Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Monday, January 31, 2011

Who or What do I Depend On?

Saturday, January 30, 2011, 10:13 p.m. – The song, “Depending on Your Love,” was playing over and over again in my mind, so I got up out of my bed to hear from the Lord if he wanted to teach me something. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 12:19b-25:

Herod’s Death
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

24 But the word of God continued to increase and spread.

25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

My Understanding: I just love how God works! As I prayed to him, I asked him if this song was in my mind for a reason, and if he had something he wanted to teach me and/or for me to share from this song and from His Word, that he would let me know. Then, I began reading where I had left off reading in the Word last, and in the very first paragraph I read these words: “Because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.” I knew immediately that the Lord was going to speak on the subject of what or who we depend on to meet our needs instead of depending on God and his love to supply our every need.

At the beginning of Acts 12 is the story of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. King Herod had arrested him and others who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He put to death with a sword James, the brother of John, then he had Peter placed in prison. And, he intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. Yet, God had a different plan for Peter. He miraculously delivered him from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating would happen to Peter. He freed Peter from prison, Peter went and told many of Jesus’ followers of his miraculous deliverance from the king’s prison, and then he left for another place. When Herod could not find Peter in the morning, he cross-examined the guards and then ordered that they be executed. Herod was a nasty fellow, in other words, and not a friend of believers in Jesus Christ.

Then, we have recorded in Acts 12:19b-25 that there was a conflict between the king and the people of Sidon and Tyre (modern day Lebanon which borders Israel and Syria) who were under his domain. The people of Tyre and Sidon sent a peace delegation to the king, using in some way their relationship with Blastus, the king’s personal servant (perhaps his treasurer), for their purposes. The reason they were concerned over the king’s wrath against them is that they depended on the king’s country for their food supply. So, they were willing to make peace with the king in order to get food, it appears.

I don’t know with great certainty all that is behind this part of this story because this is all the information I have been given. Yet, what I do see is that the king was angry with these people for some reason and they were dependent on his country for food, and so they went to make peace with him. What I believe God would have me say here is that we should never compromise our faith in Jesus Christ in order to make peace with a wicked king because we are dependent on him and/or his country for food. God will supply all that we need. His word says that. And, we need to stop placing our trust in man thinking man can somehow save our nation from terrorists or save our economy from collapse, etc., because one day we are going to wake up and realize that our own national leaders are the terrorists in our own nation and in other countries, our own leaders are robbing the people of this nation blind, and that when they are finished with us, there will be nothing left. If we place our dependency in man instead of in Almighty God, then when these things happen and we are shocked by them because we didn’t know they were coming, our faith may be shaken and we may even be tempted to “make peace,” i.e. to compromise with wicked men because we think we need them to survive. We don’t! All we need is God Almighty!

The Bible tells us that a day is coming when those who refuse the mark of the beast will not be able to buy or to sell, we will be persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ and some of us will even be martyred for our faith. If we don’t make that decision now to place our complete trust in God instead of in man, how much harder it will be then to break away from that dependency on man and government to supply our needs and to think that the only way to survive is to compromise – make peace. Don’t ever make peace with evil and wicked men. Make your peace with God today while you still have today and make him the only one you depend on because all else will pass away and may disappoint us. God’s word will never pass away and he will never fail us or fail to deliver upon his many promises to us.

Then the story skips to an appointed day in which there was a celebration to honor Claudius Caesar, the emperor of Rome. Herod went all out and donned his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They praised him as a god, yet Herod did not deny their acclaims and sat silent and allowed their voices of admiration to proclaim him as a god. Immediately, because he did not give praise to God and deny their claims of godhood by telling them that God Almighty is the only true God and that he, the king, is a mere mortal, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. Wow! You don’t mess with Almighty God!! We should stand in awe and in reverence of God and never think for a moment that he is any less than who He is! Herod misjudged God and he miscalculated what God was capable of doing to him, and he guessed wrong! We don’t want to guess wrong! We don’t want to play with fire thinking we won’t get burned. Don’t take God lightly. He is all powerful, all knowing and he is ever present everywhere, so he knows what is going on in our lives, and he takes it seriously even if we don’t.

I know the Bible tells us that an antichrist is coming who will set himself up as a god and will try to make himself out to be God (like Satan did). Yet, God is going to allow this for a time, times and half a time in order to bring his judgment upon man and upon the earth. Yet, one day God will judge his divine instrument of judgment and he will be thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast. Herod, long before he ever accepted this praise of man as a god, acted as though he was a god and had the power and authority of life and death over man. He did many of the same things as this antichrist will do in persecuting the saints of God and killing all those who refuse his mark. Yet, I believe this will only serve to further the gospel of Jesus Christ, just like it did in Herod’s day and at the time of his death. The word of God continued to increase and to spread. Amen! God triumphs over man! And, we need to know that so that we do not compromise with evil thinking that is our only path to freedom or to having our needs met. We need to depend on the love of God to meet our every need.

Depending on Your Love / Tom Beard

Let them go, let them trust in all the things that they can see
Things that tie them to this world, the things that they believe
But I’m holding on to something more than all I understand
Living in a faith that knows I’m gonna spend a lifetime

Depending on Your love
Depending on Your love
When nothing else is true,
I’ll still be trusting You
Depending on Your love

Hey, I know faith is proof of what I cannot see
And nothing I can say or do will prove a love that first loved me
Giving love as You have loved is something You command
Standing here without my pride, I’m starting from the inside

Like a Nail that's Firmly Driven

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb. 4:12 NIV).

Monday, January 31, 2011, 8:13 a.m. – When I woke this morning, this song was playing in my mind:

The Reason / Bob Kauflin / Ed Nalle / Group: Glad

…There will never be another reason
For the life that you’ve been given
Let the song of heaven pierce to your heart
Like a nail that’s firmly driven
Hear the earth rise up and sing
Giving glory to our King…

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 13:

…While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
4So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went… When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time." Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

… And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it." 16So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

"Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen… 26"Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead, 31and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus… Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41 "'Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.'"

… The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

"'I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

48And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

My Understanding: The first thing I noted about the apostles was that they were sent out by the Holy Spirit. If this is not the case in our lives, then we need to stop right there, get on our knees before God, seek his face, confess and repent of any known sin, and ask for the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts, to convict us of sin, to rebuke us when necessary, and then to encourage, strengthen and empower us to be his witnesses. In other words, before we preach to others the message of the gospel, we need to make certain we are first of all cleansed before God of any impurities in our lives that might hinder our witness or that might hinder the power and authority of Almighty God speaking through us. Then, when God is ready to send us out, he can send us out in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once they were sent out by the Holy Spirit, and not in the flesh of man, they were able to proclaim the word of God with boldness, power and authority. And, there were people who sought them to hear the word of God spoken from their lips, because they honored God with their lips. If we want to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ, we need to first of all be cleansed from any impurities that might hinder our witness, but then we need to speak the word of God with boldness, power and authority, never compromising the truth of scriptures in order to please man or to tickle his ear with what he wants to hear. The passage I quoted at the beginning of this writing from Hebrews 4:12 describes the word of God as a double-edged sword that is living and active and that judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. In this second stanza of this song (the only stanza quoted here), it says “Let the song of heaven pierce to your heart like a nail that’s firmly driven.” The word of God is not fluff to make us feel good, warm and fuzzy all over or to make us feel good about our own selfishness and sinfulness. No, it cuts through to the heart and it exposes our sins. So, when we preach the word of God, it should convict as well as encourage and give hope.

Yet, when we are sent out by the Holy Spirit of God and we preach the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness and in the power and authority of God speaking through us and through His Word, we will face opposition. And, the apostles did, as well. Their first opposition in this recording in the 13th chapter of Acts is through a Jewish false prophet. He opposed the message taught by the apostles and sought to turn the proconsul – the man who summoned the apostles to hear the word of God – away from the faith. Paul, in the power of the Holy Spirit, addressed the man as a son of the devil, an enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy who would not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord. When we are truly preaching “the straight paths of the Lord,” we will face opposition from those who would try to twist the truth of God’s word to try to appease man and man’s ways, thoughts and human desires, i.e. to try to water down the gospel in order to tickle the ears of man and say what man wants to hear. We can’t do that! We have to remain strong in our faith and our commitment to preach the word of God in all truth.

As a result of the apostles not compromising their faith, witness and message, the proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred, “for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” He saw the power of God at work! He saw the authority of God in the words of the apostles. And, he was drawn to faith in Jesus Christ by the apostles’ uncompromising faith and message and by the working of the Holy Spirit on his heart. So, when we are sent out by the Holy Spirit of God and we face opposition, we should remain strong and we should not retreat in fear or give up in defeat, and we should never compromise the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to please man. As a result, the Holy Spirit will come in conviction upon man’s hearts and people will believe in Jesus Christ. This may not happen immediately, as it did with the apostles, due to the hardness of man’s hearts, yet the word of God will never return empty:

So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Is. 55:11).

After this, Paul and his companions went to the next place where they were asked to give a word of encouragement to the people, so Paul shared the gospel message with the people. He told them that, through Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to them and that by Jesus, everyone who believes is freed of all the things that they were not freed of under the law. Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and through him we can be freed – not only from the ultimate penalty of sin – spiritual death – but we can be freed from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives on a daily basis. This is truly good news!! And, this is so encouraging to know that we can have complete forgiveness of our sins and that we can be free from the power and control of sin over our lives!! This is better than someone telling you that he has a cure for your terminal illness and that you can be guaranteed a long life here on the earth when you thought you were going to die a premature death! This message of hope guarantees the believer in Jesus life everlasting with God in heaven!

Yet, Paul did not stop there. He immediately followed up this message of hope and encouragement with a warning. And, there is good reason for this, too, lest anyone take the gospel of Jesus and his grace lightly and think God is now a doting grandfather who looks lightly on our sin and just forgives us, so it is ok if we continue sinning. NO! May that never be!! God still takes sin seriously! And, Paul recognized this, which is why he followed up the message of hope with a warning to anyone who would take the grace of God lightly. The passage he quoted from is found in Habakkuk 1:5-11 in which God warns of a time when God would raise up a bitter and hasty nation who would march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. He said that this nation would come for violence and they would gather captives like sand. They would scoff at kings and at every fortress they would laugh and they would pile up the earth and take it. V. 11 says, “Then they will sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

Sadly, this is happening today in our world and in our time and it is happening at the hands of the government of the USA, the U.N., NATO, and the U.N. Security Council - all comprising the New World Order which is now conquering kings and kingdoms world-wide and is ruling the earth, one nation and one government at a time. The Bible told us ahead of time that a time like this was coming upon the earth when the beast and his false prophet and the dragon (Satan) would rule the earth for a time, times and half a time. What we are seeing right now in our world is a fulfillment in real-time of this passage in Habakkuk 1 and also in other prophecies of scripture with regard to the last days. I don’t know exactly where we are in the timeline of events, but I do know that the end of all things is near and that God is judging the earth and man because of their refusal to believe, like the Jews who were given the gospel first, yet they thrust it aside, so God gave the message to the Gentiles and from them the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ has spread to the ends of the earth.

Even after the warning was given, though, the scoffing continued by the Jews because they were filled with jealousy, and so they began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling (insulting; abusing) him. And, this will happen to us, too, especially as The Day draws near. Yet, the hope and joy in all of this, as was with Paul and the other apostles, is that despite, or because of, the opposition to the message of the gospel, many believed the message and the Word of God spread – amen! And, the persecution continued, as well. And, when it did, the apostles shook the dust off from their feet against those who were opposing and persecuting them, and they moved on to the next place and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit – amen! We don’t have to allow opposition and persecution to discourage us or to get us down. If people refuse our message, just move on to the next place and keep on keeping on in sharing the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who would listen and who would believe and would receive the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

…There will never be another reason
For the life that you’ve been given
Let the song of heaven pierce to your heart
Like a nail that’s firmly driven
Hear the earth rise up and sing
Giving glory to our King…

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Miraculous Escape!

Sunday, January 30, 2011, 8:05 a.m. – When I woke this morning, this song was playing in my mind. I don’t think I have heard this song in ages:

He is Able to Deliver Thee / William A. Ogden

’Tis the grandest theme through the ages rung;
’Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue;
’Tis the grandest theme that the world e’er sung,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”

He is able to deliver thee,
He is able to deliver thee;
Though by sin oppressed, go to Him for rest;
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”

’Tis the grandest theme in the earth or main;
’Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain;
’Tis the grandest theme, tell the world again,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”

’Tis the grandest theme, let the tidings roll,
To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul;
Look to God in faith, He will make thee whole,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 12:1-19:

Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the brothers about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

My Understanding: As I prayerfully considered the words to this old hymn and then asked the Lord Jesus for insight into the truths of his word and what he would want to teach me today, I believe he said that what he wanted me to write about this morning is another “miraculous escape,” and that he has chosen to use this story of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison to illustrate the message he wants me to receive and to share from his word today. The “miraculous escape” he would have me to learn and to write about today is not in the physical realm, but in the spiritual realm. It is not an escape from a physical prison but from imprisonment to sin. Our captor is not an earthly king, but “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient,” i.e. namely Satan (see Eph. 2:2). And, the chains are not physical chains, but are the sins in our lives that hold us captive and that keep us living defeated lives, still bound by sin’s deceitfulness.

The prince of this world, Satan, oppresses and accuses the children of God. He “arrests” us with temptations to sin and he persecutes us with his lies and his accusations against us in which he tries to convince us that there is still a question as to who ultimately is going to win this battle – Satan or God. He works on our minds and tries to make us believe that Jesus did not already win the victory for us and that we have to fight Satan off with our own resources and strength, which are weak and full of holes, and through which Satan can drive a wedge between us and Almighty God. He also tries to convince us that he is stronger than God and that we have no power or authority over him in which to shake off his “arrest.” And, so, we are led away by Satan who has taken us captive to sin once more and we become his prisoners once again. As well, we even notice that our brothers in Christ have fallen prey to his devilish schemes and many have been put to death with his sword of lies, accusations, half-truths, etc. and thus Satan then has a victory dance over us because he has convinced us that he is all powerful and that we have no choice but to yield.

Sin has now imprisoned us once more and is holding us captive to its will. The spiritual forces of darkness even serve as our captor’s guards who taunt us, who keep accusing us, and who keep feeding us lies upon lies in order to keep us bound and in prison. They may even use the fear of public exposure of our sin to keep us silent and in submission to our captors so that we adhere to their whims and their will for our lives. There may even be believers in Jesus Christ who are praying for our freedom and for us to be delivered from bondage to sin, and yet we remain chained by our captor, convinced that there is no way out of our prison and that there is no hope for deliverance.

Then, an angel of the Lord appeared to Peter and a light shone in his cell. I love this part!! This is the witness of the Holy Spirit within us shining his light on our sin, exposing it for what it is, and teaching us that there is a way out if we will choose to take it, and that Jesus has already provided the way to freedom. Then, the angel struck Peter on the side and woke him. I love this part, too, though not always at the moment that it takes place. Sometimes Jesus needs to “strike us” in order to wake us up, i.e. sometimes he will take us through hardships, discipline, trials and tribulations in order to wake us up spiritually to the reality of our chains, but greater than that, to the reality that he has already paid the price so we can go free. We don’t have to remain captive any longer to Satan and his devices.

The angel said, “Quick, get up!” And, then Peter’s chains fell off. This was a miracle of God and the chains dropped in an instant. This does not have to be a long drawn-out process. When we come to the understanding in our hearts and not just in our minds that God is all powerful, that he is more powerful than Satan, and that Jesus already won this battle for us and that all we have to do is to walk through the door that he has already provided, in an instant our chains can fall off and we can be free. We have to stop resisting Satan like an abused child with his arms folded across his face hoping to not get hit again and trying to cover all the holes so that Satan’s darts cannot get through. If this is our approach, we are bound for defeat, because we believe in our hearts that Satan can defeat us and eventually our arms will drop and he will win. Jesus provided us the way out. He set us free from sin, not just from the penalty of sin, but from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives. And, he gave us the spiritual armor we need to put on (Peter put on his clothes and sandals) which we are to use against Satan when he tries his lies against us again.

Then, the angel told Peter to follow him. And, Jesus tells us the same thing. If we want to truly be free from the chains of sin in our lives, we have to follow Jesus Christ. This means we need to spend time with him daily in reading and studying his word and in prayer, i.e. we need to sit quietly at his feet and listen while he teaches us how to live the Christian life and how to consider ourselves dead to sin but alive unto Christ. And, then we need to obey what he tells us. If all we do is have devotions each day out of some sense of obligation or duty or perhaps even out of a sense of this taking care of our commitment to the Lord, think again. Jesus does not need our obligations, our rituals or our forms of worship. He wants us, fully surrendered to him, on the altar, not conformed any longer to the patterns of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds via the working of renewal of the Holy Spirit in our lives, minds and hearts. We can’t transform ourselves, in other words. This can only be done when we humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways (repent). Then God will hear from heaven and will restore us and will renew us and heal us. We can’t expect to be delivered if we are still holding on to our old lives. Peter had to follow that angel and walk through that door in order to be free, and we have to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and obey his commands if we want to truly be free, as well.

When Peter came to the realization of what had just happened to him, he was overjoyed at his freedom, and he made a declaration to himself and to God of what God had just done for him in truly setting him free. It is good if we acknowledge to God that it is truly His power at work within us that sets us free and we thank him and praise him for what he has done. Peter did that. Peter was not only rescued from the king’s clutches (Satan’s hold on our lives), but he was delivered from everything the Jewish people were anticipating. This is very significant here. We need deliverance from what other people think about us or even what we think they might think about us, too, and we need to give that all over to God, as well. There may be people in our lives who don’t believe us, who are just waiting around for us to fail again, who may even accuse us falsely and say all manner of evil against us, yet we need to not worry about what other people are going to say or think about us. We just need to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we need to walk through that door to freedom, never to return to our prisons again. Amen!

When Peter acknowledged to himself and to God what God had done in his life in setting him free, then he went to tell others. When Jesus sets us free, we need to do the same. Yet, even the ones who had been gathering together to pray for his freedom did not believe that he was really free. They doubted. Oh, how that is a rebuke to us who pray for God to do a mighty work in other people’s lives and then we don’t even recognize it or believe it when Jesus actually sets them free. It makes you wonder if we were truly praying in faith. Yet, Peter did not let that discourage him, and we should not let it discourage us, either, if people don’t immediately accept our testimony of freedom in Christ. Perhaps they have good reason to doubt. Perhaps this is not the first time we have come claiming that we are free when we are not truly free at all, so they have good reason to question whether it is true until we have proved it with our lives. That is ok. We should give them that time, but we should not let it discourage us. Just because we are not believed does not make it not true. We should trust God whether we get confirmation immediately from others or not.

But Peter kept knocking. When they opened the door, he motioned with his hand for them to be quiet. Peter, we can assume then, did not knock loudly and he did not pound or knock the door down with his message. He just gently and persistently kept knocking at the door of their hearts until they accepted his testimony of freedom in Christ Jesus. This did not minimize the power of the message by any means, but rather that he demonstrated his changed life through persistence over brute force. Once it was obvious that they had opened the door to faith in Peter’s message of freedom and had believed he was truly set free by the power and working of God in his life, he told them to go and to tell others.

Jesus does the same for us. He keeps knocking at our hearts’ doors for us to invite him inside to fellowship with him (See Rev. 3:19-20), because he needs to show us that he has provided the way for us to be free; and that we no longer have to give in to the chains of sin over our lives. Yet, he reminds us that those he loves he rebukes and disciplines, so we are to be earnest and repent. Once we have accepted the message of freedom in Christ by believing him, as evidenced by our own actions of changed lives, then we must go and tell others, not only how Jesus set us free, but how they, too, can be free indeed!

Spirit of the Living God / Daniel Iverson

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.

The Message through Which You Will Be Saved

Saturday, January 29, 2011, 9:03 p.m. – I sat down on the sofa to spend some time with the Lord this evening. I inquired of the Lord as to what he would want to teach me at this time. Then, he placed the song in my mind, When His Kingdom Comes, by Dottie Rambo and Dony McGuire.

Jesus will set up His kingdom within you,
Filling the void with delight,
Taking dominion over selfish desires,
Transforming the darkness into light,
Transforming the darkness to wonderful light.

When His kingdom comes, what a difference
When things are in earth, as they are in heaven,
When all has been settled and my heart is His home,
Oh, what a difference, what a great transformation!
Oh, what a difference when His kingdom comes!

O that I would be His perfect dwelling place!
O that my King would fill up the empty space,
And flood every room and every part to sanctify this temple,
And build His throne in my heart.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 11:1-18:

Peter Explains His Actions
1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened… “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them… 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?”

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”
My Understanding: I have quoted most of this section of scripture to keep it in context, yet I believe the main message the Lord would want me to focus on this evening can be found in verses 14-17, so it is there that I will mainly focus my attention. And, I believe, as he always does, that God coordinated this song to go with this passage of scripture and that the two together will provide the message the Lord would want me to receive and to share, i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe the Lord would have me take apart these four verses and look at the main thoughts contained within them. I see two main thoughts:

The message through which you and your household will be saved

John the Baptist and Jesus both said, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” This was John’s main message, and it was the main thrust of Jesus’ message, as well. The kingdom of God was already with them in the person of Jesus Christ, yet Jesus also spoke of it being near. When he left the earth, he sent his Holy Spirit to dwell within the hearts and lives of his followers, so now the kingdom was within them. The kingdom is also coming when Jesus returns, and when he comes back, he comes not only to receive his bride, but he comes to judge. So, when Jesus said that the kingdom of God is near, he was speaking not only of the present reality of the kingdom within him, but of a future reality of a time when the kingdom would dwell within his followers (believers) in the person of the Holy Spirit, and yet another future reality of when he would return as judge and would set up his kingdom on the earth and would reign over all things on the earth as their King and Lord. His kingdom brings with it his Lordship, his reign, his rule and his authority. So, in coming to Jesus Christ, we need to understand that we are not merely believing in him as our Savior but as our King, our Lord, our master and the one who holds all things together. Sin is no longer to reign, rule or have any authority over our lives. Jesus is to be our Lord.

The second part of this is to “Repent and believe the good news.” The “good news” was/is that Jesus came to earth as a human, not only to die on the cross for our sins, but so that he could suffer as we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted yet without sin, and to take upon himself humanity so that he could feel our weaknesses, our sorrows, our joys, etc. Because he did that, we now have a high priest who can sympathize with us in our weaknesses and who understands what we are going through because he, too, went through many of the same things when he was in an earthly body. Then, he died on the cross for our sins, taking upon him all the sins of the entire world. They mocked him, betrayed him, denied him, deserted him, they spat upon him, they scourged him, they put a crown of thorns upon his head, they divided his clothing among themselves and they hung him on a cross to die because he claimed to be who He is – the Son of God and God.

Then he was buried, but he rose again. When he rose from the grave, he left our sins in the grave, conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, making the way for us to be free, not only from the penalty of sin (judgment and eternal separation from God in hell), but also free from bondage to and the control, power, rule and dominion of sin over our lives on a daily basis. That is why he says we must repent and believe the good news. Repentance and obedience = faith and belief. They cannot be separated. If Jesus died so that we could be free from the control of and the penalty of sin over our lives, then to say we believe in him and what he did for us on the cross means to accept and to appropriate what he did for us in our lives by reckoning ourselves dead to sin but alive to God; by leaving our lives of sin behind us and by walking in faith and obedience to the Lord. For his kingdom to dwell within us, he needs to be king and to have the Lordship over our lives. So, the message through which you will be saved is the message that teaches repentance as necessary to accompany and as evidence of true belief in what Jesus did for us on the cross. And, it is a message that proclaims the Kingship and the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives when we enter into that faith, so that we are now dead to sin but alive unto God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

As he began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on the others

When Jesus was on the earth, he was with people physically, but he was not with all people at all times because he was limited by a physical body. His followers believed in him as a man of God, as a prophet and teacher of God, and some even recognized that he was indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Then, he died and rose again. Before he left the earth, he promised his followers that he would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them, to be their counselor, their helper, to teach them all things of Jesus and to remind them of all things he had taught them when he was with them on the earth, etc. The Holy Spirit is also God. Our God, and the only true God, is a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By sending the Holy Spirit, now God could live within the lives of his followers. He no longer dwells in temples made by human hands. His temple now is in the hearts of his true followers. We are his church; his Body; his temple, where the Spirit of God dwells.

Since Jesus had only been with his followers in a human body prior to his death, resurrection and his ascending into heaven, and since he was now gone from them, he sent them his Holy Spirit to indwell them, but they had to wait until the right timing when God would send his Spirit. That day came on the day of Pentecost for all those who were present and who believed in Jesus Christ. Then, Peter shared the gospel with the people who were present and had seen the believers receive the Holy Spirit, and he proclaimed that if they repented and believed (symbolized through identifying themselves with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection through baptism) that they, too, would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Later, the disciples would meet up with other followers who only had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but had not yet received the Holy Spirit within them, so they received the Holy Spirit, too. Then, in Acts 11, Peter recounted how, when he spoke the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, too, that the Holy Spirit came upon them just as it had on the disciples on the day of Pentecost, showing that they, too, had believed.

These historical accounts in Acts of the receiving (being baptized with the Holy Spirit) has caused much division within the Christian church as some have built a doctrine around some of these historical accounts. Yet, we cannot build doctrine off of historical accounts. We must get our doctrine from the teachings of scripture, yet those teachings can be supported by historical accounts as evidence of the truth of what is being taught. With that said, I think it is important that we understand that the reason for this baptism of the Holy Spirit was for the promised Holy Spirit to indwell the life of the believer as Jesus had promised. Many received the gift of the Holy Spirit (the baptism of the Holy Spirit) at the moment they believed in Jesus. Others received the Holy Spirit separately. I believe that historically the reason why some received the Holy Spirit separate from their baptism in the name of Jesus is that the knowledge and understanding that God could now indwell them via the promised Holy Spirit was something that had to be learned and taught by those who had already received the Holy Spirit. Yet, the New Testament teachings on the Holy Spirit teach us that when we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior that we are then indwelt with the promised Holy Spirit. Baptism is a symbol of death, burial and resurrection, which is why it was used as an outward symbol of an inward faith and so closely was associated with the believers’ faith that it was often spoken of together. John baptized with water. Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit. One was an outward baptism and the other was a baptism of the heart, i.e. the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the working of regeneration in the life of a believer in Jesus in crucifying his flesh and in transforming him (metamorphosis) from darkness to light.

Ephesians 1:13-14: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Titus 3:3-7: At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

In conclusion, I believe the main thrust of this message is in us understanding first of all that the message through which you will be saved is a lesson that teaches repentance and obedience as equal to and as accompanying true faith in Jesus Christ. This is evidenced by us reckoning ourselves dead to sin but alive to God by appropriating in our own lives what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross when he died for our sins, i.e. by allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work of regeneration and transformation in our hearts and to turn us from darkness to light. Secondly, I believe it is in understanding that the message through which you will be saved is one that teaches the Lordship and the Kingship of Jesus Christ in our lives, i.e. that for his kingdom to dwell within us, it means he reigns, rules, and has authority and dominion over our lives. He is to be not only our Savior but our Lord.

Then, lastly I believe the main thrust of this message is in understanding that when we truly believe in Jesus Christ and his kingdom comes to dwell within us, that it comes in the person of the Holy Spirit who indwells us and who is Christ in us the hope of glory. His work begins within us in the work of drawing us to Jesus, in conviction of sin, then in salvation by cleansing us from sin and in giving us new life in Jesus. Then, his work continues by him being our teacher, counselor, guide, conscience, friend, and companion, etc. He also empowers us and works miracles of his grace in and through us. He is God within us, so we are not left on our own to figure this whole Christian thing out, or for us to try to resist Satan and flee from sin in our own strength. He dwells within us so that we have the power of God working in and through us to accomplish all the things God wants to do both in our lives and through our lives for his purposes and for his glory. So, understanding all of this behooves us to then repent and believe the good news, for the kingdom of God is near.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Today Disappeared

Friday, January 28, 2011, 10:02 a.m. – I got on the computer this morning to pay the bills, thinking today was pay day, because somehow or another it slipped my mind, in my advanced years, that there are 31 days in January, not 30. I checked my email which led me to checking Facebook, and then I noticed that my “wall” was not showing anything I posted yesterday. I tried going out and back in, but that didn’t work. So, I thought if I updated my wall with a new status (Facebook talk) that would bring everything back up to date, but it didn’t. In fact, what I wrote today disappeared, too. It was very strange.

Anyway, as I prayerfully contemplated in my heart and mind what my status should be today, the Lord brought this song into my mind:

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus / Louisa M.R. Stead / William J. Kirkpatrick

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Thee!
How I’ve proved Thee o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Thee more!

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 9:19-31:

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

23 After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

My Understanding: I was glancing through the news headlines when this news article jumped out at me: The day part of the Internet died: Egypt goes dark - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EGYPT_PROTEST_INTERNET_OUTAGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-28-07-29-24. I read in the article that the internet was entirely shut down in Egypt to try to silence dissent against the government. The article said that "The Internet went dead… The entire country was disconnected in an apparently coordinated effort... It's as if the entire country disappeared... the country can control where the outages are targeted... So its military facilities, for example, can stay online while the Internet vanishes for everybody else."

I think sometimes we take our freedoms for granted until they are taken away and they "disappear" like my wall posts just vanished and disappeared from site from Facebook, and like the Internet in Egypt just disappeared and vanished for the people as a means of controlling the people. And, the article discussed if this could happen in America and the supposed fact that the idea of a single "kill switch" has seduced some American lawmakers, "who have pushed for the power to shutter the Internet in a national emergency." So, these "very weird" happenings on Facebook may just be "glitches" or they may be controlled tests to see how well the government can target whoever or whatever they choose. Time will tell.

As I prayerfully contemplated this news article, this song, and this scripture, I believe the Lord revealed to me that he is using all three of them today in coordination with one other, and that God allowed that “disappearance” of my posts on my wall on Facebook today as an illustration to show me the message he had for me today.

Saul, turned Paul, when confronted with Jesus Christ and the truth of the gospel, and when he experienced God’s healing power in his body, mind and soul, and the transformation of his heart, mission and purpose on this earth, spent several days with the disciples. This is where I left off in my reading yesterday. Today begins “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.” That phrase, “At once,” is what really jumped out at me. He didn’t waste time. God had miraculously changed his heart and life and had turned him from a persecutor of Jesus to a follower of Jesus, and he wanted to tell as many people as possible the good news about Jesus. And, the Jews conspired to kill him. He didn’t know if he had tomorrow. He knew it was urgent that he get the message out to as many as possible while he still had today. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow or even a minute from now. It could all be gone – vanished – disappeared in an instant!

Saul/Paul was not immediately accepted. The people were thinking that this was the man who persecuted believers in Jesus and had come to arrest them, so they were suspicious of his motives. He even tried to join the other disciples, but they were afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. Paul didn’t fit the formula that man had decided God should work from. He didn’t fit the mold. He was outside the box. He was radical. He didn’t fit anywhere – not with the Jews and not with the believers, either. He was on fire for Jesus. He spoke boldly in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. He had a bad reputation that preceded him and people were already predisposed to reject him. He wasn’t a “team player.” He didn’t sit quietly and do nothing while he waited for acceptance. “At once he began to preach.” His preaching was solid, it was Biblical, it was of God, and it was powerful. He proved Jesus was the Christ, and I don’t believe he did this by intellectual argument alone, either. He proved it by his life transformation and through the power of the Holy Spirit speaking in and through him. Yet, the Jews wanted to kill him and the Christians didn’t trust him and they were afraid of him. He had a rough start! Some of us may identify with Saul/Paul in some respects in our own experiences in following the Lord Jesus.

When the Jews tried to kill him, his followers rescued him so that he could escape death. When he came to Jerusalem and the other disciples rejected him, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them Paul’s testimony of conversion. Again, the Jews tried to kill him, and the brothers rescued him. So, in this very beginning of his life with Christ and his testimony and witness for Jesus he was opposed three times and two times was sought after to be killed. Yet, he was rescued each time. I thought here of the many times the Jews wanted to kill Jesus but how he escaped because his time had not yet come, and when it had, he went with them willingly. We, too, as followers of Jesus and as his bold witnesses, will face opposition and persecution from the world, from other religious people, and even from our own Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. The reasons will vary, but some of them will be the same as what Saul/Paul experienced – other people’s fear of the unknown, distrust, unsure of our motives, a bad reputation preceded us, they don’t like the message, the truth hurts, we don’t fit the mold, and we don’t fit preconceived notions as to how God is supposed to work, etc. And, some may even try to “kill” the message through rejecting us, snubbing us, unfriending us, belittling and mocking us, as well as inviting us out of their groups, etc. Yet, God will keep those doors open for us to keep sharing the truth of the gospel until our time comes, too, for our “death.”

Saul/Paul, even though he faced death as a real possibility and even though he faced rejection, persecution, misunderstanding, etc., and even at the hands of those who should have loved and accepted him as a brother, preached the word of God fearlessly and spoke boldly in the name of Jesus, and he moved about freely in the power of the Holy Spirit at work within him and through him. How many of us give up at the first sign of defeat? How many of us run and hide when people reject us and the message? How many of us feel as though man has the power to stop the work of God? We need to be so in love with Jesus and so convinced that people truly need Jesus in their lives to save them and of the urgency to get the message out while we still have today, that we will, like Paul, speak boldly and fearlessly in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Spirit working in and through us without fear of the potential of being “Unliked” or “Defriended” or asked to leave or to even have the message killed or even ourselves killed, because God is all powerful and he is more powerful than any man, and in fact, no man has power but what God allows it and God can remove man and his power whenever he chooses to do so. Nothing can happen to us until God’s timing for it to happen to us, so we need to keep on keeping on while it is still day.

Going back to this news article, our “temple courts” of today where Jesus and his disciples often declared the gospel in public is often now on the Internet. If the U.S. government declared a national state of emergency, it is highly possible that what happened in Egypt could happen in America, too. Right now we have open access to the Internet and are free to share whatever God puts upon our hearts to share. Not all sites will accept us, and we could be booted off a site or group, but for now, we in America have the freedom to speak whatever God gives us to speak on the Internet, and to do it with great boldness. We don’t know how long that freedom will last. So, seize the moment while you still have it. The Internet is a great mission field and a great medium for getting out the gospel to the entire world. Don’t take that for granted! Like Saul, we should “At Once” preach the gospel and tell people the truth about Jesus Christ and His Word and to invite them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ so that they, too, can have the kind of radical transformation of life and heart and mission as did Saul to where we will prove Jesus is the Christ by our very lives and our witness for Him daily.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Will be with me to the end.

The Life We've Been Given

Thursday, January 27, 2011, 9:50 p.m. – We had our second birthday party of the week. My third child turned 32 years old today, so we had a family party (16 people) for him at our house this evening. I spent most of the day in preparation for our guests, then everyone arrived, we ate, we fellowshipped together, sang “Happy Birthday,” et al, and then everyone left. My husband Rick and I had our time of prayer and reading in Proverbs 27. And, then we went to bed. Then, the song, “The Reason,” sung by the group GLAD, started playing in my mind, so I got back up.

The Reason / Bob Kauflin / Ed Nalle / Group: Glad

There will never be another reason
For the dawning of the day
There will never come a moment in time
When the heavens cease to say
Glory to the Father’s hand
We must follow His commands

There will never be another reason
For the life that you’ve been given
Let the song of heaven pierce to your heart
Like a nail that’s firmly driven
Hear the earth rise up and sing
Giving glory to our King

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 9:1-19:

Saul’s Conversion
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
My Understanding: As I read prayerfully and carefully through the words to this song that the Lord had placed in my mind this evening, and then I began reading in Acts where I left off reading last, the Lord, I believe, used the song lyrics to illustrate for me the message that he wanted me to get and to share from this passage of scripture this evening. The song begins by saying that there will never be another reason, the reason being Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, but rose again conquering death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could go free from the penalty of, the control of and bondage to sin. He is the reason for the dawning of the day, for us to be pierced of heart, for us to follow his commands, for the life we’ve been given, and for the heavens to declare his glory.

The dawning of the day – Saul was a persecutor of believers in Jesus Christ, a man who breathed out murderous threats against them and who plotted to take them as prisoners. He stood at Stephen’s stoning and gave approval to it. He is the last person on the face of this earth that most of us would think would be the man of God’s choosing to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Even Saul himself, if told prior to this day that one day he would be used of God to tell people about Jesus Christ, probably would have responded with “No way!” Yet, God does not choose men as we choose men. So, when Saul was on a journey to Damascus to take Christians as prisoners, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and then he heard a voice speak.

The Lord immediately made a connection for me here between this “light from heaven” and “the dawning of the day.” So, I looked up the word “dawning” in my MS Word Thesaurus. It means, “Beginning; start; birth; emergence; and budding.” A day can be a period of time, an era, a generation, or daylight. There is no question about it, Saul was being reborn. His name was changed by God eventually to Paul, and Paul was changed from a persecutor of believers in Jesus Christ to a disciple of Jesus Christ, to a witness for Jesus Christ, and ultimately to the primary leader of the Christian church in the NT, writing over half of the NT books in the Bible. So, the light from heaven that flashed around him was not only a physical light that blinded his eyes and that got his attention, but it represents the dawning of a new day for Saul/Paul. He was never to be the same again. He would never go back to his old way of life. He was radically transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit in changing him from one thing to something else entirely different - a metamorphosis of his heart!

The song of heaven pierce to your heart – The voice from heaven asked Saul why he was persecuting him. Saul asked the voice, which he called “Lord,” who he was. Jesus answered that it was him that Saul was persecuting. There is nothing like when Jesus points his finger on something in our lives and says “you are the man (or woman).” When the convicting power of the Holy Spirit comes upon us and shows us our sinfulness and especially when he shows us how we are treating him, it pierces our hearts. And, sometimes, because of our own stubborn wills, it takes getting knocked off our horses by a light from heaven shining itself on our sinfulness before we really get it and we truly see ourselves through Jesus’ eyes. Saul was blinded by the light, but he got a spiritual glimpse of the one he was persecuting that he had never had before, and he gained insight into his own wicked heart, too. May we be willing to be knocked off our horses and to have a bright light shined on our sin, too, if that is what it takes to wake us up (the dawning of the day), to get our attention, and to get us to turn from our sin and to turn to the Lord Jesus in full obedience.

We must follow His commands – There were two people in this story who were given specific commands by God. One of them was Saul and the other was Ananias. Jesus shined a bright light on Saul’s sin. It got his attention big time! It humbled him beyond what he could have imagined. Then, Jesus told him to get up, to go into the city, and there he would receive his instructions. The Christian life is not something we can plot out with finely tuned plans and details of what we are going to do and where we are going to go. It is a walk of faith, one day and one step at a time. Saul/Paul had no earthly idea at that point what awaited him or what the voice from heaven, Jesus Christ, would tell him to do. Jesus didn’t feel the need to explain it all to Paul at that point, and the scriptures here don’t record that Saul had to know all the details of what would await him before he would decide if he wanted to take the job or not. God said “Go,” and Saul went, humbled before Almighty God.

Then, we have Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision. Not only was this a vision, but God told him to go to Saul. Ananias questioned the Lord because he had heard about Saul, yet God answered back, “Go!” Then, he told Ananias not only that he was to lay hands on the man so that he could receive his sight, but that Saul was God’s chosen instrument to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. How that must have blown his mind! I can imagine what some of us would say: “You’ve got to be kidding!” At least we might think it. Yet, Ananias trusted the Lord and he did what he said. How many of us would do the same? If God came to us in a vision or a dream, would we accept it as from God or would we immediately dismiss it as just our imaginations or as just a dream? If he told us to go to someone who we knew was a threat to our very lives, would we go? And, if he told us that, not us who have been following him, but a man leading the charge against Christians and who gave approval to our brother Stephen being stoned to death, was to be God’s chosen instrument, would we accept that? Yet, Ananias did just that. And, he obeyed God!

The life that you’ve been given - I love the story of Saul’s conversion! Saul, turned Paul, retold the story several times in the book of Acts when he was giving his testimony of his conversion. My favorite recording of his conversation with Jesus is found in Acts 26:15-18:

“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

Wow! Can you imagine what must have been going through Saul’s mind at that time? Although the passage in chapter nine says simply that Jesus told Saul to go and that he would be told what to do when he got there, this testimony of Paul’s in chapter 26 gives us a glimpse that perhaps Jesus did give him some understanding of his calling prior to him going into the city. He was to be a servant and a witness of Jesus Christ, Jesus was sending him to the Gentiles, and the purpose for which he was being sent was that the Gentiles would have their spiritual eyes opened to the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they would turn from sin to the light of Jesus, which was also from the power of Satan to God, and that they would receive forgiveness of sins and a place in heaven with God. That’s a tall order! Yet, that was the life Paul had been given. He could choose to accept or not accept his mission, just like we all have a choice to choose the life we’ve been given by God or not. Saul/Paul chose to say “Yes” to Jesus. His blinded eyes were opened, he was filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and he went on to be used greatly by God to bring many people to Jesus Christ.

The Lord told Ananias that God would show Saul how much he must suffer for the Lord Jesus’ name. With a calling like the one God gave to Saul comes much suffering. People did not immediately accept him with open arms. They were suspicious of him and his motives. He had a bad reputation that preceded him, so people were already disposed to reject him. In opening their blinded eyes, he had to tell them the truth. People don’t always want to hear the truth, no matter how kindly or thoughtfully given. He had to expose sin and rebellion for what it was. He went up against evil spiritual forces in his quest to turn people from the power of Satan to God. Satan holds on tight and does not relinquish those he has had under his power without a fight. He was now one of the ones he had previously gone against, so he went from the hunter to the hunted. Believers frequently accused him of false motives or of speaking too strong of words. He was a man of strong convictions for sure. He did not blend in. He was not a people pleaser. He told the people what they needed to hear whether they were receptive or not. And, he faced much rejection and persecution. Yet, this was his calling, for such a time as this he was placed upon the earth, and even though the job came with much suffering and persecution, he would have done it again, and he would never have gone back to who or what he was before. He knew the importance of the life he had been given, and he continually pressed on to be who God created him to be.

The earth rise up and sing glory to our King – “Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.” The man born blind whom Jesus had healed, when questioned about who it was who healed him, responded that he did not know the answers to the questions about Jesus, but one thing he did know – “Once I was blind, but now I see!” Saul/Paul was not only healed of his physical blindness, but he was also healed of his spiritual blindness. Now he would no longer persecute believers in Jesus, but he would be one of the strongest proponents for the gospel of Jesus Christ from that point on. And, he would be instrumental, and still is, in helping others to know that same Jesus who opens the eyes of the blind and who turns them from sin to the light of Jesus and who has the power to bring us out of darkness and the power of Satan over our lives to victory in Jesus. This is the reason that the earth will rise up and sing glory to our King! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow!! Hallelujah to the Lamb who was slain! He is to receive honor and glory and blessing! He is alone is worthy! Amen!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

An Old Story

Thursday, January 27, 2011, 5:34 a.m. – I woke this morning with the song, “Victory in Jesus,” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 8:26-40:

Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

My Understanding: As I read the words to this old hymn and also the words in this passage of scripture, I immediately saw the parallels between the song and the scripture passage. The song by Eugene M. Bartlett begins like this:

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

In the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, the Lord sent an angel to tell Philip to go to a certain place. God did not tell Philip what he would find there or what God wanted him to do when he got there. He just told him to go and where to go, and Philip went and obeyed. That reminds me of how, the other day, all of a sudden the thought came into my mind to go to a particular ice cream restaurant. I told my husband, and immediately we got up and went, thinking we were going to get ice cream. The store was closed, but right in front of the store a group of young adults had gathered together and they were praying. I felt in my spirit that this was a divine appointment, so my husband and I stayed and prayed with the young adults. The Lord did not tell me what I was going to find there nor did he tell me what I was to do when I arrived. I just knew I was supposed to go, though at the time I did not realize that was the Holy Spirit within me prompting me to do so. Sometimes God just says “go” and then when we go (while Philip was on the way) the Lord opens the opportunities, i.e. his divine appointments in our lives. And, we just follow His lead.

The Ethiopian was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah when Philip arrived. The Spirit told Philip to “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” I felt the same prompting that day we went to the ice cream store and I saw the group of young adults gathered in prayer outside the store. I sensed that I was to stay near them, so I did, and I invited my husband to get out of the truck and join us, too, as he had sent me ahead to see if the store was open. Anyway, then the scripture says that Philip ran up to the chariot and when he did, he heard the man reading from Isaiah, so Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. Philip didn’t have to worry ahead of time about what he would encounter when he got there or what he would do or say. The Spirit led him the whole way. All he had to do was to obey the inner promptings of the Spirit’s voice within him, and God did the work. In our case, I just stayed near, my husband joined us, and then the young adults stopped and asked us if we wanted to join them and if they could pray for us, so God led us to them.

The Ethiopian was reading the book of Isaiah, which the Lord paralleled over to the “Old, old story” of this song, which is the story of what Jesus did for us in dying for our sins on the cross so that we could be free, not only of the ultimate penalty of sin, but free of the bondage to, the control of and the power of sin over our lives on a day to day basis. What the man was reading in Isaiah was a prophecy about Jesus Christ coming to be our Savior and dying for us on the cross. So, the part of the song that talks about our Savior giving his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me and hearing about his groaning and of his precious blood’s atoning, parallels over to what the eunuch was reading in Isaiah about Jesus being led like a sheep to the slaughter. Philip seized the opportunity afforded to him by God to then share the gospel message with the Ethiopian.

The first stanza of this song ends with “Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.” In response to Philip telling the man the good news of the gospel, the man responded by desiring to be baptized. Baptism was closely associated with the act of belief in Jesus Christ in the time of the New Testament writers. The scripture does not tell us that the man believed, but that is presumed by his response. Baptism symbolized identification with Jesus Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, but it also was and is a symbol and an outward testimony of what has already taken place in the heart of true believers in Jesus Christ, and that is death to sin (consider ourselves dead to sin), our sins buried and gone forever, and our resurrection to new life in Jesus Christ (consider ourselves alive unto Christ). The people of that time understood not only that this meant the death of their old lives, but they knew that identification with Jesus Christ could also mean their physical death through being killed as a martyr, so they did not take salvation lightly. They understood the cost. So, I believe the man repented of his sins and he went away rejoicing (he won the victory).

When I woke up this morning, I woke with a very bad headache, nonetheless I got up and I prayed in the name of Jesus for God’s healing of my headache, and he did heal it, praise Jesus! The song continues with this stanza:

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't
To me the victory.

Since the Ethiopian was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8, I went to Isaiah 53. Right before the verses quoted above about Jesus being led away like a sheep to the slaughter, it says this in vv. 4-6:

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Jesus is not only our Savior, but he is our healer. He heals us spiritually, emotionally and physically, because he cares about our whole being – body, soul and spirit (emotion). When he heals us of sin, it is gone! When he heals us of a headache, it is gone! When he heals our emotions, he brings peace to our hearts. Jesus gives us the victory not only over sin and the power of sin over our lives, but he gives us victory over defeat, over discouragement, and over feelings of abandonment, rejection, loneliness, failure, etc., as well as he gives us victory over physical ailments. He gave Paul a “thorn in the flesh,” and when Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove it, Jesus’ response to him was “My strength is made perfect in your weakness,” to which Paul responded, “So when I am weak, then I am strong.” God doesn’t always remove the thorn. Sometimes the thorn is there as a reminder to us that God can perfect his strength and power in us in our weakness (not our sin). Many times I have sat down to write what God has given to me with a throbbing headache and the headache was not removed until I obeyed the Lord. So, sometimes he heals through removing the thorn and other times he gives us victory through the “thorns” in our lives as we trust in him and are not controlled or driven by our circumstances. Yet, he is a great healer, too!!

O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

We Followed After Lies

Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 10:26 p.m. – We celebrated the 1st birthday of our next to youngest grandchild (and grandson), out of nine, this evening. There were 23 of us (16 adults and 7 children) in our son-in-law’s and daughter’s small home. They did a really nice job of hosting all of us, and we had an enjoyable time with everyone, too.

My husband and I came home, had our time of prayer together, read Proverbs 25, and then we went to bed. Nonetheless, I could not fall asleep, so I prayed. As I was praying, all of a sudden I realized that the song, God So Loved the World (sung by Glad) was playing in my mind, so I got up to hear from the Lord whatever he wanted to say to me. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I am reading in Acts 7:1-3, 37-53:

Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin
1 Then the high priest asked him, “Are these charges true?”
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

…“This is that Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.’ 38 He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.

39 “But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
43 You have lifted up the shrine of Molech
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

44 “Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built the house for him.

48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:

49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’

51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”

My Understanding (1/26/2011): I prayed, asking the Lord as to how this is to be applied to our lives, or to my life, today. He brought to mind Obama and his State of the Union speech that he gave Tuesday evening. As I read about his speech, two sentences stood out to me. The first was this:

“Pleading for unity in a newly divided government, President Barack Obama implored Democratic and Republican lawmakers to rally behind his vision of economic revival for an anxious nation, declaring in his State of the Union address last night, ‘We will move forward together or not at all.’"
And, the second was this:

“Over his shoulder a reminder of the shift in power on Capitol Hill: Boehner, in the seat that had been held by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110126_President_calls_for_the_country_to_pull_together.html

When I read this second quote (above) about what was over Obama’s shoulder, the Lord immediately brought to mind what was on the wall behind him that was a reminder of the true “shift of power on Capitol Hill,” and that was the two images of Roman Fasces on either side of the U.S. flag.

“Stephen Phenow, Editor of the Strategikon, provides the following: ‘The Fasces was adopted from the Etruscans. It symbolized the power of life or death that a Roman Magistrate had over the Roman citizen; who could be scourged by the birch rods, representing physical punishment for transgressions; or be beheaded by the axe for serious crimes.’" http://www.legionxxiv.org/fasces%20page/

This “shift of power” was planned from the very beginning of our nation. If we do the research, we will learn about the layout of D.C. and its symbolism, the symbolism behind the buildings and the statues and the monuments, many of which were patterned after Greek and Egyptian gods and goddesses, and we will learn of the Satanic, Occultist, and Freemasonry roots and symbols of our nation and of the “god” in whom our leaders truly have placed their trust.

Roman fasces - http://jamesirvinggreene.blogspot.com/2008/08/roman-fasces.html;
History of the U.N. - http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/chronologies/un.htm;
Layout of D.C. - http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/washington.html; and
Masonic foundations of the U.S. - http://watch.pair.com/mason.html, etc.

In the second news article I read about Obama’s speech, it said:
“A revitalized President Barack Obama bluntly told America to reinvent itself and unite to survive in a fast-changing global economy powered by rising giants like India and China.” “Obama conjured up a sepia-tinted vision of an America left behind after globalization changed the rules overnight… “The rules have changed…” “Our nation is approaching a tipping point.” “Obama’s address came with Congress chastened by the Arizona shooting rampage targeting a lawmaker that sparked calls to quell explosive rhetoric.” “Obama called for a raft of measures to make America leaner, and more nimble in the global economy.” - http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.78a432ed1d59584d79f2727132ddf8af.41&show_article=1.

Chasten – to subject somebody to discipline (Encarta); punish; reprimand; censure; chastise; correct; suppress; restrain; humble (MS Word Thesaurus).

Don’t think for a moment that these exact words in these news articles are not chosen carefully and precisely to say exactly what they want them to say. Congress was chastened, i.e. Congress was disciplined, punished, and suppressed by the Arizona shooting rampage. Who, then, disciplined them? Who, then, wanted them suppressed? Think about it. Pray about it.

If we follow our news stories on a daily basis prayerfully before the Lord Jesus, asking him to show us what is true and what is false, I think we will begin to see how many times the words “unity,” “global order,” and “cooperation with the international community,” and phrases that sound like threats appear over and over and over again. We need to wake up America! We need to wake up church!

Matthew 24:24: “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.”

Revelation 13:14-17: “Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

When we follow leaders with blind obedience and we refuse to even consider that something may be going on other than what is reported in the news; when we are confronted with something maybe contrary to what we have always been taught (by man) to believe and we refuse to even check it out because we want to continue believing the lie, then we are setting ourselves up to be deceived. God says this is going to happen, and yet we go about our lives as though it could not possibly happen to us. It can, it has and it will! I know!

The condition of the religious people of Jesus’ day and the time of Stephen was the same as that of their fathers who refused to obey God. They made an idol for themselves in the form of a calf, and they worshiped that idol. They resisted the voice of the Holy Spirit. They persecuted, betrayed and killed those sent by God and even the very Son of God who was God himself, as well as they did not obey the commands and laws of God. Stephen called them “stiff-necked with uncircumcised hearts and ears.” And, that is true of many today who claim to know God and yet are not following God with their lives, they are resisting the Holy Spirit, they won’t even consider the idea or notion that they might be deceived by their leaders, and so they follow their fathers in setting up of man-idols whom they give their devotion and allegiance to.

The song (below) says, “Afraid – we followed after lies, and pain filled the Father’s eyes.” I believe the Lord is calling out to his church in America and to America and is telling us that we are following after lies when we refuse to open our eyes to see what is really going on with our government and with our nation and the true direction our government is heading with our nation. We are choosing these man-made idols over God. All God asks of us is that we come humbly before him, seeking his face, and ask him in all honesty to show us the lies we are believing; to show us what is true and what is false in what we have come to believe as true; and to show us what is really going on with our government and where we are truly headed as a nation. He will show us if we are willing to listen. I know.

Even though we sinned and we followed after lies or are presently following after lies, God had and has a plan to bring us home to himself, if we will humble ourselves and pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.

God So Loved the World / Bob Kauflin / Sung by Glad

In the garden long ago love was all there was to know
Pure, innocent and free – like we were made to be, long ago
Afraid – we followed after lies, and pain filled the Father’s eyes
But oh, from the first He knew what He’d planned to do,
… to bring us home

God so loved the world He gave His only Son
To face the death that we deserved and overcome
And everyone who hears His word and believes
The promise that he’s heard will never die, will never die

Hope – like an unexpected friend
Came to the helpless and condemned
And peace was offered far and near
To answer every fear in our hearts

Grace – only God could understand
Flowed freely from His hands
When the perfect Lamb was slain
To bear the guilt and shame of us all

Thru His death our forgiveness was obtained
And Heaven can be claimed once again
Thru His life He’s crushed the pow’r of sin
Now we can reign with Him forevermore

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

THE EXIT

Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 5:15 a.m. – I woke this morning from two dreams.

DREAM ONE: There was snow inside the house on the walls and on the outside. My grandson wanted some snow, so I opened the front door to the house, I picked up some snow in my hands, and I brought the snow inside the house. Then, the temperature must have changed, because all the snow then began to melt on the walls of the house. END

DREAM TWO: We were in a house that had three kitchen-like areas. One had a look to it of a snack bar with a door on the right (or east) side for entry into it, and a counter in the front of it. It had all kinds of dirty pans and skillets inside. A second kitchen-like area in the house similarly had dirty pots and pans inside the area. The main kitchen I kept fairly clean, though.

We were expecting house guests, so I decided to go throughout the house to inspect the various rooms to see what needed to be cleaned, to make a list, and then my husband could assign chores to the children based upon that list. There was so much to clean, I wondered if we could get it all done before our guests arrived.

I decided to begin on the second floor. The stairs to the second floor were on the left (or west) end of the hall. At the top of the stairs straight ahead (north) was a bathroom. I had a sense that there was another hall bath about half-way down the hall to the right (east) and on the left side (north). I had never seen this bathroom before, so I was on the lookout for it. I did eventually find it, but someone told me that it was not in working order.

The rooms off the hall, mainly all on the north side of the hall, were not all bedrooms and bathrooms, though. There were rooms that were private to various organizations, including at least one for the U.S. military, so I walked past those.

Then, somehow I ended up inside an elementary school. I was still going right (east) down this hall. And, I was still going through this process of making my list. I went through the halls of the school and checked out the various rooms. Then, I came upon the food court. At this point I felt as though I was talking into something that was recording my voice, because I was describing the food court out loud.

I walked past the food court and ended up in a classroom of students. The teacher of the class appeared to be the principal of the school. He sat at the north end of the students and the students appeared to be seated in some kind of an oval or a U-shape or horseshoe shape pattern. The principal asked me what I wanted, so I told him I was making a chores list. He asked me if I checked in at the front office. I told him that this was the school my grandchildren would attend if they were not homeschooled. Then, I told him our last name, i.e. I said, “The Love children.”

As soon as I said that, there was recognition on his part, as though he knew who they were. Then, he began to lead me out of the building, only we didn’t go out the way I came in. We went up a steep hill. I did not recognize my surroundings or any of the houses on the streets.

The principal was now a woman once we got on the outside of the house (school). She walked about 10 feet ahead of me, as though she was upset with me about something. She did turn her head around to talk with me from time to time, though. I talked with her about my grandchildren and about their mother. The principal seemed to know everything I was telling her. I felt as though she and my daughter-in-law had talked on the phone and that somehow this translated into the principal not liking me.

Anyway, when I got to the top of the hill and I didn’t recognize anything, the principal deserted me. I was left on my own and I was lost. I didn’t know my way out, so I decided I would call my husband on my cell phone, I would give him the street name, he could look it up on his GPS, and he could come and find me and to take me home. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 6:8-15:

Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, 10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”

12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

My Understanding: I read these news stories: Medvedev says security at bombed airport poor - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_AIRPORT_BLAST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-25-03-55-19; State of the Union: It's the economy, again - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_STATE_OF_UNION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-25-03-08-21; Emanuel candidacy in doubt after Ill. court ruling - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHICAGO_MAYOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-25-03-16-49; Republican lawmakers taking aim at UN - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_UN_INVESTIGATIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-25-03-18-29; Man accused in Giffords shooting pleads not guilty - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESSWOMAN_SHOT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-25-04-14-24; AP sources: Browner leaving as Obama adviser - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_ENERGY_ADVISER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-01-25-03-30-16.

I prayed for understanding. I remembered in the night waking from a dream but all I could recall of it is that it had something to do with people being Jewish. After I had read through all these news articles, I committed them to prayer and asked the Lord again for his understanding.

I felt compelled to look up Carol Browner as I thought I might be representing her in the dream. I learned that she had been married to a man who is Jewish and that they have a son together. Then, I remembered that Rahm Emanuel is Jewish, Gabriel Giffords is Jewish and I learned that Jared Loughner, the accused of the shooting that injured Giffords, is also Jewish. Then, I recalled that David Axelrod, Tim Geithner, and Lawrence Summers are also all Jewish or are rumored as being Jewish and all have left office or are soon to leave or are rumored as leaving office. So, there appears to be a mass exodus of Jewish people from political office either through resignation, being forced out or by being shot, and even the accused is Jewish and these charges against him may have been trumped up charges, which would possibly fit with the story of Stephen, though I cannot be certain of that.

In this first article, a suicide bombing killed 35 people in Moscow. Airport management contend that Russian transport police were in charge of airport security at the time of the bombing. Two Britons, a German and a Bulgarian were among those killed, according to the news article. The article states: “After the blast, Medvedev postponed his departure for the Davos forum where he is to be the main speaker at the opening session on Wednesday.” The article also stated that “The blast took place in the international arrivals area, where people without tickets can meet passengers.” Later in the article it said that “Arrival halls are usually open to anyone.”

In the dream, I was walking down a hall that led me to a food court which then eventually led me to a classroom led by the school principal and then I was escorted out a door different from the door that I entered and then I was deserted by the principal and was left to call my husband and to tell him where I was and to ask him to look on his GPS to see my location and to come and get me and to take me home. The thing that struck me about this in relation to this blast was the mentioning of an arrival hall, people without tickets (I did not check in at the office), that it was the international (food court) arrivals area and that I called my husband to get me and to take me home. I saw a possible link between “GPS” and God’s Promised Spirit, and that perhaps this was about the killing of Christians, as in the story of the stoning of Stephen. In particular, I saw that this was about Christians who did not “check in” with the New World Order, perhaps a reference to not taking the mark of the beast, and so they were killed for their faith, or this story is to be taken symbolically as illustrative of those who refuse the mark and thus are escorted out to be killed.

Then, in Obama’s speech (the preview), it spoke of a vision he had for “speeding up job creation.” All I could think of here is that I was making a list of things that needed to be cleaned to give to my husband who would then assign jobs to the children, and that led me to the food court (global government and global religion) which I documented on some kind of a recording on which I described what I saw at the “food court.” That led me to this classroom with the teacher who was really the principal and then out to pasture, basically. I definitely saw a connection between the food court and the global order of government and religion, to my report on what I saw, and then to being before this principal in this classroom that I saw as the U.N. Security Council, and that resulted in me being escorted out a different way in which I came in and then I was left to die, basically.

In the dream, this principal, when escorting me out of the building, walked 10 feet ahead of me, yet turned around and spoke to me from a distance. He/She did not like me. It was obvious. And, this followed after me making a report on the “food court” (the global order), which then brought me before him and this classroom and then out the door. This article about Obama’s speech described it as “rhetorical reach,” which made me think of this principal 10 feet ahead of me turning around to talk to me, and then it said his speech was “at the halfway point of his term,” which brought to mind this bathroom that was half-way down the hall that was out of order. The article said that the speech would be viewed in the context of “his new political reality,” which brought to mind this “food court” (global order) and the U.N. Security Council (the principal and students) and then me being escorted out the door and left out in the cold with no way back home, i.e. the new political reality.

I did realize at that point that I was lost and that I needed to be found and brought home, so I see this as a picture of the people who, when they are faced with this “new political reality” will realize their spiritual lostness, and will call upon Almighty God/Jesus Christ to come and to save them and to take them home. And, this could be, in particular, speaking about Jewish people realizing their lostness and calling on Jesus Christ to save them.

I also saw this “half-way” point as potentially this half-way point of the tribulation period and the hall as representing a time line of events with the ultimate end being believers in Jesus Christ being persecuted and killed for their faith in Christ and taken home to be with the Lord, as was Stephen.

Then, the article stated that “Obama was fine-tuning the language of his speech. His radio address over the weekend showed where he was headed.” Here I saw a connection between the report that I gave in a recording of my voice that was me describing the “food court”, i.e. the global order of government and religion, which is what then brought me before the Security Council and resulted in me being booted out the door. I have a sense that I was someone, like this Carol Browner, for instance, who was giving a report on something that will be talked about in Obama’s speech (the environment) and that Obama thus must “fine-tune” the report (doctor it in some way or by booting me out the door) so that it does not truly show where he is headed, which is toward this rule of a one world government and religion, so perhaps this has something to do with the resignation of Browner.

Rahm Emanuel was all set to run for governor of Ill and probably would have won except he has now been removed from running for office due to some technicality concerning his residency, since he has been living in D.C. the past two years and has not been residing back in ILL for a year. Again, this could have to do with him being taken out a door different from what he went in, and this could have begun with his resignation from the White House staff. He was Obama’s chief of staff, and as such he was the one who would have checked to see what needed to be cleaned out so that jobs could be assigned and perhaps his report was not met with acceptance and that is why he has been given the oust, too.

Ok, this leads me to this article about the Republican lawmakers taking aim at the U.N. The Security Council comes from the U.N. And, there is a “House of Representatives panel”, supposedly, that will “air criticisms of the organization,” which reminds me that I gave some kind of a report via a recording of some kind, and my report was on my description of the “food court,” which I believe is a by-product of the United Nations and that is the N.W.O., so perhaps the true “panel” is the U.N. Security Council. The “briefing” will then “prescribe congressional action,” like action was taken against me by this principal of this school and I was ousted from the building and left on my own with no way to get out of there.

After this “briefing”, then Obama will appear to deliver his State of the Union address. The article said that the “briefing” will be “the beginning of a long examination” by congressional Republicans. Here, all I could think of was this long hall that I traveled down which then took me to the “food court” which then landed me in front of the principal and then out the door and deserted and left to die. The article said, “The U.N. serves our interest in a cost-effective way to promote global security.” I believe the Lord was showing me that “global security.”

If you criticize or come against the government and especially against the global order then you will go before the U.N. Security Council, like Stephen (in the scripture) went before the Sanhedrin. In the passage of scripture, the people, the elders and the teachers of the law seized Stephen, they brought him before the Sanhedrin, and they produced false witnesses against him. I had this feeling that this was what happened in the case of the young man being accused of shooting and killing the people in AZ, which resulted in the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords. The young man was a 9-11 truther, i.e. he told the truth about our government’s involvement in the events of 9-11-01, so this may have been their way of silencing both him and Giffords.

Lastly, in this news article about Browner, it states: “Browner’s exit could ‘be a part of a legitimate effort to pay careful attention to addressing some of the real regulatory obstacles in the way of job creation.” That’s a tough sentence to grasp its meaning, but I think what the Lord is showing me here is that I was representing Browner in this dream, that I gave a report (a recording of some kind) of what I saw of the “food court,” i.e. the global order of government and religion (one world government and one world religion), and that landed me before the “principal” and the “council” and that ultimately led to my “exit” out the door and to me having to call my “husband” to come and save me. This sentence (quoted) sounds like a threat to anyone else who might dare to challenge or to criticize the global government, as I saw the “real regulatory obstacles in the way of job creation” in America as this global order.

I don’t know that I have everything right here, but what I am certain of is that there are a lot of Jewish people exiting public office all at once, and most of them from Obama’s administration since he began the mid-point of his term of office. I believe very much that the Lord is showing me religious persecution, and in particular persecution of Jews and Christians. I also see that there are people in political office who are not in agreement with and/or who are critical of the new global government and that is leading to at least some of these resignations. I see that the Lord is showing me people in public office being brought before the “Sanhedrin” of our day, i.e. the U.N. Security Council, and that some of them are facing the judgment of the council and are being forced out of office because they did not comply with or were critical of the New World Order.

I also see this in the sense of a timeline of the last days and that the exiting of me out of this building into a place I was unfamiliar and then being left to die or whatever is symbolic of the time of tribulation, and will result in people calling upon Jesus to save them (to use his God’s Promised Spirit) to find them and to take them home. Revelation 13:8 says: “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” Our names can only be written through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, Messiah, and Savior.

Jesus Only / Albert B. Simpson / J. H. Burke

Jesus only is our message, Jesus, all our theme shall be;
We will lift up Jesus ever, Jesus only will we see.
Jesus only is our Savior, all our guilt He bore away,
All our righteousness He gives us, all our strength from day to day.
And for Jesus we are waiting, listening for the advent call;
But ’twill still be Jesus only, Jesus ever, all in all.
Jesus only, Jesus ever, Jesus all in all we sing,
Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer; Glorious Lord and coming King.