Revelation

The prayer in Ephesians, beginning with verse 17, sets
the stage for receiving life, revelation, understanding.

"...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of 
revelation in the knowledge of him..."

I do believe if you stopped right there going no further,
you would grow in your faith. Without a revelation
of Jesus, the Bible becomes only a book of stories and
rules. Without revelation we cannot grasp "the hope to 
which we are called"

A dear man of many years came across this prayer at the
age of seventeen. It so took his heart that he prayed it
often throughout each day. His insights into scripture are
stunning! He knows, not just the Bible, but the God of
the Bible. He once took a single scripture and preached
four, 90 minute sermons! Here is that sentence:

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee." Is 26:3

Ah, reader, the blog today is a challenge to me to stay
in a verse; pray it, ponder it, embrace it. Today I took
the prayer out of Ephesians 1 and prayed it over you!

Malcolm Smith lives in Texas and shares weekly by
You Tube--of course!  His website is below:

http://unconditionallovefellowship.com

Two Young Men

I am so impressed with the young men God is raising
up to speak to their generation in a way that my
generation is incapable of--well, most of us! Two
blogs ago I shared information collected from
Daniel Valles who has designed a unique website
and blog called, "informed Christians." It is full of
You Tube videos, charts, and helpful printouts. The
research Daniel does is impressive and he must
spend hours on each of his blogs. His degree is in
computer designing, so he recognizes shop cuts,
additions and deletions in videos and pictures.
Everything he does is Biblically based! He never
makes predictions but he does show the lateness
of the hour!

The second young man of 35 became a Christian one
afternoon after his Mom told God she was finished
trying to reach her son and turned him over to God.
Matt did a 180 and has an unusual gift for seeing
God's sovereignty in everything! He takes a current
event and shows how God was in the mix. I realize
just how old I am when material I have a hard time
understanding, is understood as life changing to the
generation of my children and grandchildren, who
so desperately need a God who is there and who is
active in the events of men!

I will give the web addresses again so you can go in
and poke around. They need the prayers of those of us
who have prayed for God to raise up men for such a
time as this.

Those of you who are working with youth may want
to introduce these sites and let your guys wrestle with
truth that they need to grasp.

http://www.dailycrow.com

http://informedchristians.com/index.php/blog

How Will I Know?

"Jesus answered and said, 'I thank you, Father...
that You have hidden these things from the wise 
and prudent and have revealed them to babes.'"
Matthew 11:25

All of God's revealed truths are sealed until they 
are opened to us through obedience. Even the 
smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the 
deepest truths of God immediately become ours.
(OC)

How many of us cringe at the word, 'obedience.'
I know it is a word I hated for years. One of the
reasons it was so hateful was because as a child I
could not seem to do it right. Even in the trying to
please through obedience, I got things wrong. It is
not that way with God. As soon as we choose to
do a thing, all the powers of heaven are at our
disposal, and with it comes a deeper understanding
of our great God. As I grow older I find that God
is so much undertaking my paltry doings, that
obedience becomes a delightful way to live. How
I wish I had understood the Father heart of God
much sooner. It is the gateway to life and
understanding.

No Time for Tea

In the past few months in particular I have been struck by
the lateness of the hour. The messages have been coming
from the "other side," much more than from the Christian
side. The purpose of this post is to whet your appetite for
more information on a subject that is very much front and
center.

Our world was created in six days and then on the seventh
day, God rested. Jewish scholars have long thought that the
world would last 6,000 years. The end of the 6,000 years is
thought to be 2025, less than nine years away! If this is so,
then we should expect that the Enemy would be getting
things ready for his seven year reign, and letting his dis-
ciples know what to expect. How would He do this?
Movies, Olympic shows, Super Bowl half times, ads, the
use of symbols, and through the UN, which recently saw
the signing of the Climate Treaty in Paris. The opening talk
included this statement, "An upheaval and massive 
change is required now--one that leads to collective 
consciousness. A new collective evolution of the human 
race inspired and enabled by a sense of urgency from all 
of you."
Moon said, "in the significance of the landmark climate 
accord, governments made a covenant with the future." 

This movie trailer for X-Men Apocalypse just came out:
It announced the Master Plan intended for man-kind. It
included pillars, open doorways, a capped pyramid, RNA
recombination when a soul-less man received a soul and
became a beast. He was no longer human, but a beast. A
verbal message was given:
"Just because there isn't war, doesn't mean there is peace--
He's coming!" 
Who is coming? The Anti-Christ! This trailer included
things like nuclear war, destruction of mankind, and hinted
at changes in times and dimensions.

If you want to explore just what has been taking place in
the month of April, as well as a blog called "Cern, Time,
and the Bible," check out this website:

http://informedchristians.com/index.php/blog

Daniel is a master of pulling scripture out to back up what
is being seen in our world today. His focus is on getting the
Bride ready for her Groom. The hour is truly late and we
need to watch and be sober. We need to ask God how we
should live in light of the urgency of the hour. If the seven
year tribulation has to start by 2018--but could be sooner--,
then is not our Lord ready to snatch His Bride from the
coming holocaust? No, we don't know the day or the hour,
but our Lord said we could know the season of His return.

Reader, are you ready? Do you know Him as Savior and
Lord. Has His blood washed you clean? Are you watching
for Him?  See Matthew 24 and 25.

The Earth and the Heavens

'Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look to the earth beneath,
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in
      like manner,
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be
     dismayed.  Is 51:6

The more man talks about saving the planet, the
worse it gets. God says the earth is wearing out.
It is not your imagination. Those who dwell here
will die, but the enemy is working overtime to give
his followers eternal life. Don't buy into it! Only
God, our God, has a salvation that continues
forever and He is the provider of a new earth and
a new heaven to explore and enjoy.

'And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
     and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.
They shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow
     and sighing shall flee away. Is 51:11

Oh, reader, look up! Your redemption draws near!

Was Moses Real?

Perhaps many of you grew up hearing the story of
Moses and how his mother hid him among the reeds
of the Nile River. Then you saw the movie where
Moses parted the Red Sea and the mountain where
Moses received the Ten Commandments. Could you
identify with any of that? After all it was over 3500
hundred years ago.

Hebrews 11:23-27 gives a focus not found in the
story of Exodus. Moses was a unique baby and his
parents knew it. In great faith they hid him for three
months and then let him go into a system where
Jewish babies were in great danger: the kings palace,
that same king who had ordered all Jewish boy babies
to be killed. Moses grew into a very unusual young
man. The invisible God was real to him! More real
than the world Moses lived in.

"He considered the reproach of Christ greater 
wealth than the treasures of Egypt."

Reproach greater wealth? Do those words even fit
together?

That attitude landed him in the desert of Arabia for
40 years. Heat, barren land, bleating sheep, and no
friends or family. Moses did not wither away. How
did he thrive long term in unmoving, unchanging
circumstances? The scripture says this:

"He endured as seeing him who is invisible."

Reader, as I wait for my redemption, my Redeemer,
in the midst of trials, I must take time each day to
focus on the invisible One, who calls me to endure
in the light of the rewards of endurance.

Are You a Turkey?

Yesterday's blog focused on Identity and who you
are apart from what you do. Question: Do you as
a Christian say that you are a 'sinner saved by
grace,' or do you see yourself as a saint who
sometimes sins? Is your identity positional or
based on what you do? These are key questions.
Most who say they are Christians believe that
their identity is in what they do rather than who
they are in Christ. If you do not believe that Jesus
gave you a new heart at salvation, that you are still
a sinner, you will live a defeated Christian life.
Think about the turkey. He pecks on the ground,
gobbles, and constantly looks down. Before new
birth we were all turkeys. But we were transformed
into eagles when God rushed into our lives. Eagles
live high in the craggy mountains or trees, they
soar, they see from afar. However, if the eagle
thinks he is a turkey he will never leave the ground.
If you as a Christian do not realize that a complete
heart transplant was done at your salvation, you
will look at the ground and wish you could fly--
and then you will take flying lessons!!!!

I just read this over again. It has taken me ten
years to grasp the fact of the following verses:

In Adam--All are born of Adam
The first man Adam became a living soul 
       1Cor 15:45
As in Adam all die... 1Cor 15:22

In Christ
The last Adam...a life-giving spirit 1Cor 15:45
In Christ shall all be made alive 1Cor 15:22
The new man...created in righteousness and
      holiness of truth. Eph 4:24
The new man Col 3:10
In the likeness of his resurrection Rom 6:5
Our old man was crucified Rom 6:6

Dearest reader, I pray that the Lord will give you
eyes to see and you will discover you can fly
because you are indeed, an eagle.

Identity

Yesterday I shared a little of my testimony,
so if you missed it, you may want to turn
back the page! I continue:

About ten years ago I discovered verses that
blew me away and which have put me on a
new journey. Romans 5-8 came alive. In
Romans 6 I discovered that God put me into
Jesus so that when He went to the cross and
died, I died; when He was buried my "old 
man" was buried; when He was raised I was
raised to new life. I am a new creation! 

I have been--past tense--crucified with Christ--
Gal 2:20. All things have become new. But, as
I discovered, the thing that has not died is my
flesh. Flesh is the way we get life apart from
Christ. I used flesh to survive until the Lord
came into my life. These fleshly patterns are
like green highways and are still available. So,
the battle is now with the world, the flesh, and
the devil. I can't kill the flesh, but as I
surrender all to the sovereign God, He kills it.
The principle of sin still dwells within, but it is
more like a splinter in that although it is in me,
it is not me.
My identity is in Christ.

Reader, many of you have not even heard that
you are a new creation in Christ now. We think
we will become new creations at our death,
but that is not what scripture says. So, take the
time to mull this over. Read the scriptures for
yourself and I will continue to expand these
concepts in the next few blogs.

"If the Son shall set you free, you shall be 
free indeed."
the truth shall set you free
you have been set free from sin
the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ.
You were called to freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand
firm therefore, and do not submit again to
a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1

PBA

Some background: I have been a Christian for over 65
years and I think I have experienced every new thing
that has come along. I so wanted to please my Lord. In
recent years, I have turned from trendy things to the
men of God in an earlier century, like FB Meyer,
T Austin-Sparks, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee,
and Oswald Chambers. My early years--Jesus came
into my life at age 5--I was so in Love with Him and
took Him everywhere, for you see, I had suffered a
tremendous loss and desperately needed a friend. He
was real; He was there! As time went on I came under
the tyranny of the word 'ought.' It was awful. I ought to
pray more, read my Bible more, give more, serve more.
I had head knowledge and the approval of man, sort of,
but my heart was starving. I was on the treadmill of
PBA
Performance Based Acceptance.
I was not living in relationship with God, I was living
to please Him through what I did for Him. When I
was fourteen I attended a Christian camp and was given
a passage of scripture to memorize. Philippians 3:7-11.
Over the years this scripture has become my life
scripture. Here are a few lines:

"The things that were gain to me I count as loss, dung,
worthless, because of the surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord. That I may gain Christ and be
found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own
that comes from obeying 'the law' but that which
comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from
God that depends on faith.--That I may KNOW HIM,
and the power of His resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like Him in His death."

To be continued...


"

Forgotten?

"...The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has
forgotten me."
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, and
Have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget
         You."
"Behold, I have graven you on the palms
         of My hands...."
(Isaiah 49:14-16)

When things are rough we doubt God and His
love for us. This morning I opened to a hymn:

"Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea;
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart;
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bit me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there! the risen Lamb!
My perfect, spotless Righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace!

One with Himself, I cannot die;
My soul is purchased by His blood;
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God.
(Bancroft  1841-?)

Reader, let the words of this hymn sink in. You are
safe; you are loved. 

Coming to Jesus

"Come to Me..."
Matt 11:28

"When you hear those words, you will know that 
something must happen in you before you can come. 
The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable 
stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless 
you are willing to let Him do so."  (OC)

What is a stronghold? It is a fortified place that grows
when sin is not repented of.

Many years ago I started watching a Christian soap
opera. The thing itself was not a problem but the
hold it had on me was. I was building my schedule
around the daily program. God was speaking but
I did not listen. A dear friend asked me a question as
we lay in a dark room during a conference. With
baited breath, Cheryl asked,  "is there anything God
is asking you not to do? In the stillness, in the
darkness, I could feel a Presence, a pressure. It broke
me and it broke the stronghold to which I was
addicted. The outcome? I was once again able to
come to Jesus without fear; intimacy was
restored.

Reader, talk to Him and ask Him if there is anything
that is keeping you separated from Love.

Reconciliation

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God.
                    1 Corinthians 5:21

Reader, let this verse sink into your very soul.
We are speaking of the Creator of the Universe.

God made His Son, who knew no sin, to be made 
sin for us, so that we would have the same 
righteousness as God Himself.


'Jesus Christ reconciled the human race, putting
it back to where God designed it to be. And
now anyone can experience that reconciliation,
being brought into oneness with God, on the
basis of what our Lord has done on the cross."
(OC)

I open countless sights on the net that show man
has decided to become God without the cross. It
is the next stage of evolution. It is an easy pit to
fall into because the movement is so subtle and
sounds so good. Satan is not called the angel of
light for nothing!

The Vision and the Reality

...to those who are...called to be saints...
                1Corinthians 1:2

We have seen what we are not, and what God
wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered
into the shape of the vision to be used by God?
The beatings will always come in the most
common, everyday ways and through common.
everyday people. (OC)

Reader, Just when I think I have a handle on what
God is all about, I realize, again, that He is in the
ordinary, in the things that chaff like sandpaper.
Many Christians miss God because they expect
Him to show up in the "mighty works," when all
the time He is up front and personal as we go
about our daily lives and bump up against
frustrations. 

Worship

He...wondered that there was no intercessor....
                Isaiah 59:16

Worship and intercession must go together;
one is impossible without the other. Are we
worshiping God in a way that will raise us
up to where we can take hold of Him,
having such intimate contact with Him that
we know His mind about the ones we pray
for? (OC)

Reader, this one left me speechless...

Story of Redemption

It all began with a famine in the time of the Judges.
A man named Elimelech, took his wife, Naomi,
and his two sons to Moab. The rest of his family
stayed in Bethlehem, which, coincidentally,
means House of Bread! Anyway, Elimelech died
and his two sons married Moabite women and
then they too died! Naomi heard that the famine
had ended and decided to return to Bethlehem
where she had a house and some land. She had
become very bitter against the Lord. This
bitterness is very evident as they return to Israel.
However, Ruth is determined to stay with her:

"Do not urge me to leave you or to return from
following you. For where you go I will go, and
where you lodge. Your people shall be my people,
and your God my God. Where you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to
me and more also if anything but death parts me
from you." Ruth 1:16

What would cause this young woman to leave her
country and go to a place she had never seen with a
woman who felt life was over? Perhaps she fell in
love with the God who cared for His people and
truly wanted to be in relationship with them.

Ruth went to glean in a field whose owner was a man
of integrity, a believer in Yaweh. He comes into His
field and says to the workers:
"The Lord be with you!" 
They answered,
"The Lord Bless you." 
I noticed that Boaz brings the Lord into all he says.
To Ruth he uses these words:
,..."The lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings 
you have come to take refuge."
Such a beautiful picture!
At lunch he feeds her bread and wine. Does that
not remind you of something, of Someone else?

When Naomi discovers whose field Ruth has
gleaned in, she perks up. "Oh," she says, "Boaz is
a close relative." Really? He has been living there
all that time? Naomi had forgotten?

The story ends with Boaz going to the town center
to redeem Ruth and make her his wife.

Reader, the Book of Ruth is a most beautiful story.
When Ruth arrived she had nothing but a bitter
mother-in-law. By the end of the book, she was
married with a son named Obed who was the
father of Jesse, who was the father of David--and
on down to Jesus. Boaz, the son of Rahab!

Passover, The Crucifixion of our Lord, Rahab's
protection and rescue, Ruth's marriage to Boaz are
all Redemption stories in spring time. Our Lord is
coming to redeem us. Could it be this spring?
Look up, for your redemption draws nigh.

The Harlot

It is early spring and the Israelites are preparing to enter
the Promised Land. They send out two spies who go
into Jericho and are given shelter and cover by a young
woman named Rahab. The harlot has heard of the
exploits of this army and she knows that their God is
greater than all of the other gods. Rahab asks for
protection for she knows her city is doomed. The spies
tell her to put out the scarlet rope and to make sure her
relatives are with her when the attack comes. Now is a
period of waiting, checking to make sure the rope is
hanging outside the wall, and the gathering of the
family. She watches the army march around the walls
one time and go back to camp. Nothing happens.
the army marches six times--how hard it was to wait--
but on the seventh time the army marches seven times
around the city and the walls fall, but the promise is
kept. Rahab and her family are taken out before all in
the city are killed. Go and read the narrative yourself.
Rahab the Harlot had great faith, amazing faith, that
leads to incredible blessing! Joshua 2:1-24;6:1-25

Two days ago was the anniversary of the fall of Jericho--
but I'm not sure what anniversary. I am reminded, not
only of God's protection but also of something much
greater. Rahab became the wife of Salmon, who is
in the line of our Savior!

Reader, God put a gentile woman, a harlot, into His
pedigree! We gentiles were never outside of the love
and purposes of our God. If He can use a harlot to
accomplish His purposes, why cannot He not use you!

Again, we are looking at the theme of redemption. I
don't want to lose sight of that because there is a day
coming when Jesus will catch us out of the world and
consummate the marriage to His bride. It may not be far
off. Ask God to show you the things in your life that
are a hindrance in your relationship with Him, and allow
Him to be your chief vision! Rahab had to let go of
everything in order to receive everything!

A Queen and a Feast

Recently Purim was celebrated by the Jews. The book
of Esther is a short read but packed with action. A
movie was made called, One Night with the King,
which closely ties in with the narrative as given in
scripture. It is a worthwhile film.

God took a poor Jewish maiden and set it up so she
became the Queen of King Ahasuerus, who reigned
from Ethiopia to India, a total of 127 provinces.
Little did she know that there would be a plot to kill
all of the Jews in the 127 provinces and that she
would stand between her people and the king as their
only hope. She, her maidens and the Jews of Susa
fasted and prayed for three days because to go before
the King without a summons was certain death. God
gave her favor with the king and she invited him and
the vile Haman, the Agite, to a feast. The end of the
story has Haman hanging from a rope and the Jews
being given permission to kill their enemies.

Each year the Jews celebrate purim by reading the story
of Esther and thanking God for their deliverance, their
redemption at the gracious hand of God. What an
encouragement to remember how God intervenes for
His people.

Reader, there are still two more women who were used
by God and whose story is remembered. I did not start
out to feature women, but they play such a key role in
the springtime events, and in the redemption of the
whole world. Esther was the Queen of a great province,
but we are the Bride of Christ, the King of Kings, who
puts all things, including death, under His feet.

Springtime

Everything is waking up--even the weeds look happy!
Outside in a bucket sit four trees ready to be planted.
Sunshine spills over everything and it is a great time to
be alive!

So many things happen in scripture in the spring. I
started counting this afternoon and am amazed at how
the word, redemption, shines out so clearly.

Since the shepherds would not be watching their sheep
in winter, there is a good chance that Jesus was born in
the spring around Passover, and the shepherds were
watching over the lambs headed for sacrifice.
(However, there is also evidence that He may have
been born in the fall.)

Speaking of Passover, it is connected to the time that
Moses led his people out of bondage in Egypt. God
told the Israelites to pick a lamb four days early so
it could be inspected. That was enough time to
become a family pet and you can be sure that the
children named their lamb! Each family killed a lamb
whose blood was needed to protect that family from
the Angel of Death. The blood was their redemption.

And so it is that Jesus, The Lamb of God, was slain
about the time the Passover Lambs were sacrificed.
His blood became our redemption from sin so that
we might be reconciled to God.

Reader, do not quickly pass over this. It was a hard
post for me to write. So much blood in the spring
season when life is exploding. And yet, out of the
bloody mess comes LIFE!

I have not finished with the subject of redemption!

Last Days

What time is it?
"This know also, that in the last days perilous
times shall come. For men shall be:

lovers of their own selves
covetous
boasters
proud
blasphemers
disobedient to their parents
ungrateful
unholy
heartless
unappeasable
slanderous
without self control
brutal
despisers of those who are good
traitors
reckless
swollen with conceit
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
having the appearance of godliness, but 
      denying its power."
2 Timothy 3:1-5

Reader, no wonder Christians are so persecuted
these days. Those living in countries where it is
unlawful to follow Christ, are losing their homes,
jobs, and even their lives. Do pray for the
Persecuted Church.

That is the bad news, but there is so much hope!

Surprise Visits

You also be ready...
      Luke 12:40

If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking 
of  today's world, and instead are "Looking unto Jesus," 
you will be considered a daydreamer and unpractical. 
But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat 
of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You 
should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint 
on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.(OC)

There is so much noise, busyness and show in the
churches of this century here in the west. Where is
the stillness in which to hear His voice? Our culture
invites us to listen to the experts, absorb the news
of the day, work to make ourselves better and to save
mankind. But, Jesus says that "when these things 
begin to come upon the earth, look up, for your 
Redemption draws nigh."

Reader, be ready for Him for He will come to you
when you least expect Him.

Intellectuals

'Some are viewed as great intellectuals, but I have a
problem with them. They sit around coffee tables,
theorize about life, but never see the outworking of
their ideas. They look to others to test their ideas
while they sit and pontificate. Now Hemingway was
real: He tested his life theories and killed himself as
the logical end of what he believed.

For all our culture's listening to the 'experts and 'the
open-minded', real life experience has surely proven
that what they espouse is worthless. Our society is
dying by degrees while educated in ignorance in what
does not work.

God did not give a teaching in the form of a book
from heaven for men on earth. A book was not good
enough for God. The Word became Flesh; the teaching
was fleshed out in Jesus and proved by His Life. God
did not talk from heaven like an intellectual, He came
to earth to show us how life works. The Man who did
everything did nothing. His Father worked through
Him. He says that greater things we can do. Greater
than His nothing.'
(Michael Wells from My Weakness for His Strength)

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling 
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the 
One and only, who came from the Father, full of 
grace and truth."
(John 1:14)