“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving...” Psalm 26:7
Vol. 17, No. 3 March 2008
I had a difficult night. It was one of those nights where I slept really hard. When I awakened I didn’t even know what day of the week it was. I went to prayer feeling really nothing at all, so I turned in the Bible and came to Psalm 62:8 “Trust in the Lord at all times.” I said to the Lord, “OK, Lord, I don’t know what is going on; but I choose to trust in You no matter what.” Immediately His Presence filled me and I was back experiencing the hope and gladness of the Lord. Wow, that was pretty awesome. It was just that fast too. I so enjoy my Lord and Savior. We are in such incredible times, I really don’t know how people endure without the Presence of the Lord.
I think most people are waiting for some areas of completion. It seems like their life is on hold waiting for something. The times are so uncertain, not knowing what one day will hold. But in Christ Jesus I can have the peace and the rest that is essential to hold us together.
I am glad the Lord told us to be overcomers and not just survive. Sometimes we don’t feel like it, but we can “Trust in the Lord at all times.” And when we do we are persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
In Christ,
Pr. Steve
Saved With Difficulty
In order to be totally saved we must be forgiven the guilt of our sin and then delivered from the sinful aspect of our being. In I Peter 4 we find how a person is saved – by judgment. As God judges the worldliness, the lusts and the self-will within, salvation takes place. This judgment is not for the guilt of our sin, but for the presence of sin in us.
Peter says it is hard for the righteous to be saved. Yes, it is with great difficulty that we are saved. WHY? Because sin still remains in our being. God wants all the sin removed. Soooo…He sends fiery trials to try our faith – to see if we are serious about holiness. The reason this creates difficulty is that we are required to respond to what is happening – and we don’t like it. Sometimes we don’t know what to do – and we don’t like it. But as we experience this divinely-ordained suffering, and as we respond to it as from God, then a change takes place within and salvation occurs.
From verse 1-2 we find the purpose of suffering is to remove sin from us. SUFFERING SAVES US FROM SIN, and thereby we are being saved. The suffering is so we will not live according to our flesh, but according to the will of God. This is why we enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation.
1Th 1:4-5 (KJV) “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. (5) For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.”
Because these Saints persevered in the faith, their trials cleansed them from all their sins and they were counted worthy of the Kingdom of God.
Throughout time, God’s saints have accepted suffering as from Him because it brought them closer in the Kingdom of God. When the Church has gone through the process of suffering, accepting it as the will of God to remove sin, then the Lord will return and He will punish the ungodly. 2 Cor.10:6 tells us we cannot punish the disobedient until our obedience is complete.
(1 Peter 4:3) If Christians are not careful to gain the victory over the lusts of the world and the flesh, they may claim they are saved, but they are deceived. If repentance does not quickly come, they will experience unprecedented horror as is beginning to happen in our nation and in the churches. We must keep our eyes fastened on the Lord Jesus, continually giving thanks while praying that we might be delivered out of this mess. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers us out of them all.
(1 Peter 4:12-13) Christ did not suffer in His person because of His sin. But He suffered that He might learn obedience. If we receive suffering in the right manner, waiting patiently for the Lord, we will receive the image of Christ. (Vrs.14-16) If we do not receive suffering with the right attitude, then we will be ashamed at His coming.
All of verse 15 is a matter of the heart. If Christians don’t stop destroying, slandering and being bitter, they will begin to reap what they have sown in their behavior. And they will be punished. That kind of suffering is not one that saves but destroys. Suffering that saves is tribulation because you go through the fire. Suffering that punishes is wrath.
Rev 11:1 (KJV) “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”
Judgment begins with those closest to the Lord. How close are you? The “reed like a rod” is divine judgment. The ‘temple of God and the altar’ refer to the church, especially those who have learned how to worship at the altar of incense. These are the ones who worship in spirit and truth within the holiest of all. So the closer you get to the Lord, the more you will be judged. The closer you get to the Lord, the greater the desire, the more attention to every detail of your life comes under the microscope of God’s eye. BUT THE MORE YOU ARE JUDGED, THE MORE YOU ARE BEING SAVED; AND CHANGE IS TAKING PLACE.
We ordinarily don’t speak of degrees of salvation. But if true salvation is freedom, then it is true that some are more saved than others. You can have as much of God as you want, but the closer you draw to Him, the greater the degree of testing. And if God deals so severely with those closest to Him, Peter asks, in verse 17, “What will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” Paul says the same thing in 2 The.1:8 except he adds “a flaming fire will take vengeance on them.”
The point is that all are going to be judged. Do you want the former or the latter? If you want to be with those who will be raised in the first resurrection, then you must accept judgment now in advance of the coming of the Lord. The first resurrection must be attained by participation in the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, conforming us to the moral image of Christ to bring us into rest in the Father.
This brings us back to our text (vrs.18-19) Ever since the first rebellion, God has determined to eradicate sin and rebellion from His creation. So He shakes and shakes heaven and earth. And when the shaking is complete, sin will be no more.
Welcome to the great “shake-up.” You must commit yourself to your faithful Creator and continue to do good. People will continue more and more to try and bring the worst out of you. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t expect them to change. Don’t get bitter and blame others. LOOK ONLY TO THE LORD. Don’t yield to bitterness. KEEP DOING GOOD – “Well doing.” God does not enjoy seeing you suffer. But He is bringing you to salvation TO FREE YOU FROM SIN!
Don’t take suffering for granted. Always pray for relief, and times of refreshing will come. Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit so we can bear up this wonderful salvation to be able to live a holy life.
Matthew 3:12 (KJV) “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The fire that we are in is to burn out of our personalities the chaff that is worthless to the Kingdom of God. DON’T QUIT. Good days are ahead for the child of God who has paid the price. Yes, there will be laughter and joy in the midst of doom and gloom. But the evil will be so great that most won’t be able to resist. One of the greatest gifts you will ever receive from God is the ability to say no to the evil that is coming.
We don’t have to live in doom and despair with all this pressure. We are on the road to rejoicing. Sufficient to each day is the evil that is disguised. But God’s mercies are new every morning. Every day as we endeavor to obey, we receive grace to convert the evil into our salvation. We are becoming the righteousness of Christ. We are being set free to walk in the everlasting way of glory.
The Lord Jesus always lives, moves, and has His Being in the Divine Fire of the heart of Father God. In His great love for us Jesus wants us to be with Him where He is, and that is in the heart of the Divine Fire.
Instead of fire insurance, why don’t we get fire proofed today so we can be brought into His presence which is more precious than silver, more costly than gold.
When you determine to become holy, holiness becomes a delight. We will develop an absolute passion for God no matter what.
Let God save us, even if it is with difficulty.
-Pr. Steve
. . . My calling as a pastor
Pastor’s Journal 2007
Mar. 3: “You will know Me as I truly am. You will come through the battles of correction and training. Change will be the result with a clear understanding and self-awareness of My majesty.”
Mar. 5: “You are brought low that I might be lifted high. You are restrained that I might be free to operate the Father’s way. You have been denied that I might give to the Father’s request at this time. The cross requires total abandonment to your own will and ways, but the love of the Father will be revealed.”
Mar. 9: “I am continually with you, guiding you, instructing you and directing your path. You are pleasing to our Father and you will come into His almighty plan. Continue to rejoice in the direction you have said yes to so nothing will hinder the process. You will soon see blessings upon the people because they have said yes as well.”
Mar. 19: Repentance and forgiveness must be preached in Jesus’ Name. (Luke 24:47)
Mar. 20: “Your life is full and complete because I have made it so. You will stay in My will and complete your journey in Me and together we will finish your race.”
Mar. 22: The blessing of the Lord, the blessing of the Lord, the blessing of the Lord. There is peace and rest in the Lord.
Mar. 26: “I have placed confidence in you so you will always move forward in your destiny. Other people do not know or understand My ways. You lack assurance of how to arrive at the destiny. I have shown you the end of the journey; now believe that every step you are taking is bringing you into that destiny. This is the will of the Father in you. Your life is marked for completion.”
Mar. 27: Look at the heavens to behold the signs coming. The earth will be filled with distress and perplexity as men fail to see results and know not where to turn.
Mar. 29: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all working together to give us life abundant and everlasting.
It Matters
My online search for “things that matter most to people” surveys revealed these results: Money, School, Family, Time, Health, Ecology, Sex, and Music. It was alarming not to have found Religion, and or Relationship with God, among the other categories. In a nation whose motto has long been “In God we trust,” it should be hard to get past all the info about God in relation to things that matter to people; but instead, it is hard to find surveys that include God mattering to people at all. No matter the online consensus, the fact of the matter is that there is only one Almighty God and that His Son Jesus Christ is the Lord of everything. Believing that Jesus is the Lord of everything is first step to finding out what really matters about everything. If we believe that Jesus is Lord of everything, then we will want to know what He has to say about everything that really matters.
John 8:31-32 (KJV) “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; (32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Absolute Truth should also be at the top of the real list of things that matter to people. A large percentage of people want truth to be according to their opinion, but that is actually saying that they want to be God. If we chose to operate in our own personal version of truth, we will fall short of allowing Jesus Christ to be Lord of our lives; and then we will fall prey to many evils.
Luke 11:9-10 (KJV) “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (10) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
We must seek truth, and not just assume that we already have all the answers. We need truth for every situation and circumstance daily. Even if we memorized the entire Bible, we would still lack the depth of interpretation and application that can only be found by seeking the Author. The modern religious self-help activists live by this motto: “God helps those who help themselves,” but the absolute truth in the matter is that God will make the way when we seek Him and follow Him. When we live in a monetarily affluent society, it is easier to get caught up on doing things our way. In fact. money itself could be ranked as the leader among the many top ranking natural powers in our realm, and the love of it is truly the beginning of all evil. These days there is not much that money can’t buy. It has been said, and sung that money can’t buy us love; but that would depend on a proper interpretation of love. One of the greatest deceptions about worldly love and money is that they somehow should be allowed to have power over us. If we fall into that philosophy, we will soon find ourselves stealing both money and love in some inordinate manner. We must be keen and take notice when anything influences us to commit unrighteous acts, and we must press into the Truth lest we fall to the mastery of the lower and base powers.
Matthew 6:24-33 (KJV) “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (25) Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: (29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? (31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
It matters that there are so many people who are deceived and blinded to the Truth. It matters whether or not we are willing to seek the Truth. It will make a difference if we walk in the Truth and share it with others who need it so desperately. Perhaps if we were more prepared and eager to share the Truth with others, we might be stronger in the faith ourselves.
-Kurt A. Thurston
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