Experiencing God's Leadership

For some time now we have been discussing many subjects that are fascinating to me. Things like, is God really in control ? Does God depend on us for His plan to work in our life ? Does God provide us every ounce of what we need at all times ?

We have been talking about the subject of believing. I think for some of us we think that God has placed it in our hands for us to believe. Sometimes we can forget the simple things that are put before us to see the truth. God has requested that we deny our self on many occasions throughout the word. For me to think that God has left it up to me to believe would put me in direct conflict of this truth. If it takes my ability to believe, then God can only have power in my life if I allow Him. I want you to understand that I am talking about a person who has come to know Jesus as their personal Saviour. Those of us who have become a child of God have a different source that leads us. God has taken on the entire responsibility of turning each of us into what He desires. He has a masterful plan for each of us that He will accomplish.

This brings me to the title of this blog, experiencing God's leadership. I don't ever want to make light of studying God's word, but there is a lot more to what God does in our life through studying His word than just studying His word. For many of us, we have become scholars in being able to recite God's word, yet there seems to be very little power in it. We spend much time trying to convince those around us including our self that we have power in His word. We can become troubled when we stand on the truth and speak the truth, but see very little results. I have come to the conclusion that having the knowledge of God without experiencing God is somewhat of a futile exercise of our minds trying to convince us to believe. It can become troublesome and tiresome trying to keep our self where we think God wants us to be.

In these next few verses I hope that the Holy Spirit can capture our spirit and lead us into a place of peace and confidence that we have never experienced before. As I look back over my life there has been many things take place. At best, I was always trying to figure out what for and why? Because of what God has allowed me to see and experience, I now know that God intends for us to become what He designed each of us for. You see, God never gives up. Who He is, will always be. What He desires, will always happen. God truly knows what is best for each of us and will see to it that we understand it. Over the years I have made much money. More than most. I had a problem though, I did not respect what money was or who's it was. Money really had no value to me. I usually could always make a boat load of it any time I wanted to. Therefor, I spent it foolishly on anything I desired to have. Not only that, I justified it by abusing God's word to make it alright. Over the years God tried to assist me in being able to see what He felt about money and how He wanted to use it. Instead, in each trial I would fall prey to my on desires. Each time I did, I would fall further and further behind. I found myself constantly playing catch up just trying to get even. Then it got even worse, it wasn't just trying to play catch up, it was just trying to survive. Until one day, I looked around and I could not believe where I was at financially. I had gotten to the point that I couldn't even afford to put gas in my car to get around in. I was scrounging around counting my loose change just to come up with $5.00 for gas. It got worse. I didn't have enough money for food for my family. We started eating all kinds of things just for nourishment. I couldn't pay our rent for us live in a small house. Was close to being thrown out on the street several times with no place to go. Let me explain this a little better. You have seen people's belongings and furniture out on the side of the road, that is where we were at.

Now, lets get to the good stuff. God intended for me to understand what His money is all about and whose money it was and what He wanted me to do with it. God had no intention of allowing me and my family to fail, but He did intend for His desire to be understood. Now, because of what He allowed me to experience, His word provided power that I had never known before. I am convinced that we must experience God and not just know Him. This experience comes from our Father only. He allows us to be in certain situations so that we can experience His truth in a way that is impossible by only reading His word.

Here is some more good stuff. Once our Father has taught us the lesson He wants us to learn, those struggles in that particular area will go away and no longer hinder us the way it used to. He has brought us out of it's ability to do so. He has given us victory in that particular battle. On to the next one until He eliminates each and every one of them. When these things approach us, don't be dismayed, remember that God is busy about trying to assist us in providing us a victory. He will prevail and in the end, it will all be worth it. God wants us to understand that we can count on Him and to never count on ourselves for anything. That includes believing. God will supply us the strength to believe, IT'S HIS THAT HE SUPPLIES, NOT OURS. We can count on Him to get the job done.

I finish with this, the most important event that will take place in any of our lives, will be the decision to accept Jesus as our personal Saviour. From that point on God takes over and becomes our leader and Master. He becomes our Father eternally. And we can have confidence in it because it is sustained in the work and accomplishment of what Jesus did for us. God is not counting on you and me to hold onto what He provided us in Jesus. He let Jesus do it all. Praise the Lord!!! Let every day be an exciting one full of experiencing God in His greatness, knowing that God is on the job at all times watching out over yours and my well being. We cannot fail, not because of our ability, but because of what and who Jesus is!!! Our Father will see us through. You can count on it.

God is great and perfect,
Stan

God's Unconditional Love

I know that I have written on this subject before, but the Holy Spirit has placed it back on my heart again. God's love is absolutely the most remarkable thing in all creation. When we really see the depth of His love it can almost be mind boggling. For us to get a true picture of who our Father is, we must be able to see this love. Praise His name for His guidance in revealing His love to us. You know as well as me, that we will never see the total depth and greatness of who He is, but seeing Him develop it in our lives is incredible.

Go back to the beginning with me when man sinned. It could have been over right there, but instead, our Father loved us so much that He overlooked what we had chose to do and provided us all a sacrifice to pay our penalty of of that decision. That's unconditional love. God put no expectations on us but took it upon Himself to give us what we needed. In enters His Son, Jesus Christ!! Because of His great love for us Jesus was able to go to the cross and sacrifice His life for us. There was no condition on our part for Him to do that, it was a enormous display of who our God is. There is no other that was capable of doing what He did, He was it.

If we look at our love, most of us would see a different kind of love. There is usually some kind of condition for our love to work properly. The biggest difference in our love verses God's love would involve one little word, judgement. You see we have this innate trait inside of us that always wants to judge. For most of us, we have become so good at hiding or justifying our judgement, we don't even realize we are!! Think about all our relationships, starting out with the ones at the top working our way down to the smallest. How do we respond to all those around us? Think hard and clear. Look at how we talk to each other and what our thoughts are about each other. Do we find ourselves thinking about the things people have done are doing to us. Is the way we feel parallel to how they treat and talk to us. Do we find ourselves getting upset when someone is mean to us? Does the hurt they cause us control our responses to them? Do we compare where we are to where they are, spiritually speaking. Is it easy for us to see what they are doing wrong or need to correct verses seeing our self? Do we have a tendency to take the scripture and hold against each other and use it for our benefit? Do we have a tendency to take the word and using it as a judging tool against each other?

I am convinced we can get caught up in what we understand about scripture and destroy the very purpose God left it for us. God doesn't take the word to use against us, He gave it to increase us in knowing Him. Love overcomes all!! Instead of us getting caught up in all the THINGS, the easiest thing for us to do is LOVE!! I don't care who it is, or what they have done, LOVE!! Unconditionally LOVE!! One of the quickest places to look and see our short comings is in our relationships with our spouses. Think about all the quarrels and arguments we have been in with each other. Has it not been because of what we feel has been done to us? We have been mistreated and it's not fair. So, to make things even out, or for it to be fair, they should receive back at least some form of treatment they have given out. (conditional LOVE)!! Not only do we do that with our spouses, but we do it with all those around us. It's not right for them to get away with treating people that way and they need to be taught a lesson. It's for their on good.(justifying why we do it). It sounds good it's just not right. Go back and think about our Father, if He had taken that same approach none of us would ever been saved.

Now, I think this is where the problem is. We haven't come to the point of allowing God to operate His love in us, instead we still operate out of our conditional love. Here is some great news, all hope is not lost, God is busy about revealing to us our conditional love and replacing it with His unconditional love. I am convinced that God isn't sitting still doing nothing. He is very busy turning us into exactly what He created us for. God hasn't saved us and then put us out here in a position that we can't succeed. He personally has taken the responsibility to change us and correct us. He is perfect in all that He does and you can be assured that you are part of what He is doing. Praise His name!! God has that perfect ability to reveal to us who we are and then remove it from us. Praise the Lord!! God is busy about showing us how we can't have any confidence in our love and then directs us to His. There is true JOY in His love. It sets us free. All of us. His love is easy and there are no requirements for us to receive it!! He gives it freely to all. When God does the work of bringing us to surrender who we are and trust totally in who He is, then He can glorify Himself through us. God can be seen instead of us. His ability flows through us and works perfectly. There is no struggle when He is in control. The struggle is during this development period where God is turning us into what He wants us to be. Don't become faint of heart during these trying times, instead get excited and know God is moving in your life. His great training is taking place in these times. Never allow Satan to fool you and cause you to start judging yourself, causing you to feel useless, instead direct him straight to Jesus and tell him to take it up with Him. This is not a battle between flesh and blood, but a spiritual battle that can never won by Satan. When we can come to grips with our inability to fight Satan by our self and realize that it's not our battle, we are well on our way to being able to live in this great victory that Jesus has already won for us!!

I close with this, the greatest witness we all have is for God's unconditional LOVE to be displayed continually with all we are in contact with. Never allow our conditional LOVE to react through us. Be still and know that He is God. Be patient and wait upon the Lord. Be slow to speak and quick to listen. When we slow down and listen to our Father, He will always give us the proper response. And it usually will never be what we would typically do or say. He is great and the only God!!

God loves you and me,

Stan

Down In The Hole

If you are one of God's children this title probably will mean something to you. All of us have been down in the hole at one time or another. For some of us we are down in the hole often. I want to describe for you how it operates in my life. The term used by many is " the ups and downs of life". We can be just going along moving through life with our every day things that go on and out of no where we fall in the hole. There seems to be a process that follows for the next few days and weeks of us trying to get out of the hole. We don't like it. It's always some kind of problem or issue we are faced with. As many times that God has brought us out of the hole, we seem to forget it the next time. Our emotions start immediately working us over and all our weaknesses are revealed again. Here's another thing, it seems like the hole is deeper this time than the last. In fact, we can get to the point that we think we aren't going to be able to get out this time.

There is a lot going on during these times that we might overlook. Our Father sends us people to the rescue for us. They come and stand with us and help in all the ways they can. But most of all, they just love us during this time. None of us knows what God is doing in our life during this, but in the end He always reveals it to us. I have said before, it's never fun going through these times, but in the end it's always worth going through. Our God is a great and mighty God. He is perfect in all things. He always knows what He is doing and it's always for our benefit. The growth He provides us during these times is phenomenal. He draws us closer and closer to Him. He develops our ability to have total confidence in who He is. He is perfecting that which He has created. Can we say, praise the Lord. I know it's tough while we are down in the hole, but when we come out, it's a beautiful thing! The Lord gives us great break through during these times. He leads us to trust in Him and know that we can.

There are many stories we can read in the bible where God's people were down in the hole. But in every case, God brings something great out of it. I personally want to thank my sister and brother for being there for me in this time in the hole. Both of you are instruments that God has and is using in my life. Thank you for continuing to encourage me in these times. I believe that God puts us together to help us get through these times. God provided me a break through this afternoon in a very long time in the hole. The excitement of it all causes me to thank Him and praise Him for all that He has done during this time. As I said earlier, the lessons God teaches us are not always enjoyable to go through, but they are always worth it!

When we find ourselves down in the hole, and there are all kinds of reasons we are in there, get as close as you can to those people that are close to God. Have them lift you up in prayer continually. He hears every word uttered. You might be so consumed with the hole that you can't find the words to pray, but those around you aren't in the hole and they can. The Holy Spirit will use those people to pray for you and victory will come forth. There is power in prayer. Whether we understand the magnitude of that or not, in those times find as many to pray for you as you can, it makes a difference. And remember this, God is always on the job watching out for us. He is bigger than any problem we face and He knows how to overcome it, and He will. Run from those who try to lead you astray, ex specially the master of it all, Satan. He is continually trying to fill our minds with his lies and deception. Don't listen! Stand firm in His word even if it doesn't look like it is going to come through, IT IS!! God always wins. He never loses. We are His children and He takes great pleasure in showing us how great He is. He wants us to know we can count on Him.

Holy Spirit continue to keep our eyes open to those around us who are in the hole and press upon us to pray the words you want us to pray. Lead us to rally together and around them in their time of need. Let us be encourager's to them in all things. Lead us not to give advice but to help assist them in trusting in the Lord. We don't know what the Father is doing, but we know He is perfect in all He does. Teach us to ride it out with them and in the end shouting praises to our great God for the victories He brings. There is great days in store for us all ahead. As God teaches us it just gets better and better. And brings us closer and closer to Him. I know this has been more of a personal testimony than any thing else, but I felt lead to say it.

Praise the Lord always,

Stan

God's Misfits

Many of us today feel inadequate to be God's instrument that He uses because of our decisions we have made in the past. There are many reasons for this. It could be because we haven't really forgiven our self even though our Father has. Maybe it's because of how others think of us and the things they say about us. But really in most cases, it's Satan that tries to control us about what we have done, so our Father can't use us. Remember this, God will always win.



When we look back through the scripture we can find many that felt they were not adequate enough to be used by God. Many of our great saints we have studied for years, committed some huge sins, but yet God used them. Think with me for just a moment and lets look at a few of them.



The very first one we come across, was Moses. Moses killed a man in Egypt and spent forty years in the desert before going back and leading God's people.



Aaron cast gold into the fire and said that the golden calf just jumped out and they worshipped the golden calf. He later became the first High Priest.



King David was an adulterer and murderer yet God used him in a mighty way.



Jonah was disobedient on many occasions, but God sent him to Nineveh anyway and did a great work through him.



Peter denied God three times adamantly, still God used him.



But possibly one of the biggest was our brother Saul who was converted and became our Paul. We all know what he was doing before God moved in his life. He was killing and persecuting Christians. Yet God wrote almost the entire New Testament through him along with other great things.



Are you a misfit? Do you have that THING that causes you to not do what you feel the Lord calling you to do? Coming from one who knows, GIVE UP. God is going to use you the way He wants to. We go through so many things because we won't follow. We can avoid many of those things by just surrendering. Never listen to Satan. He is the liar of all liars. He is a deceiver. God doesn't care what you have done. In fact, God has this way of using the most unlikely candidate for His mission. Why would God do this? Could it be because by picking you and me, those who see, know that it can't be you but has to be God. When God takes people who don't fit our definition of THE ONE, it becomes a miracle and God is glorified. Where if it had been done by one that we expect, we would tend to think of the one who did it instead of our Father.



Remember this, our God is the God of victory, not defeat. Jesus has overcome all our sin. We have been forgiven for every one we have committed and every one we will commit. We are not bond to anything. He has set us free and God can do anything He so chooses. Not only that, but He will supply everything we need to get it done. What God will do through us is not done in our self, but it is actually God Himself performing all that is said and done. We all have a message to tell. There are many who are out there that are going or have gone through the same as you. They need you to speak up and tell what God is doing and has done for you. God uses us all to share His great love He has for us. We are living in a very troubled time and most of us need to feel the freshness of our Father. The Holy Spirit is touching our hearts to share His word and work, that He is doing in our life.



I have spoken of a great movement that has begun and we will be participants in the days to come. Our God will not let us be broken. The fear that is before us, He is greater than. He will supply us all that we need. God's people need to hear this. Plus there are many that don't know our Jesus, that will come to Him in this time. God is rounding up all of us misfits and has a plan to use us for His glory. As He spoke to Peter and James, come follow me and I will teach you to be fishers of men. Mark these words down, you will have the opportunity to step out with the Lord and unite our hearts together for the same cause. It won't be a denominational move. It will be a spiritual movement that involves each of us lead by our Lord Jesus. Accept the call, deny yourself and take up His cross and follow.



Remember God does His greatest work through us MISFITS. He chooses us to do His work through. I look forward to seeing you in the near days standing side by side participating in this great work. Be praying now. Now is the time.



God be with us all,

Stan

You Can't Lose / It Is Finished

Over the last few days I have felt the Holy Spirit dealing with a subject inside of me that just wasn't quite clear. In those days several things have happened to open up the message He was saying. In the next few minutes I pray that every word He wants said is written. It has touched my heart and brought great insight to our Father's love for us beyond anything I have heard before.

For years I have felt God expressing to me how great He truly is for us. He has purposely continued to keep me on the same subject for months. The Holy Spirit would say it different ways, but as I followed, the message was always the same. I want you to understand that Satan enjoys confusing us. Whether he knows that our Father is in control of what's going on or not, is still not clear to me. Leading up to this message, the Holy Spirit reminded me of how Satan thought he had defeated God when he killed Jesus. The great revelation I saw, was that God was in control all through the sacrifice of His Son. Our Father along with Jesus, knew the only possible way for us to receive what God wanted for us, was for this sacrifice to take place. You know this had to be a difficult experience for our Father and Jesus. Yet it was fulfilled. Victory was accomplished. The pathway for us had been finished. In fact, those very words were spoken at the completion of the task, "It is finished"!!!

We can see that what Satan thought was going to defeat the plan, was actually the very thing that had to be done for the plan to come together. This leads me to what has been placed heavily on my heart from the Spirit. For many of us, we get up every day feeling this pressure to be this certain kind of person. We try and do our best to succeed and yet we fail, or at least that is how we feel. We find ourselves getting caught in a trap. It's this up and down in our life that gets to us. We feel that we are making some ground and all of a sudden, it happens. We make that next mistake. That same one I thought I had overcome. Satan steps up and reminds me of my failure and causes me to feel departure in my standing with God. He is gracious enough to let me know that I had made some progress, but that I need to go back and work even harder. He wants to make us think that we can accomplish this feat and to keep on working at it. This is where most of us are making our biggest mistake. This attitude of failing causes us much grief and takes us up and down in our feelings. Oh how we want to make it. We desire so much for that peace of knowing we are doing the right things. It only makes sense at trying to be the best Christian we can be. And when we fall down or move backwards it sort of destroys us. In that thought we have tremendous support from Satan.

Here is some great news!! God is in control!! Just as Satan thought he had defeated God when he killed Jesus, he feels that exact same thing when he thinks he is robbing us of our Father's joy. Here is some breaking news, God knows what He is doing. Amidst this turmoil and trouble, victory is growing deeper in our life. The very thing Satan uses against us, which is allowed by God, is the very thing that delivers us!! God knows. Can you say praise the Lord? Thank you Jesus!! This confidence and joy we seek, is being delivered to us from our Father. We are safe and secure in Jesus. Go back with me to the cross when we heard Jesus say, "It is finished". Our Father called us out. We heard Him touch our heart. The Holy Spirit reached in and moved us to respond to this call. We found out that we were lost. We had sinned and been cut off from God. But because of how great His love for us was, we reached out and accepted this wonderful love offering, sacrifice, for our sin. God made it perfectly clear that He provided the way for our debt to be paid. Jesus took on all my sin and yours. He paid the price. The moment we accepted it was over, FINISHED!! We no longer could be cut off from our Father. We no longer could lose!! Everything that was needed or ever would be needed was done on the cross. That includes the success of mine and your life. Jesus took on that responsibility and completed it on the cross. That's why God says He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. That includes us. Upon accepting Jesus, God started it and He finishes it.

Stay close to me here, this battle we go through every day is not our responsibility. When God allows Satan to turn us upside down, inside out, and every which way, He is leading us to see how foolish Satan is to think he can destroy us. Our Father is leading us back to the cross. When we can see that it is finished, we can be set free. We can find this peace we are looking for. Why should we care about those things we label defeat if it reveals the truth about the cross? We won't. Instead of us standing toe to toe with Satan, we will instruct him to take that lie to Jesus. We will tell him to go and try to take it away from Jesus. We will find ourselves not feeling any defeat or think we are being punished, but instead being matured and lead to see the wonderful power of the CROSS!! We will be confident that only good can come out of my suffering. That only good can fill my life through those things I go through. Instead of it having any power over me, the power of the truth, the cross, and who Jesus is will keep me steady, and lead me through each step. Now I can confidently proclaim the truth, because our Father has us standing on top of it. I can live the truth because our Father has released it to me. No more can Satan confuse me about what's going on. I'm not saying I want fall anymore. I'm not saying things want happen in my life any more. I'm just saying they can't make me think I am being defeated any more!! I thank the Lord for revealing my weaknesses and my misunderstandings. I thank Him for showing me that it all has been taken care of. I thank Him for allowing me to see that I can't lose!! I thank Him for showing me that He has taken the responsibility to see it through. I thank Him for loving me in the way He does. Cast all your cares upon Me!! Be still and know that I am God!! Praise Him for the corrections He brings, which in turn develops us into being able to stand in His victory. The battle has already been won. We need not ask for anything for everything has already been given. We no longer will perceive that God is the Alpha and we are the Omega!! It is FINISHED!! We can't lose!!

Thank you Jesus,

Walking To The Storm

Have you ever been taken away by the approaching of a storm? Things get exciting. The weather channels start broadcasting about the possibilities in front of us. High winds, heavy rain, dangerous lightning, thunder, hail, sleet, freezing rain, and snow. Warnings start popping up well in advance. We actually can watch the movement of where it is heading from town to town. All kind of emotions are moving through us. It's hard to describe how we feel it that particular moment.

This is going to sound funny, but I really enjoy a good storm. Being able to see the display of the awesome power of nature, knowing God has total control over it. It really can be a thing of beauty. Isn't lightning beautiful? To see it flash across the sky, lighting every thing up as far as the eye can see. Hearing the rolling thunder that comes from that flash in the sky. Sometimes it seems it rolls on for ever. The wind slowly picks up and then gets stronger and stronger. The trees bend back and forth. Outside umbrellas look as though they are about to snap, and sometimes they do. All kinds of objects blowing down the street. The sound of hail hitting against the house or carport. It sounds as if a song is being played. Or how about the beautiful snow. It starts out as just a few small flakes falling and it gradually grows to a heavier snow. It begins to blanket the ground and roads, until finally this wonderful piece of art has been painted by our Father. I find myself truly admiring the wonder of it all. It captures every ounce of my attention. It's an awesome display of the creation of God.

During the storm every thing seems to happen so fast. It's gone about as fast as it came. Yet as we look out, there are remnants every where. We all seem to be safe and stand in amazement. We gradually start the clean up just waiting for the next time.

I think this is some what how the storms of our life take place. When they start, everything seems to go haywire. We can't describe how we feel. Our emotions are going about a million miles a minute. After it passes, we start the clean up waiting for the next time. What if we could look at the storms in our life as I mentioned above. When we word things a certain way, they don't seem so bad. What if we could see the greatness of our Father's presence and power when our life storms start approaching. What if we could see the beauty of the aspects of the storm. You know as time has gone on, our ability to predict when and where storms will hit have gotten a lot better. The facilities we have built have been built to sustain the storms. The seriousness of the storm has become easier to predict. We can now tell if it was an F1 or an F5. How has that happened? We have experienced what happens in the definition of each storm. I think our life storms do the same thing for us. We see them coming quicker than we used to. We can also see the seriousness of the storm easier. We can see how sever the storm will be before it hits. Why? Because we have experienced the storms. Fewer and fewer lives are lost due to storms now than used to be. Why? Because we have greater radar than we have ever had. I think this is true in our life storms now. Why? Because we have greater radar than we have ever had. Because of our experiences, we can see the storm coming. God has provided us with the ability to make our structures and foundations more solid. He has brought us to avoid where our weaknesses live and taken us to another side. He has brought us to Him where we have found can survive any storm. He has given us confidence that we have never had before. That confidence lies in Him. We have found that we can give our life to him and allow him to protect us from the storms. He is our shield of defense. We stand behind Him peering out from the side, standing in amazement of seeing Him work. It is astonishing to see what He does. Time and time again He has walked us through. Just as He will always do. Isn't it enough to make us shout? Isn't it enough for tears of joy to well up in our eyes? Isn't it enough for us to tell everyone why we are so excited? Isn't it enough for us to share who He is for all those who are hurting? Oh, Hallelujah, praise His name!! Our Father is always on the job watching over us continually. There is a day approaching!! We can see it coming!! Why? Because of our experiences. All of this will be summed up and the race will be finished. And we will be standing behind our Lord peering from the side. He will reach around us and say it's now o.k. to come up here with me. And joy will ring throughout the heavens. A celebration will take place like none seen before. And we all will bow our heads in admiration of who our great Father is. We will be filled totally by His love and it will pour profusely through us without any effort.

Until that day, God gives us all of Himself, to live with Him safe and secure. Walking us every step of the way. Reach over and tell someone how GREAT HE IS just for you. Then let them know they mean the same thing to Him as you do. He is their Father wanting them to reach out and take His hand. Our God is greater than anything. In this day and age with all that is going on, we can stand behind our shield knowing that nothing can take it down. He will walk us all the way.

Fear no evil, walk to the storm,

with all my love,

A Life Of Feeling

As I sit here studying and reading The Spiritual Man by Watchmen Nee, I just had to share with you this particular portion. Bear with me, it's long.

A Believer's Experience

When Christians become affectionately attached to the Lord they are usually experiencing a life of feeling. Such an experience for them is most precious. These Christians often assume this kind of emotional experience to be most spiritual and most heavenly since it is encountered primarily after release from sin and affords them great pleasure. The delight it bestows is so satisfactory that they find it difficult to cut loose and forsake it.

During this period the believer senses the nearness of the Lord, so near that the hands can almost touch Him. He is alive to the delicate sweetness of the Lord's love as well as gripped by his own intense love towards the Lord. A fire seems to be burning in his heart; it leaves him with an unspeakable joy which makes him feel he is already in heaven. Something is heaving in his bosom, yielding indescribable pleasure, as though he were in possession of a priceless treasure. This sensation continues with him as he walks and works. Whenever the believer passes through this type of experience he wonders where his abode is, for he seems to have shed his earthly tent and now soars away with the angels.

For the moment Bible reading becomes a real delight. The more he reads the more joyous he feels. Prayer is also very easy. How wonderful to pour out his heart to God. The more he communes the brighter the heavenly light shines. He is able to make many decisions before the Lord which indicates how much he loves him. Great is his longing to be quiet and alone with God; if only he could close his door forever and commune with the Lord his joy would be full, for no tongue can speak nor pen write of the joy that lies therein. Formerly he was gregarious, as though crowds and individuals could satisfy his needs; but today he cherishes solitude because what he could derive from the crowds can never be compared to the joy he now receives when alone with his Lord. He favors seclusion more than companionship for fear that among men he may lose his joy.

Moreover, service assumes considerable spontaneity. Hitherto he appeared to have nothing to say, but now with the fire of love aglow in his heart he experiences multiplied pleasure in telling others of the Lord. The more he speaks the more anxious he is to speak. To suffer for the Lord becomes sweet to him. Since he senses Him so near and dear, he gladly embraces the thought of martyrdom. All burdens turn light and all hardships grow easy.

With such a consciousness of the closeness of the Lord, the Christian's outward conduct also undergoes change. In days gone by he was fond of talking, yet currently he is able to remain silent. In his heart he may even criticize others who talk incessantly. Previously he was rather frivolous, today he is quite serious. Very sensitive is he to any ungodliness appearing in other brethren, for which he judges them sternly. In a word, the Christian at this stage is increasingly careful about his outward deportment as well as possessed with more insight into the shortcomings of others.

Such a person always secretly pities those who are lacking in his experience. He estimates his joy to be most excellent; how pitiable his brethren know nothing of it. While he watches other brothers and sisters serving the Lord coldly and quietly, he considers their lives tasteless. Must not his be the highest life since he is flushed with the joy of God? It seems to him that he himself is floating on the clouds above the mountains while ordinary saints are plodding along down in the valley.

Does this kind of experience last long however? Can one possess such exultation daily and be happy for life? Most of us cannot maintain such an experience for very long. And so what grieves the believer most is that upon enjoying such an experience-generally speaking, for about a month or two-his most beloved joy suddenly vanishes. He rises as usual in the morning to read his bible yet where is the former sweetness? He prays as before but finds himself exhausted after a few words. He feels as if he has lost something. Not long ago he was judging others for being far behind him in the spiritual race, but now he considers himself to be one of them. His heart has turned cold; the earlier sense of a fire burning within has been smothered. No longer is he conscious of the presence and proximity of the Lord; instead the Lord appears to be quite remote from him. He now begins to wonder where the Lord has gone. To suffer becomes a real suffering now because he cannot sense any more the former joy he had in suffering. Moreover, he has lost interest in preaching: he no longer feels like continuing on after saying but a few words. In sum, during such an episode everything seems to be dark, dry, cold and dead. It appears to the believer as though he has been abandoned by the Lord in a tomb; nothing can comfort his heart. His former expectation of lasting bliss has faded completely away.

At this moment the child of God will naturally surmise that he must have sinned and that the Lord has consequently forsaken him (for if he had not sinned, he reasons, the Lord would not have withdrawn His presence, would He?). Accordingly, he probably sets about scrutinizing his recent conduct, trying to ascertain how he has sinned against the Lord. He hopes that upon confession the Lord will return and replenish him with that previous feeling of intimacy and high spirits. As he examines himself, however, he cannot detect any special sin; he seems to be just the same as before. And so the believer once more resumes his inward inquiry: IE today's condition provokes the Lord to depart from me, he asks himself, why did He not forsake me before? And if I have not sinned, then I say again why has the Lord left me? The believer is completely mystified. He can only conclude that he must have sinned against the Lord somewhere and hence his forsaken condition. And Satan accuses him too, reinforcing the false notion that he has actually sinned. Wherefore he cries in prayer to the Lord for forgiveness, hoping to regain what he has lost.

The believer's prayer is none the less ineffectual. Not only is he unable to have the lost experience instantly restored; he also day by day grows colder and drier in his feelings. He loses interest in everything. Previously he could pray for hours: today even a few minutes becomes forced. He has no inclination to pray at all. The reading of the Bible, which in the past greatly interested him, currently looms before him as a massive rock from which he can derive no nourishment. He experiences no pleasure when fellowshiping with others or undertaking any task; he engages in these affairs merely because a Christian is expected to do them. All is dull and forced.

Confronted by such a sensation some Christians, not all, shrink back. Many matters which they know belong to God's will are left undone because they have fallen into despondency. Many duties go unfulfilled. Their former conduct which they had corrected during the period of ecstasy returns to them. What they pitied others for in earlier days has presently become their own experience. They adopt talkative, frivolous, jesting and fun=loving manners. Although they had undergone a change, that change did not last.

When a child of God is stripped of his joyous feeling, he concludes that all is gone. Since he no longer senses the Lord's presence, surely the Lord cannot possibly be with him. If he does not feel the warm affection of the Lord. he most certainly must have displeased Him. As this experience lengthens, the believer seems to lose even the sense of God. He will therefore seek earnestly to recover what he has lost, so long as he does not faint in his heart. For does he not love the Lord and has he not longed to be near Him? How can he abide the absence of the sensing of God's love?

He goes forth to find God. He struggles to free himself from this desolate state, but without success. Even when he can force himself into manifesting some good conduct, his heart secretly condemns him as being a hypocritical. It is not easy for him to succeed in anything for his failures are many. This naturally intensifies his suffering. If anyone should praise him at this moment he is keenly embarrassed, because no one can appreciate how miserable he is inside. On the other hand if anyone should blame him, he senses the rightness of it because he understands his own weakness. He deeply admires those who are advancing in the Lord and who are having sweet communion with Him. He looks upon all others around him as better than he since they each possess some measure of good while he has not a shred.

Will this barren condition continue forever? Or will he regain his former experience? What usually happens is as follows. After awhile, perhaps within a few weeks, the coveted feeling suddenly returns to him. This may occur at the hour of listening to a sermon, or following earnest prayer in his early morning devotion or during his midnight meditation. The times varies but the joy does return. During this break in the believer's condition, all which had been forfeited is restored. The presence of the Lord is as precious as before; the glow of love fires up again in his bosom; prayer and Bible reading become sweet as in days gone by; and the Lord is so lovely and so approachable that He can almost be touched. To draw nigh to Him is not a burden but the pleasure of his heart. Everything is transformed: no more darkness, suffering and staleness: all is now light, joy and refreshment. Since he considers his unfaithfulness the reason for the Lord's departure, he thereafter uses all diligence to preserve what is regained, lest he be deprived of this life of feeling all over again. His outward conduct is more careful than ever; he serves the Lord daily with all his strength, hoping to sustain his joy and never again fail as before.

Yet strange as it may seem, despite all his faithfulness, the Lord shortly afterwards leaves the saint once more. His transport of delight has altogether taken flight. He again slumps into anguish, blackness, and barrenness.

If we examine the biography of many Christians we discover that this type of experience is shared by many after they have been delivered from sin and encounter God as a Person. Initially the Lord causes them to sense His love, His presence, His joy. But soon such feelings disappears. It subsequently comes back, rendering them extremely happy; not long afterwards, though, it vanishes a second time. At least several times the Christian undergoes these come and go occurrences. Such phenomena will not happen while he is still fleshly, before he learns to love the Lord; only after he has made some progress spiritually and begun to love the Lord will he meet with this kind of situation.

The Meaning Of This Experience

According to the believer's interpretation, he is at his spiritual peak when in possession of the wonderful feeling: he is at his lowest when deprived of it. He often characterizes his walk as full of ups and downs. By this he means that while he is feeling joyful, loving the Lord and s ensing His presence he is at his spiritual best; but if his inward sensation is marked by dryness and pain he must be at his spiritual worst. In other words, he is spiritual so long as the warm fire of love is burning in his heart but soulish if his heart turns icy cold. Such is the common notion among Christians. Is it accurate? It is totally inaccurate. Unless we understand how it is wrong we shall suffer defeat to the very end.

A Christian should recognize that "feeling" is exclusively a part of the soul. When he lives by sensation, no matter what the kind, he is being soulish. During the period that he feels joyful, is loving the Lord and senses His presence, he is walking by feeling; likewise, during the period that he feels just the opposite he is still walking by feeling. Just as he is soulish whose life and labor are dictated by a refreshing, bright and joyous sensation, so is he equally soulish whose walk and work are determined by a dry, gloomy and painful one. A real spiritual life is never dominated by, nor lived in, feeling. Rather does it regulate feeling. Nowadays Christians mistake a life of feeling for spiritual experience. This is because many have never entered into genuine spirituality and hence interpret happy sensation to be spiritual experience. They do not know that such feeling is still soulical. Only what occurs in the intuition is spiritual experience-the rest is merely soulical activity.

It is here that Christians make one of the grossest mistakes. Under the stimulation of emotion a child of God may feel he has ascended to heaven. And naturally he assumes he has an ascended life. But he does not realize this is solely how he feels. He thinks he possesses the Lord whenever he is conscious of His presence, yet he believes he has lost the Lord whenever he cannot sense Him; once more he knows not that this is but the way he feels. He thinks he is truly loving the Lord as he senses a warmth in his heart; but should there be no burning sensation then he concludes that he has veritably lost his love for Him; yet again he is ignorant of the truth that such are only his feelings. We know that fact may not agree with feeling for the latter is exceedingly untrustworthy. Indeed whether one senses much or senses nothing, the fact remains he is unchanged. He may feel he is progressing and yet may make no progress at all; he may likewise feel he is regressing and yet may not regress in the slightest. These are simply his feelings. When full of lively stirrings he reckons he is advancing spiritually; this, however, is just a time of emotional excitement which soon will subside to its former state. The working of emotion seems to assist soulical people to advance but the working of the Spirit causes spiritual men to advance. The progress of the former is false; only what is attained in the power of the Holy Spirit is true.



There is so much more but it's pushing 2:oo in the morning and I have a meeting at 9:00. I know that the Holy Spirit is teaching us on a regular basis. He is removing this soulical, flesh life we lean on continually. God will complete the work for us. It's an exciting thing to understand that my feelings have nothing to do with the truth. It's also exciting to realize that when the Holy Spirit empowers us with this understanding, the things that shake us today will have no power over us tomorrow. Our Father is the power behind all truth. It works period and is not dependent on me assisting Him with it. Our greatest decision and moment in our life was the second we asked Jesus to save us. God's word fulfilled the request because it is the truth. It did it. From that moment on Our Father took over. He will finish in us what He started. We can state that with all confidence because it is up to Him. We know we can count on Him to do what He has said.

I will continue this later. It gets even better. Next we will find out what is God's aim for this process to happen to us.

Love you,

The Satisfied Life

The Lord Jesus speaks to His disciples saying: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29). The soul here is speaking especially to the emotional part of our being. The Lord knows that His Own people must pass through many trials, that the heavenly Father is going to arrange for them to be lonely and misunderstood. As no one understands Him except the Father, so no one will understand His disciples (v.27). Jesus knows that the heavenly Father must permit many unpleasant occurrences to befall the believers in order that they may be weaned from the world. He also appreciates what the feelings in their souls will be like as they are put through the fire. For this reason He tells them in advace to learn from Him so that they may find rest for their emotion. Jesus is gentle: He is able to receive any treatment from men: He joyfully accepts the opposition of sinners. Jesus is likewise lowly: He heartily humbles Himself: He has no ambition of His own. The ambitious are hurt, angry, and restless when they cannot obtain their wishes. But Christ at all times lives gently and humbly on earth; there is consequently no occasion for His emotion to boil and erupt. He teaches we should learn from Him, that we should be gentle and lowly as He is. He says for us to bear His yoke as a restraint upon ourselves. He bears a yoke too, even the yoke of God. He is satisfied with His Father's will alone; as long as the Father knows and understands Him, why should He be concerned about the opposition of others? He is willing to accept the restrictions given Him by God. He explains that we must bear His yoke, accept His restraint, do His will, and sek no freedom for the flesh. If this is done, then nothing can disturb or provoke our emotion. This is the cross. If anyone is willing to receive the cross of Christ and submit completely to the Lord, he shall find rest for his emotion.

This is none other than a satisfied life. The Christian cherishes nothing but God; henceforth he is satisfied with His will. God himself has filled his desire. He regards everything God has arranged or given, asked or charged him with, as good. If he can but follow the will of God his heart is satisfied. He seeks his own pleasure no longer, and not because of force but because God's will has satisfied him. Since he is now filled, he has no more request to make. A life such as this can be summed up in one word: satisfied. The characteristic of spiritual life is satisfaction- not in the sense of self centeredness, self- sufficiency, or self filling but in that of the person having found all his needs fully met in God. To him God's will is the very best; he is satisfied. What else need he ask for? Only emotional Christians find fault with God's arrangement and aspire to have more by conceiving numberless expectations in their hearts. But one who has allowed the Holy Spirit to operate deeply in him by the cross no longer yearns for anything according to himself. His desire is fulfilled already in God.

At this point the believer's desire is totally renewed (this does not mean that thereafter there can be no failure); it is united with God's desire. Not only is he, negatively, resisting the Lord no longer; but positively, he is delighting in His delight. He is not suppressing his desires; he is simply delighted with what God requires of him. If God desires him to suffer, he asks Him to make him suffer. He finds sweetness in such sufferung. If God desires him to be afflicted, he willingly seeks such affliction. He loves affliction more than healing. If God desires to bring him low, he gladly cooperates with Him in bringing himself down. He delights now only in what God delights in. He covets nothing outside Him. He expects no uplifting if God does not so desire. He does not resist God but rather welcomes whatever He bestows, whether sweet or bitter.

The cross produces fruits. Each crucifixion brings to us the fruit of God's life. All who are willing to accept the practical cross which God gives shall find themselves living a pure spiritual life. Daily there is for us the practical cross God desires us to bear. Every cross has its peculiar mission to accomplish a particular work in our life. May no cross ever be wasted upon us!!!

Continue to lead us God,

The Giant

I believe this is fitting for us in this day and age. We must ask ourselves, has anything changed from then to now? We are in the middle of one of the greatest battles we have ever faced. The enemy is huge! We are an outnumbered body and nothing but a dismal object in their eyes. They continue to cry out to us and tell us they are going to get us. They dare just one of us to come and take them on. But because of what we see and hear we are afraid. The enemy is 9 foot tall. Just his inner group alone outweighs us all. He has heavy weaponry that with a stroke he can kill us. Because of his position and power against us, he is very bold! He dares any of us to come against him. He shows us daily his readiness to fight. He mocks us with words like, "if you can take me down I will go away, but if you lose you will continue to be my servant". He continues to say it every day.

All of us are scared, why wouldn't we be, he is huge. We feel we can't fight him by ourselves, and every one else seems to just look the other way. What are we going to do? I think I know who we can call upon. I know a man named Jesse who has eight sons. His three oldest sons are in the army. His youngest son, David lives with his father and works for him. This boy is not much to look at. He is just a small kid that's kind of homely looking. But I have heard of great things he has done, one particularly. Back some time ago He was in some what this same situation. There was an enemy that was continually threatening his people and even the army itself was afraid of them. David's father asked him to go and visit his brothers at the army camp one day and take them some roasted corn and ten loaves of bread. He also sent ten cheeses to the captain. He asked David to check on his brothers and bring him back a report on how they were doing.

So, David got up early the next morning and took off on his journey. When he got there, the battle was about to begin. David got out of the carriage and left the driver. David ran to the army and saluted his brothers. As he talked with them, Goliath, who was a fearsome enemy, started shouting from a distance and daring anyone to approach him. All the soldiers got really scared and fled away running as fast as they could. Kind of reminds me of us today! After things had settled down the soldiers came over to David and asked him if he had saw this giant? They told him his name was Goliath and that he was preventing them to carry on with there life. David responded back by saying yes he had heard him. David wanted to know who on earth this giant thought he was to defy this army from their life? Who does he think he is any way? David knew that God was on their side and that they shouldn't be afraid of Goliath because God could easily take care of him!

When David's words got around the camp, some people told the King about David. The king sent for David. When David saw the king, he told him, "Don't let anybody be worried any longer, he would fight the giant". The king told David that he couldn't fight Goliath because he was to young and Goliath was an experienced warrior. David responded to the king by telling him he had been working for his father for some time now and had faced many fierce things. In fact, he told him he had killed a bear and a lion. He told the king that Goliath would be just like one of those animals since he had defied the living God. David continued and said that the Lord that saved and delivered him out of the claws of the bear would deliver him out of the hand of Goliath.

The king was convinced and told David to go and the Lord be with him. The king offered David all kinds of armour but David told him he didn't need that before and he was sure he wouldn't need it now. So, David went over to a brook and picked up five smooth stones and put them in his bag. He also had a slingshot in his hand. The time had come and David walked toward Goliath. Goliath started walking toward David. There was a man in front of Goliath that carried a shield for him. When Goliath got close enough to see David, he got upset because David was just a young person. He looked at David's staff and slingshot and said, "Am I a dog that you come to beat me with sticks?" Goliath began to curse David. "Come here and I will give your flesh to the birds and other animals". But David was bold in the Lord! He said to Goliath, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defiled. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God of Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not the sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands."

Goliath got really angry at that point and came at David with all he had. But David was ready because God was on his side! David ran straight towards Goliath! David was ready to do some business! David put his hand in his sheperd's bag and took out a stone and put it in his slingshot. He slang it and it hit Goliath right in the forehead and the stone sunk into Goliath's head. Goliath fell on his face and was killed.David killed the mighty warrior with a slingshot! Then David ran, and stood on top of Goliath and took his sword out of it's sheath and cut off Goliath's head. When the enemy saw their champion GIANT was dead, they fled.

I know you have all heard this story many times but I feel it is befitting today for us. Most of us feel we are useless against the enemy. We spend most of our days just trying to get by and not be hurt. As I wrote on my last blog, there are many groups taking stands but they are siding with the enemy. We are God's people and we need not fear the enemy. The battle that is going on, is God's battle. He will win every battle that comes our way. We as David, have come through many battles previously and know God always wins. We can run directly at the enemy with nothing but a slingshot and some stones. God will direct the stones to hit exactly in the right spot and we will go forward. You see we always win. Don't get caught up in the rhetoric and what you see in the world. Keep your eyes directly on your God. He is bigger than anything that confronts you in your life. Keep speaking the victory of our Lord appealing for all those around you to trust in Him. We must continue to stand up, even if you feel you are by yourself. God can do it with just you. Look at David, when every one else was afraid, he wasn't. He trusted his God and knew he would always win. The same is true for us today. All that any of us need is the Lord. That's enough!! Fear no evil for He is with us always, even to the end. Praise the Lord forever.

in God's love,

Now Is The Time

Has there ever been a time as busy as it is right now? Has there ever been as much going on around the world as there is right now? Have you ever seen as much conflict among ourselves as we see right now? When we look around our communities, our cities, our states, is it any wonder that everyone is worried. We just passed a health care bill for our country that has caused more chaos than any one thing in history. We hear the complete opposites from each side. Who can we believe? There seems to be a "doom and gloom" message coming out of all our leaders. Have you noticed how easy it is to get people to follow after negative visions? People who are trying to make a difference for mankind have their hands full. They get attacked from every side. It reminds me of Jesus. He brought the "God News" to mankind, yet they rejected Him. He promised a life of victory, yet man turned away from Him. Instead of receiving they try to take away who He is.

We can get caught up in this same way of thinking if we are not careful. We are not as obnoxious as they are, we do it in a suttle way. We take our life and get busy about trying to keep control of it. We get caught up in the destruction of the world and think we have a chance of overcoming it, or we just ignore it and think it will go away. There are all kinds of movements going on around us today. The Tea Party, the Coffee Party, town hall meetings, and all are attacking each other. When Jesus walked this earth, He was for all mankind, not just a few. When I see the anger of people being expressed towards each other, I, for one, feel lead to stay away from that group. I do feel there needs to be a movement, we have talked about this movement. The CHURCH has to take its rightful place on this earth, NOW!!! We must become as serious about our call from our Father as these other groups. Not to be against them, on the contrary, to be for them. But for the right cause. We are the "Good News". We need to be shouting it from our roof tops. We are in a different time than before. We will not get our message out the same as we used to. We must go into the field and spread this news. There has never been a greater opportunity than now for the people to hear. They are yearning for some kind of truth to be told. A truth that brings about results in their life. A truth that is unshakeable by any force. One they can sink their entire heart in knowing without any doubt it sees them through. But if we are not careful we end up right in the middle of this condition they are in. There is only one place for us to seek our hope from and we can count on it. Not in our minds but within our heart. Our minds will fail us. We are not strong enough to see this thing through in ourself. We will faint. The world is tired and worn out. It doesn't know where to turn. We do!!! God has graciously selected us, the church, for this time. We need to be having town hall meetings, some form of tea party rallies, some form of coffee rallies. The Holy Spirit is willing and waiting for the church to step up to the plate and voice this "Good News". He has prepared the way for the people to hear. He will step in and get involved and change lives. Not just adults, but teenagers and children included. What greater message do we have to give to our children and youth today? They are not going to walk into our churches, we must go into the streets!!!

I am asking all who read this to pray with me that God will reach into our hearts and supply us the strength and His wisdom to follow Him with this "Good News" message. Lets ask Him to soften our hearts and fill us with His compassion to truly care for those around us. Lets pray that He re-arranges our schedules so we can find the time to reach out. Lets pray that He opens our eyes to every opportunity He opens for His truth to be told. Lets pray that the Holy Spirit reaches the hearts of all those around us to come to know Jesus. As the song says, Lets get all excited and go tell everbody that Jesus Christ is King!!! Lets pray that God will unite us together of the same mind and cause, which is His, and spread the "Good News". God is bigger than everything we see and hear. He is a God that makes things happen. He is bigger than it all. He cannot fail, He must prevail. Lets have faith in God!!! He is on everybody's side. If He be for us, who can be against us? Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. God is great. Halleluah, praise the Lord.

God's grace to all,
Stan

I Can Feel The Hate

I usually try not to watch much of the news channels when, as a man, I am flipping through the channels. But it couldn't be helped the last two days because of the anxiety of Tiger Woods. I listened, as probably many of you did, to hear what he was going to say. As soon as he finished, the typical rhetoric started, as with any meaningful news item. Many were questioning his sincerity. Many had different feelings about his comments. As I listened to everyones comments, I started realizing that the true story that was being broadcast wasn't about Tiger at all. It made me go back and re-live the similar words spoken over and over for the last year or so. I'm not one to talk about politics much. You have heard the old saying, there is two things you don't talk about with people, politics and religion. Well today I can't help myself. There is so much going on today that involves us personally and yet we have allowed, and are allowing, a few to speak for us. They are making decisions that determine what happens in my life now and later. I want to try and make sense out of what I write but you will have to bear with me.

America is one of the greatest nations in the world. It always has been. We typically try to oversee that the right things are done around the world. But a lot of that has changed lately. We can't even get along with ourselves, much less the world. Where have we gone wrong? Every person wants to blame the other. We, the regular folk, who try and decide what is right, are having a difficult time. Our politicians stand up before us today consistently and boldly lie to us. We know that it is impossible for the opposites to be right. Yet our leadership could not be more opposite of each other than they are. Most of the talk today is only tearing down the other side. We see small movements around the country, such as the "Tea Party" and town hall meetings, that are nothing more than more of the same old same old. These groups are not about solving problems, they only want to blame. You see, I feel that is where we have come to, as long as we can loudly stand up and blame, then that side doesn't have to be accountable. When I listened to all the comments from people around our country talk about Tiger's actions, I could feel the hate in those people's hearts. I wonder which one of those were perfect. It's very easy to blame and accuse until it's you. I wondered how they would want all of us to approach them, if it was THEM!! Here was a guy saying he was sorry, but many of us were talented enough to say that he was not sorry enough. We have a certain political party today, that instead of helping together to solve our problems, only want to blame and accuse. While most of what is being offered, they have already said they agreed with previously. So, why is it wrong today? Simple, it's coming from the other side. Our politicians today will allow us to suffer as Americans knowing they are wrong, simply to lift up their party. I can feel the hate in these people's hearts. Don't get me wrong, it's not limited to one side or the other, it works across the board. And our government wonders why so many people won't get involved!!

It's time we quit pointing fingers and started caring about the American people again. That's what they were elected for. Have we as Americans become so dormant that we will allow ourselves to fall prey to their power? We elected them, we can demand better. We can require they stop all this arguing. Who cares who was right or wrong, JUST FIX IT!! If they can't say something constructive, then shut up. We are told every day to write our congressman and voice our opinion. I agree with that. Let's write them and tell them to shut up all the negative and get busy about solving our problems or they want represent us come next election. Demand it!! They work for us, we don't work for them.

It's time the real American people stand up for their country. Every American is important and every American matters. We have got to quit feeling helpless. We have to quit thinking that we can't do anything. It's time for our voices to be heard and not our politicians. They have proven they don't care. Don't allow them to stir us up with their lies and accusations. We have seen what takes place when that happens, we ACT JUST LIKE THEY DO!! (tea parties) I don't know the answers nor by myself have the ability to change our politics. But together we can. It takes us all. What we do today will determine where we go tomorrow. Our young adults, our youth, our children deserve a better way. Without things changing, we will just become more callused than we are now.

God doesn't accuse, He redeems. He operates out of love and care. The movement that needs to take place is for God's people to pull themselves together and operate out of the principles and motives given to us from the POWER!! Let us not fall prey to the false power that's destroying us. God will supply us hope and victory. He will operate all of His power out of love. Instead of us being afraid and weak, we will be strong and encouraged. This is His creation that He has given us as a gift. Let's allow the opposition to see His power. We know what the fruits of the spirit are. Measure what we see and hear based on those. If we can't see it there then don't follow it. Know that it's from the enemy. Surround yourself with those on the right side. Follow the right side. Know who the Pharisees and Sadducees are. The ones that continually point fingers and lay blame. Close your ears to them and listen for that sweet message. The ones that are standing in the POWER!! God says we can hear His voice. It sounds a particular way, with all of it based on love. We don't have to be rocket scientist to know, we just have to listen to what is being said, and then we will know. It is black and white. There is no gray area. Stand up God's people and let your voice be heard.

There is so much more I want to say, but for now, I will quit. We are the chosen ones, let's follow the Good Shepherd.

God's love to you all,
Stan

A Thorn In The Flesh

As I study even further on this subject of healing, the Holy Spirit continues to lead me to many places in the word. On this particular night He has lead me to 2 Corinthians 12: 3-10.
3And I knew such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth)-4How he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.5Of such an one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.6For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth. But now I forbear, lest any man should thnk of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.9And he said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness". Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was some kind of bodily weakness or disease; possibly it may have been an eye affliction. Undoubtedly the reason that its particular nature is not disclosed is so that Paul's cosolations (comfort), may be a benefit to all to whom any type of "thorn" is given. For God's people, weakness,infirmity, and even disease may be divinely permitted to cause us to be humble, to caution us against presumption in prayer, and exhibit the all-sufficiency of God's grace.

Paul was well aware of getting to the point of thinking to highly of himself, or even of others thinking to highly of him, because of what he had seen and heard. He thanked God for protecting him of that situation. In this case, it was a "thorn". Because of it, God was able to move Paul to knowing that His grace was all he needed. God will complete that which He started. He will mold us and make us into what He wants us to be. He takes full responsibility of that task and is perfectly sufficient to complete it. Thank you Lord for loving us in that kind of capacity. Thank you for providing us what we are incapable of supplying for ourself. Teach us Father to know that your grace is sufficient in all things.

In God's love,
Stan

A Work In Progress

We have been talking about this awakening for a few days now. As I was reading some of the blogs the other night, the Holy Spirit put the title of "A Work In Progress" in my thoughts. Now, I know there are many that really don't believe that the Holy Spirit moves in our thoughts and reveals to us what God wants said or done. For many, they think that we are just supposed to take what we learn and make the best decesions we can as we travel through this life. But we all know that God is in control. He does direct us in where we are going and what we will do. Whether we understand that or not, He does. There are many today that the Holy Spirit is filling with this awakening that is moving. Many have seen great things that the Lord is doing and will do. The Holy Spirit is encouraging us to speak these words. I personally have heard many responses to this message. I have been told that we are not in any more of a tougher time than in previous history, when we have faced similar obstacles. I have heard how many times this message has been spoken over the years. For many, this is just another day, just another obstacle.

I want us to hear the words of Luke, who is the author of the book of Acts. Acts beginning in chapter 2 verses 1-18.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,they were all with one accord in one place.2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and begun to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.5And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because every man heard them speak in his own language.7And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these who speak Galilaeans?8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?9Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners of Rome, both Jews and proselytes,11Cretans, and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.12And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this?13Others, mocking, said, These men are full of new wine.14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words;15For these are not drunk, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.16But this is that which was spoken through the prophet, Joel:17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

You see, the Lord Jesus warned that during the whole period, while the Church is being formed by the Holy Spirit, many will reject His Gospel, and many others will pretend to believe in Him and will become a source of spiritual corruption and hinderance to His purpose in this age, in the professing church These will bring apostasy, particularly in the last days. Matthew 13:24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field;25But, while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him,Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From where, then, hath it tares?28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou, then, that we go and gather them up?29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.30Let both grow together until the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."
Matthew 13:36-40. 36Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house; and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field.37He answered and said unto them, " He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one;39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels.40As, therefor, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age.
Matthew 13:47-49. " Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered every kind,48Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.49So shall it be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and seperate the wicked from the righteous."
2 Timothy 3:1 This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

The rapture of the church is upon us. God gave us the events that would take place before the coming of Jesus to take His church out of here. Although it is true, that no man will know the day or the hour that He will come, the bible is very clear about us being able to see the season. The only thing that is preventing Jesus from returning now, is that there is still one to save. The minute He nets the last one, we shall immediately see him in the sky. All of us who hear the Holy Spirit's call to speak His message, speak it. What ever He is leading you to do, do it. The movement has been kicked up a notch. As I said before, we are at last call. Lets hold on to His hand and watch with anticipation this work that He is doing. Lets speak the prophesy, see the visions, and dream the dreams as the Spirit of God is pouring it out to us in these days. God doesn't want us to seperate the harvest , only to catch it.

May you be filled with the Spirit,
Stan

The Power of His Blood

Sin, sin, sin. What a powerful word. The bible tells us that we all have sinned and fallen short. For the wages of sin is death. Sin receives the punishment of eternal death. Being cut off from God without the ability to receive anything from Him. Those who die in sin will be cast into utter darkness, eternal damnation. At the Last Supper Jesus spoke to His disciples and He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins". When Jesus was crucified on the cross, it was the shedding of His blood that covered and conquered all sin. The price had been paid for all sin debt. There no longer was a wage for sin. God supplied us a perfect gift to pay our price. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So, in reality, we are not lost because of sin, but because we reject the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation.

We seem to be a very judgemental world. We tend to develope attitudes towards people for the things they do. Listen to what Paul wrote in Romans 14: 13-15. Let us not, therefore, judge one another any more; but judge this, rather; that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is NOTHING unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy food, now walkest thou not in love. DESTROY NOT HIM with thy food, for whom Christ died. In other words, Jesus has overcome that sin and any other that we might do. So do not condemn one another of it. But instead, turn them to Jesus. The world can get itself in total bondage of their acts of sin. They become trapped to who they are. Jesus died on the cross to set us free. It was the shedding of His blood that forgives us for all our sins. When we come to know Jesus, His blood covers us from all our unrighteousness. We are free from the penalty of sin. God said that if we would simply ask Him for forgiveness that He would forgive us of our sin. It's forgiven, finished, wiped away. Not because we did anything to recieve the forgiveness, but because of what Jesus did for us. Now here is the deal, if our Father can forgive us, who gave His Son for us, then why can't we forgive all our brethern likewise?!

We need to get our eyes off of what people are doing, and get our eyes on what Jesus has done. By doing so, then we can truly love one another as Christ has loved us. Our hearts will be filled with compassion for one another like never before. When they hurt, we will hurt. When they cry, we will cry. We will hold their hands with ours and place them in the victorious hand of Jesus. Leading them to a life of freedom in a relationship with our Lord. In doing so, they will become an ambassador with Christ just as we have. They know people that are hurting just as they are. They can understand, because they are there, or have been there. God is seeing them through, just as He will all. I believe that this is what discipleship is all about. Living together, caring for one another as Jesus cares. Seeking a greater relationship with our Lord together. We have all heard that actions speak louder than words. That's one powerful statement. Many of us want to bring out the bible and whip the word on each other. But I am certain that our actions in how we handle our daily life, will speak far greater of who God is in our life, than any word we might speak. When people can see us live, instead of talk, then they will see Jesus. Be you a doer of the word, and not just a hearer only.

In my previous post, I have spoken about this great movement, or awakening as my sister has said. These are the days for us to be doers. For people to see the love of Jesus flowing from us each and every day. All that we come in contact with, reach out with a smile, or a touch of kindness , so that they can see there are some who do love and care. As that relationship developes, invite them to participate in those life changing groups we are a part of. You notice I didn't say the word church. This is that difference in the times approach that I was talking about previously. You may have to start a care group in your home. Or meet for a dinner somewhere once a month. There is so many ways we can reach out to God's people. Talk with your friends and come up with what you feel comfortable with doing, but do it. Our churches have developed an institution that has the people and the means to go out into the utter most parts of the earth reaching the lost and the needy. By the way, the utter most parts of the earth, is down the street, your neighborhood, all those you come in contact with in your every day living. I encourage you to take the step. God will priovide all that is needed. He always does.

On a mission,
Stan

The Movement

As most of you can see, it's been a long time since I have written anything on this site. There has been a lot of things going on for the past few months. It is exciting to see many more blogs being started with which the Holy Spirit can use to get His message out to His people. We never know where or who God might use to reach those in their time of need. He also reaches out to the writers as they write His words, in their needs. Being one of these writers, I can tell you from first hand experience, that God is busy about ministering to my needs as I write.

I have mentioned through casual conversation with my family, that I believe this will be a year of great awakening for people all across this country. I think we will see one of the greatest movements our Lord will do, this year. Our world and our country has fallen to one of our worst times ever, if not the worst. As I write to you this morning, be careful not to think this is a message of "doom and gloom". On the contrary, this is a message of victory !! Every place we look, we are hearing the same message. Our economy has hit a tremendous low. There are thousands this morning without a job to go to. Bills are stacking up so high that we barely can see over them. Acts of aggression are seen daily around the world, with most directed to America. Our political system is at odds internally like never before. The American people are losing hope in our ability to see this through. We are arguing about anything and everything. We have seen Tea Parties get together to drive this division even further. Our big businesses are at the brink of collapsing. Is there any wonder that people are afraid?

The Movement-
God is in control!! As we watch all the events happen that are mentioned above, we have to come to the conclusion that God is allowing these things to take place. We also know that God does not make any mistakes. He has a purpose and His purpose is always for good!! Could God be allowing us to see that we cannot have confidence in men or things. Most of us say we know that truth, yet the majority of us find our ability to live, in those things. When we are turned upside down and confronted with major loss, we can truly see what kind of person we are. I don't say these things to condemn us because God doesn't allow them to happen to condemn us. He is revealing our weaknesses and His PERFECTNESS!! The exciting thing about this time, is that we will be lead to see our God in a light like we never have before. He will show us that in any and all situations, we can count on Him. People all around the world, in this time, will be searching for answers. God will show us what the answer is. He is preparing the church to be used like never before. God will supply strength to get the job done.

Speaking of the church, "God's people", our work will be different from how we have seen it in the past. Just having our church doors open for people to walk through won't work any more. The numbers of people needing help is greatly increasing. The needs are huge. Physical, emotional, and financially. Our ministry will become as Jesus intended. He was constantly walking and ministering among the people. He didn't wait for people to come to Him, He was with them. The church will need to start programs and workshops with real substance to them. Our commitments will need to be increased. Our time will be needed more than anything else. People will need a shoulder to cry on. They will need leadership in the word that comes from the Holy Spirit. They will need hope in a very desperate time. Compassion and love will be important, but God will carry it further. He will bring forth action that will give hope and people will be comforted. I am convinced that God will use the "CHURCH" for this work. Not the building, the people. This will not be a denominational movement but a spiritual movement. All of this will be centered around JESUS just as it should be. Our differences will fall to the wayside and our hearts will be filled with action. We are in the time for LAST CALL. Our Lord's return is close at hand. So, for the church,relax, hold on to His hand, listening intently to what is being requested, commit and enjoy the greatest ride we have ever been on.

Romans 13: 11-12
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

God's love,
Stan