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The Invincible Power of Prayer

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

prayingguyweb

Our Heavenly Father does nothing in the church or His Kingdom that is not first wrought in travailing prayer. Prayer – interceding, travailing prayer — is God’s first line of spiritual operation. When God is ready to do some marvelous work of eternal consequence, He first prepares human channels of travailing prayer to lay the foundation. Powerful prayer can no more be the work of flesh alone than can preaching, miracles of healing, or the breaking of demon powers. Effective prayer is a work of the Holy Ghost in willing and released human lives.

Prayer that has no divine element and anointing is like the dead letter of the law without the unction of the Holy Ghost. It kills instead of resurrects. Fleshly prayer creates false assurance, deadens those exercised therein and causes the individuals to substitute activity for Spirit. The more a church or an individual is involved in fleshly praying, the more they become centered on soulical and fleshly support for their religious programs. Gimmicks, entertainment, emotionally titillating methods, and all kinds of fleshly operations become master. The church becomes nothing better than the fleshpots of Egypt. Any religion in the world can accomplish everything that this kind of prayer and action can affect in a “Christian” church.

Everything changes when men/women begin to pray in a Spirit-directed fashion. Prayer becomes fellowship and communion with God in the deepest sense. Our entire mindset becomes one of total dependency on God. We learn to hate religious activity and empty speech. Religious sight, sound, and sensation become as annoying to the praying believer as it already is to the Lord Jesus Christ. The soul that becomes inclined to God because of Holy Ghost anointed travail takes on His nature and glory but in a totally dependent fashion. Worldly religion becomes even more obnoxious than worldliness itself. In fact, what most people label as worldliness is less annoying (though certainly to be rejected) than religious self-righteousness, carnal speech and the self-empowered praying that has only human form.

Biblical Promises are Dependent on Prayer
Every promise that God has made to His Saints are yea and amen. Those promises — and there are thousands of them — are always available to every Saint of God but will not be experienced until believing prayer is present. There is not one of those promises that our God will not honor. But, He cannot do it until His Saints take hold of the promise in Spirit-filled prayer. The church world lives like paupers on the outskirts of His kingdom. In our souls we carry the divinely authorized sonship of the Kingdom, but we live like children of poverty. We have royal blood from the kingly line of the eternal God, but we go about life as though our relationship is meaningless. How pathetic this cold world appears to our hurting generation.

As a whole, the church world offers the sick and suffering the same antidote as the secular world. Churches have twelve-step programs, psychologist couches, and a quick prayer. Can you imagine how the devil howls when the modern preacher walks in the hospital room, gives his compassionate gestures, “sometimes” says a prayer, and leaves the patient to the care of a mostly skeptical medical profession? Certainly, many of these men of the cloth and doctors are kind and well-meaning, but helpless to do anything more than console the suffering and prescribe a few pills. Is this the only way a “man of God” can bring the mighty power of the Creator into His world? Absolutely not!

Travailing prayer will bring all of us into a realm where supernatural powers are as natural as God is supernatural. The promises of God cannot be viewed honestly in any different fashion. They are either His promises, absolutely and infallibly available, or God is a big lie. You and I both know better. Isaiah did not mince words when he spoke by the Holy Ghost of why Jesus Christ would come into our world. Listen carefully!

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:3-5). Argue all day with the truth of God’s Word, but you will only cheat yourself and those who listen to you. The Word of God stands sure and God has not changed.

Healing powers in the church are absent in exactly the same degree that travailing prayer is absent. Jesus has paid the redemptive price for both spiritual and bodily healing and the virtues of His redemptive act is locked away awaiting the unfailing key of importunate prayer. Somebody that knows God and can pray must be the link between the power to heal and the person awaiting the miracle. Many of the present day sicknesses and strange diseases are nothing less than the work of Satan. Satan is the destroyer and comes to mankind “to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). Jesus gave us this warning, but clearly concluded by promise, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b). Only travailing prayer can bring us out of our morass of helplessness.

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Cries from the Lake of Fire

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

fire-lake-web

I know a man that had a vision of cries coming from the Lake of Fire. These cries were from a loved one that had turned from Christ to the world. Hearing this man tell his vision was not a pleasant matter, but it will certainly benefit all of us in re-inspiring our prayer life. This vision was given to this saint to help him make sure the vision never became a reality. Everything the Heavenly Father does is to save us, not to condemn us. The fact is that no one can condemn another person to hell, only their own rebellious choices can. It’s harvest time, because it is also the End Times!

The Vision:
This father was startled when he heard someone calling to him from what seemed a great distance. From the voice, the father immediately knew that it was someone he loved greatly. It was eerie because it was so desperate. He had often heard the very words he was hearing now. Moving through the house, practically asleep, he was having trouble not falling over everything in his hurry to reach the voice. “Help me, help me,” cried the voice. “Come get me, come get me,” the father kept hearing. The sounds of these words caused this father to sob even as he searched. He had always responded to those he loved. Never had he failed to weep and pray for his family. He was a father and grandfather above everything else.

The search seemed to last for hours. He wondered where this voice could be coming from. In every corner the house was searched and, finally, the yard, and even the woods. This man’s heart was so torn that he seemed irrational, returning to the same places over and over. Several times he fell, bruising and wounding every limb. Anyone that saw him thought he was a mad man as he hurried to look at every spot again and again. The voice was so desperate.

Finally, he saw a lake in the distance and hurried with fear that his loved one was drowning. Then, the voice sounded louder and came from the direction in which he was rushing. Quickly, he stood at the edge of the lake only to see brimstone and fire instead of water. The stench of burning flesh was unbearable. The voice was now clear, yet distant and filled with pain and horror. There was no face to the screams, but neither was there any doubt to the source. A hand reached upwards from out of the flames, but quickly disappeared. Then he cried toward the voice, “Come to me my loved one, come to me.”

The father crumbled on the bank sobbing as if his own life was expiring. Again, he heard the voice, “Help me, help me. Please, come and get me.” Then, he cried out, “There is a great gulf between us. I want to come, but there is no way across. I can save you from the waters, but I cannot save you from the flames. You must make the choice to come.” The voice became faint and began to fade. Again, he cried, “Come, come, my loved one, Jesus Christ will help you; He alone can save you now.”

As the vision ended, this father and grandfather was totally exhausted and sobbing with heartrending tears. His prayer life would never be the same. Instead of hours of prayer, there would be days of prayer. No one will ever hear the terror of someone in hell and return to be listless before the Throne of God. This father was overjoyed when he realized there was still time to win that soul to Christ and His abundant grace.

The vision above would be strange and rejected if the Lord Jesus Christ had not told a similar story. The world and, even our churches, have mostly rejected the truth of hell and the Lake of Fire. Jesus Christ left us no doubt as to a place of eternal judgment. Jesus states these exact words, “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:23-24). Jeremiah must have had a similar vision for he became the weeping prophet. He cried out, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1).

Souls are won and brought to Christ by spiritual saints that have allowed the Holy Spirit to break them and possess them for others. The travail of the saintly soul for the lost is God’s incubation of life. There is no defeat when His children begin to weep for their lost loved ones. Micah, the prophet, stated by the Holy Ghost, “Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth” (Micah 5:3a). Our Father is absolutely moved when we are broken and moved into a soul-disturbing prayer life.

Great Holy Ghost revival is at the door of the true church that will hold the standard of scripture and intercede in heartrending travail. The Bible has promised, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17).

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The Seventh Day: Our Cycle of Rest

Friday, April 30th, 2010

TenCommandments

The Creator Himself ordained and established our world with a seventh day and tailored His World to fit that pattern. We are designed by this cycle and cripple our own bodies by neglecting the fact. From the moment of our conception inside our mother’s womb, we are developed by this design of seven. In Genesis, the book of God’s creative ingenuity, He rested on the Seventh Day and enjoyed the labor of the previous six days. He made us to enjoy Him and His appointed rest on our Seventh Day. To ignore this is to defy Him. Every Sabbath you steal from Him will have to be repaid.

Even our longevity of life is established with a seven, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten (70 years)” (Psalm 90:10a). The Book of Revelation is a masterpiece of literature. It does not have any competition as the most beautiful of all written eloquences. The structure of this book is composed of sevens. The Spirit of Revelation is described as “Seven lamps of fire burning before the throne” (Revelation 4:5b). The entire church dispensation is prefigured in seven churches called “seven candlesticks.” The Great Tribulation period is complete in seven years. The judgments to cleanse and renew our earth are seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials. We wait for the one thousand years of His Millennium of peace as we complete six thousand years of human failure. The seventh thousand year period will be a rest for this universe.

Understanding the beauty of both a Bible and a world established by sevens, do we dare disregard our seventh day of rest and worship? The Bible plainly warns us of this responsibility. The Fourth Commandment states, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). In this passage “holy” is a very unique word that means “to be observed or appointed; to hallow and consecrate.” The language used to instruct us about our Seventh Day presents this to us as a privilege and a day to come apart and enjoy ourselves with Him. The Son of God was quick to challenge any idea of keeping the Sabbath Day legalistically or as a rigid bondage. His disciples plucked corn and ate as they passed by a cornfield on this day. He rebuked those that condemned them.

By no means did that suggest a disregard of the proper respect for this holy day. In His great lesson in Matthew He said, “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day” (Matthew 24:20). His life was so planned by His Father that His three days and nights in the heart of the earth would end at the close of the Jewish Sabbath. By His very resurrection He would establish a New Beginning. John the Revelator called it the “Lord’s Day.” (Revelation 1:10). Order our booklet entitled, “The Lord’s Day and the Feast of Firstfruits,” for information.

Every Born Again believer desperately needs this day of worship and rest. The deep meaning of holy as reflected in the Fourth Commandment means an appointment with Him. Our Holy Day or New Testament Sabbath will never mean what He intended until we see it as our appointment with Him. Worship is the deepest passion in a person’s heart. We will either worship Him or find something or someone else to passionately love and worship. In fact, that is what worship is. It is passionate love poured out on either God or some chosen idol.

In the New Testament the Lord’s Day was prophetically visible in the third feast that God gave to Israel in the Old Testament. The Feast of Passover was to be observed on Nisan 14th, which often varies as to the day of the week. The next day after the Feast of Passover began the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It lasted for seven days with the first and seventh day of the seven being special Sabbaths. Within those seven days came a regular Sabbath. On the next day after the regular Sabbath was the Feast of Firstfruits. This feast was always celebrated on the 8th day or the next day following the Sabbath (7th day). Coming in the spring of the year (March/April) as these feasts did and still do, this included a rejoicing of the firstfruits of their fields as God had blessed them. Remember, these feasts were not just for Israel, but were a rehearsal of the prophetic future in the Messiah’s life and kingdom. In this feast event God was establishing the day of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord’s Day to be set apart to Him.

We are blessed to set this day (24 hours) apart and give it wholly to Him. To do otherwise is certainly unwise. The Ten Commandments are not suggestions. If we love Him passionately, we will live by them. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (I John 2:4). When His people, who are called by His name, turn back to Him and forsake their disobedience and careless living, we will have a New Testament revival in our land.

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The Tragic Death of Voltaire the Atheist

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Voltaire

Death is such a beautiful thing, and death is such a horrible thing. It’s actually both, depending wholly on the passing pilgrim. Death is just as beautiful as a saintly life or just as dark as an unbelieving life. No one can doubt that death is inescapable. The words of God have spoken, “… it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Death is such a landmark of life that it must be designed as one would write their will.

The noted French atheist, Voltaire, died a frightening death. Let me quote for you the exact record as published, “When Voltaire felt the stroke that he realized must terminate in death, he was overpowered with remorse. He at once sent for the priest, and wanted to be ‘reconciled with the church.’ His infidel flatterers hastened to his chamber to prevent his recantation; but it was only to witness his ignominy and their own. He cursed them to their faces; and, as his distress was increased by their presence, he repeatedly and loudly exclaimed, ‘Begone! It is you that have brought me to my present condition. Leave me, I say; begone! What a wretched glory is this which you have produced to me!’

“Hoping to allay his anguish by a written recantation, he had it prepared, signed it, and saw it witnessed. But it was all unavailing. For two months he was tortured with such an agony as led him at times to gnash his teeth in impotent rage against God and man. At other times in plaintive accents, he would plead, ‘O, Christ! O, Lord Jesus!’ Then, turning his face, he would cry out, ‘I must die-abandoned of God and of men!’

“As his end drew near, his condition became so frightful that his infidel associates were afraid to approach his beside. Still they guarded the door, that others might not know how awfully an infidel was compelled to die. Even his nurse repeatedly said, ‘For all the wealth of Europe I would never see another infidel die.’ It was a scene of horror that lies beyond all exaggeration. Such is the well-attested end of the one who had a natural sovereignty of intellect, excellent education, great wealth, and much earthly honor.” (Dying Testimonies of Saved and Unsaved by Rev. S B Shaw, pp. 49-50.)

Reading of such a dying experience is overwhelming, even to us who are secure in salvation. Human emotions are a powerful source and no one can live and die without them. Our present generation has mainly escaped the horror of unpreparing for death by the use of drugs to kill all pain. Sadly, the beauty of a Godly death is also lost in our drug culture. The new “right” of the health world is the right to be free of pain. In most cases, the pain or joy is simply transferred to the immediate moments after death. We are spared both the joy and the screams.

Our Bible teaches us the absolute beauty of a saint’s death, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). Isaiah spoke by prophecy of the triumph that Jesus Christ would accomplish over death, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8). Apostle Paul echoed this great prophecy, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:55-57).

Now, let’s visit a great saint of God in his death. This Godly man has often encouraged me by his bravery in martyrdom. A great persecution was raging in the city of Smyrna and the cry was heard, “Let Polycarp be sought for.” He was taken and the proconsul gave this aged man an opportunity to recant his faith and trust in Christ. “He nobly replied, ‘Eighty and six years I have served Christ, who has never done me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?’

“When he was brought to the stake, the executioner offered, as usual, to nail him to it; but he said, ‘Let me alone as I am: He who has given me strength to come to the fire, will also give me patience to abide in it, without being fastened with nails.’

“Part of his last prayer, at his death, was as follows, ‘O God, the Father of Thy beloved son, Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of Thyself; O God of angels and powers, of ever creature, and of all the just who live in Thy presence; I thank Thee that Thou hast graciously vouchsafed, this day and this hour, to allot me a portion amongst the number of martyrs. O Lord, receive me; and make me a companion of saints in the resurrection, through the merits of our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. I praise and adore Thee, through thy beloved Son, to whom, with Thee, and Thy Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, both now and forever.’” (Ibid., p. 17.)

A young man that had put off the call of the Holy Ghost and blasphemed Him, lie dying. His doctor had pleaded that he repent. Burying his face in his pillow he stated, “Oh! I have missed it at last” and then he died. A young lady wonderfully saved in a great revival became ill and had bid all her loved ones a happy goodbye. As she was dying, she joyfully told her sisters, “Don’t weep for me. Jesus is with me, I will not have to go alone.” She looked up as seeing someone special coming for her and then said, “Come on, I am ready to go.” She was gone!

Death can be so beautiful. Stephen, the first of the seven elders chosen to care for the widows, was arrested. After his powerful sermon to the angry mob, he was stoned to death. As he died, the Bible records his parting testimony, “And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:56-60).

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A Glad Tongue

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

openbible

Something wonderful happens when a godly person gives him or herself wholly to the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Every part of their life becomes a fountain of Jesus Christ. He does not want us to imitate Him. He wants us to be filled with His very person. His divine nature absolutely flows from the saint that is wholly filled with His Spirit. I’m a Pentecostal and I can tell you that we Pentecostals have put too much emphasis on the ecstatic experiences and too little on the authority of His divine life in us. The gifts of the Spirit should not be ignored, but the life of Jesus Christ in us should be the central focus.

That life produces power — the fire of enthusiasm — and a total readiness to be spent for Him. All our physical facilities are Spirit-saturated and nothing is so sure a fountain as the tongue. A spirit-filled believer will manifest “a glad tongue.” Read carefully as Apostle Luke shows us a prophecy from the Psalmist David that connects Pentecost with “a glad tongue.” “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Acts 2:24-27).

David was speaking from His revelation of this coming Pentecostal baptism that was to occur at the “Feast of Pentecost.” He was overjoyed with this prophecy and stated, “Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad.” The fullness of the Spirit has always been associated with a happy spiritual life. You cannot be full of Jesus Christ and act like a prude. “It is joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (I Peter 1:8) The greatest witness in the world for Jesus Christ is when your “tongue is glad.” We possess no capacity in our physical person more powerful than our tongue. It (can be) an unruly evil full of deadly poison or it can be a fountain of joy and praise. It is your choice.

The Lord wants to sanctify our tongue, to strip it of quick unmeasured words and careless confusion and to make it “a glad tongue.” Too many Christians speak without wisdom — hasty words, condemning words, noisy words — and ruin their influence. In most lives, the tongue is the last stronghold of the flesh. If we can measure our tongue, we are called “perfect” (mature).

The Holy Ghost wants to quicken your entire body. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11). The tongue is the mouthpiece of the body, soul, and spirit. You can always tell the level of maturity, both personal and spiritual, by the tone of the tongue. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). “A glad tongue” can make almost every gathering a place of pleasure and enjoyment. If this is so in the natural, imagine the power of “a glad tongue” in the House of God.

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Obama’s Healthcare Microchip: The “Mark?”

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

microchipweb

The United States of America has taken the giant step towards universal control of every American citizen and anyone receiving any form of medical treatment and/or supplies. This is not the Mark of the Antichrist, but it is the precursor to that Mark. The amazing fact of this action is that it puts the United States in the driver’s seat of the One World Order. Congressman Ron Paul’s website has these exact words, “‘In real world speak,’ according to this report, this new law, when fully implemented, provides the framework for making the United States the first Nation in the World to require each and every one of its citizens to have implanted in them a radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchip for the purpose of controlling who is, or isn’t, allowed medical care in their country.” (http://www.dailypaul.com/node/105079).

By nature, I am a doubter when it comes to fear-mongering or conspiracy theories that have little or no supportive information. When this idea was first mentioned on our Open Bible Dialogue radio talk show, I doubted it openly. But, after a little help from others and a lot of digging myself, I knew something was very scary. Here is a little of the information from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ website. This information was slated as “Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff.” This kind of information cannot be accidental.

“This guidance document was developed as a special control guidance to support the classification of the implantable radiofrequency transponder system for patient identification and health information into class II (special controls). The device is intended to enable access to secure patient identification and corresponding health information in humans. This guidance is issued in conjunction with a Federal Register notice announcing the classification of implantable radiofrequency transponder system for patient identification and health information.

“This guidance document describes a means by which implantable radiofrequency transponder systems for patient identification and health information may comply with the requirement of class II special controls. Designation of this guidance document as a special control means that manufacturers of implantable radiofrequency transponder systems for patient identification and health information who follow the recommendations listed in this document, before introducing their device into commercial distribution in the United States, will also be able to market their device without being subject to the premarket notification requirements of section 510(k) of the Act.” (http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ucm072141.htm).

As massive as Obama’s Healthcare bill is, there is no way it can function without a complete system of control. The present cost of the health-related programs is draining our nation and it is only minute in comparison. This new law — already signed by the president — also requires every citizen and anyone else receiving health care to purchase insurance. This certainly suggests that every person living within our borders will eventually be assigned this radioactive chip. You can probably be assured that this chip will now or eventually have a GPS responder to locate you in case you get lost. Isn’t that nice of this crowd of liberals?

Is this idea just a fancy way to take care of our health needs? Or is it Big Government that is determined to control our lives? The Holy Bible is absolutely plain that this is the future of our world. The Antichrist will only have seven years to form his plan, implement it, and rule the world. He needs surrogates like President Obama to prepare the way. It is only reasonable to understand that almost every aspect of world control must be in place before he appears. With over six billion souls alive and dramatically growing, the stage must be set and in order.

We can see our world headed towards the One World Order from every direction. There are almost no national economies in the world. The world court is already conducting business and a great effort is underway to pressure every government to comply. A world religion is in place. The only religions not at the table are Orthodox Judaism and Fundamental Christianity. We are hated for such narrow-mindedness.

Let’s remember that the Biblical Prophecy writers and ministers have been warning us about this for decades. There are some writers that have set dates, made wild predictions, and missed the mark by wide margins. But, the mainstream writers and ministers have been right on target. Years ago I said, “If Jesus tarries a few more years, we will begin to think that we are already in the Great Tribulation.” Every day I feel a little more like that, while at the same time I know that the Great Tribulation cannot begin until the Rapture occurs.

The Bible predicted this future “Mark of the Beast.” “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:15-17).

Again, I remind you that Obama’s microchip is not the Mark of the Beast. This future Mark must be identified with the Antichrist and is in essence a form of devil-worship. Taking that Mark will be a choice between the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ and the devil, along with his false trinity. The present push for world control is certainly satanic. The entire Obama agenda has been evil from his first day in office. Remember that while he was being sworn into office, the website at the White House was programmed with his homosexual agenda, plus many other liberal directives.

It’s time to stand tall on every issue of life. Absolutely no one should take his chip. You will probably not even be able to buy your prescriptions without the druggist putting the cash register scanner on your right hand. The Rapture-ready crowd will be out of here shortly.

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Except You Eat “HIS” Flesh

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

communion

No statement that came from the lips of Jesus Christ created as much consternation as the above title. The Son of God brought all that was in His divine nature into His human experience. That divine life in Him is the same divine life that He gives to us. But no man has that life except they receive it by faith. The unsaved multitudes are living in a constant state of dying. Sin kills the victim slowly, so the world has become oblivious to the process. Jesus Christ came to give us life on a divine level, but the majority of the human race has no clue as to what they are missing.

Let’s first read the words of Jesus Christ, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:53-57). “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:66-68). If we are willing to accept this challenge from God’s eternal Son, a powerful, even wonderful, life is available.

Now, we must understand the spiritual truth that Jesus was teaching. We are spiritual creatures, created just a little lower than the angels. The breath of God in us has the full capacity to know God and to fellowship with Him. That is why He created us. This spirit in man can have a relationship with God similar to a relationship between two individual persons. My flesh can eat wonderful food and maintain a healthy body. My spirit can enjoy God and receive His life and graces into my life and enjoy a healthy spiritual life. This is the life that flowed from Andrew Murray, A.W. Tozer, and many of God’s chosen stewards of the faith.

Most of our world feeds the flesh but never stop to feed the spirit. A multitude of those individuals that have recognized their inner spirit are seeking for spiritual substance in the wrong places. Satan has created many religions and is a master of deception. Those religions and similar spiritualistic schemes give nothing but bondage to their slaves. The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the one and only source to true spiritual life and triumphant living.

Now, we can begin to understand what the Son of God was teaching us. His theologies were not some strange, mystical ideas. He came to fill us with the life that Adam and Eve had before they sinned. They talked directly with God and were fully ready to live forever. Sin entered the human family and this couple ran to find cover when the Father’s footsteps echoed in the garden. Everything that Satan stole was replaced in His passions of death. Our spiritual life is available today, and our eternal physical life will be replaced at the Resurrection.

This spiritual life is what we receive when we “. . . eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood” (John 6:53). It is a genuine spiritual experience. It is not eating a wafer or unleavened bread nor drinking wine or grape juice. Yes, we should take communion because we show forth His death until He comes. But, this life on a spiritual level is what Christ described when He was speaking of His flesh and blood. He clearly stated, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

All that the Son of God possessed in His divine nature was brought into His physical person so that it could then become part of our redemption. By the Holy Ghost’s inspiration, John stated, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). Everything He was and is, is also ours and is received by faith and total surrender.

How far below this abundant life we have fallen! We must discover what we have lost and return. Remember, His words are spiritual words. Your spirit — after it is renewed by the Holy Spirit at the Born Again experience — becomes fully capable of feeding on the Holy Scripture and fellowshipping with God. Prayer is ordained by our Father to be fellowship, not just begging. It is perfectly right to make your request known but only in fellowship with Him. Learn to wait and welcome the Holy Spirit to draw you after Christ. When you go to prayer, stay there until fellowship and communion is established and His presence is real. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:6-7, 9-10).

Your spiritual life will begin to grow and, more and more, His presence will satisfy your deepest longing. Nobody can teach you the beautiful life of “eating His flesh and drinking His blood,” except His Holy Spirit. If I should try to teach you, it might be treated as mechanical; but if He teaches you, it will be divine. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (II Corinthians 4:7).

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Dark Depths of an Undisciplined Life

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

road-signs

The human temple is a marvelous, living machine. The human mind is a powerhouse of potential. But, it is scary to see the place where an undisciplined mind or life will finish its train wreck. The potential for greatness has a perfect balance in its capacity for disaster. All of these possibilities of living are decided in the conference center of the human will. The great capacity of the human brain is at the choice of our will. You can use your mind if you will and, once the will is set, the die is cast.

A sharp shooter is the result of a disciplined will. This individual has set their mind to train and harness themselves until shooting is more instinct than aim. The entire human body becomes tuned into the process. It’s a matter of disciplining the total person for the mastery of that skill. This is equally true of the world of art, the world of communication, the skills of a great physician, or a master athlete. There is no possibility of greatness until there is the presence of discipline. The human will must be harnessed and set for the dream.

God’s kingdom needs men and women that will discipline themselves to Christ with the same abandonment we see given to worldly goals. Read what Apostle Paul said by the Holy Ghost to the believers at Corinth, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Corinthians 9:25-27). The picture of discipline in that Christian mastery is breathtaking.

The Holy Spirit is speaking the language of self-control and selflessness towards the Christian life. “Striveth for the mastery” are words of passion to a soul that can dream. The dream here is of surrender and devotion to Jesus Christ and the incorruptible crown that a saint of God can obtain. The key words are “temperate in all things” or self-control. No one can discipline your heart and mind but you. Incarcerated prisoners can be forced to be disciplined through fear and intimidation; but, after a few hours on the street, they are wild again.

King Saul was heads and shoulders above his fellowmen. The Father chose him to be the first king of His people, Israel. When he was anointed, another Spirit came on him and He began to prophecy. Greatness was in his future because the Father had a plan for him. “And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day” (I Samuel 10:9). But King Saul had a core problem. He could not discipline himself under the prophet of God. “And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever” (I Samuel 13:13).

The Bible never hid the failures of many potential success stories. The elder son of Adam and Eve followed in the path of his mother and refused to offer a Biblical sacrifice and became a vagabond. Esau, the elder son of Isaac, was crass and wild. Today, his heirs are the Islamic terrorists. David, who became a “man after God’s own heart,” brought shame on his life that never ended, even in his greatness. Judas Iscariot could have had his name on one of the foundations of New Jerusalem, but “by transgressions fell” (Acts 1:25). Every failure was the result of an undisciplined life. They never lacked in opportunity but they lacked self-control.

When I was saved in 1952, there was great pulpit mastery all over America. I can recall pulpiteers that fed my soul with powerful preaching that set my course to love the Word of God and to master its truths. The greatest drought in America and the church world is the absence of fearless preachers that can storm the gates of Hell. Some of these formerly great men are still alive but have become wimpy and frivolous. Instead of scaring the world, they are now scared by the world. Instead of longing for the mastery of a powerful anointing, they are pursuing the gold and silver of a “Name It, Claim It” gospel. They are train wrecks.

But, all is not lost. The human soul and mind can still be so surrendered and disciplined that Christ can be revealed to this lost generation. Your temple is a marvelous, living machine. Jesus Christ is challenging the present saints to “eat His flesh and drink His blood” until Christ is formed in your life. This is a depth that only the selfless and self-controlled can experience. If you are wild and a law unto yourself, you are close to being a castaway. Your train wreck is right down the sad road of self. The Holy Ghost is calling out to the humble souls that want the dreams of our Master. Believe me, there is no joy like the joy of our whole life being attuned to the deep life of Christ. Like the sharpshooter, when our temple is all surrendered and disciplined, the whole life is disciplined in the love of His will.

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The Artistry of the Holy Ghost

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

BibleCandle

The Son of God saw the sadness and gloom that gripped His disciples when He said He was leaving them. They were overwhelmed with the sense of disappointment and helplessness. As He felt their pain, He spoke some of His most powerful words, “But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:5-8). His purpose in life was to die and His death was going to produce more than just a sacrifice for sin; it was going to guarantee that His Spirit would come to men to affect everything His death accomplished.

His dying would have served no purpose if there was not a plan to supernaturally craft all of Himself and His redemption into all of us who would believe. The Holy Spirit has been appointed by the Father to the office of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is His eternal name, but the title of Holy Ghost is His office to absolutely represent another, even the Son of the Living God. The translators of Scripture in the King James Bible saw this great truth and translated “Holy Spirit” to “Holy Ghost” in each instance where His office of representing Jesus Christ was evident. The work of the Spirit is the “Artistry of His Cross” in redemption and newness of life. He takes the old, sinful, and debauched human life and crafts the new man of grace and redemption. The Comforter has come and His work is breathtakingly beautiful.

One of the eternal truths of the Bible is the helplessness of human flesh. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Sin has robbed man of His expressions of likeness to God. Man’s spirit is bound in death and physical helplessness. He may pant after God and seek Him in many ways and in much religious action, but until the Holy Ghost finds the open door to his heart it is all in vain. Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44a). Humility is not a pious face but a broken heart before God. Until man is willing to accept the complete defeat of himself, even his search for God, and declare absolute surrender to God’s sovereign mercy; there is no salvation. We do not chase and find God, He reveals Himself as we follow Him.

Jesus knew what was in man. He said great things to express this fact, “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man” (St. John 2:24-25). Three chapters of Saint John were almost exclusively given to declare the gift of the Holy Ghost and His unfailing value to His saints. The Holy Spirit is a person possessing every attribute of the Godhead and He was sent to perfect in the body of the church every value of redemption. The church world is so full of flesh and human activity — void of the spiritual manifestations of God — that it is all a laughingstock to Satan and his hordes. Our Father and our Lord is calling us out of this malaise back to His Book.

Almost everything we connect to the work of the Holy Ghost has to do with emotions, but His real activity is in the human spirit and human soul. The Holy Ghost indwells the saints to craft Christ into every aspect of our being. Jesus Christ said, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (St. John 14:26-27). It is when Christ sanctifies our life, spirit, soul, and body that beauty replaces carnality and flesh. Even our faces reflect the deep work occurring inside. The Divine artistry of this redemptive work is heavenly. Apostle Paul said it perfectly, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Scripture speaks much of our relationship to this deep work of the Holy Ghost. The Bible says that we are “sealed by the Spirit.” We are warned not to “grieve the Spirit” or “resist the Spirit.” In Thessalonica Paul wrote, “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-24). Paul said, “…Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9b). He, also, said, “In whom all the building (our temple) fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22).

The redemptive process of our Lord Jesus Christ is beautiful. The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to craft into His body, the church, the very image of Jesus Christ. The saints were called “Christians” at Antioch because this spiritual activity was glaring and life-changing. The world trembles when the Eternal Son has been recreated in the saints. The Holy Spirit has come to do the “Artistry of Calvary” in the lives of the redeemed.

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The Best Wine At the End

Friday, March 12th, 2010

grapes

A marriage celebration is a wonderful occasion. It is God ordained to both meet the deepest physical joy of man and to prophetically portray the ultimate joy of the Lord Jesus. When Adam had finished naming all the created creatures, the Father saw that his highest earthly creation was lonely and without a companion. From Adam’s rib, God made woman and joined them by heart to each other. From the first memorial event until this day, wedding feasts have brought laughter, celebration, and union. Satan was furious and devised a foolish alternative called sodomy. Sodomy actually blasphemed the beauty of God’s pure plan both for man and for His Son. It is the lowest point of human depravity.

It is fitting that Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding feast. Every aspect of this event was filled with prophecy, but nothing as beautiful as the miracle of the last wine. The wedding had progressed for days until the supply of wine was gone. Mary, the mother of Jesus, told Jesus and then said to the servants, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). Great containers for purification were available and Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water” (John 2:7). When this was done he commanded, “Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast” (John 2:8). The guests were astonished when they began to drink the miracle wine and explained, “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10). The wedding feast ended in a blaze of excitement because of this miracle and the “best wine at the end.”

This great miracle is prophetic of the day in which we live. Wine is a great type of spiritual blessing and the joy of the Holy Ghost. The Pentecostal experience has touched millions since the Day of Pentecost. We have witnessed the “early rain, moderately,” but soon, even any moment, the latter rain is ordained to begin. Joel said, “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2:23-25). He firmly stated that this would occur in the first month. That is exactly the day which the Feast of Trumpets is ordained to occur. The Feast of Trumpets is the Old Testament type of the Rapture of the Church. The feast begins thirty days earlier with a daily trumpet and ends on the very first day of the first full month. Prophecy in Scripture is perfect, so it shall transpire.

I believe the Latter Rain is scheduled to begin a short period before the Rapture and then continue right through the Seven Years of Great Tribulation. It will then literally explode when the Jewish people are converted at the beginning of the thousand years of the Millennium. Isaiah proclaimed, “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). The greatest harvest of all time is yet to come. The Pentecostal experience we have witnessed in our lives is but a shadow of this prophesied Latter Rain.

The best wine is saved until the end. The entire story of His first miracle is a story of the harvest in beautiful typology. The harvest started with His ministry, continued with the early church, and has been intermittent for two thousand years. It will explode in the End Time. We are privileged to live in this prophetic day and to be a part of the best wine of all history. The grapes are ripening for the final harvest.

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