Archive for the ‘disciples life’ Category

Why does the church need to be in relationship with homeless mothers and children?

Posted: December 20, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Why does the church need to be in relationship with homeless mothers and children?

“It is in our intimate relationships with our friends on the streets… that open our blinded eyes to really see Jesus for who he is. Through their desperation and forced vulnerability, they help us see what intimacy with God looks like. We are compelled to follow our friends who are poor to God’s heart.” (Christopher Heuertz)

Bridge of Hope calls churches from diverse Christian faith traditions to befriend homeless single mothers and their children. It is out of this calling that we highlight the following reasons why the Church today needs to be in relationship with homeless single mothers and their children:

1.) God calls the Church to relationships: God longs to be in right relationship with us and to see us in right relationship with each other. Homeless families remind us that our relationship with God is more than just a private response to the God of the universe. A vital relationship with God also means being in vital relationships with those around us. Throughout Scripture God identifies with the poor to the point that caring for those in need is like taking care of God (Matthew 25:31-46). Rev. James Forbes once said that to get into heaven, the faithful are going to need a letter of reference from the poor.

Mother Teresa would often say that the poor are Jesus in distressing disguise. “The Scriptures teach that God’s faithful people share God’s special concern for the poor…. God insists that if we do not imitate his concern for the poor we are not really his people – no matter how frequent our worship or how orthodox our creeds” (Ron Sider). When we enter into authentic relationship and mutual friendship with a homeless mother or child and see through their lens, it is surprising how often our eyes are open anew to the presence of Jesus in the world.

These relationships challenge our judgments, assumptions and individualistic mindset and teach us much about our relationship with God and with all God’s children.

2.) God calls the Church to bless others: God’s directive, throughout scripture, is that the provision we experience from God is not meant for our own sakes but for the sake of those around us as well. We are blessed to bless others (Genesis 12:1-3). We dare not mistake “God’s financial blessings as individual provision rather than resources with potential for kingdom development.” (Heuertz) For the children of Israel, that meant caring for those around them who were in need, including the foreigner, the poor and the widows.

Today, the church is also being called to be a blessing to single mothers and children who are homeless because we ourselves have so often been blessed. As the Apostle Paul writes so clearly (II Corinthians 8-9) we are to use our riches to help others and as we do, God in turn provides for the Church’s needs. It is the mystery and joy of God’s economy.

3.) God calls the Church to vulnerability: Just as Jesus chose to give up power for the sake of God’s call to serve humankind (Philippians 2), so too the church itself must embrace and honor the marginalized and forsaken. The church will only be effective as it becomes vulnerable and humble, meekly caring for others both within and outside the church (Matthew 5:1-11). The suffering of homeless mothers and children humbles us. Their weakness instructs us.

Their vulnerability reminds us of our own pride. As we experience authentic friendships with homeless families, we are reminded of our own need for God, and that we are not ultimately in control. In a sermon, John Wesley said, “One great reason why the rich in general have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them. Hence it is that one part of the world does not know what the other suffers” (Christine Pohl).

Friendships with homeless families keep our hearts tender, open our eyes to moments of God’s grace and move us beyond self-centered purposes – bringing us back into a deeper relationship with Christ. “We must minister among and with the broken out of a posture of brokenness; it is the only way we will be accepted. When we realize that we have as much to learn as we have to offer, true Christ-like ministry will freely flow, community will develop, and we will be transformed.” (Heuertz)

4.) God calls the Church to be a renewed community: When church communities commit to build mutual, authentic friendship with homeless women and children, they demonstrate obedience, experience transformation, and connect with Jesus in new ways that revitalize their faith.

Churches that worship together as rich, poor and middle class can experience spiritual and relational transformation and renewal. For Saint John Chrysostom and other early church fathers and mothers, the church was seen as the vehicle for mutual and meaningful hospitality with the poor and homeless and “was a significant context for transcending status boundaries and for working through issues of respect and recognition.” (Pohl)

When churches embrace a holistic gospel, lived out in mutuality and respect in the world, homeless families can experience physical, social, emotional and spiritual wholeness, and in turn renewal comes to the congregation. The grand vision of the New Testament (Revelation 7) describes a new community in heaven that transcends economic status, ethnicity, culture and language.

The old dividing lines of housed or homeless, black or white, middle class or poor, unemployed or employed are transformed in the realization of God’s intention for humankind. By being a community of hope, healing and renewal now, the church becomes a promise of God’s ultimate desire for the world.

A call to be Holy!

Posted: December 16, 2011 in disciples life, teaching, wilderness
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“Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 peter 1:13-16)

Duncan Campbell has said, “A Baptism of holiness, a demonstration of godly living is the crying need of our day.” The cry for holiness rings throughout the Bible. In Leviticus 11:44 God says to His people, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy…”And again in Leviticus 20:26: “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”

To the Thessalonians Paul said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification (holiness…For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7)

And Peter adds his voice: “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

What Is It?

The Old Testament Hebrew word for holiness, kadesh, means “something which is cut off, separate or set apart.” It means to be antisecular, in a category all its own, to elevate out of the sphere of what is ordinary.

In the New Testament the word used most frequently is hagios which also means “set apart, separate, in a class by itself.”
According to these definitions, to be holy basically means to be separated from common use and set apart, or reserved, for special use. In both Old and New Testaments the term is applied to (1) things, (2) persons, and (3) God.

When applied to God it designates Him as the lofty, the heavenly, separated in space from men−dwelling on high. He is the majestic, the morally lofty, separated from the human, not only as a finite material creature, but as a sinful, impure creature. To Israel the name “Holy” or “Holy One” was the highest expression for God. It was the name for God absolutely;; the name for God as transcendent above all the created world. He is wholly other; He stands utterly above the created world. He is in a category all to Himself.

The basic idea of holy when applied to a person is not moral purity but relationship. To call a thing or a person holy is to say that they belong to God, are used in His service or dedicated to Him, or in some special way are His property. Nothing, except for God, is holy of itself or by nature. It becomes holy by being dedicated to God and His service.

It is the Awesome holiness of the Lord God that sets Him apart from everything else, and it is our holiness that sets us apart and makes us distinctive from the world. This word sums up every obligation of Christian living and every demand made upon us by the Lord.

Belonging to God: We are holy because we are His. Nothing in us makes us holy; belonging to Him makes us holy. This means that holiness is not primarily negative, but positive. We have been set apart for Him, for His pleasure, and for His purpose.

Becoming like the God to Whom we belong. I stated earlier that the basic idea in holiness is not moral purity but relationship. But because of that relationship, moral purity becomes a necessity. Belonging to God we cannot belong to the world; being dedicated to Him we cannot be devoted to anything else. If a bride is to keep herself for her husband alone, she must keep herself from others. Sexual infidelity would make her unfit for her husband, thus making her impure. She would be, in biblical terms, considered unclean, not so much because of her conduct but because her conduct made her unfit for her husband.

If we are separated to God then we are also separated from the world. If we are called to be holy even as He is holy, then the character of God must be considered. Thus the character of God becomes the standard of our own character, we become like the God to Whom we belong.

Our Holiness is the Purpose of Conversion

“You shall be holy…” (1 Peter 1:16)
God’s holiness is evangelistic and redemptive. It causes Him to seek and to save those who are lost; its purpose is not to drive men away but to draw them near. When Isaiah saw the thrice-holy God, high and lifted up and sitting upon His throne, he was smitten with a sudden awareness of his own vileness and cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) But his confession, made under the crushing revelation of God’s holiness, resulted, not in condemnation, but in cleansing. “Behold…your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.” (Isaiah 6:7)

It is God’s holiness that causes Him to save us and He saves us so that we may become holy “even as He is holy.” We have been called to holiness. In Ephesians 1:4 Paul writes, “…He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” And in the fifth chapter he tells us that Christ’s purpose in cleansing the church is “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:27)

It may surprise some Christians to learn that God did not save them just so they could go to heaven when they die. Heaven is a bonus−a kind of by-product of salvation. The real purpose behind God’s saving grace is holiness, not heaven.

As mentioned earlier, to be holy means that we are set apart for God’s special purpose. And that purpose is the manifestation of God’s character to the world. Having been bought with a price, we belong to God and are to glorify Him in our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). To glorify God means to reveal God as He is, to demonstrate His character. God is glorified when men see Him for what He is. What He is, is holy, and if we are to reveal Him as such, we must be holy

Our Holiness is Patterned After Christ

“But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves.” (1 Peter 1:15)

At first clance this may seem an unreasonable and unreachable standard. Who can be as holy as God? Surely He asks too much. But God can do no less. To lower the standard would be to betray His own nature.

This standard is held up before us throughout the New Testament:

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:19)

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)

“The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:6)

There is no getting around it−the standard by which the Christian is expected to live is God’s own holy and perfect character. No Christian has a right to be satisfied with his spiritual progress as long as he is falling short of that goal. But the very fact that God demands such holiness from us means the believer can in some way satisfy that demand. He never demands from us what He does not enable us to do. This is one of those “impossible possibilities” held before us.

David’s great ambition was to rebuild the temple: it was the dream that sustained and drove him. It was a dream he was unable to fulfill, yet God said to him, “You did well that it was in your heart.” (1 Kings 8:18) That is the key. Casting aside the argument that this is an unreachable goal, can you say it is in your heart to be as holy as Christ? Stop telling yourself you cannot be perfect. Act like you can. Live as though the standard is attainable.

The Old Lifestyle and the New

In presenting to his readers this standard of holiness, Peter tells them to abandon their old lifestyle and embrace a new one.

The old Testament standard abandoned. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.” (1 Peter 1:14) Before our conversion, when we did not know any better, we allowed our lusts to lead us around like monkeys on a chain. Our formative influence was our desires. Our lives were shaped by our lusts; we lived according to a philosophy which said, “If it feels good, do it.”

This was the argument put forth by the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” they said. The body, created by God, has certain natural desires, they argued, and those desires can be satisfied by means, God Himself provided. Therefore, there can be nothing wrong in satisfying the natural desires. For example, God built into man sexual desire and provided a way to satisfy that desire. Since God gave man the desire, He intended for man to gratify it. If God had not meant for us to eat, He would not have given us a stomach. You must admit, it is a pretty convincing argument. But, says Paul, they forgot one thing: food for the stomach and the stomach for food, but the body is for the Lord! The question, “Is it right or wrong?” is not the question. The question is “Does it glorify God?”

New Covenant standard “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

The transforming influence of our lives is no longer our desires but His character. Our conduct is to be shaped by His holiness. We are to walk in the light as He is in the light. (1 John 1:6-7)

Why? Because.

Why does God demand we be holy? The answer is simply−because; because He is holy, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” No other reason is given. No other is needed.

For example, we know now that the Levitical laws prescribed by God were beneficial to the body as well as to the spirit. Abstaining from certain foods and practices would result in better health. It made good sense to obey the Levitical laws. God could have cited this as a a reason to obey them, but He only said, “Because…” The only reason He gave for being holy was, “because I am holy.” He appealed to His holiness, not their good sense.

Unfortunately many of our present convictions about right and wrong are being shaped by public opinion and popular causes rather than by the holiness of God. This is evidenced in the church’s changing attitude toward recent moral issues like homosexuality, abortion, divorce and remarriage, the ordination of divorced men and so forth. While we trumpet human rights, we display little interest in Divine rights. The pressure to “treat everyone fairly” and the inordinate fear of “denying a person’s right to be himself” is exerting more influence on us than the holiness of God.

But the church is supposed to correct the spirit of the age, not catch it. Christian ethics has its roots in the character of God, not in public opinion or public morality. This fact deals a death blow to situation ethics.

Our Holiness is to be Portrayed In All Our Conduct

“Be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” (1 Peter 1:15)

Three observations will help us understand the full meaning of this statement.

1. The word translated “behavior” means “dealing with other men, going up and down among men,” and is used of public activity or life in relation to others. It is not enough to be holy in our personal and private lives; holiness must be manifested in all of our dealings with others.

2. The little word all is used without the definite article in the Greek text. When used like that it summarizes a multiplicity of conduct; it means all kinds of conduct; every manner of behavior, whether in business or pleasure, labor or rest, joy or sorrow; nothing is excluded. In absolutely everything, from the greatest to the most insignificant of activities, we are to display the holiness of God.

3. The word translated be means to “show or prove yourself.”

Zechariah closes his prophecy with a strange forecast: “In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 14:20-21)

Here is the test: can I write “Holy to the Lord” across everything I say and do?

Our Holiness is Possible Through God’s Call

“But like the Holy One who called you…” (1 Peter 1:15)

God’s call is our assurance that we can become holy. His call to be holy includes the power to become holy. The word translated called always means an effective call. In other words, it always achieves its intention. When God calls us to be holy it does not mean He is telling us to be holy but rather He is inviting us into His holiness. For example, the call to salvation is not God telling us we should be saved. He is inviting us into salvation. When we respond to that call we are saved. It is the same with the call to holiness. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 4:1, we are to walk worthy of that call.

The call to be holy: What God demands He provides. When God calls us to be holy, He imparts to us the power to obey. God’s call supplies the dynamic for holiness.

A commitment to be holy: “Be holy,” God says. Be decisive, settle it once and for all that you will be holy. This calls for a definite choice, a commitment of the will. God will not make us holy against our will.

God has called us to be holy and He has provided the means whereby we can become holy. All that remains is for us to say with Robert Murray McCheyne: “The greatest ambition of my life is to be a holy man.”

The Power of A Clean Life

Posted: December 13, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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The Power of A Clean Life

A holy people of God are being prepared for the great fulfillment of the kingdom of God on earth. Sons of righteousness with pure hearts in whom there is no guile are being prepared to minister with the army from heaven with supernatural wisdom and power. Their clean hearts and lives will offer no hindrance or resistance to the love and power of God flowing from Father in heaven by the Holy Spirit.

The maturing sons of God will not be daunted by the apocalyptic, cataclysmic events of a world being cleansed by the fire of God.

Who are these people demonstrating the full faith and power of a clean life? They are a new breed of grown up children of God that have emptied themselves and made room for God to rule in their lives. They are humble people of God who have allowed the fire of God to burn away every tendency of sin and the bondage of doubt and unbelief in their souls. They are those whose spirits are made alive and are fully redeemed to the fullness of the love and life of Christ Jesus. They are those who have no regard for the lies of the fallen world and its foolishness. They are those who have thrown off the past shroud of religious unbelief and ungodly madness of the fallen ways of a people sickened by lust and greed. They are those who are as if they had no past but live fully in the embrace of the life of Christ in the presence of God. They are people like you and I breaking through into a glorious life in the Sprit of God on shores of a new land filled with glory.

We are soon entering the most powerful and glorious time on earth. Before us is the time of fulfillment of that which the saints throughout history have sought. They gave their lives knowing it was for a future time. There is rejoicing in heaven when one is TRULY born anew as this new breed of redeemed spiritual creature into a new life of unhindered faith and power of God.

Not all will enter this new creation army of maturing sons living holy clean lives.

Many Christians believe that we are waiting for God to do something further to cause us to walk in supernatural victory. The general belief seems to be that the promises of Jesus to His people are true but not for us now.

For example, the promise that we would do the works that Jesus did and even greater works than the mighty miracles He did is seen as true but they will not come to pass until some future day when God does something more or some other event occurs from heaven.

John 14:12: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

This common belief, I should say unbelief, is largely based on the natural reality that we do not see men around us doing these works. We need to keep in mind that our natural vision only sees what is closely around us and does not see all that is happening worldwide. Also we may not see clearly events that happen around us. Even if supernatural events happen around us we may attribute them to natural causes.

In part these erroneous beliefs are caused by the negative faith implanted in people through religious and secular training over the past centuries. Our experience has trained us that faith and power are limited and simply do not work today as they did in the first century.

People are locked in bondage of doubt and unbelief regarding the word and works of God. Many people reason that since supernatural works are done by God and not man, we are waiting for God to do something to make things happen. It is true that faith and power are gifts from God through Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit and not of our human effort or doing. However, there is no problem with the availability of the grace gifts of God. They are fully available now.

God is still all powerful and His word is still valid and cannot be changed. These provisions have been fully purchased by Christ Jesus at the cross and the delivery system has been fully established in the Holy Spirit since Pentecost. For a season after Pentecost the gifts were operative and flowing. Faith and power were supernaturally changing the world. Powerful miracles and works of God impacted masses of people and the kingdom of God was beginning to come forth on earth as it is in heaven. Supernatural power gifts came way back then and are available now?

Why should the people of God today have the faith and power of a beggar? Waiting beside the road of life begging God for a morsel of faith to get by for today. Why should we be begging for a hand-out of enough power to endure our bad situations one more day?

Gal 4:9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

What is going on people?

We are the world changers! We can have the faith and power of the first century! We can have the wisdom of God that will lead us into the kingdom of God!

Everything has been done so why should we be lacking in faith and power and continue waiting for God to send something more?

The problem is not with the quality of the gifts prepared in heaven for us. The problem is not with the delivery system. The problem is with the reception. There is not proper place in the hearts of men to receive the gifts and ways of God prepared for His kingdom people. The receiving dock and the storage rooms are filled with other things that are blocking the way. The data banks in the hearts of men are filled and the faith and power cannot be downloaded until space is cleared and existing data deleted. A decision must be made by man to make the deletions to clear space for downloading great faith and power that will bring forth the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Experiencing the fullness of Christ in us is not waiting for God to do something further. Rather, God is waiting on a people that will make room to receive the faith and power of the kingdom.

God is waiting for clean hearts upon which to write His all-wise and all-powerful laws of heavenly wisdom and kingdom reality. The hearts of the people of the world including most Christians are filled with other writings. The space for God to write is already filled and there is not place for Him to scribe the all powerful wisdom and ways of heaven.

Heb 8:10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

2 Cor 3:3: clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

A far greater standard of holy kingdom living is being lifted up. A pure holy people of righteousness are to be prepared to walk in the supernatural kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. For the most part, mankind is not currently operating with God’s standard but has developed other standards. According to man’s standards many things are seen as good and worthy of retaining that are NOT from God and are not heavenly wisdom and truth. All that is not of God that is stored in the hearts of man and serves as standards for man is unclean to God. Even man’s best righteousness is as filthy rags in the site of God.

All natural men and many who are called Christians are filled with knowledge but lacking in truth and wisdom.

The false standards written in our hearts blind us to the powerful supernatural ways of God and prevent the reality of God being written upon our hearts. The ways of God are much higher and far more powerful than most Christians have even imagined.

Can you hear the call of God? Can you feel God pulling on your heart to turn to Him with your whole heart and leave the past to be made a witness of the things which Jesus will reveal to you? Can you see the call to be used in opening the eyes of the religionist and the secularist to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God? God is calling a people in this day as He called Paul who was one of the most religious men of His day. He was involved in the death and imprisonment of the followers of Christ. Yet, he surrendered his heart to be completely cleansed from the past and gave His all to change the course of history. He made room for God to write His way upon his heart.

Acts 26:16-18: But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.

Keep on pursuing love.
It never fails.

Ron McGatlin

http://www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Reality Replacing Religion

Posted: December 4, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, wilderness
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2012 will be a year of the release of heavenly authority to many who have turned from religion to the reality of life in God. The mighty works of Father God in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit are now becoming reality in this season. The Pentecostal power that had morphed into a religious form is becoming living reality in God�s people. This year of 2012 will see the waning of religious form and the beginning of true kingdom reality for maturing sons and daughters of God.

What we have preached and hoped for but did not truly experience is becoming the reality of our lives in this season. Seemingly without effort the supernatural miraculous works of Jesus will come forth in God�s humble people without even a hint of pride or merchandising. What we have said that we believed and tried to make happen will be done by the power of God abiding in His holy humble people. Truly the priesthood and the kingship of Christ are becoming manifest in His body of believers on earth.

Do not look for this as a big show. It will be seen in multitudes of humble gatherings, small and large that will be veiled to those who are not willing to receive the fresh reality of kingdom life.

Religious striving is passing away among God�s kingdom people.

Religion has ruled the world under the prince of this world � the prince of the power of the air. All religion is powerless without believers/followers. Religion appears to be man-made. However, it always originates from the dark spiritual world of the enemy. The only authority the enemy has is the authority we allow him to have. Deception is his primary weapon.

The enemy was in the garden with Adam and Eve but was completely powerless until he deceived Eve and then Adam. The devil must deceive human beings to usurp the authority given to mankind to rule in the world. To usurp our authority, he must separate us from the reality of life with God and entice us to follow him. The more he can make his false religion look like the reality of life in God, the more easily he can deceive people into following him and releasing their God-given authority to rule in this world. Religion is designed to placate the innate desire in the hearts of men for life in God.

Eph 2:1-3: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

The Precious among the Vile

2012 and beyond will be a season of separation for sanctification and connection for preparation. God will lead His people into an intense time of preparing for the coming season of devastating circumstances in the world and glorious spiritual life in Him. The kingdom of God that has been formed within us will manifest under cover from the world in the most precious spiritual gatherings we have ever known. In these God connected groups and gatherings, the manifest presence of God will lovingly bond together and prepare His people to endure the hard times immediately ahead and to eventually plant the kingdom of God solidly into the entire world.

Beyond the season of devastation, in another season to come, the fullness that is developing under cover will be released into the world. The clearing and the deep plowing of the land of this world will leave little to none of the previous world order and fully prepare the soil of this world to receive the seed of the kingdom planted by the prepared people of God. The Bride City of God will become a reality on earth.

Draw near to God

By far the first and primary area of preparation for every child of God is intensely relating to God in the Spirit. Of course, this should have always been our priority. However, it truly must be our number one focus in this season. All other preparations will be of little or no value if we are not truly seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness FIRST in our lives. Intimately relating to God in the Spirit and becoming one with Him will release the authority of heaven within us to supernaturally accomplish the will and plan of God. Clear direction from God through praying in the Spirit and hearing in our spirit will enable us to walk through turbulent times without fear.

As we walk in oneness with God, we must hear and obey what He speaks for us personally to be and to do. He can prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. God may use some of us to be a part of growing and preparing the food for that table. Others may be used in preparing for other needs, for other provisions and services. Extremely basic life will develop with the necessities of life locally grown, made or built from whatever is available and with whatever tools are available. If we are truly one with God and are obediently doing what He says when He says, the Spirit will coordinate the works of all to fit together in the tribal lifestyle of the future.

Through the life of God in us, we shall overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony and not loving our lives to the death. Whether we live a long life or a short time in this body, we are the Lord�s and will never be apart from Him. Our great desire is to fully serve Him and to accomplish all He has given us to be and to do in this life.

We are very important to one another and closely knit together in Him as each joint supplies its part. This will be more acutely seen and experienced in the seasons of devastation ahead for this world and the glorious season of experiencing the deepest river of His love filling us with His life and flowing the glory of the kingdom to one another. The glorious kingdom lifestyle is at the door. The kingdom is truly at hand in this day of the Lord.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones. ~ Proverbs 3:5-8

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ~ Jesus

The Sword of the Lord comes.

Ron McGatlin

http://www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Sipping Our Lattes or Losing Our Lives?

Posted: November 25, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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I spent my first few months as a pastor in a steep learning curve. Because I had never pastored before, I began devouring books on how to determine and communicate vision for where a church is going. In order to lead your church anywhere, these books told me, you need a preferred future, a visual destination, for which you are working. Pastors I respect declared, “Decide how big you want your church to be, and go for it, whether that’s five, ten, or twenty thousand members. Envision what your church campus (or multiple campuses) will look like five, ten, or twenty years from now, and start working toward it. Dream about how your worship services can become more innovative. All of this is important, so consider hiring a creative consultant to help you. After all, Proverbs 29:18 says that where there is no vision, the people will perish.”

At first, it seemed to make sense. But over time, I found myself getting nauseated by all the vision talk. Setting and reaching goals is important, of course. But were my sights really supposed to be set on bringing a large crowd together in a cool environment where they could hear terrific music, see killer graphics, and then listen to me talk live, or via video, or maybe even via hologram (if only I had really innovative vision)? If this was to be the vision of my life and ministry, I decided, then I should perish.

So I sat down with members in our church, and together we asked, “What is our vision? What do we want to see? Where do we want to fasten our attention in the days to come? What do we want to work toward with all our hearts?”

As we prayed together, the answer became obvious. The only possible vision for the church of Jesus Christ is to make known the glory of God in all nations. This preferred future or visual destination drives us because this is what drives God. Far more than we want stuff for the church, crowds at the church, or activities in the church, we want to know, love, honor, and praise God. And we want all people to do the same. We want to see God glorified by people everywhere because God wants to see himself glorified by people everywhere.

Vision affects everything. That’s what visions do. If the focus of the church is on having a large crowd in a big place where people can come and feel warm and welcomed, then you and I will plan accordingly. We will prioritize a nice church campus for people to drive onto where they can find a convenient parking space. We’ll give them a latte when they walk in the door, and then we’ll provide state-of-the-art entertainment for their children while treating them to a great show that leaves them feeling good when they drive away in a timely fashion. Variations of this vision engineered for the savvy Christian consumer are multiplied across the landscape of our country today, and they work well. The crowds come, and the vision is realized.

But what happens when our vision changes? What happens when our primary aim is not to make the crowds feel comfortable but to exalt God in all his glory? Suddenly, our priorities begin to change. More than you and I want people to be impressed by the stuff we can manufacture, we want them to be amazed by the God they cannot fathom. More than we want to dazzle them with our production, we want to direct them to his praise. And the last thing we want to do is raise up people who are casual in the worship of God as they sit back and enjoy their lattes. Instead, we want to raise up people who are so awed, so captivated, so mesmerized by the glory of God that they will gladly lose their lattes-and their lives-to make his greatness known in the world.

By David Platt

Sipping Our Lattes or Losing Our Lives?

Moving in the Spirit of God

Posted: November 25, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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As servant sons of God,, we not only have the privilege to walk in the reality of Spirit-empowered supernatural life, we have the responsibility to do so. We must be about our Father’s business. All of the resources of heaven are potentially available to us for accomplishing the will of our Father. Every day everywhere we go the limitless potential of Spirit God surrounds us. Countless powerful holy angels (ministering spirits) are available to assist us in the works of the business of our Heavenly Father.

A spiritual army is arising from the valley of the shadow of death. The lifeless shadow has lain upon the hearts and lives of God’s people, who were created to be kings and priests to rule and reign in this world with Christ. The enemy has, through false religious and secular doctrines and understandings shadowed our hearts from God’s supernatural spiritual reality. The arising spiritual army does not move by natural human strength or guidance and does not employ weapons built by man. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. ~ Paul

Divine supernatural love, power, and wisdom of Christ abiding in mature servant sons working with powerful angels will overcome all that lifts itself against God. Major strongholds of the enemy that are well fortified in the social order and governments of the world will be overcome by God’s army moving in the Spirit of God.

Ascending Above the Shadow

The shadow of death robs God’s people from life in the brilliant light of spiritual reality. It limits our ability to walk in the love, power, and wisdom that is far above natural fallen human life and the works of the enemy. Under the shadow of death the fullness of the reality of heavenly life in the Spirit is greatly limited. Intimate trust in God and faith to powerfully serve Him is hindered by the shadow of death. We are to serve Him by bringing forth His life into this world to transform the world into the glorious kingdom of God.

God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from all the trees of the garden except for one tree. They were told that if they ate of that one tree in that day, they would surely die. That day they were separated from intimate walk with God. They spiritually died that day, and life in the world abruptly changed. They were excluded from the intimate life with Father God and were cut off from the fullness of His provision in the garden. God provided a temporary sacrificial covering for them but their intimate walk with God was broken by their disobedience. Death (separation from God) passed upon all descendents of Adam.

For all who will receive it, Christ Jesus has provided the restoration of all that was lost in Adam.

The shadow of death on God’s people is not total spiritual death. Total spiritual death is total separation from God.

From Adam to Christ, God’s people lived in the valley of the shadow of death. God’s provision sustained them through their faith expressed by keeping the law of blood sacrifices and offerings that looked forward to the coming of Christ Jesus to fully redeem all that was lost in Adam, including walking with God in the Spirit. David wrote in Psalm 23 about God preparing a table before him in the valley of the shadow of death, in the presence of his enemies. This is a picture of God’s provision while moving through the valley of the shadow of death.

Spiritual life was poured out at Pentecost. The Spirit of Christ in the Holy Spirit returned to abide in His people to bring forth the finished work of restoration of heavenly Spirit-to-spirit life on earth. The shadow of spiritual death was removed from those who received the Holy Spirit. The brilliant life of supernatural spiritual life was poured out upon and into those who received it.

Sadly, through the generations, many people returned to partaking of the fruit of the forbidden tree of human intellectual knowledge as supreme over spiritual reality of God’s strength and guidance in life. The shadow of death returned upon the hearts of people and the brilliant supernatural spiritual reality of God became foreign to them. The enemy, working through religious and secular education, devised doctrines of demons that became traditions of men that opposed the truth of supernatural spiritual reality and restored the valley of the shadow of death.

The army of God arising in this day is ascending above the valley of the shadow of death into the fullness of the brilliant glory of spiritual life that is far above natural life (supernatural life in Christ by the Holy Spirit).

The proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven is releasing the power of God from heaven to overcome the death of separation from God. Eventually the whole earth shall be free from the shadow of death and filled with the brilliance of the glory of God.

Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! ~ Jesus

The Sword of the Lord comes,

Ron McGatlin

Moving in the Spirit of God

Posted: November 21, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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As servant sons of God,, we not only have the privilege to walk in the reality of Spirit-empowered supernatural life, we have the responsibility to do so. We must be about our Father’s business. All of the resources of heaven are potentially available to us for accomplishing the will of our Father. Every day everywhere we go the limitless potential of Spirit God surrounds us. Countless powerful holy angels (ministering spirits) are available to assist us in the works of the business of our Heavenly Father.

A spiritual army is arising from the valley of the shadow of death. The lifeless shadow has lain upon the hearts and lives of God’s people, who were created to be kings and priests to rule and reign in this world with Christ. The enemy has, through false religious and secular doctrines and understandings shadowed our hearts from God’s supernatural spiritual reality. The arising spiritual army does not move by natural human strength or guidance and does not employ weapons built by man. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. ~ Paul

Divine supernatural love, power, and wisdom of Christ abiding in mature servant sons working with powerful angels will overcome all that lifts itself against God. Major strongholds of the enemy that are well fortified in the social order and governments of the world will be overcome by God’s army moving in the Spirit of God.

Ascending Above the Shadow

The shadow of death robs God’s people from life in the brilliant light of spiritual reality. It limits our ability to walk in the love, power, and wisdom that is far above natural fallen human life and the works of the enemy. Under the shadow of death the fullness of the reality of heavenly life in the Spirit is greatly limited. Intimate trust in God and faith to powerfully serve Him is hindered by the shadow of death. We are to serve Him by bringing forth His life into this world to transform the world into the glorious kingdom of God.

God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from all the trees of the garden except for one tree. They were told that if they ate of that one tree in that day, they would surely die. That day they were separated from intimate walk with God. They spiritually died that day, and life in the world abruptly changed. They were excluded from the intimate life with Father God and were cut off from the fullness of His provision in the garden. God provided a temporary sacrificial covering for them but their intimate walk with God was broken by their disobedience. Death (separation from God) passed upon all descendents of Adam.

For all who will receive it, Christ Jesus has provided the restoration of all that was lost in Adam.

The shadow of death on God’s people is not total spiritual death. Total spiritual death is total separation from God.

From Adam to Christ, God’s people lived in the valley of the shadow of death. God’s provision sustained them through their faith expressed by keeping the law of blood sacrifices and offerings that looked forward to the coming of Christ Jesus to fully redeem all that was lost in Adam, including walking with God in the Spirit. David wrote in Psalm 23 about God preparing a table before him in the valley of the shadow of death, in the presence of his enemies. This is a picture of God’s provision while moving through the valley of the shadow of death.

Spiritual life was poured out at Pentecost. The Spirit of Christ in the Holy Spirit returned to abide in His people to bring forth the finished work of restoration of heavenly Spirit-to-spirit life on earth. The shadow of spiritual death was removed from those who received the Holy Spirit. The brilliant life of supernatural spiritual life was poured out upon and into those who received it.

Sadly, through the generations, many people returned to partaking of the fruit of the forbidden tree of human intellectual knowledge as supreme over spiritual reality of God’s strength and guidance in life. The shadow of death returned upon the hearts of people and the brilliant supernatural spiritual reality of God became foreign to them. The enemy, working through religious and secular education, devised doctrines of demons that became traditions of men that opposed the truth of supernatural spiritual reality and restored the valley of the shadow of death.

The army of God arising in this day is ascending above the valley of the shadow of death into the fullness of the brilliant glory of spiritual life that is far above natural life (supernatural life in Christ by the Holy Spirit).

The proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven is releasing the power of God from heaven to overcome the death of separation from God. Eventually the whole earth shall be free from the shadow of death and filled with the brilliance of the glory of God.

Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! ~ Jesus

The Sword of the Lord comes,

Ron McGatlin
basileia@earthlink.net

Radically Sold Out For Christ

Posted: November 20, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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There is a call for each and every Christian, and it is not of mediocrity. It isn’t of material, worldly wealth. It isn’t to feel good about oneself. it isn’t even about a long, healthy life. Anyone who tells you it is is flat out lying to you. God does not care about the so-called American Dream. God does not care about making you wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice (Matthew 19:16-30). He does care about your soul. He cares about molding you in a way that allows you and Him to walk as closely and intimately as possible.

There is no two ways about it, either. Christ made it very clear while He was on earth that one cannot serve both mammon and God (Matthew 6:24). You cannot serve money and God (Matthew 6:19-21). You cannot serve the world and God. It’s one or the other. Black or white. Dark or light. Hell or Heaven. He went so far as to even tell us not to worry about clothing or food (Matthew 6:25). Yet what do most American Christian’s worry about? Food. Money. Clothing. Status. The Jones’. Where does it all stop? Sure it’s nice to have nice things. I enjoy having clothes that fit and look nice. I enjoy eating good food and living in comfort. Yet for all the people in the U.S. who are better off than I am, I still am in something like the top 10% to 5% of people in the world who can count those as things I take for advantage.

In Acts we find brand new Christians so radically sold out that they, without any prompting from man, sell everything and lay the proceeds at the feet of the apostles so that all may be taken care of. When’s the last time you saw someone who went up to the alter, give their life to Christ, and then sell everything and give to those in need – starting with our Brothers and Sisters and moving on to others – without even a second thought? I’ve never seen it nor have I heard of it happening in my 33 years of life (by the way, if I was Christ I’d have been hung from a cross several months ago yet who am I to live on this earth longer than He who saved me from an eternal death?). I’ve not read about it except in the Bible. Surely it’s happened somewhere? Right?

Well I don’t own a home, a car, or much of anything except some clothes, a few electronics (5+ year old computers I probably couldn’t give away much less sell), and debt up to my ears. What’s a man to do? He’s to be totally, radically, forever sold out to Christ. The best I can say for myself is that I’m working on it. I’m part of a great house church. I have a wonderful, God-fearing wife. I have wonderful, God-fearing friends/family. I know where I can go to be fed. I know where I can go to receive instruction. I know where I can go for counsel. Friendship. Love.

Spiritual growth and maturity are part of the process of becoming radically sold out. You cannot become off-the-wall-nuts for Christ without growing spiritually. It just won’t happen. Sure you start off on the milk, but once you’re done with the milk that’s it! I know of at least twice in the NT letters the author has to rebuke the audience for not growing spiritually! God takes His Word, and His call to us, very seriously. It’s time we did to and put away these so-called preachers that only offer worldly blessings.

The world – and it’s so-called blessings – will allow you to go straight to Hell without a second thought. God, on the other hand, died so we wouldn’t have to. Don’t be a Laodecean (Revelation 3:14-22). Don’t hunker the fence to try and get the best of both worlds. You can’t have the best of both worlds. It’s either an eternal lake of fire (Revelation 20:15) or eternity with God. Get prayed up, get a good foundation in His Word, and don’t just expect a “Get Out of Hell Free” card. This isn’t Monopoly. This is for keeps. This is for real.

By “The Ameliorated Man”
http://jnagyjr.wordpress.com/

THE FIRE OF GOD COMES

Posted: November 17, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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Throughout recent centuries God has been restoring piece by piece that which was lost when Adam and subsequently all mankind fell. The process of restoration involves first the revelation of what is to be restored. It is revealed as being reality for the time in which it is to be restored.

Over 500 years ago salvation by grace through faith was restored. In the early 20th century, the revelation of the baptism with the Holy Spirit was restored. The gifts of healings and miracles were restored. Later in the mid 20th century, prophets were restored, and then in the latter part of the century and into the first part of the 21st century, the apostles are being restored. These are just a few of the most recent major restorations to the Body of Christ.

Now that the prophetic is restored, God reveals what He is doing to His prophets. As the prophets proclaim the revelation of what God is doing, it begins to come to pass. A true prophetic proclamation resonates in the hearts of mature believers and prepares God’s people to receive the next piece of restoration from God.

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets, Amos 3:7.

The Restoration of the Baptism with Fire

This may not be fresh to some of you. However, the greater revelation of the fire portion of being baptized by Christ Jesus with the Holy Spirit and FIRE is being freshly revealed and made real in me.

Mat 3:11: I (John) indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

New or fresh revelation is God uncovering for us what has always been. It is as if God lifts up the cover or lid, and our eyes are opened to fresh revelation. We may then marvel that we have not seen before this obvious reality that is now so clearly exposed.

I believe that in this season, the lid is NOT being gently lifted off the revelation of THE FIRE of GOD. The lid is being blown off with an explosion of power.

This will be more than the revival fire that has been poured out historically time and time again. In revival we cried out for God to SEND THE FIRE. His fire has now come and we are beginning to grasp what it means to be baptized by Christ Jesus with the Holy Spirit and FIRE.

This does not involve the hype and showmanship of highly promoted performance-based conferences. This is not a stage or platform production. The fire of God is not geared to man-made staged performance. You can lay aside the rock bands and high powered so called “praise music” with its costumed and choreographed dance. The fire of heaven is coming down in the person of Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit. The Body of Christ will come forth filled with the Spirit of Christ from within and saturated with the fire of Christ upon us.

Living Water and Fire

Probably most if not all of us have been experiencing to some degree the inner working of the baptism and fullness of the Holy Spirit – the gifts, peace, inner power, joy, and more. However, most of us have probably not truly experienced the baptism with Fire coming UPON us in this present season. The fire of God is the glory of Christ falling upon us from above. It is the Christ in us coming together with the Spirit of Christ from above. The restoration of the baptism of fire is coming upon us exploding the powerful works of Christ Jesus into a desperate and failing world.

The fire of His glory is suddenly coming upon purified holy sons and daughters of God. The glory will not rest upon mixture or flesh, as the revival fire of the past has done. The Holy Spirit was poured out on flesh in revivals and outpourings in the 90s, and a measure of fire came for a short season. This that is now coming forth is much more and will be Spirit to spirit. Mixture will be quickly burned away, and only pure holiness will remain in the fire.

This past Sunday afternoon, I was meeting with a few close friends. We were seated in a relatively close circle each sharing from our hearts and from the scriptures. Something was said about being thirsty for the coming of more fullness of God or something like that. I heard in my spirit that it was in us and needed to flow out of us as living water. I read a couple of scriptures from John.

John 4:13-14: Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 7:38: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

As I read these verses I began to feel a strong stirring of unrest and dissatisfaction within. I began to proclaim that it is in us. We have it and are not letting it flow out to each other. We thirst and do not have, because we are not pouring out the rivers of living water to each other. I don’t have it because you are not letting it flow out to me. I was saying something like that when suddenly the fire of God fell upon me. The Spirit of God came UPON me and fire (glory) came upon my being like I have not experienced in a long time, if ever before.

At my age, I usually get up from a seated position slowly with help by pushing myself up with my arms. When the fire came upon me, I suddenly leapt straight up from my chair with shouts and did some sort of a rapidly stepping scooting sort of a dance or something in a tight circle as tongues and words flowed profusely from me. I could not see anything but the glory. I fell back into my chair and prophesied and praised as the river poured from me. As far as I could tell, glory filled the room and impacted us all. I do not sing at all, but at some point in all this, I actually flowed into spontaneously leading worship choruses. Prophecy, prayer, and praise flowed like a river.

It was like the flow of living water (Spirit) from within flowed out and met the fire of God. Perhaps this is a key to the fire (glory) falling upon us. First the dissatisfaction with our not flowing the living waters of the Spirit of Christ out of us. At the instant we begin to flow the living water, the fire comes.

It is as if the inner flow of the living water of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God’s people can meet up with Holy Fire and create explosive power. The heavy lid of religion with its erroneous theology of doubt and unbelief and our personal gods of prideful self-consciousness have held back the release of the power of the Spirit, creating an extreme back pressure in the bosom of God’s Spirit-filled people.

In the natural realm water contained in an enclosed vessel that is heated with fire becomes steam pressure. As the fire increases the pressure builds, and when the lid comes off, it explodes. At best we have been experiencing small leaks of power flowing out to the atmosphere of the world from the sons of God.

The pressure for the release of God from within us is now ready to explode into the world as God helps us to blow our lid off to full-out release the explosive power of spiritual reality of Christ Jesus.

First the Cross, Next the Spirit, Now the Fire

After the cross, the resurrected Christ Jesus gathered with His disciples before ascending to the Father and gave them instruction. They were sent by Jesus to do the same work God sent Jesus to do by the same power. Then He breathed the Holy Spirit into them (John 20:21-22).

Prior to this moment the disciples had not received the Holy Spirit. Even though they had followed Jesus and believed He was the Son of God, until Jesus died on the cross they remained of the first Adam. Because of the sinful state of mankind, they could not fully receive the Holy Spirit. However, it was at this moment after the cross, the sin curse had been broken and those who followed Jesus were able to receive the Holy Spirit from the breath of the resurrected Christ. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into them much as God had originally breathed His Spirit into Adam (Gen 2:7).

At this point redemption became a reality for the disciples who now had the Spirit of God in their lives. For the first time since Adam, the Holy Spirit was again within men other than Jesus. However, they did not yet have the full empowerment of the life of Christ Jesus within and upon them. He was still standing before them awaiting His ascension to the Father.

Christ Jesus had to return to the Father and become a “life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor 15:45). Only then could the Holy Spirit impart the fire of Christ Jesus to dwell with and empower the disciples who would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were instructed to not depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the empowering baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8).

All of this took place in a relatively brief period of time. The cross and resurrection had broken the curse of sin and changed the sinful state of the disciples, opening the way for Jesus to breath the Holy Spirit into them before ascending to the Father. Then the promise of the Father could come at Pentecost in the full baptism of the Holy Spirit and FIRE. These works of God were being planted into the world to be multiplied in the fullness of time when all things were made ready.

From the revelation of the work of the Cross by grace through faith being restored around 500 years ago, to the baptism of the Holy Spirit about 100 years ago, to the revelation of the kingdom of God life on earth in the past few decades, to the recent restoration of true holiness by the Spirit within, to the today restoration of the FIRE of Christ Jesus coming UPON pure-hearted Holy Spirit-filled people of God, the restoration continues.

The Fire of God is the Glory of Christ Jesus

Forerunners of FIRE are emerging now. The real and fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire will soon spread to the corners of the earth bringing the manifest presence and power of God into view of all. It will bring great empowerment to the humble and sudden destruction to the pride and loftiness of man. The progressive transformation to the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven is now being clearly seen by God’s people. The gospel of the kingdom is restored and being widely proclaimed. The FIRE of the Spirit of Christ is coming upon Holy Spirit-indwelled people bringing God-empowered LIFE.

The Sword of the Lord Comes with Fire.

Ron McGatlin

http://www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Four Safeguards (Protection Against Deception)

Posted: November 15, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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So our proclamation this time is the last three verses of Psalm 19. Psalm 19:12–14:
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

In the two previous sessions I’ve dealt with, what I consider to be a serious problem in the first session, and in the second session I’ve tried to give a scriptural explanation of how the problem arises. In this final session I want to deal with four scriptural safeguards to keep us from the problem. The first safeguard is contained in 1 Peter 5:5–6, starting at the end of verse 5 and going through verse 6.
. . . God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

I believe that’s the first essential requirement—is that we HUMBLE OURSELVES. The Bible says, “God resists the proud…” So if we are trying to get into the presence of God and we have pride, we may push but He pushes against us, and He pushes harder than we can.

In the Bible there’s no place where it says that God will make us humble. Always, God puts the responsibility upon us. We have to humble ourselves. It’s a decision. We have to make it. No one can make it for us. People can pray for us, and preach to us, but we have to make the decision to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt us in due time.

I said already, I think, pride is the greatest single problem, and the most common problem, and the most destructive problem. We saw earlier that “pride goes before destruction.” If we do not turn back from the way of pride, our end will be destruction.

Now there is something in Psalm 25 which I find very helpful and inspiring. Psalm 25:8–9:
Good and upright is the LORD;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.

It’s the grace of the Lord that He’s willing to teach us sinners at all. But God enrolls His students, not by their intellectual qualifications, but by their character. A lot of people can go to a Bible school or a seminary or whatever else, but never be enrolled in God’s school, because God only enrolls the humble.

“The humble He guides in justice, the humble He teaches His way.”

The Old King James used to say the “meek.” I find in the modern translations that word “meek” has just dropped out. What’s the difference between humble and meek? As I see it, humble is your inner attitude, meek is the way you express it. We don’t need the word meek very much now days, because there are very few people to whom it applies. It’s very significant the words that we’re no longer using. Usually there’s a reason.

The next safeguard is in 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12.
The coming of the lawless one [that’s the antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

Bear in mind, Satan is capable of producing power, and signs, and wonders. I have frequently commented that the obvious place for the antichrist to arise would be in the Charismatic movement, because most Charismatics seem to thing that anything supernatural must be from God. That’s not so. Satan is capable of great supernatural signs and wonders. So how do we protect ourselves? It goes on:
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

So what is our protection against deception? RECEIVING THE
LOVE OF THE TRUTH. And again, it’s something we do. God will offer it to us, we have to receive it. Now those who do not receive the love of the truth, God says this:

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

That’s a frightening verse. God will send them strong delusion. If God sends you strong delusion, you will be deluded.

In 1994, this is a personal subjective comment, I got up one night to go to the bathroom in Jerusalem, and I was walking back to my bed, God impressed upon my mind very clearly that He had sent strong delusion to the present Israeli government. I think everything that has happened since amply confirms that. It’s a very significant statement because if God has sent strong delusion, it’s no good praying for people not to be deluded. I think there are a lot of sentimental prayers about the Middle East which don’t amount to anything.

There are two words that are used in a soulish way to manipulate people. One is peace, the other is love. So the people of the Middle East, and I think probably the people of the world are being manipulated by the offer of peace. You see, if you’re against that you’re wicked. Anybody who is against peace is a bad person. How can you afford not to agree with it.

There are conditions for peace. In Isaiah, the prophet says, “There is no peace to the wicked.” And in Romans it says, “The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy.” You cannot have peace apart from righteousness. I know lots of Christians that are praying for joy, but if they don’t meet the condition of righteousness it’s not available to them. I find that peace is a word that’s used by politicians to manipulate people. They are deceiving people, because peace will not come to the unrighteousness.

The other manipulating word is love, which is used in the church. We talk a lot about the love of God, be loving, God is so loving, He is so kind. It’s all true, but God is also a very strict God. I have personally come to this conclusion on the basis of my own experience and observation of people close to me—you cannot get away with anything with God!

Nothing! You may think you’ve got away with it and God may forgive you, but you’ll still expect the consequences. See, God forgives but He does not always release us from the consequences of what we’ve done. So it’s better not to do it. So don’t have any sentimental picture of God. He’s not a Father Christmas doling out candy to little children. He’s very just, very righteous, very loving, but in a sense very severe. You cannot get away with a thing with God. So don’t try.

I feel that love is being used to manipulate people at the present time. People are talking about the love of God and God is so loving. It’s all true, but God’s love is expressed in surprising ways. As I quoted earlier, Jesus said to the church of Laodicea, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” That’s love. God is our Father and He loves us, but He also disciplines us.

There are two wrong ways of responding to the discipline of God. We look in Hebrews 12 for a moment and this is addressed to Christians. Hebrews 12:5–8:
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Now there are two wrong ways of responding to God’s chastening. The first one says, “Do not despise the chastening of the Lord.” Do not just shrug your shoulder and say, “Well, so what?” My observation is that many mature Christians don’t believe that God will discipline them any longer. The truth is, He never stops disciplining. This was brought home to me so vividly when I was reading the account of Moses. At the age of 80 God chose him and commissioned him to be the deliverer of Israel from Egypt, sent him back to Egypt. But on the way, the Lord met him at the inn and tried to kill him.

Extraordinary! Why? Because he had not circumcised his son. He had disobeyed the sign of the covenant that God had made with Abraham and his descendants. So God would rather have seen Moses die than go through with his ministry in disobedience.

Sometimes we say, “Satan is resisting me” and the truth of the matter is it isn’t Satan. It’s God. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The other wrong reaction is, do not be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him. Don’t say, “This is more than I can take. God why do you let this happen to me. I can’t stand this. I’m not going to take it.” Those are the two wrong reactions. Despise it and be discouraged.

What about the love of the truth? The Greek word for love there is the one we are all familiar with “agape.” It’s a very strong word. It’s the strongest word in the Greek language for “love.” So it’s not just reading your Bible every morning, or going to church and listening to the sermon. It’s a passionate commitment to the truth of God. That’s what we have to cultivate if we are to escape delusion. God will send strong delusion to those who have not received the “agape” love of the truth. That’s more than just having a quiet time or reading your Bible at week ends. That is a passionate commitment to the truth of God.

I think I can say without being boastful, God has given me that. I’m not boasting, but I think God has given me a passionate commitment to the truth. Every time I hear something that I don’t think is truth, something in me rises up. So that’s something that God can do for you, but you have to let Him do it. So that’s the second safeguard.

RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH.

The third safeguard is to CULTIVATE THE FEAR OF THE LORD. A lot of Christians say there’s no more fear in the Christian life. That’s not true. Certain kinds of fear are excluded. I’m going to give you a list of Scriptures now. Ruth and I have memorized at least 20 different passages about the fear of the Lord. The promises are so exciting that I can’t understand why anybody doesn’t want the fear of the Lord. I will give you some of them. Psalm 34:11–14:
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit [guile].
Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

So the implication is that the fear of the Lord will cause God to give you many days of good life. The first area that God deals with is what? The tongue. “Keep you tongue from evil, your lips from speaking guile.”

Then in Psalm 19:9 it says:
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The fear of the Lord will never cease, it endures forever.

And in Job 28:28:
. . . ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.’

Notice that the primary requirement for wisdom and understanding is not intellectual, it’s moral. It’s to depart from evil. There are lots of clever fools around.

Proverbs 8:13:
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.

Notice, you cannot be neutral about evil if you have the fear of the Lord. You have to hate it. And the first thing you hate is what? Pride. Arrogance.

Proverbs 9:10–11:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

For by me your days will be multiplied And years of life will be added to you.

So you want a long life? Cultivate the fear of the Lord. And a good life. It’s not enough to live long. You can live long in misery. But the fear of the Lord, God offers us a long and blessed life.

Proverbs 14:26–27:
In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge.

So the fear of the Lord doesn’t make you timid, it gives you strong confidence, and it provides a place of refuge for your children, which in these days I think is very important. The next verse says:

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
To avoid the snares of death.

That’s a very vivid picture. Satan has set snares. Snares of death. How can we avoid them? Through the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 19:23 is almost incredible. I can hardly believe, but it’s in the Bible.

The fear of the LORD leads to life.

And he who has it will abide in satisfaction;
He will not be visited with evil.

How can you turn down a promise like that? “Abide in satisfaction, not be visited with evil.” It doesn’t mean you’ll have an easy life.

Proverbs 22:4:
By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life.

You’ll find at least 50 per cent of the time, the fear of the Lord is directly connected with life. It is one primary condition for a good life. And then, I think most important of all, in a way, is the prophetic picture of Messiah. Isaiah 11:1–2, and I think we all know that this is fulfilled in Jesus.

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. [All the New Testament scriptures confirm that this is Jesus. Now listen.]
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit and wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
It’s interesting to see that the Spirit that rests on Jesus is seven-fold. Seven is always the number of the Holy Spirit. It says in Revelation 4:5 that before the throne of God there were seven lamps of fire which are the seven Spirits of God. Personally I understand this passage to reveal to us the seven Spirits of God.

The first is the Spirit of the Lord, that is the Spirit that speaks in the first person as God. Then they all come after that in pairs. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of counsel and might. The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. I think it’s important to see that knowledge has to be balanced by the fear of the Lord, because knowledge puffs up. But the fear of the Lord keeps us humble. It speaks volumes to me that that Spirit was upon Jesus; the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. Though He was the Son of God, He had the fear of the Lord. It rested upon Him. It never lifted from Him.

Continuing with the fear of the Lord, the fear of the Lord is a counter balance to joy. It’s very important that we don’t just get excited, but we’re anchored by the fear of the Lord. Again, I think this is a tremendous weakness in the Charismatic movement. People get all excited and happy and clap their hands, dance around, which is wonderful. But, not without the fear of the Lord. Psalm 2:11 says:
Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.

Now that seems to be inconsistent, but it’s the balance. You rejoice but with trembling. You stand in awe while you are rejoicing. This is carried over into the New Testament in Acts 9:31 it describes the growth of the church in Judea, and it says:

Then the churches [or the church] throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified [or built up]. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Again, notice the balance. The Holy Spirit comforts us, but we have to walk in the fear of the Lord. We can be encouraged, we can be built up, but that must be balanced by the fear of the Lord.

Well you might say, “Well, Brother Prince, I’ve been redeemed. I’m a child of God. Surely I don’t need to fear God anymore.” The answer is you do all the more, because you are redeemed. Because of the price that God paid to redeem you. That’s stated in 1 Peter 1:17–19:

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work [and each one includes you and me], conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay [or sojourning] here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

So the very fact that we’ve been redeemed is a reason to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear, because God invested so much in us. He paid for us with the blood of Christ. So we have no excuse to be flippant. You see flippancy is really a denial of the fear of the Lord.
Then the fourth and the final safeguard is MAKE AND KEEP THE CROSS CENTRAL. I looked at the example of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1–5:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom declaring to the testimony [or mystery] of God.

You have to bear in mind that in that culture the highest achievement was oratory. If you were anything, you were an excellent speaker otherwise you were probably despised. So Paul when he says, “I laid aside excellent speech,” in a sense was saying “I am not bowing to this culture.” For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

We looked at the fact that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. When we have all the strength we need of our own, we don’t need God’s strength. God has to bring us to the place where we don’t have strength. I have seen in my own experience in ministry continually, if God is going to use me in any significant way He has to bring me to the place where I know I can’t do it. Where I know I am totally dependent upon Him. That I am weak, then His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

Let me say something else in this connection. I just discovered that the opportunities to serve God seldom suit our convenience. Generally speaking, if God gives you an opportunity to serve Him, it will be inconvenient in some way. That’s to test the sincerity of your motives. But if we want God’s strength manifested in our lives, in our ministry, in our congregations, we have to cultivate the fear of the Lord.

We have to cultivate a sense of dependence, an acknowledgment of our total dependence upon God. This is just personal, but every time before I preach, I tell God I know, “I don’t have the ability. I’m totally dependent upon You. If You don’t anoint me, if You don’t inspire me, if You don’t strengthen me I cannot do it.” Every now and then I may stand up to preach and forget to do that. And mentally in my mind while I am preaching I’ll say, “Lord, please remember I’m dependent upon You. I cannot do it in my own strength. And then Paul goes on to say,

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

And I pointed out, the key to releasing the power of the Holy Spirit is to be focused on the cross. There’s a hymn which says, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory die. My richest gain I count by loss and pour contempt on all my pride.” When we really see the cross we have nothing to boast of. It’s interesting, the original version of that hymn, which was written by an Englishman, was “When I survey the wondrous cross where the young Prince of glory die…” He was pointing our that Jesus was cut off in His prime. He died in His very best age. I believe one of our greatest needs is to focus on the cross.

I’ve see people very ambitious, striving for success, wanting to build a large church. Sometimes they succeed. But unless the whole message is focused on the cross, they don’t have much but wood, hay, and straw.

I’m reminded of a well-known English preacher of a previous generation called Charles Spurgeon, a Baptist, and he was continually emphasizing to his students the importance of focusing on the cross. One day he said something like this, “To preach the principles of the Christian life and make no mention of the cross, is like a drill sergeant giving orders to a squad of soldiers who have no feet. They can hear his orders and understand them, but they lack the ability to carry them out. And it’s only through the cross that we get the ability to do what God tells us to do.”

So let us look again at the first five verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. These are some of my favorite verses because I came to the Lord sovereignly from a background of Greek philosophy. And when Paul speaks about wisdom as he does, he’s talking about Greek philosophy. So I think, I’m particularly able to appreciate the impact of what he says about wisdom.

We need to understand when we read these verses that Paul is speaking about a certain part of his ministry journey. In Acts 17 he was in Athens, which was the intellectual center, the university city of the ancient world. He preached a sermon unlike any other that is recorded. It was a somewhat intellectual sermon. He adapted himself to his audience and even quoted from a Greek poet, which I don’t think he ever did at any other time. I wonder whether Paul was really led by the Holy Spirit. At any rate, the results were very disappointing. Just a few people believed.

From Athens Paul went on to Corinth. Now Corinth was a port city, somewhat like the major port cities of our present world. A very wicked city where every kind of sin flourished. Somewhere between Athens and Corinth, Paul made a decision which is recorded in these verses.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the mystery of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words or human wisdom, but of demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

So Paul made a revolutionary decision somewhere. He wasn’t going to preach that kind of message in Corinth that he preached in Athens. He said something which, for a Jew, is remarkable. He said, “I determine not to know anything.” And basically the Jews are a people who know a lot. Often their confidence is in what they know. He made an amazing statement, “I determine not to know anything. I forget everything I’ve learned at the feet of Gamaliel, in all my studies. Forget it all. I’m only concerned with one thing—Jesus Christ. And not just Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ crucified. That’s the center and the focus of my message.”

I believe it should be the focus and the center of our message. I believe that if we ever get away from the cross as central we are in danger. I notice that Paul expected the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power. I find today in our contemporary church that if you preach about power, everybody gets excited. If you appeal to people who want to receive power, many people will come forward. Personally, I believe this emphasis on power if extremely dangerous. Observing, as I’ve observed over a good many years, what happens to people who focus on power, they end in trouble. They usually end error.

Power is something that appeals to the natural man. Some psychologists have said that the desire for power is the number one desire in the human personality. Paul said, “I want power, but I want it on a different basis from that which the world understand. I want to forget all my wisdom, all my knowledge, all my theological qualifications. I want to focus on only one thing; Jesus Christ crucified.” Then he said in effect, “When I do that, I can be sure that the Holy Spirit will come in power.”

So, I’m just going to close with one of my favorite Scriptures, Galatians 6:14:

But God forbid that I should glory or boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Let me just recapitulate my four suggested safeguards.

No. 1 HUMBLE OURSELVES – and in that passage Peter says, “Our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” So the devil is very powerful and very active. Any theology that tells you different is a deception. I was meditating on the list yesterday evening and I was thinking, suppose that an announcement was made that a lion was loose on the ground floor of this hotel, and you needed to get out. I don’t think you would walk through the lobby humming a cheerful little chorus. You’d be very circumspect how you made your exit and you’d be very interested in closing the door behind you.

That I believe is a picture of how we need to conduct ourselves, because our adversary the devil is walking about like a roaring lion. We can’t change that. Incidentally, you know why lions roar?

It’s to terrify their prey. To paralyze them. So don’t be paralyzed by the lion’s roar. Be very cautious. Be very circumspect. But you don’t have to give way to fear. So that was number one safeguard—HUMBLE OURSELVES.

No. 2 RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH

NO. 3 CULTIVATE THE FEAR OF THE LORD

NO. 4 MAKE AND KEEP THE CROSS CENTRAL.

Now, I want to suggest that we quote Galatians 6:14 together. I don’t expect you all to know it by heart, so I’ll say it phrase by phrase and you say it after me.
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
Amen.

By Derek Prince

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