“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving...” Psalm 26:7
Vol. 15, No. 10 October 2006
We are in a time when communications are under great scrutiny. I first heard this early in the summer from the Lord. It seemed like everything that I said was misinterpreted or completely ignored. It was frustrating as is always the truth when you are wanting someone to hear you. But God kept telling me the body of Christ was going to experience this to a great degree because they won’t listen to Him.
I believe the church can hear the Lord like never before. We have learned how to distinguish His voice from the others; but we don’t want to heed what He is saying, so our communications are becoming blocked. Our ears are being stopped up because what the Lord says to our hearts is being ignored.
About 10 years ago we began to hear and understand about multi-tasking:i.e. doing more than one thing at a time. Well, I have been doing that for many years. I think it is one of the characteristics of leadership. When people began multitasking without proper knowledge of how to comprehend or gather information, confusion resulted. The errors and mistakes which followed continue to affect us all. Many are now on overload because of not being properly heard. The ensuing frustration has brought some to the point of shutdown or explosion. But God hears us and He wants to clarify and give us results.
The key is to come back to the voice of God. Take the time to listen to Him even if it is too hard to hear through the confusion that comes from the mouth of people. Don’t allow the confusion to take you over because:
1Co 14:33 “For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
In Christ,
Pr. Steve
The Future Is Now
Exo 3:13-14 “And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them? (14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
Why do we worry about the future? All we need to do is grow in Christ, remembering that He is the “I AM” – the “Eternal Present.” Christ always is what God Is. God and Christ are what They are right now.
He wants each of us to be a part of Himself, of what He always is. He desires for us to continue to grow until it can be said of us we are fully with Him where He is. Then the future will take care of itself.
If we are to be kept from the mundane, and temporary, we must be listening moment-by-moment to what the Lord is saying, presenting each decision to Him for His will and blessing. We must strive to be a part of what He is.
In John 8:58 Jesus did not say, “before Abraham was born I was.” He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” In John 14:3 He said, “that you also may be where I am,” not “where I will be.” Jesus is speaking in present tense so that we will not be concerned about the future, but that we will learn to think of God and Christ in the now. Jesus is talking about oneness with the Father – complete unity in the “I AM”.
Mat 28:20 “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world.” Amen.
always = wholly now. If we spend too much time worrying about coming from or going to heaven (which is our hope to be with the Lord), we may miss what Christ is doing today in our life to bring us into oneness with Him and the Father.
“All there is, is now.” If we spend too much time on the future we will neglect the Lord in every detail of our lives now. Any point in the future is always the now, the present, when we get there. In worrying about the future we are trying to establish the future – then we are filled with disappointments and frustrations because it doesn’t happen the way we expected. We literally create emergencies in our lives because of what we expect the future to be. {Yes, we are at times to consider the future to make sure we are headed in the right direction.} The reason the world is passing us by so fast is that we are living for the future instead of the now.
Christ is always the “I AM,” not the “I will be.” Christ desires that we be with Him where He is, not where He will be - always = wholly now.
If Christ is always with us and we are with Him, then the future is now. The Lord wants us to enter into a timeless relationship. He wants each of us to be with Him where He is. He desires that we grow in Him until it can be said we are wholly with Him in what He is and where He is. Then the future will take care of itself.
Do you worry about the future? Ask yourself – Right now, this very moment is there anything I can’t do that I know I should do?] Then why worry? Christ is the I AM. What is the problem?
Isa 26:3 “Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.”
Right now, this very moment, there is no problem. “All that there is, is now.” Much of the pain we suffer comes from our anticipation of the future. The Lord wants you to know the meaning of “I AM.” Christ wants to be our life now. He wants to be expressed through us. This is oneness – not so we can have more power or be more successful, or to get what we want. God wants total union because He is love. That love is our life. Divine love in union is not the means to some religious end. It is the end.
Listen carefully to Rev. 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
The Lord never stops knocking. He always wants to dine with us. When we join Him, we are eating His flesh and drinking His blood. But what does He eat and drink? (Song of Solomon 5:1) myrrh = bitter/sweet honeycomb = forest (Revelation 10:9-10) He eats the sweet word of life in you. He is looking for every part of your personality and being to be filled with Him – possibly only through surrender.
Heb 13:5 “[Let your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
I can spend time speculating about what the future holds. Or I can keep looking to Jesus, making sure that at this very moment I am living in His presence, expressing His will in the earth. While I remain in Christ Jesus, doing exactly what I know He desires, I am indestructible. He is health to my soul; He is energy to my being; He is wisdom to my mind.
“Lord, I want to be a part of the I AM right now, I want to live by your life. All there is, is now, and there is no problem. When later comes it will be now. You are with me at all times.”
To what level of union are you being brought? To be precisely what He is. Can you imagine the battle our carnal nature has to relinquish in its rights to be this and to get there?
When we are seeking to be filled with Christ, to dwell in Christ, at any moment, He is there. It is not a case of you seeking to be part of God. It is God seeking to be part of man. Every aspect of salvation originates in God. We cannot run after Him except He draws us. No person comes to Jesus unless the Father draws Him. No individual takes this honor upon himself except he is called of God.
He has created us to be His shining glory. We are to be the image of God, the expression of God in His creation. How marvelous. Yet we resist, and ignore. Christ in God is calling us to Himself. “Come be a part of Me, this is why you were created. Cease from your own works and enter into My rest.”
The result is a conscientious decision to follow the great I Am to come into untroubled rest in the Father through Jesus Christ, being made one with Them, we dwelling in Them and They in us.
-Pr. Steve
. . . My calling as a pastor
Pastor’s Journal 2005
Oct. 4: You truly did so much over this weekend. I am overwhelmed by Your faithfulness and grace with mercy. I just love to see Your Spirit minister to others. Please make it lasting so that each of us may be all You have called us to be. Thank You for such awesome glory and love. May we serve You with a heart of gratitude continually.
Oct. 9: “This new year that is upon you is a year of Jubilee for you. Many things I have spoken to you will come to pass. Your faithfulness is seen and acknowledged of My Father. I have yoked you to Myself and the blessing is with You for My Kingdom.”
Oct. 10: O Lord, we wait. In silence we wait on You. Quickly revive us in mercy and show us Your power. We wait, O Lord.
Oct. 11: “You are strong enough for the fight. I am fighting for you and you will not turn back but will defend your brothers in the day of gloom and despair. It is My strength that is building. Keep faith in the forefront of the battle.”
Oct. 13: The harassment has been at an all time high. Oppression is all around, but My God shall prevail. He is good. I would have fainted if it had not been for the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He rules as Supreme. No enemy can come near and defeat the anointed of the Lord.
Oct. 14: “Keep yourself pure. Do not turn to the lustful things of the world. Do not look upon the nakedness of another and I will keep you healthy and whole. I want you for Myself.”
Oct. 17: No matter what I want, what I long for or what desires I have, all must be You alone, Your way. I surrender through the Holy Spirit that I might be pleasing unto You, my Lord.
Oct. 20: For His merciful kindness is great toward us and the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Oct. 24: “My people have been ravished by the enemy, but it has made them stronger in Me. I will turn their captivity and ravish them with My love and blessing. Yes, they will know My spirit like never before. They have truly experienced change and the transition has brought them higher and higher in Me. I have raised the bar; otherwise, they would have remained incomplete in their understanding. Now, with greater wisdom My church shall be seen and heard.”
Oct. 25: “True discipleship is following Me until you know Me. Once you know Me you will never turn back. There is no sacrifice in the truth of becoming a Christian. The sacrifice is in becoming a disciple. You have come to a higher dimension in discipleship, a higher realm of glory. There is a transfer taking place that will soften the blows of this life because they no longer matter. This is My Glory filling your inner being until the fullness manifests.”
Oct. 27: “You say you are empty and barren, weak and without life. I say you are full and fruitful, strong and filled with abundant life. You are raised higher than ever before. It is new and different. I am revealing the way of life and there will be much to rejoice in, so be glad even now that I have accomplished so much with you.”
Oct 28: “I don’t want your money. I don’t want your offerings. I want you, My Son. You are the precious life that I have saved. You are the reason I paid so great a price. In these days a greater influence will come forth from you. Watch and keep yourself in Me. Do not offend others in manners or words because the influence is increasing so that others might know of Me and My Glory.”
As Unto the Lord
We are living in very different times. It has been said in the past, and quoted even recently that; “we are living in the best of times and the worst of times.” But there is never any time wasted that is spent as unto the Lord. Whether rich or poor, happy or distressed, imprisoned or free; those who will humble themselves and seek His face and turn from there wicked ways always find the Lord faithful. The best is yet to come for any and all who will take God at His word and follow Him without giving up. Life for the Christians who walk closely with God is not a bed of thornless roses. It has been and always will be filled with beauty and ashes, rejoicing and suffering, good times as well as difficulties; but through it all we can grow closer to God than we could ever imagine or accomplish by our own efforts.
1Sa 13:5-6 (KJV) “(5) And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which [is] on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven. (6) When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.”
Today we would basically have the same two choices that Israel had: Fight or Flee. But we would not want to do either without consulting the Lord. God’s word says that we can ask of Him, and He will lead us. He will give us victory over our enemies. He will cause us to know and understand His ways, if we will only seek His face and turn from our own ways. In the Old Testament, King David made some serious mistakes, but there were always good results when he did what was right in seeking the Lord.
1Sa 30:6 & 8 (KJV) “(6) And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. (8) And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them], and without fail recover [all].”
We must always focus upon the Lord during the good times as well as the bad times. Focusing on problems and blaming other people for them will always lead to distress in our hearts. The battles belong to the Lord and we will always emerge victorious if we can stay in the Lord through them. Don’t quit! Don’t let your heart be troubled! Take everything before Him, and encourage yourself in the Lord because of Who He Is!
Here are two more good reasons to live by giving it all unto the Lord:
Deu 31:6 (KJV) “(6) Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Heb 13:5-6 (KJV) “(5) …He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is] my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
-Kurt Thurston
Wholeness - part 3 of 3
3. Whole means to grow (maturity)
Matt. 14:35 through Matt. 14:36 (KJV) 35And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Matt. 12:9 through Matt. 12:13 (KJV) 9And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 10And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
Dysfunctional families
Children are not whole because of issues. Failure to teach phonics and the multiplications tables hinders learning. Children have friends who hate their parents because fear and abuse pervade their homes. A husband who fears his employer may come home and fight with his wife. Children who fear their parents fight with the dog, and the dog retaliates by tearing up the house. And so the cycle continues.
Matt. 15:29 through Matt. 15:32 (KJV) 29And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 30And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: 31Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. 32Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat…”
Those who cannot see spiritually, hear, walk, or speak spiritually are those that need to be made whole The feast of the Lord comes to us when we grow up.
4. Whole means to cure, mend (binding and loosing)
Matt. 15:21 through Matt. 15:28 (KJV) 21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Addictions must go to the Cross: - Needs met: 1. repentance, 2. cleansed, 3. wholeness
Tribulations worketh every good work – wholeness, completeness
Rom. 5:3 through Rom. 5:5 (KJV) 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Altar call: Deal with shame and receive hope.
Is there sin in your life? Make an altar and pray grace. If you are dealing with a consequence, come to the altar and pray mercy. If you are cleansed, come and stand and receive wholeness. Receive hope.
Isaiah 53--Read and meditate on this chapter.
-Pr. Chad
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