There is no other Rock I know, not one Sing oh heavens until His is work on earth is done Break forth in rapturous praise you mountains set on high For your peaks cry out His splendor, and His glory fills the sky The Lord is our Redeemer and He formed us from the womb He died upon a bloody cross and walked out from the tomb He stretches out the heavens then He'll roll them into scrolls This Son of God, what Majesty, this Savior of our souls. His blessing shall pour forth like a mighty waterfall Hands shall stretch to heaven as they hear the Masters call We shall spring up like willows among the watercourses We shall mount up and go forth on heavens mighty horses Our spirits shall fly like the summer larks in the hues of the setting sun Our hearts shall soar like the eagles when the day of the Lord has begun He shall pour water on the thirsty and floods upon dry ground He shall pour forth His Spirit and in His Spirit we shall be found.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
I will pour My Spirit upon the dry land.
Posted by appolus on July 24, 2023
Posted in bible, Christian poetry, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
How to triumph in Christ.
Posted by appolus on July 22, 2023
2Co 2:14 Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
Can you say, with all honesty brothers and sisters, that through you, the fragrance of Jesus is made known every where you go? By His presence in you and your presence in, say, your marriage, you “diffuse the fragrance,” of Christ? That phrase means to make manifest. Is it manifestly evident that you carry the presence of Jesus? How about at work? When you are driving? Interacting with your family? Interacting with people who do not like you? Is there still a fragrance that emanates from you? Are you like a flower? Beautiful to behold, something that others want to draw near to them and just breath you in?
Atmosphere, it is something we can control. We can control it because God has given us everything we need for He always leads us in conquest. He leads. He goes before. Shall we step back or shall we get out in front of Him? When we are wronged do we rush forward with our carnal weapons of warfare and then pat ourselves on the back because it was “self defense.” The clue is right in the words. We are defending “self,” therefore we add to the blackness of the atmosphere rather than allow the light to shine forth from our innermost being which causes the darkness to flee. The flesh demands to be defended and when it is the atmosphere grows darker. We must infuse into the situation the rarified air of heaven.
In one year, the average mature tree will absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide and in exchange release oxygen. We saints are the spiritual “trees,” in this world. We are uniquely designed to triumph over the toxic nature of humanity and the world in which we live. The one vital difference is this, what the trees do by nature and design, we must do by choice. We can exhale out both spiritual oxygen or more hellish carbon dioxide. In every single occasion it is a choice. The power resides within us. Shall we follow God? If we do then He always leads us to victory. If we follow the dictates of our own flesh then we shall find ourselves wallowing in the toxic nature of defeat.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Fresh Fire, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Every valley exalted.
Posted by appolus on July 14, 2023
All flesh is grass and its beauty Is like the flowers of the field We are here today and still we sow Yet tomorrow what shall we yield? The world and all who dwell therein Shall surely fade away Yet those who stand in Christ alone Close to the cross they always stay And though all things shall fade away His Word shall remain forever And we who remain and are yet alive Are taken by the crimson river This river that flows from Calvary Is an inexhaustible fountain It carries us across the sea And summits every mountain To the lofty heights of heavens glory His people shall surely ascend And there in the sky they shall meet their Lord Their King, their Master, their friend And there He dwells with the truly contrite With the lowly, the humble, the broken Who stood beneath that Bloody cross And who stood upon every Word spoken They shall run and run and not grow weary They shall walk and shall not faint They shall rise up with the wings of an eagle And there shall worship without restraint.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, healing, Jesus, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, The Psalms, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
The reason for the season.
Posted by appolus on June 27, 2023
In every stage of our lives there are seasons And almost always we never know the reasons We live, we love, we cherish, we lose And the sudden losses leaves us with very little clues We look to the sky and we wonder why One of our loved ones they had to die Yet for the most part there is no rhyme nor reason There is just the changing of the season In the hand of the Lord there lies it all The creation of man and then the fall Sin and rebellion and death floods in And Eden vanishes and loss begins There is a time to laugh and then to cry A time to live and then to die A time to gain and a time of loss A time to refine away the dross We are called to walk through fire and flood And sometimes called to shed our blood We are also called to laugh and sing And fall to our knees before our King No matter the loss there is always a reason For the fire , the flood and the painful season For the joy, for the laughter for the passion and pain Know this dear saint, nothing is in vain
Posted in bible, Christian, Christian poetry, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, God's love, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, revival, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Are you surrendered to surrender?
Posted by appolus on June 19, 2023
God finds us like the wild donkey, our nostrils wide and our eyes blazing and our ears laid back, hating the touch of leather, hating the touch and smell of people. The Holy Spirit comes, takes over, and starts, as we say on the farm, breaking the colt. After that the whole nature of the animal changes. He perks his ears up and whinnies when he sees you coming. His eyes are calm now. Lay your hand on his neck and he will lean over and nuzzle you. The Spirit of God wants to do that for you. He wants to domesticate you, humble you and make you meek. The Christian who has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into a docile, obedient, meek, trustful person has more treasure than all the wealth of the world (A.W.Tozer)
Brother Tozer uses an analogy that most of the world would hate. I can hear the protests now (mainly because my own flesh raged against the process) “what do you mean, breaking the colt.” The truth is we are much worse that any horse or mule. We rage against the light because it brings us to heel if we indeed surrender to it. The horse is broken, yet we, unlike the horse, must first surrender to the process. And if we just had to do it once that might be ok. Yet just like everything else in the Scriptures that brings life it must be abided in. We must abide in His word daily. We must abide in the Holy Spirit daily. We must take up our cross daily. We must be filled over and over again. And so, just like that, we must surrender over and over again.
Brokenness is a process of surrenders. Stronghold by stronghold, high ground by high ground, well defended positions must fall. Jericho walls must come tumbling down and it wont be by might and it wont be by power, it will be by the Holy Spirit. We cannot cause the walls within us to fall, only Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit can do that. We cannot form the cross that we take up daily, only Jesus by the power of the Spirit can do that. Just like it is not possible to strangle yourself, we could never create crosses strong enough to break us. The flesh would not allow it That is uniquely the work of the Spirit and every step of the way must be surrendered to it. We are called into the river, not up to our ankles nor our knees nor even our waists, we must be fully immersed in the river of life. We must surrender to the current. We cannot be standing on our own two feet.
You may believe that you are walking in the depths with Jesus. Yet ask yourself this saint. Are you still standing on your own two feet? Do you think you are doing good because the water comes up to your neck? In the final analysis you will be no better off than the fella that is only ankle deep. The real changes come when you are swept away by the river, everything else is religion and vanity and ashes in the wind. We have to come to the point where we are simply not in control, we are not in charge. The River, Jesus, the Holy Spirit is. He can only take you to where He wants you to go when you are fully surrendered. And now, just like the broken horse, we fall deeply in love with our Master and long to see His coming. We nestle into His loving arms and when the storms rage all around us, we see Him and we know we are safe. Will you surrender to the river today?
Posted in Babylon, bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, inspirational, intimacy, Jesus, Spiritual warfare, Spirituality, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, Uncategorized | Tagged: Christianity, Jesus | 1 Comment »
Wives, submit to your husbands.
Posted by appolus on June 11, 2023
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
This might be one of the most controversial scriptures in the NT in our day. We are at least three generations into feminism and that very feminism has permeated its way through all of society. This is usually where we flip over to “yes but the men.” Lets not do that today, it has been preached ad nauseam. So Godly wife, do you submit and honor and reverence your husband? Could they put that on your gravestone? How are are to submit to the Lord? In everything, as they old song goes “I surrender all.” Now I hear the multiple arguments rising “but my husband doesnt …….” fill in the blank. If your husband does not love you as he aught (oftentimes subjective, not talking about abuse here) does that mean you can abdicate your role as a wife? If we flip the argument around and the wife is not Godly in the husbands opinion, does that mean a husband has no responsibility to love his wife even as Christ loves the Church?
Eph 5 goes on to state categorically, and all the many abusive husbands and wives in the past cannot change this truth, that within a genuine Christian marriage the husband is the head. This is what the world calls Patriarchy. This is what the world has rejected and has assaulted from every conceivable angle. This is the plan of God, and man, or woman cannot change it. Now that this has been stated, how do husbands or wives walk out their walk within less than perfect marriages? ( which I am assuming is most) What is always the final say, to either the man or the woman? The Word of God. That is our high measuring bar. How do we live up to that? Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith. What is His will for us? What does the Holy Spirit prompt us to do and say, and by the same token what not to do and what not to say? Shall He not lead and guide us in all things even though they be less than perfect?
Now this is not an academic issue for me. I was saved 10 years after I was married and my wife is not saved. So, for over 30 years I have lived with a woman who certainly does not go for “thus sayeth the Lord.” Can I now abdicate my role as a husband and father because my wife is not saved? The standard remains the exact same for me. I have been called to love my wife as the Lord loves the Church and I have also been called to be the head of the house, I have not abdicated either role nor would I. Now, as an unsaved wife she could have chosen not to stay with me.
1Co 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
We have been called to peace. I have peace in my house but if my wife had been a constant undermining influence, if she rejected my position within the household, is she tore me down at every turn and hated my Christianity and began to ruin our children (a house divided) then she would not have been a wife who was choosing to stay.
1Co 7:13 And the woman which has an husband that does not believe, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
Brothers and sisters we are called to peace. My situation is actually less complicated than many I have encountered where the spouse confesses to be a Christian but is clearly not. Now that is complicated and God bless every saint who finds themselves in that situation. Yet here is the standard. We are called to peace. Does your house have peace? Or is it in constant turmoil and Christ is being perpetually undermined day after day? We have not been called to this. I am not saying we cannot be specifically called to this, God knows. He does the calling and sometimes spouses are called to stay in situations where all others would say get out. Only God can make this call. I grew up in a household just like this and in the end my earthly father was saved. God must be our guide and the Word must be a lamp unto our feet. Let peace reign in your house.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Christendom, Christianity, presence of god | 5 Comments »
Tribulation, the birthplace of hope.
Posted by appolus on June 9, 2023
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope makes us not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.(Rom 5:2-5)
The opening verse to this chapter reads “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. And through Him we can rejoice in hope and the glory of God. Yet we are told that we do not just glory in God, we glory in our tribulations. Imagine that, glorying in our trials and our tribulations, in our sufferings. You will not hear that preached in Charismatic circles. Like Job’s friends they would accuse a suffering saint of sin, or lack of faith. They have tried to turn faith into a weapon that destroys and nullifies suffering and trials and tribulations. Yet faith is what gives us access to grace. By trusting in God we glory in His unmerited favor. By trusting in His Son, the Lord Jesus and His work on Calvary we enter into the glory.
In order to flesh out this blessed hope, we have to learn from suffering and tribulations. We learn patience and trust which leads to hope. Therefore tribulations is the birthplace of hope. By patiently enduring our cross, we begin to see how much the flesh dominates us. As we stand there in the fire, the flesh begins to burn away. And yes, if one were to peer into your trials and tribulations they would see the Son of man standing there with you. And this hope that is forged in the fires of trial and tribulation causes us to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for we know it is the power of God unto salvation.
Those who patiently endure and overcome shall stand in that day, unashamed of our Lord, for He has walked with us, every step of the way, through the high mountain passes and in the depths of the valleys. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts for our Lord for He has been our companion through it all. He has stuck closer than a brother. He has been so faithful to us and therefore we could never deny Him. This is our strength. This is our glory, the glory of the God that dwells within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our closest companion, the lover of our souls and the one who has never left us not forsaken us. This knowledge, lived out in our lives, is the hope and the glory.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Christendom, Christianity, church, faith, holy spirit, Jesus, presence of god, spirituality, The remnant, theology | Leave a Comment »
Hi Blood still flows!
Posted by appolus on June 8, 2023
The sands of time are running low Yet the river still continues to flow It flows for you and it flows for me And it still flows from Calvary His Blood cries out and still it saves It pulls men out from stormy waves His Blood shall never ever fail In the shadow of the Almighty we shall prevail Who shall stand in the final hour Who is held by His great power Who shall rise above the flood Those who are covered by His precious Blood His Blood is still a mystery It echos down through history Those who are dying they fail to see That victory was nailed to a Bloody tree And from that tree it flows still yet For you and for me and for our debt We surely owed what we could not pay Yet our sins were surely washed away Washed and delivered I know not why Yet the Son of God He came to die And on that cross He took our place Our sins were forgiven, were surely erased And now I stand high above the flood Washed and redeemed and covered by His Blood Who shall take me out of His hand There is none there is none for In Him I stand. Thank you Jesus, for you died for me Thank you Jesus for you set me free Thank God in heaven that He sent His only Son Thank you Father in heaven for victory won.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Christendom, Christianity, faith, holy spirit, Jesus, presence of god, spirituality, The remnant | 3 Comments »
Free speech and true love
Posted by appolus on June 6, 2023
Luk 6:32 For if you love them which love you, what credit is that to you? For sinners also love those that love them.
It is said about free speech that it only really counts when you tolerate speech that is extremely offensive to you. That is actual free speech. If you only tolerated speech that you like, then you are actually devoid of toleration and you are a totalitarian. You are headed down the road of dictatorship, the same road that Mussolini went down, the same road that Hitler and Stalin went down, the same road that every tyrant went down and all of them ended in pure hatred and destruction of whole groups of people. When I first came to America, it was liberals who defended neo-nazi groups and the argument went something like this “I hate what they are saying, but I will die defending their rights to say it.” It was liberals who had the saying “live and let live,” meaning let everyone do their own thing, lets not compel anyone to be something they are not. You do not have to major in political science to know just how much that has turned around in 30 years, the former guardians of free speech have now traded places with those who would have suppressed it. So, only tolerating speech you like is no toleration at all but rather it is the opposite, it is fascism.
For if you love them which love you, what credit is that to you? For sinners also love those that love them(Luk 6:32) Jesus is saying, in effect, “so you love those who love you, big deal, everybody does that.” True love, Jesus love, is measured by how much we love those who do not love us. How do we react to those who do not like us? To those who hate us? To those who reject us. To those who cheat us and harm us? Are we just like the world or do we have something supernatural inside of us, Jesus, that has changed our very disposition? Too often brothers and sisters we are just like the world, it should not be so. The world only tolerates those who agree with them, they do not have love they have hate. How about us? Do we love even when we are not tolerated? Do we render evil for evil? Imagine if God the Father had rendered evil for evil? We would all be dead and rotting in an eternity separated from our Creator.
If we can recognize the truth of what free speech means, then surely we must recognize the truth of what true love is? It blossoms not on decadent beds of roses that we ourselves made, no, it blossoms in the fire and the dungeon and the heat of hatred. True love finds its expression when it is reviled. True love finds its expression in the arms of forgiveness. It is cradled in a cot of mercy. When it is attacked it has the opportunity to render its attacker of their true power, the power they have over you. True love stands alone atop the highest mountain for all to see. It is unsullied by the rage of human emotions and is grounded in the will of man surrendered to the heart of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the days darken, true love, the love of God, will be assaulted on every side and if we respond correctly then God shall be filled glorified around the world “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.” Let us glorify God in this manner.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Christendom, Christianity, faith, holy spirit, Jesus, presence of god, spirituality, The remnant, theology | 4 Comments »
He will carry you in your times of trouble.
Posted by appolus on June 1, 2023
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
Fiery trials, suffering and tribulations. In certain circles of Christianity you wont even hear it spoken of. Its almost as taboo as death. Yet in the very next breath Peter tells us to rejoice. Why should we rejoice? We are to rejoice because we are partakers in Christ’s sufferings. We actually enter into something very mystical, very holy, the sufferings of our Lord. When the glory of Christ is revealed we shall be glad indeed that we entered into His sufferings. And in verse 14 we are told that when we are reproached for the sake of Christ that the, “Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us.” In 2 Cor we see another Apostle use almost the exact same language “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” We can be sure that His grace is sufficient for us and when we are in great need of grace, in the midst of sufferings, then the spirit of glory and of God shall rest upon us.
This word “rest,” is the Greek word, “episkēnoō.” It means to “tent,” or to “encamp,” or to “tabernacle.” God Himself will come to you in your distress. He will encamp around you. He will tabernacle with you. His glory, His manifest glory will fall upon you like the morning dew upon the mountains. His sun shall rise above you and His power rain down upon you and envelope you. This is a faithful God whose grace will be more than enough for you to rise up in your spirit above the flesh that is momentary and passing away. Yet your spirit, in the very heart of His, shall remain forever and great will be your joy in that day that you indeed were counted worthy to enter into the sufferings of Jesus. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. (1Pe 4:19)
Your spirit is the most excellent part of who you are and the Lord has called for us to commit the keeping of it into His hands. The phrase “commit the keeping of,” means a deliberate act, like kneeling down or giving over to. We have to do it by an act of our wills, we must give our situations and our sufferings over to Him and not try to keep our souls by our own strength in the midst of it, we shall not succeed. Only in His hands are we safe, only as His power rests upon us can we rejoice in the midst of it all. And only then shall we be glad in that day. Will you carry your soul today to God and commit it to Him in the days of your sore trial? You must do it saints or the trial may just carry you away. Let us do our part, the commiting, and let the Lord do His part, the carrying. He will carry you by His grace and His power shall rest upon you.
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The song of love.
Posted by appolus on May 31, 2023
The desire of my soul is for your name And with my soul I have desired you in the night With my whole heart I have longed for you For the one who restored my very sight Just one single touch and I fall down One word from your precious lips sustains me I am whole and complete when you are near Your perfect love in me casts out every fear. For when I stand in the shadow of my King My heart bursts into flames and begins to sing Of your glory and your majesty that makes me whole I remember the very moment that you took my soul. Oh take me now and forever Lord I pray Every day with you is a brand new day I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forevermore No eye has seen nor ear heard what thou has in store Cast me upon the ocean of thy great love Where I am consumed by the one from up above Adrift forever on thy eternal endless sea I who once was captive now sings, for I am free I shall sing of all thy glories until time comes to an end And then I'll sing again the eternal song that thou has penned The song of love that forever changed my heart That carries me to that place where we shall never part.
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You are our open door.
Posted by appolus on May 30, 2023
You are our majesty, this and so much more You are our bright and morning star, to us an open door An open door to glory that leads us to your throne So as we walk this lonely road we are never quite alone You are our refuge from the storm, A shade from the searing heat And if the world had spiritual eyes They would see us at your feet For we have been forgiven much So we love you all the more You to us who are our King Forever an open door Let us step into Your glory For you are high and lifted up And in this place of glory No man can interrupt.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Daily devotional, Devotions, poetry, spiritual poetry, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
The light prevails.
Posted by appolus on May 29, 2023
No matter the darkness the light prevails Just as we saw in the thorns and the nails Victory in Jesus as the darkness drew near Victory over hell and death and fear The world may languish and be spiraling down Yet victory belongs to the one with the crown Glory and majesty with the dawns early light Filled with His strength and ready to fight The proud shall fall never more to rise His glory shall be revealed in magnificent skies The sun shall flee and the moon disgraced The stars in the heavens are violently displaced The King of kings, the Lord of all ages Steps down once more as the devil rages The victory is complete, the darkness no more The ravenous lion has given his last roar
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, end times, End Times Eschatology, Eschatology - Study of the 'End Times', God's love, poetry, spiritual poetry, Spiritual warfare, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Living in the eternal now.
Posted by appolus on May 29, 2023
Mat 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Due to my still healing hip, my wife helped me this weekend with painting the deck. It occurred to me in the process that there are two broad categories of people. There are those who only believe that there is a job to be finished. And there are those who believe there is a job to be done. It may seem that these two statements represent the same thing, but they do not. Oswald Chambers writes “The test that Jesus gives us is not the truth of our manner, but the temper of our mind. Many of us are wonderfully truthful in manner yet our temper of mind is rotten in God’s sight.The thing Jesus alters is the temper of the mind.” Lets say you sin against someone and you know that you must ask forgiveness from that person. You believe you have to finish the job. The purpose is to do what you know you have to do, And you do it. Yet, your heart in the matter was not changed, you merely did what you knew you had to do. It is very likely that you will sin again against this person and others. This is the flesh. It is not altogether different from Catholic confession.
The Lord did not come to teach us how to live with good manners, He came to change our very hearts and minds. By the power of the Holy Spirit, and only by the power of the Holy Spirit, can we live out the changed life. The changed life is not doing things right, doing things right is the consequence of a changed life. We live our lives not in order to achieve something, to get the job finished, no, we live our lives as unto the Lord, daily. The job to be done is to follow the Lord. We are the project. There is no finish line so to speak, there is only being rightly shaped. Now does that mean we cannot have an eternal perspective, not at all, we must have an eternal perspective, but eternity must be lived out daily in our lives and this should be our perspective. Doing the job for the jobs sake is very different from doing the job just to get it finished. It’s a subtle twist that can change the very nature of how we live. Living in the moment is living in eternity. The job is still going to get finished yet getting to heaven is the furthest thing from the saints mind because getting to heaven is not and end in and of itself, its just the outcome of the work of the Lord and those who take up their crosses daily and follow Him.
Posted in bible, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Do not follow your heart.
Posted by appolus on May 23, 2023
1Sa 27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
Let’s be very honest here, David is just wrong. We have the advantage of time on our side to look back and know that he is wrong. He would not perish by the hand of Saul. David said in his heart or to his heart that he was going to die. How many of us have come to the wrong conclusions based on how we feel? Our emotions begin to drive us, like a mighty wind drives a sailing ship in a storm onto the rocks. Fear is the low depression that builds in the atmosphere. Low depressions in the natural lead to storms and high winds. When we speak to ourselves and not to God we convince ourselves of a bad outcome, or perhaps even a good outcome, but rash actions based on unhinged emotions leads to storms and failures.
David knew that he was anointed. David knew that God had delivered him time and time again. David let exhaustion and depression and fear lead him. He came to the wrong conclusions. In John chapter 6 the disciples went down to the sea. Jesus was nowhere to be found. Yet these fishermen knew that the light was fading fast and decided to head of into the open sea where they would find themselves in the darkness, and now, of course, a storm blows up. When we head into anything without Jesus, when we are led by our state, whether physical or emotional, we are heading towards a storm. Much better to wait where we are, on the Lord and pray. David would have better off to stay where he was. This anointed man of God was not going to die, that was a lie he told to himself undoubtedly embellished by the enemy of his soul.
Where are you right now saint? Are you ready to rush of into something? Is that something motivated by God? Have you heard from the Lord? Are you keeping in step with the Spirit, meaning, is He walking with you in this? The disciples should never have left the shore, David should not have tried to escape. David would find himself in Ziklag. This town will not be remembered well by David. This is the place where he lost everything and he cried “until there were no tears left to cry.” Yes, the Lord came to him in the storm so to speak, yes he took back all that was stolen by the power of the Spirit of God. How much better to have never found himself in that position in the first place? Wait upon the Lord brothers and sisters, lest you find yourself in urgent need of rescue. Move when you are told to move. Silence the voice of fear that urges you to act right now. Just because others have went a certain way, does not mean that you should follow. Follow the Lord and His word rather, and the still small voice. Following your heart is the way of the world.
Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christian quotes, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, scripture, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
He is surely coming.
Posted by appolus on May 23, 2023
I will shake the heavens and the earth shall move out of its place For fear shall fall upon the world as they begin to see my face Wail O inhabitants of the earth for the day is soon at hand You will see my unfolding judgment and know that it was planned. The sanctified ones who greatly rejoiced in my exaltation Shall march across the earth, there will be trembling in every nation Behold the day of the Lord comes, the end of all the ages And sin shall be no more as it collects its final wages. And when its said and done joy shall come in the morning Peace and love and joy shall replace tears and fears and mourning Prepare your hearts O saints for the day of the Lord is at hand And only the righteous, covered by His Blood, shall stand A banner is set on high for all the world to see It flutters in the wind above the ones that He set free An army of Gods righteous saints, there they stand as one And at the head of this mighty army rides the only begotten Son.
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Inexhaustible fountains.
Posted by appolus on May 17, 2023
Thank you for inexhaustible fountains
That flow down from the highest mountains
Higher still and then again
We find the source of the falling rain
Living waters whose source is the King
By their refreshing we hear angels sing
Sing to the Lord for He has done excellent things
Cry out ye saints for He is greatly to be praised
Deep in unfathomable mines there is treasure
And at His right hand forevermore there is pleasure
Refreshed by the waters that flow down on me
They carry me onward towards an eternal sea
We shall draw water from the wells of salvation
Upon the Rock we shall stand, our eternal foundation
We shall raise our sails high and be carried along
By the breath of the Spirit and a heavenly song.
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Eternity lies within.
Posted by appolus on May 16, 2023
Those who hear His still small voice
Lie down in the night in peace and rejoice
Even in the midst of the midnight hour
There is glory in His praises and with them brings power
He leads us beside the eternal still waters
into lush green pastures He has surely brought us
Goodness and mercy follow all the days of our lives
To a banqueting table we can barely describe.
His table to us is His manifest presence
By the Spirit of God we speak with great eloquence
Words that flow from the Kingdom within
From the beauty of Holiness that lies therein
Evergreen trees give their fruit in all seasons
There are a million ways to praise Him and a million reasons
To rise up and with the morning sun and cry holy
To walk in humility, to be contrite and lowly
He has planted us beside His holy river
He has established us in His heart forever
And forever and a day and forever it shall be be
For into our very hearts He has placed eternity.
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Rain down upon me now.
Posted by appolus on May 9, 2023
Fire from heaven rain down upon me now Open the eyes of our hearts that might see and bow Go forth before me Lord with your fire and you're rain Burning all the dross and breaking every chain. By your presence let all the mountains tremble And rain down glory from above, from your eternal temple Let the skies break forth that they may split asunder When the lightening flashes and the earth shakes with thunder The clouds are His chariots and He walks upon the wind He broke the chains of hell and death and delivers those who sinned His glory endures forever and He fractures the sky above As the whole earth is filled with His eternal love. He is our shelter from the storm, our precious strong high tower He has filled us with His love and His everlasting power Though worlds may fall to pieces and begin to crumble We follow Him who walked before, and never did He stumble. Take hold of His precious truth in a world that's full of lies Raise your hands and lift them up, lift them up unto the skies Look up and testify that our Redeemer lives And that His mercy is still flowing and He surely still forgives
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Using God to serve ourselves.
Posted by appolus on April 23, 2023
1 Sam 4:3 Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that, when it comes among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies.
Just for some context, this scripture occurs about halfway through a 40 year oppression by the Philistines. It had not been that long ago that Samson had been killed. How far they had fallen since his demise. And yet, in the midst of a corrupt priesthood, and perhaps because of it, they go to battle with the Philistines and they are roundly defeated. They do not learn from their defeat as they should but rather they are somewhat angry at God that He had not given them the victory they seemed to believe they deserved. So, they doubled down. Without leadership the people are now doing what seems right to them and the priests do nothing to stop them. How loudly they shouted when the Ark came into their camp. This is men trying to force the hand of God, its not going to end well. In their first defeat they lost 4000 men, in the next defeat they lost 30,000 men and the rest fled for their lives and the Ark was taken.What absolute chaos unfolds when we treat God lightly and try and use Him as some kind of talisman.
Now we may be temped to think how foolish these people were. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever “pleaded the blood,” over something? Have you ever commanded anything in the name of Jesus? Have you heard His voice in the matters that you speak to? When we put God before our troubles as some kind of talisman, usually in the midst of frightening circumstances, did we take a moment and step back and think? What is God saying to us in our troubles? Even in the earthquake and the loud storm there is a still small voice that speaks. Have you searched it out? The circumstances must never determine a quick response. In the end its not about our circumstances, its always about the glory of God. We do not use Him to alleviate our troubles, we use our troubles to draw closer to Him. Trusting in God, whether we live or whether we die, puts trust/faith in its proper context. In this context, glorifying God is the chief end of man. When our circumstances are our chief end, then faith is perverted into a “force,” which can either save us or condemn us depending on how much of the “force,” we have or have not. In simple terms, God is displaced.
The Israelites had bypassed God and used what was supposedly most precious to them to go and engage in an unsanctioned war. They were attempting to determine their own fate by using God in ways that made sense to them. How foolish to believe that God is ever confined by an Ark or a temple or a certain prayer or the so called faith of men. God is never confined by anything, period. If He were He would not be God. It is we, His servants, who are confined and contained by His will and the moment we step outside of His will then we have strayed off the narrow path. No good thing comes to pass when we wander away from His will. In all things we cry out to God. If for one moment the Isrealites had cried out to God and sought Him our before the battle or after the defeat they would not have lost 30,000 men or indeed the Ark itself. The Ark represented the presence of God. What can we do without His presence brothers and sisters? Where would we be without the Lord? He goes before us, certainly. Yet we cannot put Him before us. We cannot do it by a talisman, icons or chanting certain words. He is with us in relationship and only in right relationship. He is God and we are His bond-servants. He alone determines our battles and He alone is to be glorified at all times and sought after and waited upon. Everything else ends in disaster.
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A Call To The Remnant 