As we get closer to the final stand against evil on this planet, the
enemy seems to be firmly in control. He has blinded the eyes of the
earth dwellers, spread his leaven throughout the church world, and
placed his land mines under the path of the godly. The god of this world
is swollen with pride - he's done such a good job.
The church of Jesus Christ is scattered among the mixed multitudes in pews on this Sunday morning. Most can't sing along
with the 'worship band' - especially when they're singing lyrics that
are not biblical. They are following the teaching along in their Bibles -
many scratching their heads at the interpretation of the
seminary-trained clergy in the pulpit. They are sharing communion of
leavened bread and grape juice alongside couples living together who
aren't married and single people still hung over from Saturday night
partying.
Those who have a
heart to share the Gospel in the highways and byways have learned they
can only preach Jesus and not preach church. Evangelists have to defend
the faith against the false view of Christianity that people see on
television. Most normal, sane thinking individuals know that what the
televangelists are peddling isn't worth buying. So to lead them to
Christ, you must first distinguish the Truth from the hype.
The
time is soon approaching when God will say, "Come out of her My people."
Yet, there are pockets of unleavened gatherings in diverse places. If
you are in such a place, you must strive continually to keep the leaven
out. In a mega-church situation, that is virtually impossible.
Don't get discouraged. Keep spreading the Gospel wherever you can and to
anyone who will listen. If you can't invite them to church, at least
direct them to solid websites and live streamed teaching and encourage
them to get grounded in God's Word.
Hopefully the Spirit will guide you
to those who are are open to hearing and receiving the Truth.
Pray for open doors.
“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work." - John 9:4
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and
of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all
things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give
account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with
our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without
sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Heb 4:12-16
I can't wait until Jesus restores our planet and gets rid of the
interlopers. Can you fathom what planet Earth will be like without Satan
and his minions here?
Recall what the legion of demons said to
Jesus - "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You
come here to torment us before the time?”
It wasn't time yet -- so He allowed them to go into the swine. Well, I
hope their time is coming very, very soon. And then Satan himself gets
locked up for a thousand years. If there is television during the Millennium, there will be no shows like Ghost Hunters or Most Haunted.
There will be no psychics, no paranormal encounters, no Tarot card
readers, no OUIJA boards, no seances, no spiritists, no noises going
bump in the night --- what a quiet, peaceful planet it will be!!
The devil knows his time is short -- in fact, the jig is up.
With Jesus ruling and reigning from Jerusalem and His Bride in charge
instead of crooked politicians, there will be no incidents like we saw
this week in Roseburg, Oregon. No more Columbines. No missing children's
faces on milk cartons.
I'm ready!! I'm asking the LORD to give
me jurisdiction over Southern California - where I was born and raised.
It could use a major overhaul.
Maranatha!
“It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the LORD." -- Is 65:24-25
"Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore." -- Is 2:2-4
More and more it seems this world is not our home. Yet those we love
here are worth the effort of not giving up on them, even if they fit in
this world quite nicely.
The LORD's command to 'love not the
world' is getting easier and easier to comply with. I can't wait to just
fly away and meet the LORD in the air. But I want those I love coming
along with me.
Jesus was not
accepted in His home town, as He said a prophet gets no honor at home.
He had to leave there to be about His Father's business. Abraham also
was called out of Ur, his home town. When Jesus called His disciples, He
sent them out.
We need to stop being so comfortable. If the LORD
is telling you to leave the place of your birth -- don't delay. The
Harvest is just about over, and gleaners are needed to go out and scoop
up the leftovers.
Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters."
Pray that the LORD would send other voices of His to your loved ones --
after they have stopped listening to you. And you may be called upon to
be the voice of Truth to the loved ones of other believers who are
praying God would send them someone they will listen to.
The time is sooooo short -- We must follow our Master and be about His business.
Get busy!!
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd
as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand
you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you
will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a
testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do
not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in
that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is
the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Brother will betray brother
to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against
parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all
because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who
will be saved." - Matt 10:16-22
“If you were of the world, the
world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I
chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." - John
15:19
The devil has dug a pit and laid a snare for us. Look out! Look out!!
If he can't get us by deception and clever lies, he'll trip us up by
using our love and friendships with one another to attack our allegiance
to the Almighty.
How many
well-meaning Christians do you know who are straying from the LORD yet
you can't bring yourself to correct them since it could affect the
relationship? So you look the other way in the beginning, and then
eventually go along with them in their error.
Look at all the
teachers and speakers who walk lock-step with false teachers and false
prophets, joining them in their conferences and on their TV shows - all
in the name of love and unity. We're told not to curse them for doing
so, but to just judge them by what they say, not by what they're going
along with. This is a trap. What begins as accommodation ends in
participation.
To those who allow friendships to stifle hearing
from God, they will no longer hear from God. The time will come when God
will stop revealing truth to those who look the other way when error
enters the camp.
The other extreme are those who nit-pick at
others when they do not agree with a friend's opinions. Friendships are
lost and division in the Body occurs when men strain at gnats and
swallow camels. This too is a snare of the enemy.
Love AND
truth!! One cannot overshadow the other. Pray for one another that we
all can keep the balance of those two divine attributes.
"Who is
wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his
works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy
and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual,
demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil
thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace by those who make peace." James 3:13-18
"Since
you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in
sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure
heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever" -
1 Pet. 1:22-23
"“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are
converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the
kingdom of heaven." - Matt 18:3
I got saved at a time when the Jonestown mass suicide was a
big news item. Perhaps that is why I was hesitant to attend any church
right away. I somehow knew in my spirit that danger lurked in places
called 'churches.' I didn't have enough information to know if I was
walking into the door of a cult or not, so I stayed home just reading my
Bible as long as I could.
As a new believer I could not keep my
mouth shut about Jesus. With little to go on but my new faith, I told
everybody I knew about Him. Some responses scared me when I did not have
the biblical grounding to give a reasoned answer. But no argument could
tell me that I didn't experience a true and profound encounter with the
living God that changed my life drastically and forever.
In
spite of my lack of knowledge, other members of my family were moved to
get a Bible and see for themselves. Two of my sisters soon got saved,
but they were anxious to get connected to the Christian community with
no hesitation. Unlike me, they didn't any reservations about all the
competing steeples in and around Orange County, California.
So I
sorta got dragged out of my comfort zone. My older sister discovered
TBN, and in particular a regular guest at that time, Hal Lindsey. So I
would go with her to be in the studio audience whenever he would be
there.
My younger sister joined a Christian theater group that
was doing a play that was to be performed at Melodyland, so she brought
us aboard. Some in that group attended Walter Martin's Bible study and
we began to attend. He talked so much about cults and a recent full-page
ad that appeared in the newspaper with the headline, "The Christ is
Here Now," and I learned about the coming Antichrist. That only
confirmed my intense belief that deception was lurking in religion and
in christendom. We were driven out of that study by some unscrupulous
people for a year or so before the LORD led us back to Dr. Martin's
ministry.
The three of us drifted from place to place before
getting back to Dr. Martin. The LORD assisted me with the gift of
discerning of spirits, although it didn't seem like a gift at the time.
We attended a small charismatic service one time that was quite
rambunctious. As the little group started singing a song about stomping
on the devil and the leader addressed Satan during the prayer, screaming
at demons to go into the pit, I could sense an overwhelming presence of
the demonic -- something very evil although I had no knowledge of
demons at the time. And I just had to get out of there. The guy who had
brought us there told me I must have a demon since I could not bear
being in there and so he prayed over me and spoke in tongues and
instructed me to imitate his gibberish. I complied as best I could and
was told I needed to keep practicing and that would be my defense
against demons in the future. Every time I would practice this so-called
tongues thing in private I would once again sense something very evil
present. I quit doing it.
We drifted all over the place -- from
the Eagles Nest in Santa Ana, a charismatic church pastored by a guy
named Gary Greenwald who later hooked up with false prophet Bill Hamon
to the Crystal Cathedral where my older sister joined the choir -- to
Dr. Gene Scott's Faith Center, a long commute to Glendale where I became
a volunteer answering phones. I finally settled on Calvary Chapel Costa
Mesa where I had gone once before I got saved for a Christmas service.
All the church-hopping got pretty tiring.
All these decades
later, I know that my initial desire for Truth and my unlearned
understanding that organized religion calling itself the church was
tainted with error was really a supernatural word of knowledge from the
LORD. He was cautioning me to test everything from the very start. And
He has directed my steps ever since to live a life on the alert against
falsehood while depending upon Him to give me understanding into His
Word.
I know many of you have similar stories -- unique to each
one of us -- in how the Author and Finisher of our Faith has kept you
and preserved you. And He will empower us to be overcomers and protect
us from and in the evil days ahead.
"Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; --Ps. 37:3-7a
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one
can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and
have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of
Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make
them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved
you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you
from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell on the earth." - Rev 3:8-10
Human relationships can take a lot of work and sensitivity to others feelings -- but it's worth it in the long run.
Even between saints, personalities can collide, often with those we
care about. Each conflict should teach us something new to help us to
grow in Christ, although the lessons may be very uncomfortable. To some,
it may seem easier to just walk away rather than take the time to work
things out. But that would be surrender to the devil's scheme to divide
and conquer.
Single people may have a hard time relating to
married friends. If a married woman confides to a single girl about her
struggles, the girl might think to herself, 'well, at least you have
someone to help you in life.' Or in reverse, if the single girl shares
her woes of finding the right man, the woman may think, 'well at least
you are free to do what you want without a man to tell you what to do.'
The grass is always greener comes into play.
Years ago, I shared a
testimony with a friend about how the LORD chastised me when I started
to go astray. Through a major health crisis, the LORD stopped me in my
tracks before I could make a choice that would have potentially
shipwrecked my faith. Through the trial He exposed the nature of a man I
was getting too close to. My fellow single friend didn't react like I
thought she would. Instead of rejoicing with me, she looked all sad and
said, "I wish God cared enough about me to show up in my life. He is
just silent when I fall into sin." She read into what I was saying that
God cared about me but not for her. I in no way meant it that way.
Another friend complimented me on how my grown kids turned out, telling
me I must have raised them right. I tried to give the glory to God, but
in so doing I inadvertently was saying that since her kids turned out
troubled, God cared for me more than her - or heard my prayers for my
kids while hers went unanswered. I in no way was making any such
comparison, but that's how it was taken.
We saints are not in
competition with each other. We're all in this together. We each have
unique struggles and weep over different things than our Christian
friends do. One might have financial success, while another can't pay
their bills. The former might have a rocky marriage and the latter a
loving one -- but Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith and
customizes our circumstances for our benefit (Romans 8:28).
Let's put up with each other and pray over our friendships. Be at peace.
"Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if
anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives
himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have
rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear
his own load." - Gal 6:2-5
"Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue
righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of
a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that
they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be
gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who
are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that
they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and
escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do
his will." - 2 Tim 2:22-26
I have wondered on occasion if the LORD had stopped, or at least
slowed down, His supernatural conversion of sinners during this time of
great apostasy. But I was basing that on my own observations - and
certainly, I cannot be everywhere and see all that God is doing in the
world.
There were many years in my 35-year walk with the LORD
when I would be sharing the Gospel with people and I just knew the
Spirit of God would be upon me to speak the Word the LORD would have me
to speak to an individual. I know the difference between when I'm just
going on my head knowledge versus when the Spirit is giving me the
unction to speak the supernatural word of knowledge or word of wisdom or
word of prophecy as He stirs up the gifts.
For the last ten
years or so I just haven't seen as many open doors to share the Gospel.
People just aren't interested in the conversation, and even speaking to
people you come across in life is a challenge when their noses are
looking down at their smart phones or they tune you out due to the
ear-buds bringing in their music to drown you out.
When I do have
the opportunity to witness to unbelievers I can tell if the LORD is
drawing them or not just by how I am able to respond to their questions.
If they are not open to the Truth, it just turns into an argument --
and I get no heavenly assistance. If the LORD is working in their lives,
God seems to just breathe life into the conversation and brings an
expression of wonder to the awestruck individual. It's really a miracle
to behold.
I wonder if any of you have experienced this yourself.
Well, on my third visit to the state prison this past week to teach and
share the Word of God with the female inmates, I again saw the Spirit
of God working on one of the women who came because she had once
committed her life to Jesus and wants to reconnect with Him but her
doubts about certain doctrines was putting up a roadblock to her fully
giving herself to the LORD. She just couldn't accept the idea of the
Trinity since it just didn't make sense to her. The Holy Spirit
gave me verse after verse to help her in understanding the truth of the
Triune God - even to my own amazement. There was no hesitation or
straining to think on my part -- the LORD quickened His Word to me to
give to her -- and once again I saw the expression on her countenance
change as I was sharing.
I know now is the time to go to the
highways and byways as the invited guests seem to be more and more
comfortable in their pursuit of worldly riches and success. I know that
if you get out there, God will lead you to those He is drawing. He will
show us how to sow and water the seed so that His table will be filled
with guests.
Selah!!
"Now all things are of God, who has
reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the
ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has
committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on
Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God." - 2 Cor 5:18-20
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." - John 6:44
"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the
word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward
those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be
with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to
answer each one." - Col 4:2-6
