Living Word Christian Fellowship
“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving...” Psalm 26:7
Vol. 15, No. 3 March 2006
“These are the days of Elijah, declaring the Word of the Lord. And these are the days of your servant, Moses, righteousness being restored.
And though these are the days of great trials, of famine and darkness and sword. Still we are the voice in the desert, crying ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord.’”
The Lord is coming again and again and again to a people who are prepared. I don’t believe anyone knew it would be this way. We have days of triumph and days of defeat. We have days of trials and days of rest. The good, the bad, the glory and the evil are all coming to maturity. As our thoughts go crazy from time to time, we feel like we are losing our sanity. But God is pulling in the reigns, tightening up on the movement of His people. We are not to get away with anything any longer. It is all about Him. Everything we do and say is about Him. We think we have wasted our time or our talents, but it is about Him. We look like failures often, but it is about Him. Nothing is being wasted and nothing is futile as long as we acknowledge Him through it all.
We are truly destined for greatness. But before the greatness comes, we must be brought low, to nothing, even to emptiness and barrenness if need be so that the Spirit of Christ can fill us with all the fullness of Christ and Christ alone.
Sometimes the pain and suffering are insurmountable but He is gracious, continually full of compassion and mercy.
Go to Him today by the blood of the Lamb. With a bold heart and tell Him, being honest about what you experience, and allow Him to soothe your troubles and bring rest to your soul and encourage you to press into the glory that awaits all who will know Him.
“Behold He comes, Riding on the clouds. Shining like the sun, at the trumpets call. So lift your voice. It's the year of jubilee. And out of Zion's hill salvation comes.”
In Christ,
Pr. Steve
Much Too Hard
Rom 8:36 “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
When you hear messages that are hard you must determine – “Is this preaching the truth?” In answer, if all we can find is that it is too hard, then we are more concerned about our comfort than what God is saying.
It is not the place of this ministry to bring anyone under condemnation. It is my business to bring you to conviction if you are not taking up your cross and following the Lord. How do you tell the difference between the two? The person who leaves the church without confessing and repenting of his errors will continue under condemnation. The worshiper who confesses and repents of sin, mistakes and the errors of his ways receives forgiveness and cleansing from the Lord and leaves the church as a new creation available for God to work in his life.
It is up to the listener to obey the Word of God. There is no condemnation on those who follow the Spirit of God. There is condemnation on those who hear the Word of God and refuse to obey (even if they think they are OK). (Romans 8:4) We know all about verse 1, but we must include the requirement of living according to the Spirit, which is faithfully adhering to the Word of God and His laws.
We must be careful about complaining too much about it being “much too hard.” Our not understanding the Word is evidence that we have been incorrectly taught.
What is it that God demands of people? The Jews were given many commands to observe. Some were major, like idolatry and adultery. Others were minor, like moral concerns towards others and the washing of dishes.
So how did God view the transgression of any of His statutes? N OTICE: If you broke the law ignorantly, provision was made with animal sacrifice to forgive your ignorance. But if you broke the law knowingly, you were cut off from Israel. An example is that you would be put to death for gathering wood on the Sabbath. (Numbers 15:32-35). Another time a man was killed for taking God’s name in vain.
Deuteronomy 28 tells us God dealt graciously with Israel when the people kept His commands receiving blessing and material wealth. BUT, when Israel rebelled against the Lord, He was very harsh, allowing every kind of disaster to overtake the nation until they were led away captives.
Erroneously, some would argue that we have the New Testament and that Jesus covers all our sins and mistakes with grace and mercy so when we die we get to go to heaven and float.
The Christian life has an element of hardness to it. Suffering is a major aspect of redemption. The higher the calling to which you have been elected in the Kingdom, the more intense will be the fires in which you are baptized, the more bitter the cup you are required to drink.
Was Jesus’ stay on earth pleasant or did He have a hard life? We really don’t know what happened throughout those 40 days in the wilderness. The result was Gethsemane and the crucifixion. Contrary to some teachings, Jesus did not suffer so you won’t have to. Jesus suffered to show you how. Any other message is not of the Spirit of Christ.
In Philippians 3:10, Paul says we are to share the sufferings of Christ! History tells us of imprisonments, torture, breaking up of families, life in the catacombs and martyrdom. How can we even contemplate “It’s much too hard”?
What if we continue living in the flesh? Some say not to worry about continuing to live in the flesh? But the Bible says, “Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Jesus.” Where do you take a cross? To an execution! Satan is permitted to take some into prison, some figuratively and some literally. He does it until you become faithful and are granted a crown of life. Sometimes you have to take steps that will affect the way your family life continues. The world doesn’t understand. But He does.
I Peter 5:10 says after a while (a small season) that you have suffered you will be established and strengthened and settled. Nothing less than the offering of your body as a sacrifice is acceptable. Jesus must be your absolute Lord. You must obey in all that He says. You must come to the place you don’t complain or become angry at what God is doing. God does not exist to serve you and make you happy. But this is where people will back off and say that following Christ is “much too hard.”
The goal of God for man has never, never changed and will never, never change. The goal is to be in the image of Christ.
God has increased His demands on us, but He has also given us grace to accept and to do what He requires. From Adam until now, the goal has never changed.
Now I am going to get hard. If you do not deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Jesus to the place of death to self; if you don’t offer up your body as a living sacrifice; if you continue to walk in the lusts of the flesh and not sow to the Spirit, you will lose everything of any eternal value. At resurrection, you will reap corruption.
Will there be a multitude of teachers and preachers standing before the judgment seat of Christ who have to explain why they did not teach truth? Paul feared this, so He spent his life persuading people to live righteously because he knew man would be judged according to what he did in his body (2 Cor. 5:10-11).
We should fear to disobey Christ out of an awareness of having to face the consequences in the day of resurrection. Grace and mercy will not be an option on that day.
Was John the Baptist beheaded just so we could live the good life? The whole world is against the Christians, most of whom are too blind to see we are not deserving of those who are paying much too high a price for our comfort.
God is not too hard, but Americans are too soft. Spoiled children become tyrants. We must be transformed into the image of Christ so we may enter into untroubled rest in the Father. There is much glory awaiting us.
-Pr. Steve
. . . My calling as a pastor
Pastor’s Journal 2005
Mar. 1: “You are being strengthened through every incident you experience in life because you have the weapon of repentance to set the captive free from the snare of the devil.”
Mar. 3: “But he knows the way that I take, when he has tested me I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
Mar. 6: “Where there’s smoke there is a fire. The smoke is ascending from the prayers and intercession of My people.”
Mar. 7: Another glorious miracle has taken place. Truly You are God of the fellowship and Lord of this ministry.
Mar 10: “As you walk with Me, you walk in love. As you talk with Me, you talk love. I am love and you are being changed into My love.”
Mar. 11: Rejoice for the steps of a righteous man are ordered of God.
Mar. 17: “The demise of the old ways is almost complete. And a new ministry of life through the Spirit of Christ will rule and reign in My church. I have trained and taught My people how to wait on Me and allow Me to lead. Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit.. There will be a strength whereby to stand without doubt, without fear but with authority and faith that is Me.”
Mar. 22: Rejoice because you are partakers of Christ suffering!
Mar. 24: “Do not trust in oppression.”
Mar. 25: The closer we get into His image the more that is revealed in us that is unlike Him. It is painful to see.
Here, World, Take My Children - part 2 of 3
History (Continued)
Lot had a very "democratic" home. The children "did their own thing" while Dad was busy making money and securing his position. Mrs. Lot even encouraged the children to follow every fad and style. They made friends with the wicked and accepted their morals, and it is amazing that two of the daughters were still virgins! The godly precepts of Uncle Abraham were almost forgotten, and their teachers were sex-crazed liberals. Two of the daughters had married wicked men, and the sons mentioned in 19:12 were also lost.
Notwithstanding the presence of the compromiser, Lot, Sodom became more wicked and depraved until the Lord tells Abraham in Gen. 18:20 that its sin cried out for judgment. In answer to Abraham's prayer, the Lord agreed that He would spare Sodom if He could find only ten righteous people in the city. Since Lot had not won his family, there were not even five righteous in the city--perhaps only backslidden, carnal Lot was saved (II Peter 2:6-8).
In Gen. 19, the two angels the Lord sent to inspect Sodom and warn Lot, arrived and met Lot at the city gate, where legal matters and business were transacted. Lot, knowing their danger of molestation and death, insisted that the angels, who appeared as men, go to his home. Deep in Lot's nature was the customary habit of hospitality, and to this tradition he would sacrifice everything, even his own children.
After the meal, a mob of perverts from every part of the city surrounded Lot's house demanding the strangers. The fires of unnatural lusts burned unrestrained in both young and aged, indicating the proportions of this society's wickedness. They forgot hospitality and decency in their display of depravity. This was the moral filth in which Lot had chosen to rear his family.
Lot stepped outside to face the mob, called the wicked "brethren" and pled the laws of hospitality and the protection of his house. When this failed, he offered his two virgin daughters as substitutes for his guests! Lot sacrificed holy standards on the altar of established tradition. He had no right to do wrong, even to protect a guest. He could not have known the mob would refuse his offer and insist on their perversion with his guests. The mob threatened Lot, then rushed him with the evident purpose of raping Lot, then the two guests.
The angels rescued Lot, smote the mob with a type of blindness, then announced God's judgment on Sodom. Lot was given an opportunity to go and warn his married daughters and their husbands, but he had been such a poor testimony, they thought he was joking. After this failure, the angels urged Lot to take his wife and virgin daughters and flee the city, and when they were reluctant to leave, the angels forcefully evicted them--"the Lord being merciful" in answer to Abraham's prayer. Lot had so cursed his wife with his materialism that in disobedience to God she looked back to what she loved and was turned to a pillar of salt.
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their wickedness. Only Lot and his daughters were delivered. His girls were out of Sodom, but Sodom was not out of them. They got their father drunk on successive nights and both conceived by him. Lot fathered both the Moabites and the Ammonites, the ancient enemies of Israel, by his own daughters.
-Pr. S. Chad Ross
Published with permission from William W. Hall, D.D.
His Fullest Riches
The constant distractions that hinder us from walking in the fullness of the riches of God are only effective if we give ourselves to them. In fact, some of the riches that are ours to partake of are the freedoms from those obstacles. So know that it really is our choice either to walk in or to forfeit those riches that can only be found in Christ.
Phi 4:19 (KJV) “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
The word of God is eternally true. Therefore, we can never justify thinking that it applies only part of the time, or only in certain situations. We would most likely find that what is lacking is the supply of our “desires” rather than of our “needs.” In fact, even the basic elements said to be “necessary” for the sustaining of life, such as food and water, are not comparable to the riches necessary for the true fullness of living.
Rom 14:17 (KJV) “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
People sing about the fact that money cannot buy us love, but even those claiming Christianity cannot buy peace, joy, and righteousness, because these things have been bought by the shedding of Jesus’ blood; but God will freely give them to those who will choose to seek His Kingdom over choosing the kingdoms of this world.
1Ti 6:6 (KJV) “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Christians error when they take a casual approach to the promises that are mentioned in the word of God. For instance, to partake of the promise of godliness with contentment aforementioned, we would have to seek it, find it, and then live it out. Now that should not come as a shock, because it takes the same diligence and effort to partake of success in any worthwhile area of life. For example, well-known motivational speaker Chris Widener insists that to be successful in any particular area of expertise, a person would have to adopt these practices: Read and listen to good information, Maintain a positive group of friends and colleagues, Focus clearly on goals, Discipline self to live out priorities. All of those practices mentioned by Widener, as well as others who are more biblical oriented, would be applicable if we truly desire to come into the fullness of the promises that God has made available to us. Remember, that the promises are “available” and just not “automatic.”
Isa 26:3 (KJV) “Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.”
A lethargic approach would be to take the first part of the scripture and ignore the second part. That approach could be called the “name it and claim it” approach, but it will not bring us into the fullness of the riches that have been purchased for us. Instead, if we determine to live according to the biblical instructions concerning any promise given to us by God, we shall be truly rich beyond measure.
-Kurt Thurston
God’s Breath - part 3 of 3
(Amplified and KJV)
Seldom do those who are physically dying refuse to receive oxygen to help them breathe; yet how often do those who are spiritually weak and dying insist on rejecting the Divine breath of God? With Adam’s disobedience came immediate spiritual and later physical death.
But with the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the last Adam, came a new opportunity for mankind to receive and live by the Spirit-breath of God the Father. The heavenly Father still seeks for those who are willing to die to themselves that He may live His life and speak His words through them here on earth.
Following His resurrection, Jesus explained to the apostles that “…[Just] as the Father has sent Me forth, so I am sending you. Having said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit!” {John 20:21-22}. Within that breath they received the earnest of that which would be poured out upon the hundred and twenty of His followers at Pentecost “When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting…And they were all filled (diffused through their souls) with the Holy Spirit…” {Acts 2:2, 4}. In like manner, His followers today are receiving ever-increasing in-breathings of the Holy Spirit that they may impart to others the life-giving Spirit of God. Ultimately, the Divine breath will so fill each person of the many-membered body that the Father’s desire will be exhibited and fulfilled through the union of Christ and His body, manifesting and operating as one new corporate man.
In his Messianic prophecy of Christ, about Whom Isaiah prophesied, “And there shall come forth a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse…and a Branch out of his roots shall grow and bear fruit,” {Isa 11:1} the prophet also foretold : “And the Spirit of the Lord…shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord…” {Isa 11:23}. Within this idea, Isaiah uses two expressions with similar meanings. The first is “Spirit,” meaning “to blow, i.e. to breathe.” The second is “of quick understanding” which means “wind, by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation.” The “quick understanding” so characteristic of the Branch becomes progressively characteristic of the branches which come forth bearing the fruit of His nature and purpose.
Much of the fruit-bearing the Father desires to receive from us is aborted or malformed when we ignore, disobey or misconstrue, either in timing or execution, the promptings and directions of the Holy Spirit. When we choose our wills over His, we quench the Holy Spirit. Without repentance and a renewed desire to be transformed into the image of Christ, we leave only eternity to reveal the price we have paid and the cost to the Kingdom of God. In Peter’s witness to the Gentiles in the home of Cornelius, for example, God required that Peter act contrary to what he had been taught as “religiously correct” {Acts 10-11:1-18}. Today, when God is reaching beyond our customary and traditional methods, we, too, must be willing to recognize and sacrifice the idol of “religious tradition” on the altar of total obedience to the ever-living God.
-Ruth French
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