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“I called you out of your sins. And I have set you within sight of
everyone around you, that I may glorify my name. It was I who called
you out. And I will deliver you in the sight of the ungodly, for my
name’s sake.”
Sometimes I tell people to STOP READING their bibles and start memorizing, get it in your heart. Deep inside. So that at a seconds notice at 3AM you can rehearse the word of God in season and out. Too many people spend too much time reading and not enough inculcating it. You can't impart what you don't possess. God will take what is in you and use it to speak to you. If all that is in there is movies, books, tapes and gossip God won't be able to speak to you. He speaks thru his word stored up in your storehouse. What is in there comes out. Fresh water from Springs.
God wants to bring our eyes and our ears to a living realization of what the Word of God is, what the Lord God means, and what we may expect if we believe it.
I am certain that the Lord wishes to put before us a living fact which shall, by faith, bring into action a principle which is within our own hearts, so that Christ can dethrone every power of Satan.
It is only the truth of God’s Word revealed to our hearts that can make us so much greater than any idea of ourselves that we had.
I believe that there are volumes of truth right in the midst of our own hearts. There is the need for revelations and for stirring ourselves up to understand the mightiness which God has within us. We may prove what He has accomplished in us if we will only be willing to accomplish that which He has accomplished in us.
One thing God has given to me from my youth up is a taste or relish for no other book except the Bible. I can say before God, I have never read a book but the Bible, so I know nothing about books.
As I have peeped into books, I have seen in some of them perhaps one reason for good people to say, “That is a good book.”
Oh, but how much better to get the Book of books which contains nothing but God. If a book is commended because it has something about God in it, how much more shall the Word of God be food for the soul, the strengthening of the believer, and the building up of the human order of character with God, so that all the time he is being changed by the Spirit of the Lord from one state of glory into another.
We shall become flat, anemic, and helpless without the Word, dormant and so helpless to take hold of the things of God.
The Word is everything. The Word has to become everything. When the heavens and the earth are melted away, then we shall be as bright, brighter than the day, and going on to be consistent because of the Word of God.
The Coming Perfect Storm
By John Paul Jackson
For those of you who have followed this ministry, you have heard me say more than once during the past eight years that from 2009 or 2010, things will become very difficult. I have been praying and hoping that what I am about to write may be averted. However, I am now concerned that without prophetic people speaking up, we will not play our redemptive part in bringing change for the good.
Five Elements of the Brewing Perfect Storm
As in the movie The Perfect Storm, the storm I see coming to the United States is a combination of more than one element, and when the elements unite, the storm becomes exponentially more dangerous. However, unlike the movie, this storm is not just a storm of merging weather patterns. This storm is worse. It involves five different elements: religion, politics, economics, war and geophysical events.
At times these five elements will be so intertwined that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish which events are driving a particular manifestation of the storm. Massive problems in these five areas will come often, or in combination, and sometimes repeatedly. Each element has potentially several events that will have national and international ripple effects. Some ripples will be worse than others, depending on where you live and how you make your living. Different areas of the United States will experience different severities. Some will experience more economic elements, others more geophysical elements; some will experience all elements. Remember, it is the combination and the rapidity that will make the storm problematic.
Also, this does not mean all five elements will hit at the most devastating levels. For example, on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being the worst, one element may strike at a six while another strikes at an eight. It is the particular combinations of elements--the proximity of each element as well as the intensity of each element--that will make this storm so difficult and seem to last so long. This storm will not be short-lived; it will come in waves, one after another.
Why Is the Storm Coming?
This storm is coming because the church (the body of Christ) is no longer the backbone of this nation. From our inception, the Christian faith has been the plumb line of decisions made at all levels of life. The Christian founding of this nation is what makes it different from every other nation, other than perhaps Israel. Other nations may have become Christian in their focus, but none was initially formed with Christianity as the core of its DNA.
The church is to make known God’s manifold wisdom to the world and the powers of the air (see Eph. 2:2). This demonstration to the heavens is not accomplished by speaking to those powers but through righteous living. How we live opens or closes doors for Satan to legally afflict us and even rule over us via leaders who do not know the ways of God. From Adam and Eve through today, the actions of humankind have given room for the enemy to strike and attack us. The only legal way the enemy has access to us is when the hand of God lifts from us, resulting in a space between Him and us. This space increases as we distance ourselves from Him and His ways.
Anytime there is an increased distance between God and humanity, it leaves room for attack to come and for principalities and powers of the air (rulers of darkness) to take up residence. The longer dark powers reside over an area, the more the people begin to call right wrong and wrong right. Here in the United States, leaders arise from the people; in other words, as the people believe and think, so do the leaders who rise from their ranks. Eventually, the lines between right and wrong, as well as [between] the holy and the profane, become blurred. The way to God through Jesus and the cross is no longer seen as an absolute. In fact, absolutes become touted as “intolerance” first in the world and then even within the church. Yes, there are exceptions to this thinking within the Church, but through compromise, the absolutes of heaven and eternity are clearly evaporating.
God Can Fashion a Disaster
We are living in the days of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who prophesied that God can bring disaster on a nation if that nation continually chooses to walk according to its own plans. God spoke this to Jeremiah:
”The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
“Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”’”
And they said, “… We will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart” (Jer. 18:7–12, NKJV).
What Are Some Things That Are Coming?
What are some of the things/consequences that will come? In time, water will be more expensive than oil, and cities will evacuate thousands because there is not enough water to meet their needs. (As Amos 4:7 says, “I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city.”) Earthquakes not only will strike coastal areas but also will devastate the Midwest. Israel will bomb Iran, and anti-Semitism will escalate as fuel costs soar. A dirty bomb will explode in a coastal city. There will be thunderstorms with huge hail, 24 inches of rain in 24 hours, three feet of snow in six hours, record-setting tornadoes with winds of more than 350 miles per hour, and tornadoes in unusual places. There will be an unexpected blight that will hit various hybrid seed crops and weaken the yield. In addition, drought and devastation from storms will dramatically cut into various harvests, and the national food storage [supply] will deplete.
“Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good”’” (Jer. 18:11).
Four Things the Church Must Do
First, the church must return to knowing God and His ways rather than just knowing about God. We have replaced power with programs, revelation with administration and the Father’s heart with organizational skills.
Second, the church must learn how to contend for the faith again. We are weak, and we fall away so easily when a crisis is not at hand. We have not been tested, and we have lost our resolve. We understand little of the adversary’s plans. We do not know how to debate our faith without becoming angry, and thus we have few strong, clear, godly voices in political arenas. We have lost our witness--the witness that convicts others and strongly testifies that God is still God and is very, very real. We have lost the witness that demonstrates that God is a personal God in a very impersonal world, the witness that says, “What I do proves God exists.”
Third, the church must return to the love of God’s Word and the belief that it is infallible and inerrant. This would include the conviction, understanding and knowledge that God is absolute, and there is only one way to know Him: through Jesus the Messiah. We need a new revelation that God’s power is unlimited, His knowledge is unending, His presence is with us always and He never changes. We have made God far too small, and our lives prove it.
Fourth, we will need to declare sacred and solemn assemblies of repentance and corporate fasting in many parts of this nation--a time set aside for rending our hearts before God.
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him--A grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord” (Joel 2:12–17).
Crisis Is the Fruit of Following the Wrong God
You may think such persecution won't come until the distant future. But right now, various ecumenical groups are drafting theological statements for the one-world church union. And they're dealing with what they call "the Jesus issue."
Already the European Union of nations has drawn up laws forbidding any criticism of its activities. Soon, no one will be able to publicly question the union. I believe this type of climate will give rise to the one-world church. The European Union's laws are now only a step away from forbidding "religious bigotry" and outlawing proselytizing in the name of any religion.
In my opinion, this is all part of Satan's wrath against the holy seed of Christ on earth. He's waging war by enraging multitudes, regardless of their belief, against Christians. More and more, we'll see the devil mobilizing masses to confront anyone who believes Jesus alone has the power to save. Suddenly, everyone who ignored us before will ask us pointedly, "Do you believe Jesus is the only way to heaven? I'm a good person, but I don't believe in anything. Are you telling me I'll go to hell because I don't believe your Jesus is God?"
Taking a stand for truth may cost us our jobs, careers, friendships. In some countries, it's already costing Christians their lives. Yet Jesus is our example of how to respond. When the high priest asked, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?", Jesus answered without hesitation, "I am" (Mark 14:61-62).
Soon the whole world will ask us to accept another Jesus. They'll pressure us to put aside our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. They'll want us to deny his virgin birth, his supernatural power, his miracles, his sacrificial death, his resurrection, his second coming. Yet, as his followers, we know these are truths on which eternity hinges. And we must be willing to die for them.
Save others by snatching them from the fire [of hell]. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives.
How can one even begin to understand the inwardness of a man being summoned before the King. A king with whom no one can see. How can we grasp this upward, inward pulling within ourselves. It’s Him, again; beckoning us to come- alone and be with Him. Who can understand that their is someone whom we have never seen… yet have such an effect on us. How do we explain the longing’s of a deep, pure love, that is tangible. He wants me right now, what do I do? How do we respond to such a love that can not even be expressed with mere words. It’s almost like His heart beats.. boom… boom… inside of me; I can hear it; I can feel it; He wants me (you), now. We are connected He and I (you).
So this is His deep calling to my deep; a healthy good ache in our heart that will not go away. We don’t want anything but the purity of who He is living and breathing inside us. Were wanting, desiring to be near Him; because that is the only thing that will satisfy us.
Shsh! Quite, close your eyes for a moment… Do you feel that… inside your heart, it is the voice of our beloved, His desire is towards you; He is so real we cannot deny it.
How much longer Sweetie?
Boom, Boom, Boom,… I hear you Jesus.
© Desiree Lamphier
Chanukah is a celebration of the miracle of light, as the oil and the lamp burned for 8 days. Jesus coming into the world and into our lives as Savior is also a miracle of light.
To celebrate Chanukah (sometimes spelled Hanukah) is to give God honor and praise for His miraculous protection over, and provision for, His people Israel.
As Believers in Yeshua ha Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah), there are very meaningful and important parallels that can be drawn from this, the Jewish "Festival of Lights." I've shared a few of those below, some of which were originally posted back in 2005, when the first day of Chanukah actually fell on Christmas day. This year, Chanukah begins today; Monday, December 22nd.
For those who are unfamiliar with the historical account behind Chanukah, I've first included some facts…
Chanukah History:
At about 168 BC, during the time the Syrian/Greeks had taken over the Temple in Jerusalem, a band of Jewish rebels known as Macabees, headed up a successful revolt and defeated the Syrian armies—against all odds—reclaiming the Temple for the Jews. The battle was led by Judah and his four brothers. The name Macabee is actually an acrostic for "Who among the mighty is like Thee O God?"
According to the Mishna, it took 8 days to recapture and clean out the Temple. The Talmud says the Syrian/Greek armies had desecrated all the specially prepared jugs of oil which the Jewish High Priest would use for lighting the lamp. However, after searching, they found one small jug left undefiled, containing barely enough oil for one day. The High Priest lighted the lamp and it miraculously burned for eight days, until more oil could be brought in—a beautiful picture of God's sovereign provision for His people.
Parallels between Chanukah and Christmas:
Chanukah is a celebration of the miracle of light, as the oil and the lamp burned for 8 days. Jesus coming into the world and into our lives as Savior is also a miracle of light. John chapter 1 tells us, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
What is exciting to me when we look at the observances of both Chanukah and Christmas, is the definition behind the name of each celebration. Chanukah means "dedication" or "rededication." Christmas means "the birth of Christ."
Perhaps God speaks to each Believer through these two memorials of His faithfulness to "rededicate" the "birth of Christ" in their lives.
In Rev. 2, in the Bible, Jesus praises the Church in Ephesus for their good works for the Kingdom, however, He warns them that they have left their "first love." He tells them to "remember therefore where you have fallen" and to do the things they did at first, which speaks of rededication.
Also, since the oil, by all natural laws should've been used up after the first day; but continued to provide the lamp with fuel to burn until more could be found or produced, it is a visual reminder of how God miraculously provides for His children. That is a miracle—of provision—which we saw duplicated on at least a couple occasions by Jesus, in the multiplication of food.
The message is clear, and one we desperately need to remember in this time of uncertain economy; Jehovah Jireh—God is our Provider.
Another noteworthy point from the story of Chanukah is that Judah the Macabee was the one who led the offensive to reclaim the Temple. The name "Judah" means praise and, as stated before, the word Macabee is an acrostic for the phrase "Who among the mighty is like Thee O God?" which is also praise. I believe praise and worship can lead the way in rededicating our lives back to our Savior Jesus Christ.
We can reclaim and rededicate our temple of the Holy Spirit, as we come into a place of deep and intimate worship and praise of our awesome God; remembering how He first saved us.
Finally and interestingly enough, one of the traditional songs sung at Chanukah is Maoz Tzur or Rock of Ages. (Not to be confused with the Christian hymn.) The transliteration of the first stanza of this 800-year-old song is as follows:
O mighty stronghold of my salvation, to praise You is a delight.
Restore my House of Prayer and there we will bring a thanksgiving offering.
When You will have prepared the slaughter for the blaspheming foe,
Then I shall complete with a song of hymn the dedication of the Altar.
May the Lord restore our "Houses of Prayer" this Christmas—and this Chanukah—as we remember our first love for the One who gave His life for us, and who has made us each a temple for the light of His Holy Spirit.
And may we each rededicate our lives to our purpose as Believers spoken of in 1 Peter 2:9- "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
A great persecution is coming to the holy remnant of saints.
Satan's ecumenical union of churches will bring about a great persecution. And the union itself will be the chief persecuting force. Even now, the Russian Orthodox Church is pressuring Russia's government to shut down all evangelical churches in that country. They want to drive out evangelical Christianity completely from their midst.
Here in America we see the beginnings of the same kind of pressure. I was handed a videotape of a network TV interview with a well-known evangelist. The interviewer asked the minister point blank: "Will Muslims be saved? And will Jews be saved if they don't believe in Jesus?"
Clearly, the evangelist was being pressed into a corner. He knew if he answered with Peter's statement, "There is no other name whereby men can be saved except Jesus Christ, the Son of God," he would have been despised. The press would have crucified him.
Instead, the evangelist was applauded for his answer: "Muslims love Jesus. And Jews have the Spirit of Jesus in them. Yes, they'll both be saved." I couldn't believe what I heard this committed Christian leader saying.
It's impossible to be accepted by the world if you take a stand on the divinity of Christ. You'll be shunned and rejected, made a target of mockery. On the other hand, any minister who's praised by the world and by other religions has compromised Christ's gospel. Such a person preaches another Jesus.
I believe the whole world will make this the defining question in the days ahead: "Do you believe in the exclusiveness of Jesus Christ? Are people going to hell because they don't believe he's the only way to salvation?" We'll be confronted with this by non-believing friends, coworkers, potential employers. They may not ask it in such literal terms, but the question will remain nonetheless. And if we take a stand, answering, "Yes, I believe Jesus alone can save," we'll be seen as religious bigots. We'll be mocked and persecuted as being politically incorrect and intolerant.
Over twenty years ago, Professor James Davison Hunter of the University of Virginia sounded a similar alarm in Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation. In that work, Hunter warned that the rising generation of younger evangelicals -- then mostly college age -- were increasingly uncomfortable with the claim that Jesus is the only Savior and that belief in Christ is necessary in order for a person to go to heaven. Now, those students are old enough to be parents and their influence is becoming more evident year by year. One can almost draw a straight line between Hunter's analysis of 1987 and the Pew report released today.We are in serious deep weeds. The devil is deceiving at light speed.
Can you see Satan's "love trap" in all of this? When the devil's one-world church finally trumpets its message throughout the earth, millions of lukewarm Christians will be deceived. They'll reason, "This all-church union must be okay. Its leaders talk so much about Jesus. Anybody who speaks of Jesus this much has to have a legitimate Christian faith."
They couldn't be more wrong. The very mantra of Satan's devilish union will be, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." Today, evangelical leaders are already asking, "Why can't all groups be one in Jesus? After all, Jews acknowledge Jesus as a prophet. Muslims see him as a good man and a great teacher. Even Sikhs and Hindus respect Jesus."Things are going to get worse, and worse and worse.
There is a difference between the Spirit being in you and the Spirit being with you. For instance, we are getting light now from outside this building. This is exactly the position of every believer that is not baptized with the Holy Ghost. The Spirit is with every person that is not baptized, and they have light from the outside. But suppose all the light that is coming through the window was inside.That is exactly what is to be taking place. We have revelation from outside, revelation in many ways by the Spirit, but after He comes inside, it is revelation from inside which will make things outside right.
We are baptizing people in water, remembering that they are put to death, because every believer ought to be covered. Every believer must be put to death in water baptism. The baptism of the Spirit is to be planted deeper until there is not a part of you that is left. There is a manifestation of the power of the new creation by the Holy Spirit right in our mortal bodies.
Where once we were, now He reigns supreme, manifesting the very Christ inside of us, the Holy Ghost fulfilling all things right there.
Every tongue in creation is going to testify, not that Mohammad is Lord, nor Allah, nor any of Hinduism's million gods, but that Jesus Christ is the one and only Lamb of God. That is the issue at the heart of this war. Yet, don't be mistaken: the present war isn't over a name.
It's over the divinity of Jesus, the resurrected, Lord.
Right now, the backslidden, ecumenical church is racing into the arms of Satan's strategy for a one-world church. Eventually, this unified church is going to include all of the world's major religions: Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, even Evangelical
Of course, the Jesus who binds these groups together will be a different Christ, of a different gospel. Yet the very name will cause once-evangelical denominations to join with other faiths, saying, "We can agree on one thing: Jesus was a teacher and a prophet. And he's a spirit of human goodness in all of us. We all can accept him as a holy man."
Protestantism. And Satan will accomplish a single compromise between these religions, to bring this unity about. What will bind them together? The name of Jesus.Imagine the Creator of the universe being reduced to this. Jesus will no longer be accepted as the Christ, the divine Lord. The ecumenical church will do away with any idea of his resurrection and saving power. Instead, they'll use him to unite others in Satan's own one-world religion.
The fact is, the whole world can embrace a Jesus who's only a man.Satan has no problem with that. He can accept the world's admiration and praise of a human-only Jesus. Indeed, many writers have extolled Jesus' human works yet scoffed at his divinity. Some of the most flowery words ever written about him have been authored by agnostic
In addition to this is the way all this is couched in LOVE. Jesus LOVE.
ministers.
But to you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. Malachi 4:2
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11
Matthew 24:24, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."Deception will result in spiritual blindness. Saul of Tarsus was a man who was educated, respected, experienced, credentialed. And deceived. Even the VERY elect will understand the blindness of Saul. A blindness that had to be healed before his name became Paul.
2009 is a Year of Evangelistic Harvest!
The year 2009 will indeed become the beginning of one of the most unprecedented times of harvest this nation and the world has ever experienced. We must be ready for such reaping. Reaping is best for those who have prepared their nets. We must now have our visions of a move of God raised higher. The world around us is experiencing this in a way most Americans have not yet experienced.
Take time to follow the Lord drawing you into a deep hunger for intimacy with Him and the sheep of His pasture. He cares for everyone in His creation. He made us to glorify Him in all the earth. 2009 will be a year that is initiated in many exciting ways. Begin to thank the Lord for all His love and grace and care that He gave us - it's more than we would ever deserve.
2009 will be a Year for Praise and Thanksgiving!
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:4
King David appointed Levites to lead in prayer, thanksgiving, and praise in 1 Chronicles 16. At the heart of this chapter is thanksgiving. Beginning in verse seven, David recited his own "psalm of thanks to the LORD.'' The verses following reveal a beautiful song of gratitude to God. True worship of God issues forth from grateful hearts.
A feeling such as bitterness, envy, hostility, and pride disqualifies anyone from genuine worship. Thanksgiving opens up the door of the heart toward God in such a way that the individual is freed for true worship of God. Everywhere in Scripture this spirit of thanksgiving is revealed as vital to our worship experience. Let's exchange a spirit of bitterness for a spirit of thanksgiving!
King David had a lifestyle of one trial after another which could've been his ending at any moment if he ever gave into defeat. However, like the same sinew of faithfulness that Joseph and Jacob possessed, they allowed themselves no room for destruction. Praise and worship before Almighty God became not only a healing salve to their tattered souls, but also a weapon of praise against the wiles of the devil. Yes, incorporate praise as a lethal weapon in our spiritual arsenal.
"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever!" Psalm 30:11-12
Be like David and then have a spirit of thanksgiving for saving him from his enemies. "You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of Your name, lead me out of this peril. Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in You alone. I entrust my spirit into Your hand. Rescue me, LORD, for You are a faithful God" (Psalm 31:3-5 emphases added).
Many battles will indeed come our way in the next few years, as God is about to shake our nation as never before, but we will learn in this season of testing to "entrust our spirit into the Lord's hand."
We have had a real year of trials of our faith, yet that is what makes Christians stronger! King David said it this way, in Psalm 34:19, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."
Now is the time to begin drawing into the heart of our Lord and to thank Him for all He has done for us. This is a season in time to decree and press in for you and your family to experience in 2009 and beyond - the Fullness of Blessings!
It started in Illinois. Where will it end?
9 = THE NUMBER OF JUDGMENT. There are 9 greek words derived from the root word meaning judgment = dikay. The following words each occur 9 times in the Bible: abussos (bottomless pit); asebee (ungodly); aselgeia (lasciviousness); and astrapee (lightning). The gifts of the spirit are 9 in number (1 Cor. 12:8-10): the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
