I got this in an email. It is tooooooo good not to share. Enjoy! It is an animated Chick Publication called “This Was Your Life.” Feel free to share it with others. Heather

http://www.lifeanddeathmin.com/yourlife.htm

Pastor Don was talking about praying for a person for a healing. That sometimes we, in our zeal, pray beyond the faith that the person has. We have to come in agreement in prayer. If we are praying for complete healing and the person can only believe that the doctor’s medicine will help heal them, we might be doing damage to their faith by praying beyond what they can believe. We need to locate what a person can believe and come in agreement with them in prayer, or if their faith needs building up, we need to take the time to build up their level of faith so that you can come into agreement. When Jesus walked through the crowd at the Pool of Siloam, he did not heal every one, only the one person who Jesus picked from the crowd, the one who could receive his healing. If you lay hands on a person who only has hope for a healing, you get hope, but not the faith for a healing.

Pastor Don then talked about times when God supernaturally protects you from troubles. When you feel like you are in a bubble of protection. He mentioned a time when he first started doing the TV show on TBN and there were no nitty gritty problems coming his way for a few months. God was protecting him. But after awhile, when there were not challenges, he began to wonder if he was being effective in God’s kingdom. Sometimes God gives us a brief rest from challenges, but so often we know that we are reaching people when they start reacting to what we are saying or doing.

Sometimes people expect that when they get saved it will end all their troubles, life will be free of conflict, attacks, challenges. Not so. When we start being effective in God’s kingdom, satan’s attacks will increase for satan does not want effective workers for God.

What should we do when we are under an attack?  We need to remember that God’s plan for us is perfect. He has equipped us and given us power to STAND in the midst of trouble.

STAND is not a passive standing. It is active. If you are passively standing in one spot, you are then a good target, and you will end up with victim mentality, a martyr complex. You may decide to blame the devil, other churches, the pastor, other people for what is happening to you. We have to mature enough to realize that everything is not going to work right all the time. If we think that everything should always work right, we are setting ourselves up for depression and disaster.

What people don’t realize is that the things that we worried about yesterday, God has often resolved. But we don’t see that God did resolve what worried us yesterday because we are focused on what we are worrying about today. We focus on our current problems, and are ingrates, because we do not realize that God freed us from something we were worrying about yesterday.

We need to have an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE and realize that God, in our situations, gives us a peace that passes all understanding.

Pastor Don said that many people feel that he was born mellow and cool. Not so, he had to work hard to get to that place and maintain that place in his life. That God would pick one area in his life to work on. When he got that resolved, God would say, “Now Donnie, work on this area.”

He talked about a poster that he had when he was struggling financially. It had two vultures on it, and one vulture said, “Patience my, a–, I’m going to kill something.” It reminded Pastor Don that he needed to continue working to get things in order financially – that he had to take the offensive – to tithe, do do the Biblical principles necessary, in spite of circumstances, so that he could become financially solvent. He had to have patience, but also do things in a sensible way.

He also realized that great musicians study and practice. If you just pick up the instrument and practice sporadically nothing will happen. You have to work and study to gain proficiency. If you think that you can just do something without the necessary work it is EGO INSANITY.

It is the same with spiritual things. Pastor Don was healed of an incurable lung disease and diabetes. Most people do not realize that after you are healed the battle isn’t over – you also have to maintain your confession of healing, to maintain your faith. The battle after the healing of sickness is the true victory.

The woman with the issue of blood, received wholeness, not just a healing for her blood disease. Jesus said your faith has made you WHOLE. When Jesus healed a person, he did not just heal the symptom, but the whole person.

The paraplegic who was lowered from the ceiling, God first forgave the man’s sins, then he healed him. Jesus was concerned with the whole person. And he also told people to “Go and sin no more.”

Sin is the problem that brings about sickness and disease.  We are often sick because something is missing in our lives and the sickness fills that hole. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. When we get into the will of God, then we gain wholeness.

God wants lifestyle changes in our lives. It is often very hard to get people to want to be whole. People want to be healed, but they don’t want to do the work required to replace the piece that is missing in them. If we don’t address that hole in a person’s spirit, we are just healing the symptom.

Nehemiah was not looking for peace. He was looking for an effective way to have life and do the job.

Pastor Don told a joke, he said that a woman married Mr. Right, and then was distressed because she didn’t realize his first name was Always.

Wholeness includes salvation. When we come to Christ, we have eternal salvation. But there are other salvations that we work out on the earth with fear and trembling (awe). We are compartmental. We can have faith for salvation, but not faith to feed 5000. We might have faith for finances, but not faith for healing.

Nehemiah was a cup bearer for the king – a very important position. He swapped spit with the king, drinking some of the wine before the king drank it. Then he would wait 15 or 20 minutes, and if Nehemiah did not drop dead, the wine was safe for the king to drink. Nehemiah lived during the time of Daniel and Ezra, prophets. He wanted to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. At this time they had been 70 years in captivity (predicted by Jeremiah), and Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah had been counting up the years and realized that the time was at hand for their liberation. Daniel prayed a prayer, and an angel had been delayed before coming to him.

When we have challenges, God knows how He is going to deliver his children of God from them. We often have preconceived ideas about how God is going to deliver us from our circumstances. Often God has a plan that does not coincide with our ideas. We need to trust God.

Nehemiah came into the king’s chamber with a sad face (something that could have caused his death for you were not to show a sad face to the king). The King asked Nehemiah what was wrong, and then offered to allow Nehemiah to go and repair the city of Jerusalem. He gave him letters confirming this, money to do the project, and permitted Nehemiah to do what was necessary. God delivered far above Nehemiah’s expectations.

Nehemiah 1:5-6 And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love you an observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be outeating and Your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel, Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.

Notice, Nehemiah prayed night and day and he takes the heat, confessing sins. He realized that the problem of Israel was a sin problem and he confessed the sins to get back into a covenant relationship with God.

Nehemiah 1:11 “Oh LORD, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name, and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.”

Pastor Don suggested reading all of Nehemiah Chapter 1 and 2 to get the whole picture of what was going on.

Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

Nehemiah assessed the situation and shared the real deal with the people. He told them the truth, but then led them to action with come, let us build… Nehemiah’s positive outlook was contagious, and people caught his vision. It was a good work and Nehemiah had the favor of the king to do the work.

Even though Nehemiah had that great kind of faith, he did not stay in the bubble of protection. Evil would come against him. So often we think that evil should not be within the church, but when we are doing what is right for God’s kingdom, satan wants to prevent God’s work from going forward. We can often tell that we are doing what is right when we observe that there is opposition to what we are doing.

Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”

They are telling a lie, for Nehemiah was not rebeling against the king, he had the king’s permission. These enemies were just trying to cast aspersions on Nehemiah and prevent the work. Do not be deceived. Not all men will speak well of you when you are doing God’s will.

Nehemiah 2:20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us, therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.

We need to identify who is speaking doubt and unbelief into God’s work, for they have no heritage or right or memorial or credit for the work that God is doing. Some get so sanctimonious that they spread doubt and unbelief. We need to speak the truth of God like Nehemiah said and not pay heed to the nay sayers.

Hoping that this teaching blessed you! Thank you for your prayers, I can’t wait to share Friday’s study with you.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Please pray for me. Tomorrow I am teaching the lunchtime Bible study. I am teaching on Judges 13-16 regarding Samson.  I have been working hard and studying regarding Him, but always love to hear what others have to say.

Samson broke every Nazirite vow, his eyes caused him to sin, so he is part of 1 John’s plan of satan, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and pride of life. The things that tore my heartstrings is that he didn’t realize when the spirit of God was removed from him, and then his prayer at the end. I am also happy that he made it to Hebrews 11 – the faith chapter, even if it was by the last act of his life.

Samson shows us how we need not only dedication but devotion to God, we need accountability, and we need purity. Without that strength is wasted. He could have done so much for his people had he been more disciplined and obedient to God.

I have notes I will share later, but am curious what you might have to share about Samson, especially in the form of life applications.

Heather

Pastor Don has asked me to teach this Friday’s Bible study at church. So, poor Moses will have to bask in the glory of the burning bush for a bit longer, worshipping that I AM THAT I AM.

When I first started reading the Bible I used to marvel at how many mistakes the Israelites made in their walk with God. I always figured that if they saw the Red Sea part, manna in the wilderness, and all of God’s interventions on their behalf, why did they turn to idols? I used to think that the miracles would have some effect in their lives, but it seemed as if after awhile the miracles ceased to motivate worship of God. Pastor Don pointed out to me that the Bible covers 4000 years of history and that God picked carefully the incidents he wanted emphasized. That God wanted to help us to learn what not to do by example in the Bible instead of in our own school of hard knocks. The people in the Bible made thousands and thousands of right choices, but sometimes, for our benefit God pointed out the wrong choices hoping that we would learn by their example what not to do. We are going to look at the life of Samson, and be a bit nit-picky about the mistakes that he made, but I think it is important to first look at the Faith Chapter: Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets.

What surprises me about this passage is that Samson and David (the man after God’s own heart) get the same one name mention in this great chapter. So, for all of Samson’s mistakes, his repentence and obedience to God gave him a place in this wonderful chapter of heros of faith. It gives me confidence to know that God will record our moments of faith, and that is what He will look at in this hall of faith.

So far, God has led the people out of Egypt into the promised land. Joshua has led the people well and under his leadership many of the “ites” have been destroyed and the people have claimed a good portion of the land that God has given them. There were still pockets of land that the Israelites had not conquered. Joshua died, and without his strong leadership, the people reverted to idol worship. Judges 2:10-11 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals.

This would kindle the anger of God against Israel, and God would remove His hand of protection from over the people, allowing them to be plundered and despoiled at the hands of their enemies. Isn’t that so like us, we stray from God for a time and life starts impacting us. We turn and call out to God, and in His great love for us, He responds. For the Israelites God gave them judges.

Judges 2:16-23 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed the and harassed them. And it came to pass,w hen the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cese from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

Isn’t that just like us. It is so easy to revert to our old behavior and stubborn ways once the crisis is over.

Well, let’s look at Samson who was a Danite (from the tribe of Dan) and a judge of Israel for 20 years.

Judges 13:1-5

The Angel of the Lord – that is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus – comes to a certain man and a certain woman. God carefully chose who would be the parents of Samson.

Samson is to be a Nazirite – to see what that entails lets take a peek at Numbers 6:1-9

1. separate him/herself from wine or similar drink -no grape juice, no grapes or raisins, nothing to do with the grapevine from seed to skin.
2. no razor shall come upon his/her head until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself. Then he shall let the locks of his head grow.
3. Shall not go near a dead body or make himself unclean during this time of separation. I looked up what animals were considered unclean by the Hebrews and found out that a lion was an unclean animal.

I think it is also important to know that God had instructed the Hebrews not to intermarry – that they needed to be a people set apart. If they married pagan brides, then that influence of idol worshippers would come into the tribe of Israel. God wanted to protect them from that.

Back to Judges 13 Manoah means Rest in Hebrew. Samson’s mother informs her husband about what she was told by the Man of God. I find it interesting that her husband wants to hear the message himself and God honors that. Judges 13:8-9 and Manoah asks the Man verse 12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life and his work?” I find it touching that Manoah wants to know what needs to be done to make this come to pass – so that he can obey God in the raising of his son. Proverbs 22:6 – train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Manoah wants to detain the angel of the LORD and prepare a goat (sounds like Abraham’s entertainment of the angels), but the Angel of the LORD states that He would not eat with Manoah, but Manoah could offer a sacrifice to the LORD. The angel refused to goive Manoah his name, but hints in verse 18 “My name, seeing it is wonderful?” Isaiah 9:6 – His name shall be wonderful, counselor…

When Manoah made the sacrifice the angel of the Lord (verse 20) ascended toward heaven in the flame of the altar. And seeing that Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground.

Judges 13:24-25 So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan (Camp of Dan) between Zorah and Eshtaol. (Zorah (hornet) and Eshtaol (entreaty))

Judges 14:1-2 Samson goes down to Timnah – Timnah is on the boundary between the land of the Israelites and the Philistines. So many of the men of God got in trouble by being too near the boundary – it is as if they are not fully committed. Samson sees a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines and comes home to tell his father and mother that he wants her for a wife.

Remember God’s desire was for his people not to intermarry, but samson becomes adamant about marrying her. This is a bit of a chink in Samson’s armor – see, when we disobey God it leaves us open for trouble. It is like going into a spiritual battle without the full armor of God. And Samson here is not honoring his parents.

Now, this is interesting to me, Verse 4 But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD – that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Here is a perfect example of how God can use our weaknesses to His purposes, to effect exactly what He wants to have happen. If Samson had not had this interest in the Philistine girl, I am certain God would have found another way to move against the Philistines. But God knows us and our weakensses.

Verse 5-6 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

Samson walked through a vineyard, killed a lion (corpse and unclean animal). We know that satan is a roaring lion. And he kept this from his father and mother. The Spirit of God worked through Samson to do this deed with a lion. Remember that David also killed a lion when he was a shepherd. I am certain that Samson and David both used this experience to begin to build their faith in how God would work through them. It is also important to realize that if the Spirit of the Lord had not come mightily upon Samson, he could not have overpowered the enemy. It is the Spirit of the LORD that does the work, not us in our own strength, or in our own works.

Samson keeps visiting this girl and then comes back through the vineyard and sees a swarm of bees in the lions carcas v. 8 and he eats it, again not telling his parents verse 9 that he ate honey from the carcass of the lion.

Notice – carcass – is a dead body and he is eating the honey. The bees were in the vineyard making honey from what is around their hive – namely grapes.

Now Samson is starting to step over that line drawn in the sand of sanctification – he will still have his strength, even though he has violated one of the vows of the Nazirites. This can lead to very dangerous thinking – he could think that it did not matter to God, for if it mattered to God he would not have his strength. Also, it is dangerous to think that God works through us BECAUSE of what we do or don’t do. Sanctification does not produce power, what it does is put us in the proper position to have God’s power work through us.

Moses has been cooling his heels in the backside of the desert, and is probably about 80 years old by now. If you have never read the book, A Shepherd looks at the 23rd Psalm you may want to check it out. The shepherd who wrote the book shows us what our savior is like, showing what skills a shepherd needs to lead his flock, whether or not they are people or sheep. I think that often God tends to take his people into desert places before He begins to use them. I think it tempers us and makes us ready for the challenges of leadership.

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  (another name for Horeb is Sinai, and we will see that this mountain plays a big part in Moses’ life).

We will see an Angel of the LORD – that is a pre-incarnate Jesus.

Exodus 3:2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire, from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

God sure knows how to get attention- a bush that burns with fire but isn’t consumed, and an an Angel of the LORD within. I love this image, for it applies to us. We have the flame of fire of the Holy Spirit within us, and we are not consumed – although we are changed and energized by that fire within.

Exodus 3:3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

God got Moses’ attention and Moses made the choice to turn aside and see this sight. He could have chosen to keep walking, to focus on the task of tending his sheep, or ignored it completely. So often there are moments when God is apparent and we just walk on by. We need to be aware of God moments – many of them are the still small voice types, but even burning bushes we could rationalize if we wanted to. I pray that none of us miss these important moments with God.

I love the next verse, it shows just how respectful God is of us, never pushing Himself on us, but waiting for us to turn and notice Him.

Exodus 3:4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

This calls to mind the little boy, Samuel who heard God call, and the priest instructed him to say “Here I am.” I hope when God calls me that I too say, “Here I am.” But so often, just like Moses, I make excuses for why I feel unqualified to do what God is calling me to do. Simple obedience is so tough for us, at least at times it is for me.

Exodus 3:5 And He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

I think this is an important thing to keep in mind. Today I hear some pastors talking about God is my buddy, we are pals, he is my homebody, and even one person who subscribes to my site called God a swear word (he is not a Christian, but feels he can treat God lightly). It is true that God loves us, that He is our Father, that He cares about us, that we are family, but that is no cause for disrespect. Just like many respect their parents, we need to respect God. He is sovereign, He is above and beyond anything we can conceive of with our feeble minds. Yes, we can come boldly into the throne room of grace, but at the same time there needs to be a reverence and an awe. God is God, and we are not. He deserves our respect, worship, awe and love. We do not need to be afraid of Him, but we also need to give Him the honor due.

Exodus 3:6 Moreover He said, I am the God of your father –the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

This is a threefold God, and it is the first time that God mentions this name. Moses understood that to look upon God was to die to self.  God’s glory must have shown brightly in that desert place. It is funny, but this image of hiding one’s face from God I can so relate to. I used to be so afraid to have God notice me – I really feared that if He noticed I had squeaked by into salvation, He would have kicked me out of His kingdom. I literally slunk around in corners trying not to draw attention to myself. I was afraid of God – that is not the fear of God that God desires. I love that song where the singer sings, “I can only imagine..” and describes her meeting with God. I don’t know what I will do when I meet God face-to-face. I imagine I will drop to my knees and not be able to look up, but I also think He will raise my head to look at Him. See, we are covered by the shed blood of Jesus, so when God looks at us, He sees His son. He loves us, and I imagine He will make sure that we feel that love and acceptance. The shame that we sometimes carry with us for our past actions is not His intention for us, for He has separated us from our sins as far as the east is from the west, and He will remember them no more.

Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.”

Oh this is such an important concept to get under our belts. God is aware of any oppression we face. He has heard our cry. Just because God is not acting on our situation immediately does not mean that He is oblivious to our situation. I know that a few years ago I would have been asking the “WHY” questions – why would God be aware of a situation and NOT act, didn’t God care? What was happening for me with those questions was that I was only focusing on the situation from MY perspective – and while the why question is valid from my perspective – God is not just focusing on my limited vision. He has the WHOLE picture. Not only was God concerned about MY salvation, but the salvation of MY PARENTS, and those who hurt me so badly. It isn’t just about me (although there are times when I wish it was just about me) but I know that God has things covered in ways that I can’t even imagine. In fact, some of those why questions are now being answered in ways that surprise even me.

Exodus 3:8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

The Ites have it right now, but soon the People of Israel will replace them. This will be an adventure of epic proportions, perhaps a movie can be made about it (sorry, couldn’t resist). But in reality, God will deliver the people completely. This is a prophesy which truly came to pass. But the process will not be instantaneous, it will take 40 years in the wilderness, it will take great courage to fight the “ites” and God will use the time between this prophesy and the fulfillment of it to ready His people for this adventure. I have noticed that sometimes someone speaks a word of prophesy over us and we think that means that it will instantly happen. So often there is a long time period between the prophesy and the fulfillment of that prophesy. Just because we know what is to happen, doesn’t mean that it is immediately God’s perfect time for it to happen. God will let it happen when it is the right time. In the meanwhile, God will use the intervening time to ready us for the fulfillment of the prophesy.

I wonder when Moses will get that uh-oh feeling, when He realizes that God is not just informing him of this great thing that will happen, but that Moses will play a part in the adventure. Sometimes we want others to do what we see is about to happen, and not realizing that it is us that God wants to use to bring about the fulfillment of the prophesy.

Exodus 3:9-10 Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

I wish I could have been privy to the thoughts that must have cascaded through Moses’s mind once he heard these words from God. You want me?????? Hey, I barely escaped with my life after killing that Egyptian????? Why me????? Can’t you find someone better????? How can I do this great task???? And a million other questions. I bet he swallowed hard before saying the next few words.

Exodus 3:11 Then Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Moses is now going to give God all the reasons why God chose wrong. Haven’t we done that too? I know that there are times when God has prompted me to speak to someone and I debate whether or not the inclination is from God or not, only to find out that I missed an opportunity. I know that many times I let MY perceptions of me and MY limitations get in the way of my doing what God wants me to do. I see myself as inferior and not worthy of doing the things God shows me. What I forget in my ego is that it isn’t about ME doing, it is GOD doing through me, if I would just get out of the way and let Him do what He can do so well. If God is giving us a task, it is logical that He will also give us the ability to do the task. All our doubts are basically unbelief that God can do what God is fully able to do. What I so love about God in the following verses is how lovingly God answers Moses’ fears and doubts, and doesn’t say – ok Moses you have argued too much, just forget I even asked you, I’ll find someone else. God really wanted Moses to work with Him, and as we know, Moses had the right heart for the task – a love for a sin-filled nation of Israel. God doesn’t give up on us, but He also can at some point use another person to do what we refuse to do. But God wants the best for us. I pray that as I grow more in Him, that I miss fewer and fewer opportunities to do God’s will.

Exodus 3:12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this Mountain.”

OH WOW! I never saw this before – but where did Moses go for so long – up to Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments. He spent 40 days in the mountain spending time with God. He truly served God in this mountain – I wonder if Moses remembered this conversation when He was up in the Mountain! Notice something else, it is not who we are, but who is with us that matters. If we have God with us, nothing can be against us. God has it covered.

Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you” and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”

This is such an important question – and later we will see Jesus say “I AM” and the scribes and Pharisees will get up in arms because of what that “I AM” implied. God gave Moses a name, which means a relationship. Once we know a person’s name, it helps us to communicate with them. It becomes personal, and God is pointing out to Moses that He wants a relationship. Whenever God reveals a new name to His people, it reveals something about God, and helps the people to know more about Him. Because God is so far beyond anything we can see or imagine, His names give us tiny glimpses of Him.

And one other interesting thing that I noticed is that Moses did what I tend to do – to rehearse in his mind what might happen. When I say this, they will ask what is the name of God. What is funny is that we will see that the people never asked that question once. So God revealed Himself to Moses and answered His question even though God knew that the people would never have asked the question. God could have as easily said, “I don’t need to give you a name, they won’t ask the question.” But God didn’t do that. I think He wanted that relationship with Moses. I know one thing, Moses and God had some pretty awesome conversations, and a strong relationship that reflected on Moses’ face. I pray that God and I have a strong relationship, one that is as personal and loving.

This name of God, I AM THAT I AM  is known as the Tetragrammaton – and was considered so sacred that the Israelites never pronounced the name and wrote it YHWH. In fact, when the scribes would write the sacred name of God, it was considered so holy that they would first wash, put on a clean outfit, write the name with a new pen, and pray. It was never taken lightly.

Also notice that I AM THAT I AM is present tense – it is not I was that I was, our I will be that I will be. God is HERE, NOW. Always has been and always will be. It is an eternal present name. He is as much I AM THAT I AM now as He was when He gave that name to Moses.

Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, “The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt: and I have said I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

When God uses us, He gives us the words to say and tells us what to do. I think it is important to realize that once the Israelites made it to the promised land, they never fully conquered the whole of the land that God gave them. And unfortunately today they are still giving away land that God gave them. No matter what the World says, this land that God gave the Israelites belongs to the Israelites.

God is going to give Moses further instructions regarding this adventure in the rest of Chapter 3, but I think I want to savor the wonderful relationship that God has for us. His everpresent help in trouble. That He is the I AM. He is so much to us, in fact He is our all-in-all. He is worthy to be praised.

Have a blessed day!

Heather

Exodus, Chapter 2 Continued.

Did you think I forgot about poor Moses? Nope, I just figure that sharing my Pastors’ teachings are very important.

The story so far: Moses has been reared in the Pharaoh’s court, but nursed by his Israelite mom. She has probably whispered the history of his people in his ear, and he has gone out of the palace and seen the hardships of his people. Moses sees a guard strike a Hebrew slave, and kills the guard. We saw that Moses thought no one had seen, but we know that God saw what he did, and also the other Hebrews saw what Moses did. Moses feared discovery and fled from the temple. He will cool his heels as a shepherd for quite some time, and it is during this time in the wilderness tending sheep that Moses will be developed by God to be a great leader of his people. Sometimes God uses those wilderness experiences to form us.

We need to remember that God did not tell Moses to kill the Egyptian. Sometimes we want to act to help God, but so often when we do that, we end up in trouble. See, God can take care of things Himself, in His own way and in His own timing. When we try to “help” God so often we end up hurting ourselves. We have seen this with Abraham and Sarai  when they brought Hagar into the picture. We have seen it in other situations. It seems to be a condition of man that we think that God is not sovereign, that He needs our intervention to get His program done. That does not mean that we can’t walk alongside or behind God doing His will, but when we take it upon ourselves to cause a situation or interfere, sometimes it puts us outside of God’s will and God cannot bless what is outside of His will.

Exodus 2:15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

So many key scenes occur by wells – the water (the water of the Word), the Water of the Spirit.

MIDIAN means Strife – and the Midianites came from Abraham’s wife Keturah’s children. He married Keturah after Sarah died, and produced offspring with her.

The priest of Midian had seven daughters and they came and drew water to water their father’s flock. The shepherds would drive the daughters away, but Moses stood up and helped them to water their flock.

I wonder if the seven daughters could be an allusion to the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, and Moses, the Law helps to water the churches with the Word, but the Spirit hadn’t come yet.

The daughters’ father wondered why the girls returned so early. His name is Reuel which means Friend of God (He will also later be called Jethro, and will give Moses good advice about delegating responsibility), In that he will also be a friend of God for it will prevent Moses from being too scattered and unfocussed in his responsibilities to God.

The girls talk about the Egyptian who delivered them from the shepherds and drew the water. So Moses still had the look of an Egyptian.

Reuel tells his daughters to call this Egyptian so that he may eat bread with them – which in that time would have put him under the protection of Reuel’s household, for the breaking of bread was a covenant.

Verse 21 “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.

Zipporah means small bird  or sparrow- and God does take care of the birds of the field. Zipporah will correct an error of Moses and prevent the wrath of God to come down on Moses. We need to realize how the “little” things can be very important in our life, and give us guidance too.

My mind is also brought to Paul who was content no matter what his lot. Paul had been rich and poor, but his contentment did not have to do with the externals. Moses was comfortable in the field and in the palace.

Verse 22 And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershem for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Gershem means foreigner. When you come to think of it, Moses was a foreigner in Egypt (for he was a Hebrew), and now he is a foreigner in Midian. We too are foreigners in this world, once we are saved we become set apart from the flesh, and although we dwell on the earth, our Kingdom is not of this earth. We are ambassadors and foreigners, for God has made a transformation in us. Soon God will do an incredible transformation in Moses’ life and he will do many tasks to free his people, stepping outside of his comfort zone, and ultimately painting a picture of the savior to come. Moses will come to represent the law – which was so necessary to pave the way for our realization that we need Jesus – our savior.

verse 23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cries came up to God because of the bondage.

So often God waits until we call out to Him to intervene in our lives. If you are anything like me, too many times we try to do things in our own power, or we don’t think to call out to God early on. Sometimes our situation needs to get worse until we realize that we need to call out to God. I am trying not to wait so long to ask for His help in situations. I have hit the bottom too many times to want to go there every time there is a problem. My hope and prayer is that before we take one step, we ask God, then we will eliminate a lot of grief.  But they did cry out to God and once we cry out to God, God responds. It is important to remember that God predicted that the Israelites would be in bondage, he told Abraham about it. God put the people there to preserve them. Nothing like being in a powerful kingdom to prevent extermination. See, satan was still bent on preventing the birth of Jesus, and God had to preserve the remnant. Famine drove them to Egypt, and they prospered and grew vast in numbers (just like God promised Abraham his offspring would do). Now they were a threat to the Egyptians, and they cried out to God.

Verse 24 So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

When it says God “remembered” His covenant – it does not mean that God slaps His forehead and says, “Oh, I forgot.” It just means that now is the time for God to act on this covenant, it is the right timing. I used to wonder about the vast expanse of years that ensued between certain interventions of God. But as I read and study the Bible I realize that there is a time frame, and these years are important to help predict Jesus’s birth, and ultimately the second coming. God has all in order from before the foundation of the World, and His timing is perfect. I suspect though, that the Israelites were wondering what happened to God, where was God, why didn’t God stop this. Sometimes we spend so much time wondering this, that we miss how and what God has done in the midst of the situation. God was there working, even if they didn’t perceive Him. My problem, and probably theirs, is that they EXPECT God to act in a certain way, and God has a better and different plan. I am learning to trust God, knowing that whatever comes my way is going to be used for God’s glory. But to be truthful, many times I fall short of this, wanting things done in a certain way. God is good, and God is patient, and God will not change no matter what snit fit I throw His way.

Verse 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.

Now God will act. In fact, what the Children of Israel didn’t know was all the “behind-the-scenes” work that God had already done. 1. He brought them to Egypt so they would not starve and they got protection, 2. He toughened them up for the wilderness trek through the hard work of slavery, 3. He preserved Moses’ life and taught Moses the Egyptian way of thinking so Moses would intercede for the people, 4. He sent Moses out to the wilderness to shepherd – and learn how to guide stupid sheep (and we too are stupid sheep in need of guidance), and 5. He gave Moses a sense of his history, through his mother, and a sense of leadership through Jethro’s example. Moses is now in position for the next great move of God.

Just because we don’t see the hand of God in our situation, doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. I have to tell you that for me to write that last sentence is a pure miracle, because a few years ago I did not think that God’s hand was anywhere in my life, but lately He has been showing me just where He has been. We serve an awesome God.

Moses will soon have a burning desire to learn more about God – stay tuned for the next adventure of Moses, leader of the Israelites. (Sorry, for me the Bible sure has a lot of cliffhangers reminding me of the old movie cliffhangers and today has been one of THOSE days. Guess being a bit slap happy is better than the depression I have been fighting.)

Have a blessed day!

Heather

Friday Bible Study.

Pastor Ted continued on the theme that he spoke about at the breakfast. I am not going to repeat what I posted yesterday for he covered some of the same material, but I will include extra details that he added on Friday.

Pastor Ted talked about how things in the natural give us pictures and types of the spiritual. He also cautioned us that we can be deceived by things that look very spiritual, but are being done by someone who is carnally minded.

Because we had a lot of newcomers to Friday’s Bible study, Pastor Ted went over Revelation 1 and 2 with them, the same content as the breakfast talk.

We are the Body of Christ. We are to be His witness. And we grow faith to faith, glory to glory.

Revelation 3:14 …These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.

Jesus was there at the Beginning of creation. This is a specific beginning. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. The Alpha is the first Adam, and the Omega is the 2nd Adam (Jesus).

The first Adam is the natural, the second – the Spiritual. We move from natural to Spiritual.

We were given the law in the natural to bring us to the Spiritual. If we didn’t know the Law, we wouldn’t have known our need for a Savior.

We don’t come out of Egypt, without the wilderness experience, before we get to the Promised Land.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

Everything that we experience in the 3rd dimension, in the world, points to spiritual truths. For example the Lamb (physical) points to the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God (Spiritual).

Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Our flesh is the carnal mind. If we are thinking carnally we are at enmity with God. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Carnal knowledge puffs up, makes you smug. You can have tons of information, and miss the Spirit of God. That is not to say that education isn’t beneficial, but you need education and the Spirit of God to produce fruit.

There are going to be many false prophets in the last days.

1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

Pastor Ted pointed out that sometimes people want to insult us by claiming that we are “too spiritual.” You can’t become too spiritual if you want to search out the deep things of God.

Jesus had many disciples when He was doing the signs and wonders. When His teachings turned more spiritual and Jesus began to explain His purpose on earth, many of the disciples left Him. Those teachings would have required more from them than just the prestige of signs and wonders.

Then Pastor Ted pointed out about the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as he covered them during the breakfast.

In the Bible many of the things that are described really point to Jesus. In Proverbs 31 the virtuous woman is not just a wife, but also the Church which is the Bride of Christ.

1 Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

The prophesies provided by the Holy Spirit are not for just personal interpretation, but also for the Church. And all the prophesies must line up with the Word of God. Peter must agree with Mark, Matthew with Genesis, etc. All must line up with what God says.

In an aside, Pastor Ted pointed out that Hagar (who gave birth to Ishmael and the nation of Islam) was a bondswoman – carnal ; – Sarah (spiritual) who gave birth to Isaac supernaturally when she should have been infertile at 99 was the princess of Israel. The fights today relate back to these times when Ishmael felt that he lost out on his inheritance – but it was God who chose the nation Israel.

Leah had a veil over her eyes, Rachel was the desired one. Looking at their children (Heather’s note, as we saw in my Genesis study) gives a lot of insight into the development of the Nation Israel.

The Birth of Christ was a supernatural birth – the Holy Spirit (God) was the Father, not carnal man.

1 Peter 1:12-13 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things which angels desire to look into. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

When John was caught up to Heaven in Revelation, he saw things Spirit to Spirit. We compare spiritual with spiritual.

When we learn in the Spirit things that differ from what we are taught in the flesh through our traditions, what are we going to do with it? Everything taught in Church is not of God, some is of the flesh and man’s traditions. As God opens our eyes to His truth, we are then accountable to God for what we do with the truth that He reveals to us.

We then looked at a Parable of Jesus – and sought to see the symbols behind the parable.

Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, ” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 ”Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 ”Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
33 ”But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 ”So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 ”On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
36 ”So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

(Heather’s note: I copied the above from Lifeway’s Bible study tools).

Verse 25: Who is the Certain Lawyer? The Pharisees and scribes who taught the law. Religious people who try to legalize Christianity, those how have the idol of education, but do not know the Spirit of God.

The World is the Church World, and and at the time Jesus spoke the parable it would have been the scribes and pharisees who tried to kill Jesus. Today, our false doctrine also kills.

In verse 30 – the sinner, the certain man would be Adam, and the thieves- satan. They stripped the sinner of clothing. Satan did that to Adam and Eve, for they were stripped of the glory of God and became aware of their nakedness after listening to satan and disobeying God. God provided rainment for them, but it was temporary. And in verse 30 it states that the man was left 1/2 dead – satan left mankind spiritually dead because of their disobedience to God.

Verse 31 speaks of a certain priest – that priest would have been Moses – and the law. Moses could not cross over to the man (the law would not permit him to serve in the temple if he had defiled himself with this sinner), but Moses was unable to cross over to the Promised land because of his disobedience. Instead of speaking to the rock to produce water, Moses struck the rock, and destroyed the picture of Jesus that God was portraying through the rock. Verse 32 – This priest represented the Levitical Priesthood. God allowed the building of a temple and the yearly ritual of the sacrifice to atone for the sins of the nation. It was an incomplete sacrifice, for only Jesus could provide a pure sacrifice for all time. So this man could not minister to the fallen sinner.

The Samaritan would not have been respected by the above two priests, they were considered half-breeds. They stayed in the land during the period of captivity and intermarried with the locals. Their version of Judaism was not honored in the Temple worship. This Samaritan represents Jesus – for Jesus was in effect a half-breed – the product of Mary and the Holy Spirit, He did not have an earthly father. He was of a different bloodline from the Israelites. Jesus was from the order of Melchizedek. He came from Heaven to Earth to heal our sins. Notice that verse 34 he used oil (Spirit) and wine (His blood) to heal the man. He then sets the man on an animal (beast – His body, which He gave up for our sins), and brings him to the Innkeeper. The innkeeper is the overseers of the Church, and they were to take care of the man.

Notice that the innkeeper was given two denarii – a denarii is a day’s wage – so we are talking 2 days (a day is as a thousand years) so we are talking 2000 years, and then the Samaritan (Jesus) is coming back. He will then settle up the account for any more that is spent on the healing of the man.

Jesus has told us to occupy until He comes again. We are to occupy by taking care of these hurt ones, helping them come to Jesus. So who are we to be the neighbor to? Anyone in need of salvation. Those who are wounded in this life.

So we can see that this Parable has to do with Adam being cast out of the Garden after satan stripped him of God’s glory. The Law, the priesthood of Aaron and Levi, revealed to man their need for a savior, but could not redeem the sinner’s sin. We need a savior, with compassion who will bandage our wounds, bring healing from sin through the Holy Spirit and the blood. We now have spent 2000 years in the Church age, and have been bringing this message of salvation to a hurting and lost world. One day Jesus will return. And we will have the Omega in our midst.

We then read Psalm 139

Psalm 139

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts;You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. 19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. 20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

(Heather’s note: That is my prayer, that God searches me and lets me know where I stand in His Kingdom and what can I do better. I find this Psalm both comforting and disquieting. But I am learning to love it more as I grow in Christ.)

Have a blessed night,

Heather

Pastor Ted spoke at a men’s retreat last weekend. Women were invited to the breakfast that kicked off the retreat, and after breakfast Pastor Ted spoke. This event was attended by many local churches.

We first prayed Daniel 2. Then Pastor Ted mentioned that we are to pursue God’s agenda, not man’s agenda.

In the Bible there are certain numbers that are repeatedly used. These numbers, if you study every occurrence of them seem to have certain meanings. He gave us the following meanings.

14 – Spiritual progression
13 – Rebelion
12 – Foundation/Christ
11 – Disintegration – Adam & Eve
10 – Completion of the flesh/10 commandments
 9 – Judgment (10 lepers, one came back, 9 did not judge themselves & return to give thanks).
 8 – Circumcision, new beginning
 7 – Completion
 6 – Man/Beast
 5 – Grace through faith
 4 – The wholeness, whole earth
 3 – Spiritual Maturity, raised up on the third day
 2 – Witness
 1 – Unity.

Three times the number 120 is used in the Bible.
 1. In reference to Noah
 2. Moses was 120 years old when he died
 3. The Upper Room there was about 120 people, and the flesh came to an end.

In this day and age God is going to bring more things to light. He is going to reveal the hidden idols of our lives. These hidden idols are going to be exposed by the Spirit of God. And many in the church are going to be told to “Drop Dead.” – Before you get too upset, that drop dead means to die to the flesh. When we become changed we drop dead to the things of the past and become new creations In Christ.

Many people think that the church is going around saving people. The Church isn’t doing the saving. The church is the Witness, the Body of Christ. People will witness the death of the flesh in us, see the changes in us, and then realize that Jesus changes people.

God works in cycles. The cycle is: begin –> end–> begins again

In Noah’s day people were eating, drinking, marrying, doing all ordinary things, then came the floods. After the floods receded, again people were eating, drinking, marrying, and doing ordinary things.

Today in the Church much of what is preached is Man’s Doctrine – and it is passed down to the following generations. But much that is passed down is not God’s, but man’s agenda. Pastor Ted talked about the prophets who went around saying, “Peace, peace” and there was no peace. There will come a day when all flesh will come to an end.

Pastor Ted asked the people at the breakfast (from many different churches in the area), why there are more than 450 different denominations (or as he said Demon-ations). That if the churches were to preach the Word, there would be many different interpretations of the same scripture, based on the particular viewpoint of the denomination. This leads to confusion, and God is not a God of confusion. Many pastors (and there were many pastors at this breakfast) are preaching carnal sermons and calling them spiritual.

Many will come to Jesus at the end and say, Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

In many of the churches today there are counterfeits of the real relationship with God. Some choose what seems to be right in their own minds. This is not a good witness to Christ. There are parents who spend tons of time in the church and the devil has their children.

Why did Adam and Eve partake of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. There were two trees in the Garden, the tree of Good and Evil and the tree of Life. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God by eating of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – most probably the fruit looked good to them, appealing and attractive. Unlike the tree of life (Jesus)  which Isaiah 53:2 points out, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

They would have desired the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because that would make their flesh look good. If I eat of the tree of Life I must do what I maybe don’t want to do, I must obey God. Knowledge puffs up. Many have lots of information (lots of Bible knowledge and facts) but no revelation. They have knowledge without understanding.

Peter had the knowledge of Jesus, recognized Him as the Messiah, but denied Christ three times, and spoke heresy to Jesus telling Him not to go to the cross. We have to be careful about what we do with the knowledge that we have.

Then we turned to Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.

Pastor Ted stated that signified meant symbolized. Much of Revelation is symbols, and God not only gives the symbols but the interpretation of the symbols.

It is no accident that John was a fisherman – and Jesus called him out to be a fisher of men. The Sea is not just a physical sea, but the sea of humanity – and John would fish and pull out certain ones from the sea. John is sent at one point to the Island of Patmos. An island is a part of land that is out of the water, but surrounded by the sea. God, when He created the earth separated the water from the dry land.

When Moses led the people from Egypt, they crossed on dry land, but then went into the wilderness. God did not take Moses from Egypt and immediately place Him in the Promised Land. We all go through the wilderness in our spiritual walks – it is there that we get tempted (like Jesus got tempted after 40 days in the wilderness), it is there that God forms our spiritual muscles. God will use these wilderness experiences for His glory.

We must remember that many are called, but few are chosen. It was there on the Island of Patmos that John was chosen to write the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:9-10 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet.

Notice that John was in the Spirit – and he saw things that were spiritual, that represented spiritual truths.

Revelation 1:11-12 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and “What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: To Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band…..v.16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

Who is the Alpha and the Omega?- Jesus. John was to write what He saw and send it to the seven churches.

Revelation 1:18-20 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

Now we know a bit more about those lampstands and stars – the lampstands are the seven churches and the stars are angels of the seven churches (messengers – and on earth the messengers are the pastors and prophets of the churches).

But in order to get a more complete understanding of the lampstands, you also have to think about where they are mentioned in other places in the Bible. One prominent place that they are mentioned is the lampstand in the inner court of the Temple. In the Temple, you first went to the altar of sacrifice in the outer court, and then washed, before you entered the inner court. In the inner court were many things, a table of shewbread, the lampstand, oil, and incense burner. These things are symbols of Jesus – shewbread is the body, the oil is the Holy Spirit, incense is the prayers of the saints, and the lampstand – Jesus is the light of the world. It was here that the Priests ministered to God on a daily basis, then once a year one who was properly prepared went behind the veil to offer up sacrifice for sins. If the Priest was not properly prepared he would die.

Our flesh is like a veil too, that prevents us from seeing the deep things of God. Jesus has died once for all, and now we can boldly enter the Holy of Holies, and see the deep things of the Spirit. God is going to destroy all flesh, and we will be accountable to the Word of God that we have heard.

God is responsible for creation, we are accountable to His Spirit. When Peter denied Jesus, Peter was given the chance to answer “Do you love (agape) me?” Three times Jesus asked Peter that, and Peter’s answer “Yes Lord, I love (Phileo) you.” The Love that God and Jesus has for us is not of this world – it is Agape (1 Corinthians 13 love), we can at best Phileo in the flesh. It takes God to help us agape Him.

In the Word, the community of Christians met in unity, and showed spiritual maturity.

Peter established the first church. Paul then got caught up in the Spirit, had a remarkable conversion and then his ministry reached the Gentiles.

When we are born again, God starts dealing with our flesh, and at times it is painful, as Pastor Ted says, “It hurts so good.” But God needs to break down the strongholds of the flesh, because we need to live by the Spirit of God. Those whom God loves, He rebukes. He will use the Fire of the Spirit to burn out those fleshly strongholds.

We often want to hide like Adam and Eve – naked, and inappropriately dressed . God came and rescued them, showed them the sacrifice needed for disobedience, and dressed them.

When we are in Christ, we die every day to ourselves and our flesh. And the church needs to get rid of those denominational tags. When God looks at us, he sees red, for we are covered by the blood of Jesus, and God sees One Body.

Revelation 2:2-4 (To the church at Ephesus – the Loveless Church) I know your works, your labor, your patience and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Jesus is our first love. So many want people to come and prophesy over them, wanting the nice things. But when God prophesies over you, he not only tells you nice things, but will also show you where you are lacking, and that doesn’t “feel” so good. God calls us, and we then go into the wilderness. Satan comes to tempt us in the wilderness. God created us to be representatives of God in the world, so that when people see us, they know how God wants them to be. When we get tempted, take the tiniest step beyond the line, it closes the door to the movement of the Spirit. There are those who speak tongues, but there are tongues that are spoken in the Spirit, and there are also false tongues -spoken from the flesh. we are not to be deceived.

When John is in the Spirit, he sees two angels and falls down to worship them. The angels quickly tell John not to worship them, but to worship God.  Too many of us worship the messengers instead of God. It is God who is to be worshipped.

All flesh must die, and all doctrine that does not line up with the Word of God must die. What matters is Jesus Christ.

Everybody has a gift, but that gift is to be used to give God the glory. That can only happen when we die to ourself.

Remember when Moses asked to see God’s Glory. God told Moses that if Moses saw His face He would die, He put Moses in the cleft of the rock (Jesus), and Moses was able to see the afterglory – the hindparts of God’s glory. In order to do that, He had to follow God.

Pastor Ted pointed out that while the missionary movement is important, that so often we are concerned about going all over the world when our own neighbors and neighborhoods are going to Hell. Missionary work begins at home.

When someone sees you die to yourself, that gives glory to the Lord. When we do not gossip, when we do what is pleasing to God, then the whole world is filled with glory.

When Nebuchadnezzar was angry because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to worship him, he had them cast into the fiery furnace. They answered him, Daniel 3:17-18 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king; but if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

The three (spiritual maturity) showed spiritual maturity by trusting in God in the face of death and refusing to obey the king’s desire for them to worship false gods. They were able to go in the fire, and were even joined by a fourth, walking around the fire with no sign of scorch marks or smell of smoke. Those who threw them in burnt up in the intense heat of the fire. What is not of God will be destroyed in His fire. But they chose to trust God, and He delivered them from the fire.

John 21:18 (Jesus talking) Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.

When we are young spiritually, we do things in our own understanding. As we mature, we know that God orders our steps, and we may have to go where we don’t want to go. The milk of the word is good for us at the beginning, but as we grow in God, we desire the meat of the Word.

There is a warfare going on inside of us – our flesh wants to take charge and God is telling our flesh to “drop dead”. Our old self is useless to God, He needs us to be obedient to Him, and to do His will. To die to our fleshly desires.

Martyrs die in the flesh, but we are to die TO the flesh. We get caught up in rituals, eating false doctrines, believing everything we hear from others, but we need to hear what God is saying. To understand the types and shadows that are represented in His Word. To have the invisible made visible. What we see on the earth in the natural is a type and shadow of what is in the Spiritual.

When God fishes you out of the water and puts you on dry land, He doesn’t want you to go back into the water. You can be pulled back to where you came from if you disobey God. We have to repent, go back to where we have fallen, and begin to do what God has told us to do.

If God calls you or chooses you, no man can hinder that. Keep the focus on Christ. Do His will and give Him the glory.

Hope you enjoyed this. Pastor Ted continued in greater detail about these thoughts on Friday. Tomorrow I will put up Friday’s study, covering the new things not touched on in this talk.

Have a blessed night!

Heather

Sorry I have been lax in getting up Sunday’s Sermon by Pastor Don. Good news!!!! My daughter’s field hockey team won 3 – 0 , the first win of the season for them. They were ecstatic. I want to get to your sites too, alas the family has been cuing up for the computer. I am sneaking in now to type a bit before the kids get home from school.

Pastor Don started out by talking about how many possibilities God gives us. He has a dream about a 24/7 church, where any time day or night you can come to church and something will be going on. I think that would be a cool idea – because there are times between services when I wish there was something going on. Who knows, maybe one day this dream will become a reality!

We would need lots of ministers of the Word. Pastor Don pointed out that while some in our church step forward and share the Word with others, not all do so. Some are gifted with spontaneous ability to share the Word once and awhile, others are gifted to share on a regular basis. Different peoples’ anointing is different. Pastor Don pointed out that people should not complain about the length or shortness of the service – that if the Church is being led by God, what is important is to do all the business that God has in mind. What can never be replaced is teaching the Word of God and Worship of God. But when we do these things it cannot be our own agenda. If you have the service so structured (3 hymns, collection, prayer, sermon, one hymn, altar call, etc) and refuse to go the way God is leading a service you disqualify yourself to flow with God’s agenda, and that is cheating God.

Sunday was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Leviticus 23:33-36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.’

Pastor Don pointed out that this feast is also called the Feast of Ingathering. It was a happy, joyous time, for the harvest would be in. Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 talk about the booths, temporary shelters/tents that the Israelites would camp out in during this time. They would then talk to their children about the Exodus. He pointed out that God provided income for Paul – because Paul was a tentmaker, and the Israelites needed tents to attend the required festivals, so God made sure Paul had a steady income. All the Jews were required to go two times a year to the temple. They trusted god, did things in proper order, and God took care that their provision was steady.

Pastor Don also talked about how on Yom Kippur you could do no work – so that meant he couldn’t read, study, fish (had to put worms on hook, put boat in water), etc. So he liked the idea of no CUSTOMARY work – that is a lot easier to do than no work.

He also pointed out that, while we tithe 10%, the Israelites tithed 23 1/3%, but part of that was used to cover the traveling and provision costs of attending the required festivals. God made it a festive time for them. After the sacrifices were made, parts of the meat were shared in a large barbecue. God wanted to party with His people, to fellowship. And what money was left over after traveling costs was given to the temple.

Feast of Tabernacles – 2 fold purpose

1. Look Backward. They were to stay in temporary shelters to remember what it was like when they were wandering in the wilderness, before they were brought to the promised land. We need to look backwards at our life too – to remember what our wilderness times were, and reflect on how far God has brought us to where we are today.  Unless we occasionally remember where we have been, we lose appreciation for where God has brought us today. When we realize what God has done in our lives, we cannot help but to praise Him. Take a look back and realize how good God has been to you.

2. Look Forward. There is an offering by fire. Fire burns off impurities, the heat burns up and purges anything that is not pure. God is wanting us to bring in the harvest – some of the harvest is good, other parts (tares) are not good. We need to separate the good fruit from the bad fruit. We have to plant new seed to increase the harvest for the future. We need to be following God (in order to follow God, He has to be in the lead) so we need to look ahead.

Pastor Don repeated the analogy of following someone in a car – you can’t follow the lead car if you are driving ahead of it – it increased the chance of wrong turns. In order to follow, you have to follow. Seems logical, but so often we do not follow God’s promptings, we set out to do things our own way.

When we miss the mark, we need to go back to where we lost sight of God, and continue from there. God will never leave or forsake us, but He will make sure that we follow Him, not guide Him.

It is no accident that this festival is 7 days – which is completion, with the 8th day beginning a new cycle.

Jesus wants us to see Him in three aspects. To look back to see what He has brought us from, to appreciate Him now, and to look ahead to where Jesus is bringing us.

The Feast of Tabernacles is shown in the New Testament too, John 7:1-2 After these things (when some of the disciples turned away and Jesus talks about His purpose) Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jew’s Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.

Pastor Don explained that on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles the priests would do an interesting thing. Everyone would shout and blow the shofars, and the priest would take an empty jug to the Pool of Siloam and draw out water. At the Pool would be shouting and shofars. There would be a procession to the temple, where there would be more shouting and shofar blowing and the priest would pour the water out on the altar of God. During this time they would pray “Save us LORD, send the Messiah.” and they would recite Psalms 113-118. Asking God to send the Messiah to cleanse the land. This was the end of one harvest and the beginning of the next, and they also wanted God to send the rain on the land. All would be shouting hosanna, Blessed is the Messiah who brings the water of life. The water that softens the hard ground and readies the ground for the seed for the next harvest.

This action was going on at the same time that Jesus is talking to the people.

John 3:37-38 On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Jesus is pointing out to the people that this pouring out of water is a picture of what He was preparing to do for the people. That He was the Messiah and He would provide eternal life for them by pouring out Himself as a sacrifice.

The second part of this end of the festival involved tithes and offerings, and a blessing. At the full moon at night there were 100′s of thousands of people there, and all had torches and lights. They lit them and the hills around Jerusalem were covered by light, which symbolizes John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

The Pharisees were not pleased with Jesus’ pronouncements and reacted. John 8:13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself. Your witness is not true.”

They came against Jesus, and the Jewish leaders then set apart to kill and destroy Jesus.

Jesus is our Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation: Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Jesus let people see that He is the Holy one of Israel. He is our Holy One. Politicians can be on shaky ground, but Jesus supersedes all. We can rest on our salvation, and our foundation is not shaken no matter what is going on around us.

The church today is shaky and filled with confusion. But God says we are His Bride, and He is coming for us. For our foundation is solid, not shaky. We are shaky, but the rock we rest on (Jesus) is solid.

Daniel trusted in God, knowing that no matter what happened to his body He would obey God. Hosea talks about 2 days and then God will raise us up on the 3rd day. (Heather’s note – a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day).

Matthew 24 talks about the days of Noah, when people were eating, marrying, and then the flood came. Jesus talks about coming back verse 27 For as lightning come from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the son of Man be.

We are not to be asleep but to be prepared. We need to look forward to the coming of Christ. I believe Him.

Have a blessed day!

Heather

The Bible study this Sunday was given by Maria Sultan and it is incredible~

Maria pointed out that to praise God in His sanctuary is no small thing. The dancers who danced before Maria spoke did a wonderful job with the song “How Beautiful”, and it moved the congregation. Maria then quoted Psalm 27:4-6 One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple, for in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me, He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

She then directed us to James 4:6 But He gives more grace, therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

You need to believe you hear from Him, believe God specifically for your situation. God will redeem time but we must stop wasting time. We cannot just complain. If we are facing a situation we have to discern what is going on about the situation, pray about it, and if necessary repent of anything that is stopping the Holy Spirit from responding. We want to get it right.

How many people do not want God to resist you. Grace is the operant word in the Kingdom. God will show up, open doors, under one condition —when you are humble.

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Submit implies a ranking – in the military there are people who are below you in rank.

In the Kingdom, God is above, I am under. When we have God in the right place in our lives – above us, then we can resist the devil and the devil takes his ranking below our feet. But in order to put the devil in his place, we have to be in the right position under God.

When the Bible says “Draw near to God,” remember it is the lesser who draws closer to the greater. We submit to God.

The Bible talks a lot about submission. We are to submit to God, submit to our husbands. Maria said when she heard that she had to submit to her husband it sounded like a negative but turned out to be a great positive. But the Word of God is true through all generations. And the Bible also tells husbands to love their wives the way Christ loves the Church. Children are to submit to their parents, and we are to submit to authority. God is patient with us as we work this out.

Of course, we also need to consider that we should marry the person God has planned for us. We need to select a church that is the right church for us so that we can submit to the pastor who is our spiritual head under Christ. When we are submitted we will experience peace, joy, intimacy, and refreshing. The anointing flows through the person above you. Submission is not always easy for us to do.

Of course it is important to be in the right pasture. God will tell us where to be if we ask Him. These days the Church is going nuts – it is not in order. We have to check everything we hear with the Word of God. Sometimes people who state that they are speaking for the church are not getting their revelation from God. Sometimes they imply that only THEY get the real and absolute truth. We must stay with what the Word says. Make sure what they are saying lines up with the Word of God. If they are picking thoughts that do not line up with the Word of God, do not listen.

Maria had gone to a Benny Hinn conference and came back with a  few facts. 96% of all preachers are in America and they are preaching to 4% of the population of the earth. Something is very wrong with that. Also Benny Hinn pointed out that people are to watch Israel for that is the prophetic clock.

Pastor Hinn then talked about the different kinds of churches that are around.
1. Those who believe the Bible – that is the remnant church.
2. Those who reject the cross – that are infiltrating the church with new ideas of salvation without the cross. That don’t want to deal with the blood of Christ. They want to make their own theology, pick and choose what they want to believe and reject the rest. Change God’s word to fit their lifestyle. Who teach that healing, deliverance, and the gifts of the spirit are not for this day and age. This church is so into themselves and what they feel is relevant. If you read 1 and 2 Timothy you will get an idea of what this kind of church is becoming. They are teaching how to stay successful, make money, and emotional responses and feelings are prominent. It is a church without blood salvation, it is divided on issues like the rapture. They want visions and revelations – the more esoteric the better.
3. Those who totally reject Jesus. They do not want to hear about Jesus, and will sue you if you mention Jesus.

When we are Jesus’ nothing can snatch us out of His hand. Jesus is the reflection of the Father, the Father is interested in healing, deliverance, salvation. Jesus was born of a virgin, was God and man, died for our sins, was raised from the dead. Is seated at the right hand of the Father.

What we need to do to assess a church is to see if they are leading you to Jesus, if they care about the lost, and if they give prominence to the Word of God rather than their own doctrines. If we get a check in our spirit, make sure that they are really teaching God’s Word. We are not to be moved by titles, or wild claims. We need to be steadfast in the Word of God.

Genesis 11 (Which talks about the Tower of Babel) This tower of Babel was built after the Flood when God preserved the remnant through Noah and his family. Then God gave Noah the command to spread out throughout the earth, but they chose to disobey God and remained in one spot.

Genesis 11:4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Many in the Church today are doing the same thing with the Church, trying to make a name for THEMSELVES. We have to ask ourselves why there are so many denominations? Why are we so different in doctrine?

Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

The problem is that the people wanted to make a name for themselves and their language. But there is only one language that will stand the test of time – only one language that matters. THE WORD OF GOD. There is only one eternal nation – ISRAEL. When we want to know what hour it is in the prophetic clock, what is going on in the world, we have to watch Israel. The plans that those on earth wanted to make at the time of Babel were evil plans. The devices they considered were evil, and there was no end to what their imaginations can conceive. (Heather’s note – pretty much the same thing is going on today).

Genesis 11:7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

It was the mercy of God that brought on this confusion of language. For if that had not happened we would be sharing the same fate as satan in Isaiah 14:12-15 How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart; I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet shall you be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.

This prophesy of Isaiah comes 170 years before Babylon crushed Israel, and today we still have the spirit of Babylon on earth. The second group of churches mentioned above has a spirit of babylon – of confusion.

Jesus will separate the wheat from the tares, the wheat will be kept and the tares will be thrown into the fire. In our Churches we have both wheat and tares, and God will judge by our fruit. It is not our job to judge each other to see who we think is wheat and who we think is tares. We don’t have that level of discernment. (Heather’s note: the tares was a plant called the Bearded Darnell, and when it is growing it looks exactly like wheat, the only time you can tell the difference is when harvest time comes – the wheat produces wheat berries, the bearded darnell produces nothing – so God will then separate them. If we try to separate before harvest, we may throw out good seed with the bad). Jesus also talked about separating the sheep from the goats. What we need to do is repent of our own tare activities. We cannot judge others, but we can judge ourselves and repent of anything that is not of God.

When we are in the right pasture we must submit, to Jesus and to our pastors. When they speak a word of correction, we must be humble and submit even if we disagree in the flesh. When we are under someone who really operates with the unction of the Holy Spirit we can trust their perceptions. (Heather’s note, of course if we are in the wrong pasture, being fed the wrong word, submission must be to God). If I am in the wrong pasture, I have to go to a place where I can submit.

Numbers 16:1-2 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

These men questioned the authority of one whom God appointed over them – they were leaders of the congregation, men of renown.

Numbers 12:3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.

Moses was not lording it over the leaders of the congregation – he was humble. Yet they were questioning what God was telling them through Moses.

Numbers 16:3-4 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD. So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face:

The “leaders” thought that they were just as spiritual as Moses and could do leadership too – they questioned Moses’ authority. But Moses was HUMBLE, he got His authority from God and did what God told him to do in everything but one thing – he struck the rock when God told him to speak to the rock. Moses was such a humble man of God that when they questioned his authority he did not fight back, did not puff out his chest, he fell on his face and interceded for the people. Today in the second type of church people are puffing themselves up claiming everyone is holy, and all are hearing from God – but this is not true.

Verse 5-9 and he spoke to Korah and all his company saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses , He will cause to come near to him. Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company, put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one: You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi. Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, “Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them,

Moses told the assembled rebellious ones that God would point out whom He chose to be the holy one. And that the Levites were out of order because God had already chosen them to come near to Him, to serve Him in the tabernacle. They had their position and place. They were trying to be what they were not supposed to be and do.

How many times have we tried to do what we are not supposed to do? We can so easily deceive ourselves through pride. Obadiah 3-4 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down” says the LORD.

If you continue reading you would see that God accepted Moses and the sons of Korah were sucked down into the earth. Their rebellious attitude brought their downfall.

When our flesh is in an uproar, we can take comfort to know that our pastor is higher placed than we are, and that God is higher than our pastor. When we put ourselves in the right position of submission, then we can begin to get our chaos into order and satan is then in his proper position – under our feet.

When you want to know what is wrong – check yourself out. If there are delays in what we are asking God, the problem is ourselves. We need to put ourselves into proper position. And also it is important to remember that there may be reasons for our delays – for example God may be wanting to develop areas in our lives that make us ready for the new position that He has for us. God may be wanting to have us have an attitude adjustment. God knows what is best for us. Many times the delay is because of us. He is a Holy God who loves us. We have to stay in order. God will tell us what we need to do to bring us in line with His desire for us. We have to be a doer of the Word and we need to be doing what God wants us to do, where He wants us to do it.

1 Corinthians 12:18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

God wants us to spend time with Jesus, sometimes we are not to be acting out something, but just spending time in the Word of God. God can do anything at any moment, but He wants us to do right in His sight.

Callings, appointments and placements -we are all placed where God wants us, and not all are equal in rank – but all are accountable to God for doing what God has placed us to do. We are all equal in salvation, we are all loved and God has a ministry for us. God’s promises are for us all, God wants us all to prosper, and God wants us all healed. Sometimes God wants us to spend time alone with Him, with the Word. When we meet God we want Him to say we are acceptable, we want him to say “Well done.” We will be accountable for every idle word.

When we meet God, He will not care what title we have had on earth, how elevated we are on earth. He will care if we are doing what He wanted us to do. He will care what is in our hearts. We will stand before Him on our own, we cannot come to Him through someone else’s salvation or works. God will judge us individually.

We just want to line up with God’s will for us.

Hope you enjoy this teaching. It impacted me greatly and made me come home to honestly look at myself and repent of those things that keep me from fulfilling God’s desire. There are fleshly things that I need to hand over to God.

Heather