Divine Sustenance

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Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 1 Kings 17:2-3 

1 Kings 17:2-5 reads, “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there. So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan and stayed there.” 

This is a continuation of my last letter which ended with the statement: The Holy Spirit wants to reveal more to us if we listen and obey.  Sometimes we see Elijah’s life as one miracle after another but really the miracles were a small part of his life and a result of his time spent in preparation to speak for the living God.  We must understand that the faith he manifested was not nurtured in miracles.  Every servant of the Lord, every man of God must have an intimate relationship with his Lord.  The bible highlights the intimate relationship Elijah had with the Lord, greater than all the other prophets of that time.  God has provided a history of individuals like Elijah, Elisha, Joshua, Moses, and Joseph to teach us the process He uses to reveal His word in order to include us in His purpose and unfolding plan.  Our Lord is specific; He doesn’t leave us with questions.  Verse 2 reads, “Then the Word of the Lord came to Elijah.” When did it come?  The word came after he stood before the rebellious, evil King Ahab; Israel’s leader.  I believe God will raise up more voices as His plan unfolds for His end time harvest. These servants will proclaim the word directly to the leadership of the Body of Christ because there is rebellion, disobedience and confusion in the church.  We can see God’s pattern in the Old Testament as He raises up His servants when Israel began to live idolatrous lives by worshipping idols and disobeying the law.

 Note the specifics of God’s instructions to Elijah the Tishbite, “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.”  This is a path of separation; a path leading Elijah into a private time with God. Oh the care of our God who knows our hearts and will always lead us to a humble place in His presence. As God’s children we can learn so much from this example.  We must be kept humble. God is speaking to Israel through the actions of Elijah; the flesh must be crushed.  The Holy Spirit wants us to see that our intimate private times with God will bring about God’s purpose and plan for our lives.

 God is raising men and women in these last days that are going to speak to the Body of Christ through their actions and lives.  He makes it very clear that they must first stand in the presences of the living God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The time is here!  Hide yourself.  This is a time of discipline and separation because God knows what’s ahead for His servants.  The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to show us the way. Ephesians 2:10 reads, “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Let’s reread 1 Kings 17:4, “You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”  The Lord is always ahead of us, but sometimes we don’t see or hear Him because we are so far apart. Some of the things that come between us and our Lord are unbelief, fear, murmuring, questioning His presence, rebellion, and unconfessed sin.  Those who believed in the Lord’s name because of the miracles He did were not those in whom He confided; no it is in those who have faith in His presence and nearness that He responds to.  It’s in our nearness to our Lord that we learn and know what is in His heart. We see Elijah driven not only by the word of the Lord but by the affections of the Lord towards His people.  Elijah was being moved by the affections of the heart of the Living God speaking to the situation at hand; famine due to disobedience.  Elijah is taken out of his comfort zone within the Jewish community and now he’s being fed by ravens. It is well to remember that the raven was considered unclean as mentioned in Leviticus 11: 13-15 and Deuteronomy 14:12-14. However, here we see God’s love and care for His servant, sustaining Elijah by whatever means He pleases to show us that He is in control. This is divine sustenance. Many of us are not receiving the revelation that could sustain us in hard times because we have left the place where God’s blessing is; the place of the revelation of His Son.

 I have a burden for many of my brothers, who leave their home and country, the exact place where God put them, thinking life will be better across the border. Sadly, many of these brothers are encouraged to leave their home countries by their church leaders. Please don’t misunderstand, if it’s God who directs you to move - don’t hesitate; make sure it’s God and not your emotions or flesh which will cause you to miss out on all God has prepared for you at your appointed place. I have proclaimed the following scripture in various countries to counter the question of these brothers, “why wasn’t I born in another country where it’s easier to possess things and be successful?”  Paul writes in Acts 17:26, “From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth.  And he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” God never makes mistakes, we make the mistakes.   Notice that a true man of God listens and obeys. Stop questioning our Lord!    We have been bought with the precious life of His Son and in times of testing and proving we must not question what He is doing.     We serve a living God who wants our trust in Him to grow.  He’s Elohim, creator of all things, even the circumstances and situations we go through.  He wants us as new creatures to grow in Christ.

Again we read Acts 17: 26, “From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth. And he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”  God’s objective in creating Adam was that from this one man every nation would be created to inhabit the whole earth and glorify God. There is purpose in all that He does. How important to know that God is in control and right where you are the purpose of God will connect you to this glorious plan.  Verse 27 reads, “God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.” Your purpose is to bring the glory of God into manifestation. You are unique; there is only one of you.   You cannot do what I have been purposed to do or vice versa.  I cannot ask the right hand of my body to do the work of my left foot.  Although my foot and hand are governed by the same purpose, they have distinction in what they do.  You are in the exact place where God has determined you to be and I am in my exact place.  Together as one man we are bringing the fullness of Christ to this world, connected by the Holy Spirit and united with the Father and the Son.  I praise the Lord, I worship Him.  His ways are magnificent and mighty. 

Do you know what it means to have the living God before your eyes?  Our Lord said, “If your eye is single, then your whole body is full of light.”  The meaning is to have one object before our eye; our problem is we’re looking at too many things.  He must always be before us; it’s not your interest, or the neighbor’s interest; but God’s interest.  God’s ultimate interest is Christ always before us which will bring forth the desire of God’s heart.

I Kings 17:5 reads, “So he did what the Lord had told him.” He doesn’t question or excuse himself because he’s Jewish; he knew he had to leave his comfort zone.  Elijah was of like passions as us, but he stayed there, he didn’t move.  How important to see the character, the discipline of the servant of God.  Our Lord said in John 5:19, “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”  This place was God’s will for Elijah; where you’re at is God’s will.  Elijah, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is revealing the relationship and intimacy that was created during his hidden years with God. Verse 6 reads, “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”  Note what happens in verse 7 to prove Elijah’s character, “Sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.”  Elijah takes part in the judgment that had come upon Israel, because of their disobedience.   The difference is he is not controlled by the situation around him; he’s being controlled and sustained by the living God.  He’s confirming what our precious Lord said in the wilderness as recorded in Matthew 4:4,    “... Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”   Your existence is not in material sustenance but spiritual sustenance which is “….every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  The word of God is sustaining Elijah; not the brook, not his surroundings.  Even though he’s partaking of the judgment, God is speaking through him.  What is He saying to Ahab, Israel and us through this glorious experience?  BE NOT AFRAID when you see the resources of your physical sustenance dry up.  God says “I’m helping you to look to me, the true source of your sustenance.”  Are you willing to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you?  Always keep in mind that God is working with the whole Body, but He uses individuals to speak His word to clarify what He is doing. I hear the Spirit of the Lord saying, no one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.  Many have missed the mark because they have left their place of revelation.  Elijah is right in place being sustained supernaturally and does not move until verse 8, “Then the word of the Lord came to him.”  Amazing grace!! 

I hear the Spirit of the Lord saying, no one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

My dear brother and friend, God is right there where you feel yourself isolated. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Hebrews 13:5 reads, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said “Never will I leave you: never will I forsake you.” He wants us to become more a part of Himself, one with the God who created the universe.  The universe displays the glory of God.    He chose us before the world ever existed and He wants us to partake of that same glory; all that He is and all that He has.   Glory came from within His earthen body at the Mountain of Transfiguration, when the face of our Lord appeared as a thousand suns and His garment became whiter than snow. He is within you and within me. 

Elijah is now ready for the next phase of God’s process of preparation.

I Kings 17:9 says “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to supply you with food.”    The Lord was declaring his sovereign grace. If Israel was going to limit, hinder, and stop displaying the greatness of God, He would move on to the gentiles.  Isn’t that what our Lord did when they rejected Him?  In Luke 4:22 it is recorded, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” But read the question they asked next. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They were looking at the natural state of Jesus and never inquired further.  I’m moved by the Holy Spirit to say that there are many in the church today that are not able to discern whether they are seeing the natural or the spiritual. Jesus used Elijah’s story recorded in Luke 4: 24-26, “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.  I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.”    There is a remnant that is willing to pay the price; service to the Lord for the rest of their lives.

Your life today is the culmination of the choices you have made in the past.  If you do not appreciate what you are seeing in your life; repent and ask God to forgive you so that you may again receive the revelation to be transformed into the image of our Lord.  God is good, He is wonderful and He loves us. Together we are bringing strength to each other.  We are one in Christ if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and take us one step at a time.  Be anxious for nothing, but in all things, make your request known unto God.  He knows our heart better than we know our heart. He has one desire and that is to glorify His son Jesus Christ through us.

May the Lord take away the religious cataracts from our eyes so we can see Him as He is.  He is compassion, love, mercy, and faith; the True and Faithful Servant.

Show Thyself

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 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” I Kings 17: I

The letters I write are written to the Church, the body of Christ, not a particular movement or denomination. It’s important for us to hear from God and keep His message simple. The purpose of God’s Word is to transform and expand our minds to enter into the liberty of the Spirit of the Word.  Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Truth will set us free from any type of religious bondage or doubt and unbelief. 

Look around and see the darkness that has covered the earth including much of the Church. God is continually raising up those of us who recognize the spiritual state of the Church and long to do something about it. He is taking the longings of our hearts and setting us aside preparing us in His secret place. As we enter into the secret place of God He begins to train us in our everyday lives. I speak from the training the Lord has brought to my life.

I had a desire to go to a bible institute when God first called me 30 years ago. After days of prayer I understood that the Holy Spirit would lead me into all Truth and I was not to attend a bible institute.  Therefore, these letters come from the depths of my heart shaped by moments of solitude with our Heavenly Father.   During moments of solitude, Truth is able to deal with any ignorance, spiritual limitations and weaknesses in us.   A true minister should be able to declare as the Apostle Paul did in 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” Understanding the process of God is important. 

As I minister in different countries I often hear ‘man of God,’ thrown around so flippantly; I feel a strong need to address this. If we are going to use that title, let’s go to scripture and see who is a ‘man of God’ so we don’t use it carelessly. Let’s return to the Old Testament where consistent principles are at work. During Solomon’s reign the priests were keeping their religious duties and the people lived in peace. When he died, his son Rehoboam began to reign. An uprising occurred in the people and Israel became two kingdoms; Israel and Judah. In I Kings we read about the spiritual state of Israel and Elijah’s appearance on the scene. 1 Kings 16:29 reads, “In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years.”  These were desperate times as the kingdom was in a steady decline while doing evil in the site of God.  I Kings 16:30 reads, “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.” To make matters worse Jezebel, a daughter of an uncircumcised king, marries Ahab and they are both sitting on the throne that at one time belonged to King David who reigned in power and authority.  As we read about Ahab and Jezebel’s twenty two years of evil there is no mention of Elijah.   Elijah is being kept in the secret place of God in training.   In the New Testament the Holy Spirit reveals to us Elijah’s life before he presents himself to King Ahab.  James 5:17 reads, “Elijah was a man just like us.  He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”  Elijah was in the secret training of God in the midst of darkness.   It’s important to understand unless you’ve been trained in God’s secret place; your public ministry/service will be like a super structure whose foundation is weak; or a large tree with plush branches whose shallow roots in the midst of a storm are unable to keep it from toppling over.  God will use you if you have pleasure being in His secret place. It is in solitude that we come to know the mind of God as stated in Psalm 25:14, “The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.” Amos 3:7 reads, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

 

 It’s important to understand unless you’ve been trained in God’s secret place, your public ministry/service will be like a super structure whose foundation is weak; or a large tree with plush branches whose shallow roots in the midst of a storm are unable to keep it from toppling over.

Confusion is overtaking the land while we struggle with our identity, not knowing who we are in Christ Jesus.  God is not at fault; we’re the ones who walk away and find comfort in this world even though Jesus said in John 17:16, “They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.”  However, God is calling us back to Him.   God does not take issue with your intelligence, your ignorance, your wealth or your poverty.  He has you on His heart and He will not leave any one of His children behind as stated in Ephesians 5:25, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Knowing this should bring much comfort and strength to our own hearts.  Christ is forever interceding for us as our High Priest. Exodus 28:21 – 29 gives a similitude of the twelve tribe’s names engraved on precious stone on the breastplate over the priest’s heart, meaning we are always on God’s heart.  Grace and mercy are abundant in the midst of an oppressed people. Oppression comes when God’s people turn from looking to him and depend on the resources of this world and government for their lives, not realizing that the spirit of the antichrist is in control of the world system. God will use you just like He used Elijah to bring light into the Kingdom of God.  Perhaps you are thinking you’re not an Elijah or Elisha with a mission.  But, we all have a mission as recorded in John 17:18, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” You are getting to know the one who is sending you as He deals with you in His secret place.  He will speak to you; not in the thunder or fire, but in a still small voice where the Holy Spirit directly guides you.  Elijah stood before evil King Ahab and spoke, I Kings 17: I; “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” In some versions of the Bible it reads, “before whom I stand”. What does it mean “to stand”? It means to be ready for your Lord’s bidding. You are waiting for His will to be expressed.  It’s not merely walking before Him or running about always restless to busy yourself with His service. Standing is ready to listen to His Word, waiting for His direction. Elijah is declaring judgment on God’s covenant people who had turned to other gods and worshipped them.  The anger of the Lord burned against them and this was an earlier warning by God recorded in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, “Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.   Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.” Remember God is love – but also just. Isaiah 55:11 reads, “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.”

Here is a man who was set aside while God was building his character.  Character will always reveal your position with God.  He stood before God waiting and waiting; praying before the God he served.  Is it possible to serve a God that you do not know?   How can you know the mind of God if you do not spend time with him?  So many ministers rise to the top only to shine for a few moments, and then die out.  The man of God stands before Him and is being trained in the secret place.   Ministry formed in the secret place speaks the word of God and not the opinions of man; ministry formed in the secret place will last forever.  II Timothy 3:16, 17; “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” My prayer is that you see the DivineDiscipline at work in the ‘man of God.’

I Kings 17:2 says, “Then the word came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.” God is very clear with His instructions, never letting us second guess them. Elijah is very obedient to the Word of the Lord. He never questions or argues, but follows the directions of the God he serves. He leaves his public ministry and enters into dependence on all mighty God; living only from the brook, and the bread and meat the ravens brought him.  He’s spiritually living off the Word that came to him.  A servant listens and obeys without questioning. We must count the cost even as our Lord did and submit to God’s direction.  Separate yourself, get away from the public;   trust and believe what He says and allow His word to manifest itself.  Paul said we die daily; every day we’re like sheep led to the slaughter. Death works in us but life in you.  Understand this process.

Ministers today speak with shallow words and bring confusion into the Body of Christ.   Much of the church can’t discern the spirit behind their words.   God is bringing forth his true ministers who are not interested in titles, positions or exposure and will not bring confusion. God knows the time to bring you forth.

The Holy Spirit has stopped me here, but there is much more that He will reveal to us as we listen and obey. Amen!

Divine Discipline

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My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Proverbs 3:11,12

Has the question ever risen in your heart: Am I going to sit on the throne to rule and reign with Christ?  Maybe the better question to ask is: Am I meeting the conditions set by God to sit on the throne to rule and reign with Christ? God has left us examples in His word to help answer this question.

In I Kings, King David was on the verge of death and Israel was asking who will be heir.  We need to recognize how the natural man moved during this critical time in Israel’s history, and how the natural man is moving at this particular time as well.  The Holy Spirit helps us to recognize human nature and how God deals with it.  Throughout His Word, God exposes the natural man’s sinful state to help us. I Kings 1:1-37 records the story of David’s last days upon the earth. Verse 5 reads, “Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.”  So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him.”  Note the first two words, “I will”.  In Isaiah 14:13-14, Lucifer rose up and crassly spoke similar words before he was cast out of heaven, “….. I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 

Nathan the prophet told King David what was taking place. I Kings 1:6 reads, “His father had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?...” This verse tells us Adonijah never experienced the discipline of his father. Understand this; we must receive our Father’s discipline in order to come into our given positions in the Body of Christ instead of moving forward and taking titles and ministries that have not been given to us. Only through this process of discipline will we sit on the throne to rule and reign with Jesus Christ.  Jesus said in Luke 16:10-12, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.  So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?  And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”

In 1 Kings 1:33 David declares his son Solomon as heir to his throne. Solomon’s procession didn’t consist of chariots or guards. He was put on the king’s mule, escorted by the priest and the prophet, then sat on the throne and was declared King. 

Solomon’s heart is revealed in I Kings 3:7-9, “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”   There was no arrogance, pride, or self confidence in Solomon. The prophet and priest came and got him.  Today it is the Holy Spirit that draws a person as we read in Matthew 2:14, “Many are called but few are chosen.”  You will know it and you will submit to God’s disciplinary process.  How important it is to listen, to agree and come into the reality of God’s divine discipline. 

Today, there is a greater one than Solomon (Matthew 12:42). According to Galatians 4:6, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” This is being ‘United in the Spirit’. Since we have received the faith of the Son, we have received the authority and power of the Son.  However before we can exert the authority we must understand the discipline our Father puts us through.  We must willfully accept or reject the process of discipline; this is not the time to complain. God is speaking to his people through the unfolding events around us.  The Body of Christ is preparing to manifest the authority, the power and the glory of Jesus Christ; all that He is and all that He has. 

There was peace throughout the land during Solomon’s reign but it came to an end as all types and shadows do.   Today Jesus Christ has arrived in all His glory and He is increasing in us. Isaiah 9:7 (NKJV) reads, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end...” As the Spirit of Glory is increasing, the spirit of the antichrist is also increasing.  Discipline comes along with spiritual increase because the spirit of Christ is being poured out.  The church will arise in the glory and splendor of Jesus Christ.  Solomon was declared King and proclaimed heir of the kingdom because he was loved by his father.  Kingship is not a matter of merit, skill, talent or any natural accomplishments; it’s a matter of love. Love is the key to discipline that is working in us and for us.  Solomon’s words were referenced in Hebrews 12:5 when the Hebrews were going through troubling times of pressure and testing, “ . . .My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”  You and I are discovering our position; we are coming to know what it will take to rule and reign with Christ Jesus. 

Our Lord endured discipline.  Hebrews 5:7 reads, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered…..”  Are you a son?  It is very important to understand our father’s ways!  Consider the Lord accepting Judas Iscariot’s purpose and never pushing him away.  He knew Judas’ walk with Him was appointed of His father.  Jesus knew his disciples were flesh and blood with weaknesses, ambitions and self interests.  As they walked with him he accepted and loved them to the end. 

Kingship is not a matter of merit, skill, talent or any natural accomplishments; it’s a matter of love.

We must understand and accept the process of discipline because God loves us despite the poverty, pain or whatever else has been ordained for us.  We belong to God.  If our Lord had to endure these hardships to inherit, shouldn’t we as sons and daughters accept hardships in order to receive our inheritance?  We are being loved in these times of hardships and crisis.  There is a hereafter; there is a throne to be received and a kingdom to rule.  He will entrust the Kingdom of His Son to children who have accepted the discipline and understood its purpose.  The reality of “Here am I” will set in and a joy will abound despite the circumstances.  You’ll know you’re in your Father’s hands.  God says to the church in Revelation 3:19-22 (NKJV), “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We are destined to rule and reign, but there is a process of discipline that will bring discomfort, pain, and irritation.  God knows what he is doing to you. Sometimes He will use those closest to you, a family member, friend or co-worker. This is not a time to give up!!! This is a time to submit and depend on God.   Regardless of where you are pray that you will take hold of this revelation and submit to the Holy Spirit who will bring illumination to your understanding.  The process of being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ will become a reality and this world which is coming to an end will see that there is a people who know their God and who walk upon the face of this earth demonstrating, expressing and fulfilling God’s purpose.  The message of the cross is Jesus Christ glorified and exalted.    The Holy Spirit solely knows what the Body of Christ needs.  Rejoice in the Lord in EVERYTHING, rejoice!!!!

*Unless noted, all scripture references are from the NIV.

Revelation

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Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.  Ezekiel 1:26

We must have a REVELATION OF CHRIST JESUS, OUR LORD if we are ever going to be transformed from spiritual immaturity to spiritually mature. It is the apostle Paul who helps us to understand that it takes more than intellectual knowledge to live in Christ and grow spiritually.

Paul originally considered Jesus to be an imposter and he was set on destroying the revelation that had come to Christ’s followers. Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus brought his whole way of thinking, all that he had learned intellectually through the scriptures to a blinding halt!   Notice in Acts 22:10 when Christ revealed Himself Paul didn’t ask, “What would you have me do Jesus of Nazareth?” but rather “What would you have me do LORD?” It’s important to see that in that encounter Paul recognized the authority and the power of the resurrected Christ and the position he had been given by the will of the Father.

Thereafter Paul’s life was guided by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit began to unveil the revelation of Christ to him. This had to occur before he could bring this revelation to the church. Paul’s experience helps us understand the depth of his letters to the church.  Paul fervently prays in Ephesians 1:17, 18 “. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious FATHER, MAY GIVE you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.”  We too must have a fresh and ever increasing revelation of Christ Jesus to be transformed from spiritual immaturity which results in divisions and schisms in the Body of Christ. Galatians 1:15 reads, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the gentiles . . .” Note, pleased to reveal His Son in me; Paul’s not talking about his encounter on the road to Damascus, but the revelation coming from the Father who was pleased to give it to Paul.  We read about the church claiming all spiritual gifts but divisive in 1 Corinthians 3:4, “For when one says, “I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?”   Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 1:13, “Is Christ divided?”  These corrections coming to the Body of Christ didn’t come from a book; they came from “it pleased God to reveal His Son in me.”   A revelation of Christ began to bring transformation to Paul’s religious beliefs. 

We send our children to school to increase in knowledge. Knowledge delivers them from ignorance and they’re able to function in society.  In this same way we who are born again of the Kingdom of God, accept the process of maturing and growing so we can reach the position where God is pleased to release more revelation of Christ Jesus.  Psalm 25:14 reads, “The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.” Revelation doesn’t come automatically.  Paul speaks of revelation as being a mystery in Colossians 1:26, “. . .  the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.” Then he calls himself a steward of the mysteries in 1 Corinthians 4:1, “So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted (stewards) with the secret things of God.”  We have failed to teach this to the Body of Christ and she is suffering from immaturity which results in divisions and schisms. 

Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the glorious Father may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better.” The revelation of Christ Jesus is for the whole Body of Christ, not just the apostles and prophets.  The Word of God always challenges our spiritual lives. Jesus Christ spoke in John 6:63, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit, the flesh counts for nothing; it destroys the flesh and brings increase to the new man, the new creation.”  You will not get this revelation based on how often you attend your fellowship or sit in the pew and listen to one man.  Revelation will come by the will of God.  It is the pleasure of God to give it to you.  Prov. 3:32 reads, “. . . for the Lord detests a perverse man, but He takes the upright into His confidence.”  He’s referring to friendship between two persons.  Growth and fruitfulness in a relationship will come about by trusting and knowing one another which brings you into the intimate thoughts in confidence with one another.  God is telling us He can’t bring us into His secret chambers without us realizing His thoughts are pearls. Our Lord Christ Jesus mentions an important word in Matthew 11:27, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father . . .” God’s not talking about knowing Him physically, but the greatness, the riches, and the mysteries in Christ Jesus.    Those who are driven by this passion to know Christ will say like Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV), “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Paul tells us how he continually searches for Christ in Philippians 3:13-14, “. . .  but one thing I do – forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, PRESS toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” The daily hunger and passion for Christ lead us to the fullness of Christ. Remember, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”   God’s good pleasure reveals the Son in us; it is not in how much we read or listen to teachings.

When we receive a revelation of Christ we come into the knowledge of the destiny of man in Christ. As you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you through the scriptures you begin to know the purpose of the church, the purpose of every member of the Body of Christ and the true nature of the Body of Christ.  We can’t exhaust the knowledge of the depths of Christ written in the scriptures; only by the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation do we see the spiritual reality underlying them. Understanding this, we walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit and come to know what true ministry is.

Ministry is not doing a lot of things even though they may look good.  Ministry is a Person; Christ!

Ministry is not doing a lot of things even though they may look good. Ministry is a Person; Christ!  God is not impressed by what you do; the question is what is the motivation behind your actions, what’s governing your motives and your interests?   Is Christ working through you to bring increase to the Body of Christ?  Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The purpose of the five-fold ministry is to perfect the saints as written in Ephesians 4:11, 12. These are gifts given by the Head of the church and they work only by the power of the Holy Spirit.  There is so much confusion as to who’s an apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist or teacher.  It is sad to witness the condition of the church. Many pastors have been taught “If you’re not under the covering of an apostle, you’re not a church.” This must be corrected! God is raising up servants to release LIFE to God’s people; not carnal interpretations of the scriptures which keep God’s people from coming into the fullness of Christ.  The further away we get from our Life source, the more we depend on plans, programs and organizations of the flesh to keep God’s people together. 

Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  Our covering is the love and grace of God in our surroundings.  These are the true riches found in Christ Jesus.  If you are in Christ Jesus and have gone through the death and resurrection with Him, the heavens are open.  John the Baptist took the Son of God and submerged Him in the river Jordan and the Word of God says when He rose up from the water the heavens were opened and the spirit descended (Luke 3:21-22).  The heavens are open for God’s children; we have every right to come into the presence of our Father.  Paul considered this the mysteries of Christ.  God is not some force in the air or some power out there; HE IS OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. When you read the scriptures the Holy Spirit will help you know His thoughts because you have received the Spirit of God to know the most intimate things of God (I Corinthians 2:9-10). God’s desire is revealed when He says in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Our Heavenly Father’s will is to have children that are an expression of His thoughts and walk according to His good pleasure. Jesus said in John 8:36, “You will know ME, and you will be set FREE.” 

 My heart overflows with worship!! The Lord is great. Our God is a loving God, a merciful God and every morning as the sun rises His grace and His mercies are renewed.  He has planned our day!  Listen to the Holy Spirit and he will guide, direct and discipline you in love.  My prayer for you is to submit to your Heavenly Father and grow in Christ.

Every dealing of God in our lives

and in the life of the whole church

begins with a personal revelation -

a deep, inner discernment of God’s will -

a disclosure of spiritual existence

we were blind to before.

(Manfred Haller)

How infinitely blind we are

to the fullness and glory of Christ

if we do not know Christ in His power

and ourselves in our weaknesses,

as revealed to us personally by the Holy Spirit. 

(Charles G. Finney)

DIVINE TIMING

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THE LORD IS MY PORTION; THEREFORE I WILL WAIT FOR HIM.  THE LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHOSE HOPE IS IN HIM, TO THE ONE WHO SEEKS HIM; IT IS GOOD TO WAIT QUIETLY FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD.  LAMENTATIONS 3:24 -26 

I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to give a warning to the children of God during these rapidly changing times. There is a danger in losing sight of God’s great design by the overwhelming situations and experiences of the present moment.  We must remember that there is a purpose in everything that is taking place.   I learned at a Morris Cerullo School of Ministry that “The God we serve is a God of plan, purpose, design and objectivity.” 

Those of us here in the United States are well aware that changes are taking place in our great nation and many are praying that God would save it. However keep in mind God is not concerned with just one nation but all nations.  The bigger picture is found in Genesis 12:2, 3 which reads, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God’s intention is salvation to all people of all nations through the Body of Christ. 

As we enter into unexpected changes, we take hold of God’s promises and pray; but our prayers don’t seem to get answered.    Why hasn’t God answered my prayers?  There are a number of possible reasons why the answers to our prayers are divinely delayed.  We must understand God is causing us to wait so we can come to know Him and His divine character.  It’s obvious the longer we wait the longer the door of communication between God and us is open.  If we are not knowledgeable in our well intentioned prayers, God will have to respond according to Mark 10:38, “You don’t know what you are asking.” The motive of our prayers must pass through the filter of God’s love and wisdom or He may respond according to James 4:3, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

The apparent delays, based upon our measurement of time, move us to take matters into our own hands.  This is a great mistake.  Faith is being tested; the faith that we received from Christ is being tested and we are becoming established.  Do not be discouraged; God’s great love is guarding us.  Know that every experience, every situation and every circumstance has a beginning and an ending.  We don’t need to ask why.  God will see the results He desires. Daniel 4:34, 35 reads, “. . . Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.  His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.  All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” The enemy wants us to forget that God is in control of the changes in this world, not man! It is up to His children, His sons and daughters, to express this confidence, this trust, and this faith to the world.

We know there are different stages of maturity in the Body of Christ.  There is much to be said of the faith of a child who doesn’t understand God’s ways but continues to believe.  There is more to be said of a mature man who knows God does not move according to our time frame despite our situations.     His measurement of time is in II Peter 3:8, “With the Lord a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” He knows the beginning and the end.  There is a risk of taking matters into our own hands as we assume God is delaying the answer.   A good example is recorded in Genesis 15 where God promised Abraham descendents.  Abraham was without a son and thought his servant Eleazar was going to be his successor.  But God made a covenant.  So much was involved in the promise of God to give Abraham a son that Genesis 16 tells us the delay began to affect Abraham and Sarah, like it does us.  Abraham took hold of wrong counsel from his wife and takes the servant Hagar to himself and she conceives a child.  The consequence of that decision is still seen today. Fearing the delay and listening to the flesh will lead us to make wrong decisions.  Only God can bring a supernatural promise to pass as written in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.   Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill?”

Exodus 2:11 records another example of poor timing in expressing God’s purpose,  “One day after Moses had grown up he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.  He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. He looked this way and that way and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” No doubt there was an instinct of deliverer in Moses as he saw the oppression of his people, but his time was not yet.  Moses took matters into his own hands so God dealt with him in the desert for 40 years. We should be moved but not outside of God’s timing.

How many have prayed for loved ones to be saved and have become perplexed and perhaps discouraged when we don’t see an immediate answer to our prayers.  Take heart with the word of Jeremiah in Lamentations 3: 24-26, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  We should heed his counsel.  Jeremiah saw beyond the present circumstances; he saw the goodness of the Lord.  We must not lose sight of the fact that the wisdom of God and the love of God created the circumstances.  In these circumstances the Father is unfolding His design through his people; the principalities and powers of the air have never seen this before.  Paul writes in Ephesians 3:10, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  He sees the outcome; the unfolding of His great design is taking place.  God is in control and He knows the exact minute you enter a change of circumstance and He knows the exact minute when you will exit.  

GOD IS IN CONTROL AND HE KNOWS THE EXACT MINUTE YOU ENTER A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE AND HE KNOWS THE EXACT MINUTE WHEN YOU WILL EXIT.

All the understanding of divine delay is in Christ Jesus!  “All things were created by Him and for Him.  Nothing was created without him;” Corinthians 1:16.  Every minute of every situation and circumstance was created by Him and for Him.    God is bringing us into the fullness of Christ.  It is encouraging to see the hunger in God’s children to know the purpose and ways of God; to know Him.  For many years all we’ve heard from the pulpit is what God is doing for us and what we can get from Him.  Now there is a hunger to know what He desires.  The coming of the Lord is closer now as this world is changing. However, the real sign of the Lord’s coming is not the Lord breaking through the heavens, but breaking through his people.   An increase of the glory of the Lord is occurring. God will not take his people out of this world without impacting the world;

Know the times we are living in; the glory of the Lord, all that He is and all that He has, is revealed through his people. Isaiah 60:1, 2 “Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] the peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [O Jerusalem], and His glory shall be seen on you.” Amplified bible

Do not lose heart my friend.  I want to encourage you by Paul’s example.  There was a messenger of satan sent to buffet him.  He prayed three times for the Lord to take this thorn away and received a powerful revelation, “My power is perfected in your weakness.”  Paul said in II Corinthians 12:9, 10 “. . . I will glory in my weakness so that the power of Christ Jesus will rest upon me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Don’t be discouraged if you are going through persecution, hard times, or moments of disappointment.  Remember, the Peace that passes all understanding rests upon you.

 

WE CANNOT LIVE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

AND LET EVIL STALK UNCHALLENGED,

BY NEGLECTING THE WIDE-OPEN DOORS OF THE WORLD

WHICH CALL TO OUR FAITH AND OUR LOYALTY. 

 (J .S. HOLDEN)