Night season for the seed

The following is a prophecy from 5/07 given to encourage faith, even when we don't see it;

“In courage is defeat of your enemy.  True humility has grace and faith, trusting in the strength of the Lord to accomplish His Word.

I am working behind the scenes, beneath the ground where the seed of My Word is growing.  Once it breaks forth into the light of day I will accelerate it’s growth and maturity.

What is the purpose of being in the dark soil, away from the sun?  This is where faith is nourished.  I send My rain to soak down into the darkness and by My Spirit faith grows in the heart.  When it is birthed above the ground then it becomes visible and can nourish others.

The time spent beneath the ground is as night to the new seed, a season without knowledge.  But once faith has broken forth into the light, instruction is added.  Now, I don’t dig around in the earth to check on the seeds growing there.  I have put it in the seed’s DNA to grow.  It is part of the nature of faith to grow.  It isn’t until the seed comes forth and is a tree ready to nurture others that I check for fruit (remember when Jesus sought fruit from the fig tree).  Do not confuse the seasons of faith.

In the heart is all that is needed to nurture or defeat faith (parable of the sower and the seed).  The Word, entering the heart as a seed, will prosper in the environment of love of God, but will die in the environment of love of the world and love of sin.

Treasure the seasons of night where the choices of your heart nurture faith, for here is faith tested.  Here is faith tried, that it might become gold.

Abraham is commended for his faith, believing for a son when it was impossible in the natural to bear a son.  The son was evidence of God’s ability to fulfill His Word.  Faith grew in Abraham’s heart in the night season.  The son, Isaac, was the beginning of the day.”

I’d like to reference Is 55:10,11 also, as in these verses we see that the rain (Holy Spirit) causes the seeds to bud, flourish, and give seed.  We see here that God’s Word comes to life, nourishes us as bread, and gives us seed to plant, which is ministry.  God works through His Word, both in us, and through us. Be encouraged even when you do not see faith at work, for beneath the soil of our hearts it is growing.  Amen

The treasure

God knows He is mighty.  His knowledge of His own nature becomes ours, when we believe in Him. Believing He is powerful may take faith, but believing He is powerful in us takes great faith.  Today I'd like to share the verse that embodies this message:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Cor 4:7).

As you discover God's nature, take the next step of faith.  Believe that there is a great treasure of His nature, powerfully at work in and through you.  Amen.

God looks for us

When we have trials we see what is right before us.  We are familiar that our enemy, satan, is “like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8) Our enemy may have evil purposes, but it would help if we could see the bigger picture.  The Lord is also looking at us, and He allows our trials so that He can show how strong we can be in Him.

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” (2 Chron 16:9)

God intends that we should win our wars, and stand strong through our trials.  It is not important that our enemy is looking for us; it is of greater importance that our God is looking for us.  Though satan looks to devour us, our God looks to make us strong, and in our strength we will overcome.  Today, be strengthened in the inner man and do not fear, for we serve a God in Whom we can have confidence. Amen.

Just a few good grapes

Today’s lesson comes from a dream the Lord reminded me of this morning.  It is as follows;

Dream from 2/16/10

“I was in front of a supermarket where fruit was on display.  There was a big tall box, cut down in the front to reveal its contents for shoppers to see.  Though the box should have been full of grapes, there were hardly any in it.  One lady remarked that the store hadn’t had their delivery yet.  A second lady said “Yes they did.  They were very good,” and explained that there weren’t many bunches of grapes in the delivery.  She had some grapes in her hand.

While the 2 women talked I searched the bottom of the box for good grapes.  Many were moldy or shriveled, and I couldn’t understand why the second woman had said that this batch of grapes was good.  I reached down and pulled out 3 large good grapes.  Then the first woman reached in to get some.  I apologized for getting in her way.  Then I looked at the second woman’s grapes.  They were blighted.  I thought “I must have gotten the only good ones,” and walked away.” End of dream.

In this dream we see that discernment, and lack of discernment, cause the women to have different perspectives on the harvest of grapes.  Also, the confident report of the second lady that the grapes were “very good” is a false report.  Often the Lord will put one in a dream to see things as an observer, and to receive His perspective.  That is my role in this dream. How does this dream have importance on today’s ministry?

In my writings about the times we live in I have come across some common traits in false ministers; bragging, and lying to make oneself look good (Jude :16; 2 Pet 1:16 & 2:3).  Many of our contemporary Christian speakers boast about having what they do not have.  Like the second woman in the dream above, they boast about good fruit, when in reality, it was almost all rotten.

Many of today’s churches fill their pews with people who do not know God, nor do they serve Him.  Their pastors take comfort in the numbers who attend their worship services and yet do not lead them to walk in the Spirit where they will get to know their heavenly Father.  If a pastor’s heart longs to give a good report to others, he may lack discernment about the condition of his people. However, God longs to share His viewpoints with us.  Only then can good fruit come.

The man who would be over men, who would assess the current situation and discern the problems, he who would give God’s advice . . . this man must not judge as a man judges, looking only through his own eyes (John 5:19 & 30; 2 Cor 5:16).  This man must set all aside to look through his Father’s eyes, and hear through his Father’s ears.  He will learn that the bragging and the good reports of many mean nothing.  He will disturb pastors who are contented with their numbers.  Then you will see God’s hand at work to redeem those who do not know Him, and to teach them God’s ways, by His Spirit.  Amen

The Bride of Christ

This morning’s lesson is on being a bride, the spiritual wife-to-be of the Lamb of God.  In John’s revelation an angel tells him “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.” (Rev 19:9)  Jesus invites us to come, but not everyone heeds His invitation.

In Jesus’ parables about the king who invites people to the wedding supper we find that those who fill His house are not invited on their own merit, yet neither can they stay without the wedding garment on (Mt 22:9-12).  If we want to stay, we need to get “dressed”.  Though the sins of our past are cleansed and we are made worthy through the blood of the Lamb, salvation is only the beginning of our preparation for the wedding feast.

The angel that spoke to John about the people invited to the wedding supper also told him that the Bride had “made herself ready” (Rev 19:7), which indicates a passage of time.  We see this thread of preparation come to its fullest when the Bride is presented for all to see, appearing as a city “prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Rev 21:2). Thought and effort go into the preparation of the garment that cloaks us, which also makes us beautiful to our Husband.

The Bride is described as a city because she is a group of people who have prepared themselves for the Lamb.  She wears fine linen, which represents the righteous acts of the saints (Rev 19:8).  The word “righteous” tells us that these are not just any works, but are special works; works that come from a heart intent on doing God’s will.

The key to finding the “righteous acts” lies in the role of the wife-to-be.   God’s goal in marriage is for the two to become one (Mk 10:8).  We know that the Bride of Christ is a City of people who are prepared for their Husband, the Lamb of God.  Jesus’ name is the “Word of God” (Rev 19:13).  To become “one” with the Husband, the Bride is becoming acquainted with and learning to follow the Word of God.  Though we are not perfect human beings, those who submit to and act on Jesus’ words are being clothed in fine linen and will do righteous acts.

Marriage is a love relationship.  If we want to be Jesus’ Bride, we must listen to and act on what He has said, and what He is saying.  When we obey His words, we “remain” in His love and in the Father’s love (Jn  14:23 & 15:10).  Jesus chose the term “bride” to represent an intimate on-going relationship, one which He covets with His people.  His words to us are not just letters from the past; they are continuous. So that we might have an intimate relationship with Christ and hear His words to us personally, He has given us His Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (Jn 14:17).

The Lamb of God intends to become one with a people prepared; whose preparation has been through an active relationship with Him.  This relationship with the Lamb of God is not through an organization, such as a church, nor through other people, such as ministers and other servants of God.  This relationship is personal.  It is built on an individual one-to-one basis with our Lord which no one else can accomplish for you.  You can only develop the relationship yourself.  Today, if you do not have such a relationship with Jesus, invite His Holy Spirit to speak to your soul.  Acquaint yourself with the Word of God both in scripture and what you hear personally from Him.  Obey those words you know are from He Whose love you remain in and perform “righteous acts” to prepare yourself for a heavenly wedding. Amen.

Preparation and Benefits

“In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.” (Jn 14:2)

In his passage Jesus begins a discourse to His disciples, preparing them for His death and speaking of the benefits that will come to those who believe and receive salvation through Him.  Jesus’ enemies would soon portray Him as a false prophet, worthy of crucifixion.  He wanted to set their hearts at ease, for their belief in Him as the Messiah was correct. Satan would portray Jesus as powerless, and yet great power would be given to not only Jesus, but to all who believed on Him.  Jesus spoke to His disciples about the truth so that they would be prepared for the deception that was to come.

In John 14 – 17 we read about the benefits Jesus would bring to the disciples after He went back to the Father.  It was important for them to know that there was a great purpose in His death, and that He had a great purpose for their lives, for they needed to have faith in both.  Without the belief in God’s purpose for our lives, we cannot apply our faith in Who Jesus is and all that He has done for us.  Our faith then becomes an intellectual exercise and we develop a belief that Jesus did all that was to be done . . . and what we do doesn’t matter.  This kind of thinking makes our faith impotent.

Jesus’ preparation of His disciples included His death on the cross and His departure from this world.  It was important that they know His sacrifice would be accepted by the Father, so that they would not lose their faith.  We see Jesus’ acceptance in Revelation 5;

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (verse 9)

Not only was Jesus’ sacrifice acceptable, but we were made acceptable by His blood.  Jesus made room for us in His Father’s abode.  Through the impartation of His Spirit to His believers, Jesus also made us “to be a kingdom and priests to serve God.” (Rev 5:10) The works of Jesus in His life and by His death prepared works of service for us to do, and by His Spirit we are empowered to carry them out.

Because Jesus has prepared a place for us and given us benefits through His Spirit, He nurtures and disciplines us to accomplish the greatness of our faith.  Just as we have faith in Who Jesus is, in the same manner we must have faith to be like Him in this world (1 Jn 4:7).  It is not our intellectual pursuits that overcome the world, but our active faith (1 Jn 5:4).  If we do not believe that Jesus calls us to be like Him, then the power of our testimony will be shaken when our enemy portrays us falsely as impostors.  It is the testimony of our blood-bought lives that overcomes satan (Rev 12:11).

Today, let us have faith that He who prepared a place for us is also working in us to serve God on this earth.  Then what He has begun will be finished.  Amen.