Christian Fellowship
“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving...” Psalm 26:7
Vol. 24 No. 2 February 2015
No matter what you are experiencing, it is time to move on. Some things are difficult to let go of. The enemy likes to keep you bogged down with useless past issues that you can’t do anything about. Life does not stand still. There are always challenges that affect our move in life.
I think the Lord is encouraging us to go forth into His new season that is upon us. Look at what the Lord told Job: Job 11:16 (KJV) “ …thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:”
To forget doesn’t mean memory is out of your mind for good. It is simply that in the place where once there was misery, now there is healing. It is like waters that just keep flowing until the hurt becomes less and less.
God has called us to rise and shine because our light has come. So let us move on to the next thing the Lord has in store for our journey, and let us begin to recognize and receive the blessings.
In Christ,
Pr. Steve
Keep Yourself Prepared
Jos 1:2 (KJV) “Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan…”
Because of all the change that is taking place, it is our responsibility to keep up with the Lord. We have been instructed to look not at the old ways things have been done, but to wait on the Lord; for He is doing something new. As we do, we see some terrible things happening in the world; but it is our responsibility to keep our eyes on the Lord. It isn’t easy because there are so many problems. You can easily lose your peace if you get entangled in the problems of the world. So keep your eyes on Jesus because He has a plan for you and for me, and our lives. We really are going to be fine if we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Go ahead and cross the Jordan. What is the Jordan? It is the third death that we die which speaks of “self-will.” The first one is Egypt – death to the world. The second one is Sinai – death to sin. And the third one is the Jordan – death to self-will.
Sin is a living thing. It is demonic, and these creatures find homes in people where they dwell from generation to generation. Getting saved does not necessarily free you from them. But when the Spirit of God shows them to you, then you can deal with them by the blood of Jesus Christ and get them out of your life. They can be cast out, when you confess them and renounce them. The victory will come. You should never walk in known sin (I Jn.3:6). You cannot serve sin and the Lord at the same time. It is not possible. We are not made perfect overnight, but that is the reason the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. So when you bring these things to light, in time you will find victory and deliverance. To confess it clearly, you must name the sin specifically. Call it by name. For example, if you have stolen something – identify the act, tell Him what you stole, and tell Him you don’t ever want to do it again. The more specific you get, the clearer the deliverance becomes. You are bringing that spirit to the light and it will leave. You have to follow the Holy Spirit in deliverance (Rom.8:13). Through the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body! That is death to sin.
How does death to self differ from death to sin? Death to self is putting away things that are not unlawful. An example would be Abraham and Isaac. It is called crucifixion. Jesus doesn’t crucify sins. He crucifies self.
Just when you think you are living a pretty godly life and that sin has been dealt with, the Lord comes along and begins to deal with self. He asks, “Are you going to live according to your life or My life?” It is a choice you make. You can continue hoping God will bless your plans or you can give your plans to Jesus and accept His. It is a definite death to self:
Gal 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
The Holy Spirit casts out sin, but this is not sin. Nevertheless, it takes crucifixion to put self to death; and you know you are going through this when you no longer get what you want. The temptation is do whatever you can to have what you want that gives you pleasure. It is the mentality that says, “Surely God is good and He wants me to be happy.” This mindset lays the groundwork for breaking God’s laws. Does God want you to be happy? God wants you to be righteous. And if you do what God says, you will end up happy. If you grasp happiness before it is time, you will end up with ashes. There won’t be anything there. You broke God’s law. And you may or may not be able to get back into His Presence.
So if you are tempted today to break out of the situation you are in, knowing that your action can hurt other people and that God has not told you to do this -- but you just want to be “happy” -- you are set up for a failure.
24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (NKJV). The difference between the men and the boys in this race is that the men will do God’s will whether it is pleasant or not. The boys will do God’s will only as long as it is pleasant; and as a result, it will be a miracle if they are saved.
The members of the royal priesthood are people who have done the Lord’s will in good times when it was joyous and in times when it was grim and dreadful. Trials and circumstances matter not, for these keep denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following on. You experience that cross when you continue to be in a place where you do not wish to be or when you are being denied something you really want. THAT IS THE CROSS. Know that this death to self is necessary before you cross Jordan into your inheritance.
People of integrity stick it out and their reward comes at the hand of God. The royal priesthood stays in the Presence of God until they get the crown of life.
In going across the Jordan they were bringing God’s holy law into the midst of the demons. And that is what God wants for us as members of the priesthood – to bring God’s holy laws into the midst of the world. You are the light of the world.
Jos 1:3 (KJV) Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
From the time of Moses, God Himself gave every detail about and for Israel. He told them what to build, how to build it, what to put in it, and even what to wear for the services. That is what God wants for His church. But instead, and even though we have the Bible, people have their own ideas of what God wants. So God raised up Apostles – someone who has been with God and hears His voice and gets the instructions on what to do.
Jesus said, Mat 16:18 “…upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
He didn’t say the rock will build my church, but “I will build my church.” We can have the best intentions in the world, raising money, organizing, getting people fired up, but all without knowing what Jesus wants. We assume too much. We have the Bible, but the Bible is to be interpreted by God through the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant is not of the “letter” but of the “Spirit.” We need the Lord explain everything in this Word to us. It is something we should expect. God is speaking to this new generation, and they are going to make a difference in the Kingdom of God.
Those who will make a difference are the ones who are hearing from the Lord, the ones who will keep themselves prepared at all times, and the ones who will wait to do what the Lord says to do. You see, it “is” possible for children and adults to walk with the Lord in conscious obedience to His plan.
Moses was an apostle who gave the plan to Joshua who obeyed and followed. Joshua did pretty well except for time when he made a treaty with the Gibeonites. In order not to be slaughtered, they tricked Joshua by letting him believe they were a distant people, so a treaty was made with them. When the truth was found, the Gibeonites were from just over the hill. What was Joshua’s mistake? He didn’t ask the Lord. He assumed! When you get into a spiritual walk with Christ, you don’t assume anything. That is when you will mess up. You pray about everything. Make the time. You can take the same time praying that you would thinking.
According to God’s earlier directive Joshua was forbidden from killing them; and as a result, the Gibeonites caused the Israelites trouble all the way until the time of King David. Because King Saul had put some of them to death and thereby broken the treaty, David had to make atonement for them by giving up some Israelites to appease their wrath. All of this trouble and conflict stemmed from “assuming” what God had wanted. We must learn to ask and to hear from Him as to what and when and how we are to proceed, leaning not to our own understanding or desires.
We are in a time when we can expect to hear from God more clearly than ever before because He is up to something. [I have waited and waited on the instruction of the Lord and it has cost me greatly. But I am determined to know Him even if it takes a lifetime. How about you?]
What I am talking about is finding and walking in the will of God. All of us need a personal walk with Jesus. So don’t assume anything. Test the spirits to see if they are of God. When you hear something in your spirit and don’t know whether or not it is of God, why would you act upon it? Test it. You won’t offend God.
God said to Joshua, “I will give you every place you set your foot.” But then He named the specific territory to which the inheritance would extend, thus showing us that we can’t just place our feet wherever we want. We presume so much today, as when we believe and then instruct others to “Take authority over the demons of your community and watch them flee. Command your angel to get you money. Tell the Spirit what to do.” Such erroneous and presumptuous commands are common today, but they are contrary to Scripture. Jesus is the only CEO of the Kingdom of God. He is the only One who gives direction. Jesus is interested in every detail of your life because He has a plan for it. Just as He built the tabernacle detail by detail, He proclaimed, “On this rock I will build my church.” But who will stop and listen to Him for the details? We are in the midst of change and we must be led by someone who is hearing the Lord.
Pro 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Yes, put your foot down and march, but do it in God’s will. Keep yourself prepared so that when He is ready, you will be ready. Hold yourself lightly to the world so you can be ready for what He wants in this day. Otherwise, you will not be able to hear because you did not keep yourself ready.
So what are you going to do? KEEP YOURSELF PREPARED.
-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 2014
Feb 01: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!
Feb 02: Joy is the evidence and condition of the abiding presence of Jesus!
Feb 05: Filthiness of the flesh is self-indulgence. Filthiness of the spirit is self-seeking.
Feb 11: Holiness is the presence of God resting on you. Draw near to Him continually and abide with Christ.
Feb 12: Holiness is the fire of God’s love. It brings chastening that reveals the will of God. Chastisement is what leads us into a deeper love of God. “Insomuch as you are partakers of Christ’s suffering, rejoice, for the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you.” (I Peter 4:14)
Feb 26: Whose report will you believe? The lies of man will bring you down, but the truth of my Word will lift you up.
We Must Take Our Limits Off God
Eph 3:16-21 (KJV) “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Anytime we start getting complacent with our part of Christianity in the earth, you can be sure there will soon be a wakeup call from above. Therefore, we must be diligent to discern the signs of the times and the will of God for our lives. We are the ones God has chosen to save and deliver and to send forth into the earth at this time, so don’t limit your faith to just believing what you already know. Instead, be sure you are ready and willing to fulfill the purpose for which God has created you. In perspective, most Christians in the USA have not had to risk anything -- much less everything -- to fulfill their role in obeying God to their utmost. But we need to understand that things are changing as the return of Christ draws nearer. As a result, our prayers should include asking the Lord to use us and to give us strength for all that is needed to fulfill His will in the earth.
I believe that the following example in the life of Elijah will help us to gain a much needed perspective. The following is a synopsis of what happened when the prophet Elijah was obedient to risk life and limb to do what God told him to do to effect the much needed changes.
1Kings 18:1-46 In the time of Elijah there was drought, famine and death. After three years of drought, God tells Elijah it's time to do two things. First, Elijah must risk his life and confront Ahab; and secondly, Elijah was commanded to make it rain. Meanwhile, King Ahab is getting pretty desperate to find some water. He calls Obadiah, the governor of his house, and sends Obadiah to look for a place with some living grass for their horses and mules. To Obadiah's surprise, he bumps into Elijah while looking. Elijah tells Obadiah to go tell Ahab he's there, Obadiah tells Ahab who comes running and accusingly asks Elijah, "Are you the guy giving us all this trouble?" Elijah answers, "You're the one who brought trouble when you forsook God's commandments and worshipped Baal.” At that point, Elijah tells Ahab to gather all of Israel to Mount Carmel and to make sure those 450 prophets of Baal, as well as the 400 that eat at Jezebel's table, come too. So then Elijah makes the comparison: "Look, there are 450 prophets for Baal, and there's just me for the Lord. You guys take a bull and put it on a pile of wood. I'll do the same. We both will pray and whichever god sends fire to burn the bull is the real deal. "The priests of Baal call to their god from morning until noon, but nothing happens. Elijah mocks them: "Try getting louder; your god must be asleep, or hard of hearing." The priests of Baal then scream super loudly and cut themselves, as was customary, but still nothing happens. Finally, after the priests of Baal give up, Elijah takes twelve stones (one for each tribe of Israel) and repairs the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. He puts wood on top of it, cuts up the bull which he lays on top of the wood, and digs a trench around the altar. Then he tells the people to dump four barrels of water all over the altar. Elijah has them do it not once, not twice, but three times. The meat and wood are soaked, and the trench is filled with water when they're through. When evening comes, Elijah prays to God and says, "Let everyone know today that you are God in Israel, and that I'm your servant." Immediately, the fire of God falls down and consumes the bull, the wood, the stones, and all the water in the trench. The people fall down to the ground confessing, "The Lord is God! The Lord is God!" Elijah's instructs, “Seize the prophets of Baal" whom he then takes down by the brook Kishon, killing all 850 of them. Elijah tells Ahab to go home, So Ahab heads toward his house, and Elijah goes to the top of Mount Carmel and prays. He tells his servant who's with him to go look toward the sea. He does, but doesn't see anything. Elijah tells him to look seven more times, and finally, on the seventh time, the servant sees a little cloud as small as a man's hand rising out over the sea. The sky turns black with clouds, and a huge rainstorm bursts over the land.
THE RESULTS OF HEARING GOD AND OBEYING HIM WERE:
THE END OF THE DROUGHT.
THE END OF THE FAMINE.
THE END OF THE KILLING OF
THE PROPHETS OF GOD (for
that time and season).
Christians, we have to realize that we are not on “autopilot.” And we must be more than just spectators who sit back and watch as the hunger and the thirst for the things of God quickly mutate into stale religion and lifeless mediocrity. Don’t just pray for the Spirits’ Rain; pray that God will show us how to get Him flowing in our lives and our country again so that He may indeed reign.
-Pastor Kurt
Quotes:
"Today's church wants to be raptured from responsibility."
-Leonard Ravenhill
"A popular evangelist reaches your emotions. A true prophet reaches your conscience."
-Leonard Ravenhill
"It is now possible to live a "Christian life" without doing the things that Jesus commanded us to do. "We have hired people to go into all the world, to visit those in prison, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to care for widows and orphans. The average Christian doesn't have to do it."
-Cal Thomas
Next course from Christian Life Educators Network - Richmond Center:
A Study of Matthew, Part I by: Dr. Charles W. Hartley
This is a study of the first twelve chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.
This course will focus on Matthew's major themes; the meanings of the teachings
to the early Church; the character, person and work of Jesus; and the activity of
the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus.
March 5-7, 2015
