If
ever there was a "word" for today for what is known as the "Church of
Jesus the Messiah" (especially in the Western world) it would be this:
Somebody was showing Jesus the temple in Jerusalem and all the
impressive buildings surrounding it and Jesus blows them away with, "You
see all this? I tell you there will not be left standing of all this,
one stone left standing upon another..." Jesus wasn't even
remotely impressed with it all. HE was standing there Himself as the
the habitation of the Holy Spirit - the temple of Living God.
The location of the temple of God had changed. The buildings of the
former temple were empty of God's presence and even though they once
held the presence of God, they were nothing more now than historical
vanity...
It was that same "historical vanity" bereft of the
Spirit of God that called for the crucifixion of the Son of the Living
God. In approximately 70 Ad the temple was leveled to the ground. Why?
"...because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Have we already or are we about to miss our day of visitation? Are we so reluctant that we refuse to move forward with God as He moves forward?
And then in another place the Spirit of God speaks and says,
"Why when I called was there no one to answer, no man to stand in the gap?"
God has been speaking to HIS Church. Are we listening and being obedient to declare those things? What cost are we willing to pay?
And again He speaks,
"To every man is given a certain measure of faith..."
"Why do you spend money for that which cannot satisfy?..." "I counsel you to buy gold refined in the fire..."
Invest it wisely. Invest it in the eternal. Invest it in the Kingdom of
God. Like any investment, if we invest it foolishly, we can lose it. Many others before us have suffered and died for their faith.
Their lives are like refined gold and as examples to us that they "loved not their own lives unto death" for the sake of the Kingdom.
Do we really know what God's view is as to what exactly constitutes His
"Church" the "Temple of the Holy Spirit?" OR are we still investing in
the "historical vanity" that has been erroneously defined as the
"Church" all these centuries?
The Church of Jesus the Messiah is a spiritual living organism composed of all who have been, now are and will ever be living in the Spirit of the Messiah. It is not an external earthly organization. The only thing that connects us is that we all are born of the same Spirit...
Monday, March 24, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Is God Just?
God is Who He Is. He is the Creator of the Universe. The reason we can't (or won't) wrap our head around that reality is because there is something in us that does not want to believe that someone exists who is far superior. Who is capable of ruling over us. Who has the right and the power to do so at will.
"He curses whom He will curse and He blesses whom He will bless."
When God created man, He did so to have someone to share with, to share all that He is. His love, His power, His wisdom. His very nature revolves around and is reflected in His desire to benefit man and His creation. He loves us. He wants us to share in that nature. To become like Him. God can choose... He gave us the ability to choose as well.
And man early on made a choice. A fatal choice. Man was tempted by, and gave into a lie that challenged God's command and authority. That lie was originated by a fallen, rebellious , self centered, self serving, self worshiping evil being. Man chose to believe that lie and because of that choice became separated from God and His nature, and partook of that fallen being's very nature. Man's choice resulted in a transition from living under God's blessing to living under God's curse. A curse that was never intended for Man.
There is something in the heart of man as a result of that Fall. Man's love for God's love turned into a fear of His superiority. A deeper fear of anyone else's superiority or even potential superiority began to develop in man. That deeper, yet more subtle fear has affected the world we live in and our personal lives in a multitude of ways. The entire world system is built on it. That fear drives our need to be superior. It drives our internal need to "compete." To survive at the expense of another. It is the anti-type of God's nature and plan for man and we are all guilty of participating in it whether we want to believe that or not. That is the price of the Fall of man and it ends up in our death. (and in the world system - corruption and eventual destruction)
That's a hard pill to swallow. If we can, for a minute, take a hard, honest look at the world we live in and our own lives. Our national identity, our "church" or religious identity, our racial or ethnic perceptions, our personal relationships, work relationships, even our marital relationships, even our own opinions of ourselves, etc are affected if not ruled by that rebellion and resultant fear and the dominance of the world system that has been built around it.
So, "What's the answer to all this?" you are asking? There is an answer but it's not the one we want to hear. The answer is that God, the Creator of the Universe (and everything and everyone in it) has the answer. It's not "WHAT is the answer?" It's "WHO is the answer?" The answer is to return to the ONE who created it all in the first place....
"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life..." John 3:16
"He curses whom He will curse and He blesses whom He will bless."
When God created man, He did so to have someone to share with, to share all that He is. His love, His power, His wisdom. His very nature revolves around and is reflected in His desire to benefit man and His creation. He loves us. He wants us to share in that nature. To become like Him. God can choose... He gave us the ability to choose as well.
And man early on made a choice. A fatal choice. Man was tempted by, and gave into a lie that challenged God's command and authority. That lie was originated by a fallen, rebellious , self centered, self serving, self worshiping evil being. Man chose to believe that lie and because of that choice became separated from God and His nature, and partook of that fallen being's very nature. Man's choice resulted in a transition from living under God's blessing to living under God's curse. A curse that was never intended for Man.
There is something in the heart of man as a result of that Fall. Man's love for God's love turned into a fear of His superiority. A deeper fear of anyone else's superiority or even potential superiority began to develop in man. That deeper, yet more subtle fear has affected the world we live in and our personal lives in a multitude of ways. The entire world system is built on it. That fear drives our need to be superior. It drives our internal need to "compete." To survive at the expense of another. It is the anti-type of God's nature and plan for man and we are all guilty of participating in it whether we want to believe that or not. That is the price of the Fall of man and it ends up in our death. (and in the world system - corruption and eventual destruction)
That's a hard pill to swallow. If we can, for a minute, take a hard, honest look at the world we live in and our own lives. Our national identity, our "church" or religious identity, our racial or ethnic perceptions, our personal relationships, work relationships, even our marital relationships, even our own opinions of ourselves, etc are affected if not ruled by that rebellion and resultant fear and the dominance of the world system that has been built around it.
So, "What's the answer to all this?" you are asking? There is an answer but it's not the one we want to hear. The answer is that God, the Creator of the Universe (and everything and everyone in it) has the answer. It's not "WHAT is the answer?" It's "WHO is the answer?" The answer is to return to the ONE who created it all in the first place....
"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life..." John 3:16
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Childlike Faith
"Except you have faith like this little child, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven"
Years ago, we were living on a small ranch in the middle of Oregon. It was a wonderful life and a great experience for the kids. We had sheep, goats, a pig, a whole bunch of chickens and even for a while a miniature pony. The older kids all had their own animals to take care of but one of my younger daughters was only maybe 4 at the time and she wanted a pet too so we got her two goldfish. She named them Hoover and Huuuuver. It was pretty cute when she would talk about them because they both basically had the same name but the latter had a long drawn out UUUUUU in it. My daughter loved her two goldfish.
One morning, we woke up and Huuuuver was laying on the surface of the water upside down with a certain bubbly mire surrounding him. I touched him repeatedly and well, there just was no response so we took the fishbowl in the kitchen. I guess he had died during the night. My poor daughter was devastated because Huuuuver wasn't responding and she got pretty upset. I walked into the living room and she came up to me with a desperate worried look on her face and started grabbing onto my pants leg almost begging me, "Daddy pray to Jesus to HEAL Huuuuver!!!" over and over again.
I just didn't know how to explain that Huuuuver was dead and she just kept pulling on my pants and begging me to pray for him. It was agonizing to see her so upset and worried. Finally, maybe just to calm her down and give me a few minutes to think about how to explain this all to her, I took her hands and prayed, "Lord Jesus please heal Huuuuver..." I honestly didn't have the slightest faith that God was going to do anything. She seemed to calm down when I prayed so that was a tremendous relief.
A few minutes later, I went into the kitchen and Huuuuver was swimming around like nothing had ever happened and Leah was so relieved that Jesus had "healed" Huuuuver...
Now I gotta be honest here and tell you that it never really crossed my mind that God was really going to heal Huuuuver much less raise him from the dead. I just really was pressed for God to intervene and give her some peace. (Which He did.) That's the mature "Christian thing to do" right? Well my daughter didn't understand any of that. She was just utterly convinced that if we prayed to Jesus to heal Huuuuver that God was going to do that... And, He did!
Now, if you were to ask my daughter roughly 22 years later if she remembers that, she would tell you that she doesn't. So you might say what is the value of her having that experience if she doesn't remember it? That certainly is a legitimate question and I think this morning when this came to my mind I may have gotten an answer to that question.
When a great tree drops a seed to the ground does the tree remember it? Regardless of whether the tree remembers the seed or not, that seed falls to the ground and in effect dies and is buried and may be long forgotten. And yet, that seed merges with the ground of life and it is watered and it sprouts and if no one comes by and steps on it, that seed will grow into a great tree. That forgotten seed is destined to become a great tree whose shade and fruit will bless all those that pass by it.
Never underestimate the faith of a little child even if later it falls to the ground and dies forgotten whether that child of God be 4 or 40, "for of such is the Kingdom of God..."
But woe to you if you pass by and see that seed starting to sprout and you step on it...
Years ago, we were living on a small ranch in the middle of Oregon. It was a wonderful life and a great experience for the kids. We had sheep, goats, a pig, a whole bunch of chickens and even for a while a miniature pony. The older kids all had their own animals to take care of but one of my younger daughters was only maybe 4 at the time and she wanted a pet too so we got her two goldfish. She named them Hoover and Huuuuver. It was pretty cute when she would talk about them because they both basically had the same name but the latter had a long drawn out UUUUUU in it. My daughter loved her two goldfish.
One morning, we woke up and Huuuuver was laying on the surface of the water upside down with a certain bubbly mire surrounding him. I touched him repeatedly and well, there just was no response so we took the fishbowl in the kitchen. I guess he had died during the night. My poor daughter was devastated because Huuuuver wasn't responding and she got pretty upset. I walked into the living room and she came up to me with a desperate worried look on her face and started grabbing onto my pants leg almost begging me, "Daddy pray to Jesus to HEAL Huuuuver!!!" over and over again.
I just didn't know how to explain that Huuuuver was dead and she just kept pulling on my pants and begging me to pray for him. It was agonizing to see her so upset and worried. Finally, maybe just to calm her down and give me a few minutes to think about how to explain this all to her, I took her hands and prayed, "Lord Jesus please heal Huuuuver..." I honestly didn't have the slightest faith that God was going to do anything. She seemed to calm down when I prayed so that was a tremendous relief.
A few minutes later, I went into the kitchen and Huuuuver was swimming around like nothing had ever happened and Leah was so relieved that Jesus had "healed" Huuuuver...
Now I gotta be honest here and tell you that it never really crossed my mind that God was really going to heal Huuuuver much less raise him from the dead. I just really was pressed for God to intervene and give her some peace. (Which He did.) That's the mature "Christian thing to do" right? Well my daughter didn't understand any of that. She was just utterly convinced that if we prayed to Jesus to heal Huuuuver that God was going to do that... And, He did!
Now, if you were to ask my daughter roughly 22 years later if she remembers that, she would tell you that she doesn't. So you might say what is the value of her having that experience if she doesn't remember it? That certainly is a legitimate question and I think this morning when this came to my mind I may have gotten an answer to that question.
When a great tree drops a seed to the ground does the tree remember it? Regardless of whether the tree remembers the seed or not, that seed falls to the ground and in effect dies and is buried and may be long forgotten. And yet, that seed merges with the ground of life and it is watered and it sprouts and if no one comes by and steps on it, that seed will grow into a great tree. That forgotten seed is destined to become a great tree whose shade and fruit will bless all those that pass by it.
Never underestimate the faith of a little child even if later it falls to the ground and dies forgotten whether that child of God be 4 or 40, "for of such is the Kingdom of God..."
But woe to you if you pass by and see that seed starting to sprout and you step on it...
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Teaching Respect For Women
(Somebody needs to read this. You are going to need it. Actually we all do. Especially us men.)
Sometimes I feel so out of place in the society I live in nowadays. I'm such a weird dude. (Hmm why am I mentally visualizing 100 "likes" right right now on facebook on that last sentence?)
When I was young boy growing up, I was taught things, more so by the example of older men around me, that when I am approaching a doorway to a store or mall that if anybody is behind me that I should open the door for them. That was especially true if an older woman was behind me. I can still visually see myself being pulled back by my collar by my dad for attempting to enter without taking note that there was an older woman wanting to enter without my opening the door for her. Still to this day 50 years later, I instinctively look for people behind me when entering a public doorway and if there is an older woman, or a woman leading children, I especially but respectfully make it a point to open the door for her.
Teaching young boys and young men respect for ALL women in that way has a whole extended outcome on society. It plants in them an internal respect that affects all other interactions with and responses to women throughout their entire lives.
In my delusional hippie days that concept was called "square" and "old fashioned" and that notion is still prevalent in today's Western society. In fact at least in cities in the USA, (country boys are a whole different breed of men sometimes), that false perception is even more prevalent than it was in my hippie days in the 60's and early 70's. It's just not as obvious. It's become the norm. That notion has become ingrown and subtle and it is affecting a lot of other responses in men.
About 20 or so years ago we had a sister in the Lord who was living with us and one day she confided that when she was a teenager (16?) she had been raped by her stepdad and his brother. I could see that even then, years later, the memory of it was seriously affecting her. My response was that I was saddened for her going through that - visibly sad. But I noticed that my sadness and "empathy" wasn't really what she was expecting or needing really in her heart and I honestly did NOT know how else I should respond or react.
It troubled me for years off and on because I sensed that my response was NOT God's response and that my response was totally inadequate for what she needed to see and hear from a man, a brother after the fact over what they had done to her. So once again in my life, I needed my Heavenly DADDY to teach me what I needed planted inside me so I could respond with HIS response in a situation like that. Off and on I would pray and agonize over this unknown lack in me when it would come up. I just couldn't find it. I'd always flash on that sister's face looking at me wanting so badly for a man's response to that torturous memory. The right response. The one she needed.
A little over 10 years ago, We were living in a pretty good neighborhood. One night I found myself suddenly wide awake at 2:00AM out of a sound sleep. If anybody knows me, do NOT wake me up when I am in a sound sleep. I knew only God would dare wake me up like that (He's done it before) so I went downstairs into the patio and waited on the Lord. A few minutes later I heard someone out on the sidewalk across the street and I heard the voice of a young lady saying in a trembling fearful voice, "Please leave me alone!" That touched something in my heart with an instant response. I moved over quietly and undetected and hid alongside our wood fence to observe what was going on. Three young men (pretty big guys) were circling around her on bicycles and wouldn't let her go any further. They were taunting her. It was very dark but I could see them in the shadows. Then I heard one of them in this sleazy lying voice tell her, "We won't hurt you..." I KNEW right then what they were up to.
I wasn't really physically well at the time and I knew I was no match for those three young "men" (Did I say men? I meant animals). But, I had been praying the whole time and I knew I HAD to do something. Suddenly, something rose up inside of me and I yelled in a furious gravelly voice so loud (almost like the roar of a lion) that it shocked me, "You ok?" and those guys took off out of there like pigs scattering in a forest.
Realizing she was terrified and didn't need a man that was a stranger approaching her at that moment, I asked her if she lived nearby and she said yes. I told her in my gentile "daddy" voice, "listen I know you are scared right now so I'm going to follow a ways behind you and make sure you get home ok... She said ok and I walked for several blocks until I saw her go into the door of her house. Two weeks later I was telling a friend about all this and he said, "Don't you read the news? Three guys on bicycles dragged an older lady off her porch and violently raped her the other night..." (not the same night) I guess nobody woke up that night...
That night, for that moment, something inside me kicked in. That young lady became as my daughter right then and I knew I had a responsibility to come to her aid as much as if she was my own daughter, or wife or sister, or grandmother. In effect I instinctively opened the door for her to pass through and escape being raped.
I also finally understood a bit about what that sister needed from me all those years ago. She needed me to express ANGER that those men raped her. Furious anger inside like I would be if my own physical sister had gotten raped. I needed to respond just like God was when it happened. They raped His child! She needed to know that God was furiously angry at what they had done to her.
I need to note here that the anger I am talking about is not the macho stomping around all mad type. That kind of anger only makes somebody feel good about themselves. I'm talking about an anger that produces rightful responses. Responses not Irrational Reactions...
So men, in our plans to reorder our societal norms, we better not forget to keep the part about teaching our sons to "open the door" out of respect for women cause I can guarantee you that the father's of those three 19 year old young men or that step dad and his brother didn't. But if we aren't living in respect of women or aware of our responsibility to protect them ourselves, no matter how well we are teaching them, don't expect them to be any different than we are...
People always tell me, "If God is such a loving God, why does he allow bad things to happen?" God gave man dominion over the earth. He gave him the gift of "free will". It's not God that is allowing people to do bad things. We are...
God said, "Why when I called was there no one to answer? No man to stand in the gap? Maybe we all need to do some soul searching about our answer to that question...
Sometimes I feel so out of place in the society I live in nowadays. I'm such a weird dude. (Hmm why am I mentally visualizing 100 "likes" right right now on facebook on that last sentence?)
When I was young boy growing up, I was taught things, more so by the example of older men around me, that when I am approaching a doorway to a store or mall that if anybody is behind me that I should open the door for them. That was especially true if an older woman was behind me. I can still visually see myself being pulled back by my collar by my dad for attempting to enter without taking note that there was an older woman wanting to enter without my opening the door for her. Still to this day 50 years later, I instinctively look for people behind me when entering a public doorway and if there is an older woman, or a woman leading children, I especially but respectfully make it a point to open the door for her.
Teaching young boys and young men respect for ALL women in that way has a whole extended outcome on society. It plants in them an internal respect that affects all other interactions with and responses to women throughout their entire lives.
In my delusional hippie days that concept was called "square" and "old fashioned" and that notion is still prevalent in today's Western society. In fact at least in cities in the USA, (country boys are a whole different breed of men sometimes), that false perception is even more prevalent than it was in my hippie days in the 60's and early 70's. It's just not as obvious. It's become the norm. That notion has become ingrown and subtle and it is affecting a lot of other responses in men.
About 20 or so years ago we had a sister in the Lord who was living with us and one day she confided that when she was a teenager (16?) she had been raped by her stepdad and his brother. I could see that even then, years later, the memory of it was seriously affecting her. My response was that I was saddened for her going through that - visibly sad. But I noticed that my sadness and "empathy" wasn't really what she was expecting or needing really in her heart and I honestly did NOT know how else I should respond or react.
It troubled me for years off and on because I sensed that my response was NOT God's response and that my response was totally inadequate for what she needed to see and hear from a man, a brother after the fact over what they had done to her. So once again in my life, I needed my Heavenly DADDY to teach me what I needed planted inside me so I could respond with HIS response in a situation like that. Off and on I would pray and agonize over this unknown lack in me when it would come up. I just couldn't find it. I'd always flash on that sister's face looking at me wanting so badly for a man's response to that torturous memory. The right response. The one she needed.
A little over 10 years ago, We were living in a pretty good neighborhood. One night I found myself suddenly wide awake at 2:00AM out of a sound sleep. If anybody knows me, do NOT wake me up when I am in a sound sleep. I knew only God would dare wake me up like that (He's done it before) so I went downstairs into the patio and waited on the Lord. A few minutes later I heard someone out on the sidewalk across the street and I heard the voice of a young lady saying in a trembling fearful voice, "Please leave me alone!" That touched something in my heart with an instant response. I moved over quietly and undetected and hid alongside our wood fence to observe what was going on. Three young men (pretty big guys) were circling around her on bicycles and wouldn't let her go any further. They were taunting her. It was very dark but I could see them in the shadows. Then I heard one of them in this sleazy lying voice tell her, "We won't hurt you..." I KNEW right then what they were up to.
I wasn't really physically well at the time and I knew I was no match for those three young "men" (Did I say men? I meant animals). But, I had been praying the whole time and I knew I HAD to do something. Suddenly, something rose up inside of me and I yelled in a furious gravelly voice so loud (almost like the roar of a lion) that it shocked me, "You ok?" and those guys took off out of there like pigs scattering in a forest.
Realizing she was terrified and didn't need a man that was a stranger approaching her at that moment, I asked her if she lived nearby and she said yes. I told her in my gentile "daddy" voice, "listen I know you are scared right now so I'm going to follow a ways behind you and make sure you get home ok... She said ok and I walked for several blocks until I saw her go into the door of her house. Two weeks later I was telling a friend about all this and he said, "Don't you read the news? Three guys on bicycles dragged an older lady off her porch and violently raped her the other night..." (not the same night) I guess nobody woke up that night...
That night, for that moment, something inside me kicked in. That young lady became as my daughter right then and I knew I had a responsibility to come to her aid as much as if she was my own daughter, or wife or sister, or grandmother. In effect I instinctively opened the door for her to pass through and escape being raped.
I also finally understood a bit about what that sister needed from me all those years ago. She needed me to express ANGER that those men raped her. Furious anger inside like I would be if my own physical sister had gotten raped. I needed to respond just like God was when it happened. They raped His child! She needed to know that God was furiously angry at what they had done to her.
I need to note here that the anger I am talking about is not the macho stomping around all mad type. That kind of anger only makes somebody feel good about themselves. I'm talking about an anger that produces rightful responses. Responses not Irrational Reactions...
So men, in our plans to reorder our societal norms, we better not forget to keep the part about teaching our sons to "open the door" out of respect for women cause I can guarantee you that the father's of those three 19 year old young men or that step dad and his brother didn't. But if we aren't living in respect of women or aware of our responsibility to protect them ourselves, no matter how well we are teaching them, don't expect them to be any different than we are...
People always tell me, "If God is such a loving God, why does he allow bad things to happen?" God gave man dominion over the earth. He gave him the gift of "free will". It's not God that is allowing people to do bad things. We are...
God said, "Why when I called was there no one to answer? No man to stand in the gap? Maybe we all need to do some soul searching about our answer to that question...
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Underestimating That Winter
If you are going to read this, please read it all. It is a very explosive topic to many and I have attempted to cover the issue in fairness but yet in the truth. To those who are offended, I am truly sorry that is so. To those Christians who may find themselves "cheering me on" at first, you may really be the ones who need to read it to the end...
25 years ago, a brother visiting us said something to me related to our new life in "America" but when he said it, I immediately had a rather strong recognition of something prophetic being spoken out at the same time about something that was to come.
He said, "Don't underestimate that winter (that is coming)."
There is something I have been noticing on no less than a massive scale here in the USA. It is the combination of sexual immorality and a growing (at present verbally) violent and aggressive defense of it. Coupled also with that trend inseparably, the growing ridicule of christianity has been turning into utter disgust and outright aggressive expressions of hatred.
This is a "spirit filled" movement and it has it's own "evangelists" many of whom have a surprising level of "spiritual empowerment" to "convert" people to their ideals. When talking to these very influential individuals, there is a strong sense of accompanying "spirit" in them. I can easily see how someone unprotected by the blood of Jesus and the indwelling of God's Spirit could easily be swayed by anything they say.
What we are seeing in part is the growing resentment to the restraint of the Holy Spirit holding back evil perceived as good...
Hidden behind this "gay marriage" movement is a spirit so sinister that we cannot even imagine the depth of it's evil. Once someone allows a spirit like that to convince them of something evil that they now perceive as good, that person, not realizing, forfeits the right to object, or possibly even recognize, anything else that spirit may have in mind to accomplish. The deception of evil being good automatically opens the door to the deception that good is evil. It is the greatest irony that people, in demanding "gay rights" for others are bordering on forfeiting all their own rights of moral determination (free will) to a spirit who could care less about what happens to homosexuals or anybody else. It is only using them until it accomplishes what it has set out to do in the wider population. I strongly suspect and sorrowfully so, that when this spirit is done manipulating this "homosexual agenda" for it's purposes it will turn on them in some horribly devastating way cutting off any avenue of escape for them. That time is coming soon.
Right now we are only seeing a certain outward deception in particular ways, a certain engineered conflict, but when, in the nature of this spirit's deception and rebellion against God, it thinks it has full control, it will reveal it's true nature. It's not going to be very pretty for anybody...
"Satan comes but to steal, kill and destroy. I am come that you may have life and life more abundantly."
"If any man comes to me (with a humble convicted heart) in no ways will I cast him out" - Jesus
As to that which is called christianity here in the West, on the other side of this conflict but being drawn by the same forces into the same trap, we would do well to not only read the Book but also consult with the Author who inspired His scribes to write it. There are too many "voices" out there getting into shouting matches, most of them not even remotely qualified to address the issue much less the spirit behind it. Those who are doing so are only being used (tripped up by that spirit) to pour gasoline on the fire right now. Stop listening to your favorite talk show hosts and and being manipulated by political parties and do what God says to do and "come out and be separate". Seek the Lord while He may be found for the hour comes when darkness will cover the earth. The one thing I will say about this is that if you really want a powerful spiritual weapon against any agenda, choose to do what God does and view each person on earth as an individual person who is of tremendous value to Him. Someone Jesus paid for with His own blood. Not just a cog in the wheel of something you know to be evil.
Now if you want to know what that winter that we went through was like (and one we were anything but prepared for), near the end of that winter, it started warming up, unusually so, up to 70 in the daytime and 45 at night. Two days later, It dropped down to -25 F after snowing 6 inches the night before. It never got above 0 degrees F for 3 weeks. The road we lived on was virtually impassable. It was the most brutal winter I have ever been through in 25 years of living here. We were in no ways prepared for it nor the cabin we lived in. I thought we were prepared. I thought we were safe. I was wrong. If it wasn't for an elderly christian couple down the road who took us under their wing, it's very possible that we would have died. To my Christian friends, if you really want to be used of God to destroy the works of the enemy... Love your neighbors... All of them... Individually...
25 years ago, a brother visiting us said something to me related to our new life in "America" but when he said it, I immediately had a rather strong recognition of something prophetic being spoken out at the same time about something that was to come.
He said, "Don't underestimate that winter (that is coming)."
There is something I have been noticing on no less than a massive scale here in the USA. It is the combination of sexual immorality and a growing (at present verbally) violent and aggressive defense of it. Coupled also with that trend inseparably, the growing ridicule of christianity has been turning into utter disgust and outright aggressive expressions of hatred.
This is a "spirit filled" movement and it has it's own "evangelists" many of whom have a surprising level of "spiritual empowerment" to "convert" people to their ideals. When talking to these very influential individuals, there is a strong sense of accompanying "spirit" in them. I can easily see how someone unprotected by the blood of Jesus and the indwelling of God's Spirit could easily be swayed by anything they say.
What we are seeing in part is the growing resentment to the restraint of the Holy Spirit holding back evil perceived as good...
Hidden behind this "gay marriage" movement is a spirit so sinister that we cannot even imagine the depth of it's evil. Once someone allows a spirit like that to convince them of something evil that they now perceive as good, that person, not realizing, forfeits the right to object, or possibly even recognize, anything else that spirit may have in mind to accomplish. The deception of evil being good automatically opens the door to the deception that good is evil. It is the greatest irony that people, in demanding "gay rights" for others are bordering on forfeiting all their own rights of moral determination (free will) to a spirit who could care less about what happens to homosexuals or anybody else. It is only using them until it accomplishes what it has set out to do in the wider population. I strongly suspect and sorrowfully so, that when this spirit is done manipulating this "homosexual agenda" for it's purposes it will turn on them in some horribly devastating way cutting off any avenue of escape for them. That time is coming soon.
Right now we are only seeing a certain outward deception in particular ways, a certain engineered conflict, but when, in the nature of this spirit's deception and rebellion against God, it thinks it has full control, it will reveal it's true nature. It's not going to be very pretty for anybody...
"Satan comes but to steal, kill and destroy. I am come that you may have life and life more abundantly."
"If any man comes to me (with a humble convicted heart) in no ways will I cast him out" - Jesus
As to that which is called christianity here in the West, on the other side of this conflict but being drawn by the same forces into the same trap, we would do well to not only read the Book but also consult with the Author who inspired His scribes to write it. There are too many "voices" out there getting into shouting matches, most of them not even remotely qualified to address the issue much less the spirit behind it. Those who are doing so are only being used (tripped up by that spirit) to pour gasoline on the fire right now. Stop listening to your favorite talk show hosts and and being manipulated by political parties and do what God says to do and "come out and be separate". Seek the Lord while He may be found for the hour comes when darkness will cover the earth. The one thing I will say about this is that if you really want a powerful spiritual weapon against any agenda, choose to do what God does and view each person on earth as an individual person who is of tremendous value to Him. Someone Jesus paid for with His own blood. Not just a cog in the wheel of something you know to be evil.
Now if you want to know what that winter that we went through was like (and one we were anything but prepared for), near the end of that winter, it started warming up, unusually so, up to 70 in the daytime and 45 at night. Two days later, It dropped down to -25 F after snowing 6 inches the night before. It never got above 0 degrees F for 3 weeks. The road we lived on was virtually impassable. It was the most brutal winter I have ever been through in 25 years of living here. We were in no ways prepared for it nor the cabin we lived in. I thought we were prepared. I thought we were safe. I was wrong. If it wasn't for an elderly christian couple down the road who took us under their wing, it's very possible that we would have died. To my Christian friends, if you really want to be used of God to destroy the works of the enemy... Love your neighbors... All of them... Individually...
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Prayer: Nursing Student - Uganda
REQUEST FOR CONSIDERATION AND PRAYER
(PLEASE pass this on to friends and lists)
I'd like to (No I NEED to) request prayer and consideration of the nursing school needs for this young christian lady in Uganda. At this point it is a desperate need. Her nursing school term started on Feb. 10th, 2014. She has not been able to start because she lacks the funds to do so. Luthy Monica has struggled in faith for over a year now to attend nurses training at Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery in Jinja, Uganda. She has run the race so far with all she has. She needs help and prayer to run this race to the finish line.
Unlike the rest of the students in her nursing school who come from affluent families, Luthy and her two younger brothers are orphans. She is attempting and has been walking in something for a while that is virtually impossible for someone in her circumstances without the prayers and help of others.
I just got finished "chatting" with her online... sad yet hopeful...
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
I wonder how many lives will be saved from disease during the lifetime of just one nurse in Uganda...
If you can help with this need please contact me via facebook or email: paulrapoza@yahoo.com There is also a page I maintain for Luthy on my blog here that has a donation button specifically for her:
Nursing: Luthy Monica
You can also see pictures there of her and "family"...
Below is a brief summary of the needs:
$400.00 Tuition and Fees
$100.00 Domestic expenses
$100.00+ for her brothers' schooling needs
God bless you for reading, sharing and caring...
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
(PLEASE pass this on to friends and lists)
I'd like to (No I NEED to) request prayer and consideration of the nursing school needs for this young christian lady in Uganda. At this point it is a desperate need. Her nursing school term started on Feb. 10th, 2014. She has not been able to start because she lacks the funds to do so. Luthy Monica has struggled in faith for over a year now to attend nurses training at Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery in Jinja, Uganda. She has run the race so far with all she has. She needs help and prayer to run this race to the finish line.
Unlike the rest of the students in her nursing school who come from affluent families, Luthy and her two younger brothers are orphans. She is attempting and has been walking in something for a while that is virtually impossible for someone in her circumstances without the prayers and help of others.
I just got finished "chatting" with her online... sad yet hopeful...
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
I wonder how many lives will be saved from disease during the lifetime of just one nurse in Uganda...
If you can help with this need please contact me via facebook or email: paulrapoza@yahoo.com There is also a page I maintain for Luthy on my blog here that has a donation button specifically for her:
Nursing: Luthy Monica
You can also see pictures there of her and "family"...
Below is a brief summary of the needs:
$400.00 Tuition and Fees
$100.00 Domestic expenses
$100.00+ for her brothers' schooling needs
God bless you for reading, sharing and caring...
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Dream - The Coming Storm
Today, I found myself needing a rest in my heart and mind from things so I lay down on the couch for a "few minutes" and found myself in a state where I was neither awake or asleep. I had this very long dream unfold where I was trying to get into someone else's basement because I was aware that a "tornado" was coming because the sky had gotten very dark and ominous. Apparently the house had been abandoned because I got into the house very easily.
While I was pounding on the door of that basement to get to safety, I discerned that there was somebody down there but they wouldn't respond or let me in. I forced my way in and found I had interrupted a man who had kidnapped an older middle aged Asian woman and was attempting to rape her in that basement. Just as I was about to intervene, the storm and it's destruction came and I quickly pulled the woman into a small space in the basement for safety. The only thing I was aware of was the darkness, the incredibly loud noise of houses being destroyed and the sense of the fearful power of that storm.... When the storm seemed to have passed and we went out from that small space, the man had been pierced through with debris and was dead. The entire house had been destroyed.
We went out and saw devastation everywhere for miles and miles as we walked to find an area that was not devastated. Most of the dream (over an hour) was walking and seeing endless miles and miles of the devastation. If it was a "tornado," it was like no tornado on earth...
While we were walking, it became apparent that those who had survived the storm, (and there didn't seem to be many) had become desperate in their quest to survive to the point where they were acting like packs of animals. They were roaming about in the miles of devastation raping, murdering and stealing at will. Even from each other. They seemed to bear the same character as the man in the basement. Even though they were committing evil, they had no sense of remorse. It was like they expected their victims to submit to their evil as though they were somehow justified in what they were doing.
The woman had apparently suffered some kind of trauma earlier in her life and she could not speak as a result of that trauma. That is also why she could not call out when I was banging at the door of that basement in the beginning. Even though she had suffered trauma earlier in life, which I suspected was rape, she had an abiding air of purity to her and I had a deep sense that I needed to be her protector and reassure her of the purity of my intentions to do so.
Apparently we were walking to the place where the woman lived and when we finally got there, to my surprise, the house was completely intact. I asked her, "This is your home?" and she lowered her head like someone in shame. Discerning the situation, I then said to her, "You are a slave in this house?" She nodded yes. She had been a slave in that house all her life... It didn't seem like anybody was there but she insisted upon staying there despite the danger of the roving gangs finding her so I reluctantly went off to find my children...
Then I slid out of the dream completely rested and in a wonderful sense of peace. Ironically(?) my facebook news-feed was still on and when I went to the computer, there was a short post from an acquaintance who mentioned that he was having spiritual dreams of a very destructive tsunami... The thought went through my mind and heart, "Pay Attention!"
Several hours later, I had some insights come to me even though I wasn't especially looking for it.
While I was pounding on the door of that basement to get to safety, I discerned that there was somebody down there but they wouldn't respond or let me in. I forced my way in and found I had interrupted a man who had kidnapped an older middle aged Asian woman and was attempting to rape her in that basement. Just as I was about to intervene, the storm and it's destruction came and I quickly pulled the woman into a small space in the basement for safety. The only thing I was aware of was the darkness, the incredibly loud noise of houses being destroyed and the sense of the fearful power of that storm.... When the storm seemed to have passed and we went out from that small space, the man had been pierced through with debris and was dead. The entire house had been destroyed.
We went out and saw devastation everywhere for miles and miles as we walked to find an area that was not devastated. Most of the dream (over an hour) was walking and seeing endless miles and miles of the devastation. If it was a "tornado," it was like no tornado on earth...
While we were walking, it became apparent that those who had survived the storm, (and there didn't seem to be many) had become desperate in their quest to survive to the point where they were acting like packs of animals. They were roaming about in the miles of devastation raping, murdering and stealing at will. Even from each other. They seemed to bear the same character as the man in the basement. Even though they were committing evil, they had no sense of remorse. It was like they expected their victims to submit to their evil as though they were somehow justified in what they were doing.
The woman had apparently suffered some kind of trauma earlier in her life and she could not speak as a result of that trauma. That is also why she could not call out when I was banging at the door of that basement in the beginning. Even though she had suffered trauma earlier in life, which I suspected was rape, she had an abiding air of purity to her and I had a deep sense that I needed to be her protector and reassure her of the purity of my intentions to do so.
Apparently we were walking to the place where the woman lived and when we finally got there, to my surprise, the house was completely intact. I asked her, "This is your home?" and she lowered her head like someone in shame. Discerning the situation, I then said to her, "You are a slave in this house?" She nodded yes. She had been a slave in that house all her life... It didn't seem like anybody was there but she insisted upon staying there despite the danger of the roving gangs finding her so I reluctantly went off to find my children...
Then I slid out of the dream completely rested and in a wonderful sense of peace. Ironically(?) my facebook news-feed was still on and when I went to the computer, there was a short post from an acquaintance who mentioned that he was having spiritual dreams of a very destructive tsunami... The thought went through my mind and heart, "Pay Attention!"
Several hours later, I had some insights come to me even though I wasn't especially looking for it.
- That the massive destructive storm was financial in nature and more devastating than anyone can even conceive of.
- The Asian woman was those people who live in a communist dominated Asian country (or countries) that had (have) suffered greatly during the communist takeover of their country and had been made to be silent and serve the communist agenda that has ruled their country all these years.
- Her purity is found in the believers in the Lord Jesus (the church) among them that has been purified through the fires of suffering and persecution.
- The rapist was trying to gain control of her and get her to submit to what he wanted from her.
- His terrible death was the judgement of God.
- Both the rapist and the gangs of lawless men are those who control the finances of the world through their wealth and power, so much so that some of them survive the financial destruction of the "storm."
- Their self-serving nature will no longer be subject to any form of conscience towards others.
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