fire or the flood and walk out the other side there is a growing realizationΒ that surely goodness and mercy has followed us and will follow us all the days of our lives. This is the joy of knowing Him on this all to often painful journey. We persevere and overcome because our hand is outstretched to His and that outstretched hand reaches high into the heavens and finds itself before the throne of mercy and grace.
How many times can a heart be broken
How many tears have to fall
How many times do I have to forgive
Or perhaps not forgive at all
When my steps grow tired and weary
And my sleep has vanished in the night
How can I go on day by day
And not simply give up the fight
Where can I find the strength to go on
When it seems I have lost my way
How can I lift my head from the pillow
Even for just one more day
Then all of a sudden I know He is here
My waiting has not been in vain
He comes to me through the fire and the flood
Through the heartache and through the pain
And suddenly I have the strength to carry on
I rise on the wings of His love
Who knew I would rise o’r this valley of death
And find myself far far above.
I soar on the glorious splendor of Love
On the wings of the eagle I fly
I feast on the banquet He prepares for me
As I revel in the endless sky.
Hi saints. I am back from Scotland. I spent sixteen days over there and I believe there was much fruit. On many levels it was difficult and I personally felt buffeted by the enemy of our souls. Yet, there were breakthroughs in some very difficult spiritual situations and God held me and kept me and ministered to me in ways that were very special. I appreciate all the prayers of the saints that I had and they certainly held me up. I believe for myself personally that many poems and songs will come out of my experiences while there. In fact two in particular that I wrote while over there may find themselves in an album that is being put together, along with a few other one that I have written. The three other singers that will be involved in this album are very anointed and we pray that when it comes it will be fresh manna. It may take several months because it will be done as the resources are available, but God is good and He equips and supplies that which He calls. I am looking forward to getting back to writing and sharing that writing on this page. My prayer has always been that this site would be a blessing to many. We are almost at the 200,000 mark with visitors from over 160 different countries. This blows my mind, yet God prophesied six years ago that He would use me to ” write to the nations.” This has come dramatically to pass and I praise God for His goodness and His mercy and His gifts which He gives to His children. I would appreciate the prayers of the saints as I finish up a book entitled, strangely enough ” A Call to the Remnant,” with the sub-heading ” A word to God’s children for the end of the ages.” Below is a wee video I shot from the hills above my hometown of Scotland…………………bro Frank
A Call To The Remnant 