Jesus waits for the Bride to make herself ready, without spot or wrinkle. She will not be spotted from the world or her flesh, neither will she have hidden places amongst her where folds in her good deeds hide shadowed areas of her life. She is His Body and He, her head. She is the New Jerusalem, the City of God. The works of men are perfected in her, each one tried and tested, built upon through the generations.
God waits for His Body to be healed, healthy, each part working together to nourish and build itself up. But His Body is now tired with inner fighting and over-preoccupation with projects. She has not yet entered into God’s rest; a time set apart unto Him; a time of preparation, mending, and health; a time of knitting together and building up. She is not yet ready, yet waits for Him to make her ready. When she submits to Him as her head, then she will make herself ready, for everything has been given to her to do so. Come aside, My Beloved. Amen.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Faith is
Many think that faith is believing I (God) can do something. But faith really is believing that you can do something because I will answer. My son Jesus said that if you say to a mountain “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” it will. But the person saying this must have faith. I don’t always work independently of men, because I want men to have faith in what he can do in Me, not in what I can do in Myself. I will not have a Kingdom of One. The man telling the tree to be uprooted must believe that I will answer, and the tree will be uprooted.
I want a man to think about what he would do with faith. Like a child dreams of becoming a fireman or a police man, I want men to aspire to become great, with faith. For I have put My will deep in the hearts of men, and they must bring it out, think upon it, and see its possibilities in Me. And this is where trust comes in; trust that I will fine-tune the dream and develop the man in a worthy way. Well I know that children are vain in their dreaming. Yet their hearts dream dreams that may come true with the right encouragement. I’m looking for adults to pick up their dreams and walk them out with Me, in faith. Amen.
I want a man to think about what he would do with faith. Like a child dreams of becoming a fireman or a police man, I want men to aspire to become great, with faith. For I have put My will deep in the hearts of men, and they must bring it out, think upon it, and see its possibilities in Me. And this is where trust comes in; trust that I will fine-tune the dream and develop the man in a worthy way. Well I know that children are vain in their dreaming. Yet their hearts dream dreams that may come true with the right encouragement. I’m looking for adults to pick up their dreams and walk them out with Me, in faith. Amen.
Monday, October 5, 2009
spiritual maturity
This afternoon I wondered about the periods of silence that often occur in our relationship with the Lord. The Lord put many thoughts in my mind about His relationships with us, which I’d like to share below;
I relate to children as children. They are concerned with themselves and I relate to them about themselves. I understand their motives and viewpoints are more self-centered than adults, but I don’t chastise children for this. I know they will expand their viewpoint as they grow up, and this will change their motives. I look forward to each spurt of growth when I can relate to My children in a broader way.
If a child remains self-centered and fails to move towards maturity I do not continue to relate to him as in the past. As a parent may distance himself from childish behavior to encourage necessary growth, so I also distance Myself to encourage the growth I have put in the child. Like DNA, maturity is within every child. It then becomes a choice whether or not the growing child remains concerned with only himself, or chooses to expand his concerns and interests to others.
As with children, so it is with spiritual growth. What once was a tight fellowship with Me can become a long, disturbing period of silence. Many will feel forsaken, as if I am far away. But the change in the nature of our relationship is a prelude to a deeper, more intimate relationship. It is meant to take the less mature Christian’s eyes off what he wants and ask the questions “What does God want? What does God like, personally?” and “What does God dislike?” These questions are the beginning of turning one’s spiritual relationship from being self-centered to broadening, and opening up to matters not generated within his own heart and mind.
I created Man to fellowship with him, not just about how he feels and what he wants . . . I want to share My heart with him. I f a man will not become discouraged in seeking Me, He will find that I have a lot to share with him.
I relate to children as children. They are concerned with themselves and I relate to them about themselves. I understand their motives and viewpoints are more self-centered than adults, but I don’t chastise children for this. I know they will expand their viewpoint as they grow up, and this will change their motives. I look forward to each spurt of growth when I can relate to My children in a broader way.
If a child remains self-centered and fails to move towards maturity I do not continue to relate to him as in the past. As a parent may distance himself from childish behavior to encourage necessary growth, so I also distance Myself to encourage the growth I have put in the child. Like DNA, maturity is within every child. It then becomes a choice whether or not the growing child remains concerned with only himself, or chooses to expand his concerns and interests to others.
As with children, so it is with spiritual growth. What once was a tight fellowship with Me can become a long, disturbing period of silence. Many will feel forsaken, as if I am far away. But the change in the nature of our relationship is a prelude to a deeper, more intimate relationship. It is meant to take the less mature Christian’s eyes off what he wants and ask the questions “What does God want? What does God like, personally?” and “What does God dislike?” These questions are the beginning of turning one’s spiritual relationship from being self-centered to broadening, and opening up to matters not generated within his own heart and mind.
I created Man to fellowship with him, not just about how he feels and what he wants . . . I want to share My heart with him. I f a man will not become discouraged in seeking Me, He will find that I have a lot to share with him.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Saying "Yes" to Faith and obtaining the Kingdom
In this morning’s lesson the Lord counseled me about undertaking a prayer of great faith. When we ask for something in faith, we often have a battle ahead before God’s answer arrives at our door. The Lord said that I had to be able to answer “yes” to the following four questions before undertaking a prayer of faith;
1. Do you believe that God can and will heal you/or other request?
2. Are you willing to stand in faith against doubt, should your symptoms/circumstances persist?
3. Will you praise Him during the interim?
4. Will you forsake your anger and instead accept His grace?
I believe the warfare around our healing/change of circumstances is so great that, unless we can answer these 4 questions with a "Yes" we will not gain the victory. But, we must also consider the course of our health/circumstances up to this time if it has been unchanged: we are not healed; we have been fighting with doubt, many fears, and anger for a long time. God is offering us a way to do something differently. If we can't do this, then we should continue on as we have been. If we wholeheartedly want to walk through to victory, then we must choose to say "yes" to the 4 questions above. Surely the victory is worth the battle. Saying "yes" will bring up all manner of sin, and demonic strongholds will be exposed. It will be a life-changing experience, but then, we obtain the kingdom of God by violence.
Later today the Lord had me sit down and really listen, for I have battles of my own that I have not gained victory in. Here is the word that followed my quiet time;
“Bestowing the gift of faith is like giving a person the heart of a warrior. No one would want it if he didn’t want to fight his enemy. The passive Christian will not want to fight. Men have believed so long that I would hand them everything that when I don’t, resentment builds inside them. Not only do they have little faith, but unbelief sets in. Then the passive Christian stops asking Me to solve his problems and to heal him. He feels abandoned, but is he?
I have given Man this world to rule. He must have a united heart to do this, with singleness of purpose, for the enemy wants to rule in Man’s stead. If he sees a man waver in his convictions, the enemy will topple him from his mount of faith and lead him into confusion. But what a man sets his hand to, he can surely obtain in Me.
What man says “It must not be God’s will” when a matter is delayed? Does the timing of My answer determine My will? I have given the believer permission to ask of Me what things he wants and has need of. But a man must ask, nothing wavering. As you say, “Sell out” to your cause and give 100% of your affection to it. Stop saying in your heart, “I don’t want to be let down if it doesn’t happen.” This undercuts your faith. It is the preparation for unbelief, not for victory.
If a man never attempted to walk in faith, perhaps he would not have spiritual warfare, for he does not walk in the Kingdom. If a man sits on the fence, sometimes walking in faith and sometimes in unbelief, he will be miserable and confused. What seeds he plants will yield a poor harvest for the soil of his heart is not good. But the man who puts his hand to the kingdom and holds onto it with all his heart will have great battles, leading to great victories. Every adverse circumstance will unite his heart further to stand in faith; to not grumble; to forsake anger and put on praise; and to believe he will have his request from Me, for I am good.”
Let us spur one another on to prayers of faith, agreeing with them in their request and joining our prayers with theirs in one “Amen”.
1. Do you believe that God can and will heal you/or other request?
2. Are you willing to stand in faith against doubt, should your symptoms/circumstances persist?
3. Will you praise Him during the interim?
4. Will you forsake your anger and instead accept His grace?
I believe the warfare around our healing/change of circumstances is so great that, unless we can answer these 4 questions with a "Yes" we will not gain the victory. But, we must also consider the course of our health/circumstances up to this time if it has been unchanged: we are not healed; we have been fighting with doubt, many fears, and anger for a long time. God is offering us a way to do something differently. If we can't do this, then we should continue on as we have been. If we wholeheartedly want to walk through to victory, then we must choose to say "yes" to the 4 questions above. Surely the victory is worth the battle. Saying "yes" will bring up all manner of sin, and demonic strongholds will be exposed. It will be a life-changing experience, but then, we obtain the kingdom of God by violence.
Later today the Lord had me sit down and really listen, for I have battles of my own that I have not gained victory in. Here is the word that followed my quiet time;
“Bestowing the gift of faith is like giving a person the heart of a warrior. No one would want it if he didn’t want to fight his enemy. The passive Christian will not want to fight. Men have believed so long that I would hand them everything that when I don’t, resentment builds inside them. Not only do they have little faith, but unbelief sets in. Then the passive Christian stops asking Me to solve his problems and to heal him. He feels abandoned, but is he?
I have given Man this world to rule. He must have a united heart to do this, with singleness of purpose, for the enemy wants to rule in Man’s stead. If he sees a man waver in his convictions, the enemy will topple him from his mount of faith and lead him into confusion. But what a man sets his hand to, he can surely obtain in Me.
What man says “It must not be God’s will” when a matter is delayed? Does the timing of My answer determine My will? I have given the believer permission to ask of Me what things he wants and has need of. But a man must ask, nothing wavering. As you say, “Sell out” to your cause and give 100% of your affection to it. Stop saying in your heart, “I don’t want to be let down if it doesn’t happen.” This undercuts your faith. It is the preparation for unbelief, not for victory.
If a man never attempted to walk in faith, perhaps he would not have spiritual warfare, for he does not walk in the Kingdom. If a man sits on the fence, sometimes walking in faith and sometimes in unbelief, he will be miserable and confused. What seeds he plants will yield a poor harvest for the soil of his heart is not good. But the man who puts his hand to the kingdom and holds onto it with all his heart will have great battles, leading to great victories. Every adverse circumstance will unite his heart further to stand in faith; to not grumble; to forsake anger and put on praise; and to believe he will have his request from Me, for I am good.”
Let us spur one another on to prayers of faith, agreeing with them in their request and joining our prayers with theirs in one “Amen”.
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