Christian Fellowship
“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving...” Psalm 26:7
Vol. 21, No. 8 August 2012
We continue to see the hand of God heavy upon this nation. Although spring was pretty awesome, summer has revealed something else. But don’t let the thousands of weather-related records convince you about something that is not true. There is no such thing as global warming.
King Solomon told us there is nothing new under the sun. What once was will be again; what has been done will happen again (Ecc.1:9).
The enemy loves to get people excited about something new. People have itching ears to hear something new and exciting. But we need to hold on to what we know and what God’s Word tells us is and what is going to happen. This way we will be prepared and not surprised by any of it.
Now no one wants to experience devastation and destruction. It is difficult to comprehend and we certainly don’t want to worry about it and expect it to come our way. Nevertheless, there is a judgment taking place today that continues to affect all of us. And it isn’t a pretty thing to see. 1Th 5:3 “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
So keep yourself in the safe arms of your Beloved. Allow Him to wrap you in His protection so you can live a life that satisfies both you and Him.
Psa 4:8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”
In Christ,
Pr. Steve
KEEP YOURSELF IN THE LORD
Php 4:4-9 (KJV) “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. (5) Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (6) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (9) Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”.
What is it that worries you? All that is happening today in the spirit realm and in the physical realm is the battle to see what you are going to adhere to –- Who are you going to listen to when you make your decisions? If you are feasting off the body and blood of Christ, then you will make decisions that are pleasing to the Lord; and you will be strengthened for the battle. But if you make decisions that keep you weak spiritually, you will, little by little, become lukewarm in your spiritual life. Eventually, that condition brings forth a judgment that removes you from the presence of God.
We are supposed to rejoice in the Lord at all times. But what are we doing?
Today are we making choices and decisions that keep us hopeless for the time that we are in, or we are making choices that are enhancing us and causing us to grow closer spiritually at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Either we believe what God is saying or we are taking His words so lightly that we would rather do our own thing and then hope to make it in the end.
Please stop thinking that as you grow older things will change for the better. We know Biblically this is not true. Therefore, you must discipline yourself today for the way you are going to be tomorrow. That is why we are told to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ.
Every decision we will make is going to be based on our desires, our experience, our fears and worries, OR we can be “in Christ” and have our thoughts and mind filled with that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and that which is of a good report.
Ø TRUE = not concealed or hidden
Ø HONEST = honorable, devout, worthy of reverence
Ø JUST = innocent, right
Ø PURE = chaste, properly clean
Ø LOVELY = lovable, acceptable, friendly
Ø GOOD REPORT = reputable, gracious
Ø VIRTUE = excellence
Ø PRAISE = praise worthy
FIX YOUR MIND ON THESE QUALITIES!
The opportunities that we have every day can be boiled down to making one of two choices: Walk in the Spirit or live in the flesh. There is nothing else. If you walk in the Spirit, then you are going to make choices that bring you life as well as blessing and favor with God. If you live in the flesh, you are going to find it increasingly difficult to experience the Lord, to hear from the Lord, and to make decisions that please Him. You see, we are no longer in the position spiritually of being “useful” or being “important”; we are in the day when we are to be “pleasing” to Him. Do you know what it is like to please someone? It makes you feel good all over. It lifts your countenance. It gives you an overall sweet disposition. It makes you feel you are worth something.
As you look at the body of Christ today, do you think she is pleasing the Lord? Does she look sweet and appealing? Are you pleasing the Lord today? If not, why not? Are you not taking time to be with Him and to let Him lead you? Are you considering the decisions you are making in terms of DID I PLEASE THE LORD TODAY?
What the church needs for today is “Fellowship with Jesus.” That relationship will make you satisfied. When we were spiritual children, we would laugh as Jesus came and played with us. We delighted in the special attention we experienced with His gifts, and those interactions satisfied us. But now as we are growing up and as the works of Satan are being cast out, the Lord wants a mature relationship. He is looking for some place to lay His head to rest without concern that you are going to run out and do something stupid or rash or harmful to Him. He is not going to rest in you until He can trust you.
Do you know when Jesus can trust you? It’s when you can have His Presence everywhere you go. You can experience His love in a deeper way. You can walk with Him and never be alone. He will feed you with His life and you will experience inner resurrection life which is the power to be victorious! Why do you need this inner resurrection life operating? Because it is what qualifies you for the outer resurrection on that Day. If you don’t have this inner resurrection operating then, how do you think you will be ready for that outer resurrection? His desire for preparedness caused Paul to write, “If I by some means might attain to the resurrection” (Phil.3:11). If you have not made some progress in the inner resurrection, then you are not going to be raised. I don’t care what those teachers say who want to satisfy itching ears. We have to know the Word of Truth and walk in it. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit cannot have fellowship with the old carnal nature. They fellowship with those of like precious faith, those who walk in the image of Christ. Why do people feel so empty and so dry? Because they won’t purify their hearts and make decisions that matter to Him!
Do you realize that if God is dealing with you today about your walk it is because He sees that you are going to become what He wants? I would be quite concerned if I did not have a fresh hunger for the things of God right now. I would be on my face and be confessing and repenting for my foolish decisions, for going my own way, and for doing my own thing. The Lord is calling forth the remnant today because He is getting ready to do something awesome in the earth.
What, then, is the antidote to worry and fretting? (Psalm 73:1-17) Do you know why you feel so worn out? Because everything you are listening to is trouble and turmoil. If you don’t start talking about your testimony, you are going to stay worn out! You have to think on the TRUE – HONEST – JUST – PURE – LOVELY and GOOD THINGS OF THE LORD. God is going to take care of the evil in the world. And you don’t have to be a part of it. What is the perspective of the Saint supposed to be? GO TO CHURCH AND GET UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES (vrs.17). You can’t know what to do or what is happening from the news media –their reports are lies and cover ups. You have to have truth. Think on the true. The reason TV and radio talk is about evil is that it is the work of Satan, and he doesn’t like to be ignored. When you think on the true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good, you leave him out and he doesn’t like it. But that is your victory. That is your salvation for the day in Christ. If we started ignoring the evil, what do you think we would become? Christ-like. I know it is hard when you are in the middle of the battle every day. But His life is your nourishment and strength. The promise is that the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds and He will be with you!
Psa 73:25-28 (KJV) “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. (26) My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. (27) For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. (28) But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”
Don’t fret – instead fill your mind with the good things of God!
-Pr. Steve
I am going to be sharing with you thoughts from my journal over the past few years. This is to show you how the Lord has brought about His Word in my life to minister to you and to show you how real this walk can be. Please read and understand by the Spirit about ...
. . . My calling as a pastor
Pastor’s Journal 2011
Aug. 1: I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done. (Psm 118:17) There is more to come. You will endure and have a grateful heart that reaches up to Me.
Aug. 2: I listen for You all day long.
Aug. 8: Jesus offered up prayers of petitions with loud cries and tears and He was heard because of His reverent submission. (Heb 5:7)
Aug. 9: Those who yield themselves wholly to the leading of the Holy Spirit will feel the need to pray.
Aug. 15: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Mat 9:13). I desire a readiness to help those in trouble!
Aug. 22: Perfect peace have they whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee. (Isa 26:3)
Aug. 25: Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest to your souls. (Mat 11:29)
Aug. 27: The upright will be blessed. Good comes to the man who lends generously and conducts his business fairly. He will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered. He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident trusting in the Lord. (Psm 112)
Aug. 29: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2Cor 10:4). Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2Cor 10:5)
PEOPLE OF GOD, STAY PREPARED
The Holy Scriptures are alive, and the more we get into them the more they live in us. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! The spirit of this age is prevailing in the lives of many born-again believers, but the battle can still be won when the right choices are made. We must let God be the dominating influence in our lives. It has been said: “You are what you eat,” and the same is true for everything that we allow ourselves to believe and let influence our lives.
Mat 6:21-24 (KJV) “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (22) The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (23) But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (24) 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.”
With what do we fill ourselves? The Scriptures say that our mouths speak from the abundance of what we allow to fill our hearts. We must keep our hearts with all diligence and with all discipline; and above all else, we must be disciples and lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual battle starts long before the physical battle; so if we are feeling overtaken naturally, we had better get to the battle in the Spirit quickly.
Joe 2:1-7 (KJV) “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; (2) A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (3) A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. (4) The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (5) Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. (6) Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. (7) They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks.”
Many of us have never been in a real life war. We don’t know how to be disciplined or how to battle, but God has appointed leaders for all of those who desire to follow Him. So don’t fall for the ploy of the enemy that would say: “Just do what you think is best,” or “Just serve God your own way.” There was never a time in the Bible when God told people to do it their way. But the Lord has been and always will be faithful to warn us of why we should not lean on our own ways.
Jud 1:17-25 (KJV) “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; (18) How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. (19) These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. (20) But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, (21) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (22) And of some have compassion, making a difference: (23) And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. (24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (25) To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
-Kurt Thurston
Quotes:
"Lord, help me learn the secrets, that the little flowers know. That if it never rains, we will never grow."
- unknown
"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from Hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness."
- A.W. Pink
"We have not been men of prayer. The spirit of prayer has slumbered among us. The closet has been too little frequented and delighted in.
We have allowed business, study or active labor to interfere with our closet-hours. And the feverish atmosphere in which both the church and the nation are enveloped has found its way into our prayer closets..."
- Andrew Bonar
Next course from Christian Life Educators Network - Richmond Center:
.The Book of Mark by Rev. Terry Mahan
This is a study of the Gospel according to Mark. It is the Good News of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This study highlights the short, fast-paced
and to the point interpretation of the life of Jesus.
September 6-8
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