Pastor Don spoke at the later service, giving a different message from the first service – so it does pay to stick around whenever possible! Even when he teaches the same message there are new tidbits to add. Pastor Don began by pointing out the candidates that are running for office and campaigning, wanting to win the election. He asked us if we have decided which candidate is the least objectionable.

 

Pastor Jerry was visiting, and he treated us to some wonderful songs that he had written. The night before was a concert that was awesome. Pastor Don told us that Pastor Jerry was one of the original Freedom Riders, and spent a lot of time marching for civil rights.

 

 

Here is a picture from the concert with Pastor Jerry at the keyboard, Pastor Don with guitar, in the background is one of Pastor Don’s sons – Ethan who also has written some wonderful rap songs, and Cynthia – Pastor Don’s wife. By the way if you go to In His Name Ministry’s link, you can purchase CD’s of Pastor Don and his band – he has written some wonderful songs. He also has a few books published that are a blessing.

 

Pastor Don told us that people need to take a stand for what is right, and not alter our course. People have been trying to redirect America, and to take steps to alter America’s course. But the only way that we can change anything is through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God came to the Earth.

 

We have to make a decision. What are you doing? Are we oblivious, are we seeking a position of power, are we issue driven, involved in civil rights, abortion prevention, or involved in recession and inflation? Do we have a positional set up?

 

The best way to respond to God is praise and worship. When we are in church are we looking at how people are dressed? Are we seeking a higher seat, a spot closer to something? Are we willing to sit where the usher tells us to sit or do we ignore the usher and end up sitting where we want? Are we easily offended? Do we believe in healing and deliverance? Or are we the most holy sick person on the planet? Is your own positional relationship important, or are you coming as a worshipper?

 

We want to go back to enjoying church the way we did when we first got saved, when everything was new and exciting, but we can’t go back to those old landmarks. We need to move forward to new places we have never been, for we are in a new time period.

 

Every service will not be a “goose bump” service. Pastor Don used to become aware that the Holy Spirit was on him because he had goose bumps. But at some point God stopped permitting the goose bumps and Pastor Don told us that he thought that the Holy Spirit wasn’t there. God told Pastor Don that He removed the goose bumps because if we are seeking affirmation of the spiritual through physical manifestations, we can be tricked because the physical manifestation can be imitated by satan. So God wanted Pastor Don to believe and trust that the Holy Spirit is there without a physical manifestation. God is pushing Pastor Don to new expressions of worship.

 

Pastor Don then asked us, where are you standing in your spiritual walk? What is your heart set on? Is it all about you? We need to examine ourselves.

 

Whoever ends up in the Whitehouse won’t be able to change the weather. Pastor Don told us that man is but an ant on the behind of an elephant.  God will ordain how the last days will be played out. And the earth will spew us out. Pastor Don told us that he loves to go to the ocean, for it reminds him how insignificant we are. How many grains of sand? How many stars in the sky? How small we are in comparison. When we realize how small we are, then we line up with the rest of the universe and give praise to God. My opinion doesn’t change the course of the world. We need to line up with the order of the universe.

 

Romans 4:17 “…God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do no exist as though they did.”

 

God set things in order and our situation is not determined by what appears to our senses and our situation.

 

Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

 

He was 100 and still had no children and His wife was also old.

 

Genesis 17:5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

 

Notice: God said I HAVE (not I am going to in the future, or maybe you will be, or perhaps). God spoke these words in the past tense, although Abraham still had no children. God had ALREADY done something that seems physically impossible. Abraham had no faith for or ability to make the thing happen in his own strength. God did it for Abraham and for the generations to come after.

 

God can create something before that something comes to our awareness. Before Abraham was aware of his son, God had already created him. We think God has to move from point A to point B to point C, but God can move from point A to point ZBQRDTDRT without having to go in specific order.

 

In the presence of God we can reach wonderful promises that He has for us. God can call anything into existence at any point of time, even if it doesn’t exist. He calls the future, and He sees and declares it. For God it is all NOW. IT IS.

 

Pastor Don compared it to a football game. You may say, “I hope we win.” But the opposing team will say, “We’re going to win. We’ve got it in the bag. All we have to do is go out and play it.”  And we know that we will have what we say.

 

When we begin to talk like God our reality will change. We don’t need to see the hand of God we just have to call it like it is. We can’t call it as our senses perceive it; we have to call it like it REALLY is (in God’s Kingdom). We have to know that God is true to His word and it is certain, even though we see no evidence of it.

 

Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

 

We can look at our situation and think that hope makes no sense. But with God, NO situation is a hopeless condition. God has called us. What was Abraham’s part? HE BELIEVED IN HOPE. Abraham believed God. What was his hope and what does he believe. He believed God’s promise.

 

We have the choice to agree in HOPE, or to agree in HOPELESSNESS. If we look at our situation in hopelessness, we are not believing God.

Abraham had no earthly reason to hope. He was old, his seed was dead, and Sarah’s womb was dead. Was it scientifically possible for them to have a child? NO. So there was no earthly reason to hope.

 

But Abraham had faith in spite of the scientific reality. He chose to believe against hope.

 

When a child who has never hit a ball, steps up to the plate and says, “I will hit the ball and go around the bases.” That child is operating in hope if he has never hit the ball before. He needs to keep saying this, and one day, with practice he can make this a reality.

 

God is a God of POSSIBILITIES, not impossibilities.

 

Something in us rises up in us and says, “I will live and not die.” “I am an exception to the rule.”

 

Pastor Don talked about how a child hit the baseball, and ran to first. He didn’t know to stop, so he ran to second. Then the third baseman gets the ball, but the child keeps running, jumps over the third baseman and lands on the base and is pronounced, “safe.” He did not do the predictable. Sometimes what we do to achieve God’s purpose is not predicable.

 

If you are going down, tell your self, no, I’m getting up. I can fall but I will get up. I will not believe that bad report, and will keep believing for a good report. Believe it because you get a God plan. God is looking for people who will believe him even if the situation is a “NOT” situation.

 

It is easy to believe something when you see it, but it is harder to believe something you don’t see.

When the doctor gives you a bad report, know that we have a God who is greater than the doctor and his report. When the doctor says you are going to die, we have to say, no, God says live.  (Pastor Don also tells us that doctors can be God’s agents to effect healing, he is by no means saying don’t go to doctors.)

 

Pastor Don told us that he had a life threatening lung disease and diabetes. But God told him that he would live and not die, even though the doctor told him to go home and put his house in order. Pastor Don prayed and fasted and was healed. But he has also told us that he knew that the disease would not kill him. The doctors wanted to keep him on medicine, and they were shocked when he told them he hadn’t taken any of the medicine. The doctors did not want to call Pastor Don’s healing a miracle, but it was a miracle.

 

Pastor Don told us that if he does take pills with a long list of side effects that he prays that each of the side effects will not affect him. And he suggests going to a doctor so that you know what to pray about and also that there is a record of your healing.  And that we are not to stop taking medicine unless we have a CLEAR word from God about that.

 

At one point, Pastor Don tore a ligament in his leg, right before a camping trip at a local Christian camp. He was limping around the camp in a surgical boot and praying, “By His stripes I am healed. By His stripes I am healed…” Over and over and repeating other healing scriptures. At one point his faith kicked in and God told him to run. Pastor Don heard an inner voice that said, “Well if you’re healed, run.” He told God, “Lord, I’m not that healed.” And the inner voice told him to run.  Pastor Don checked that thought because with a torn ligament and to run could have ended him in a worse situation and that there would be even worse damage. Pastor Don was facing surgery after this camping trip for his torn ligament. Yet, Pastor Don chose to believe God and started running. At first the pain was intense, and then it started lessening until the ligament was totally healed. When he went back to the doctor, the doctor took another set of X-rays and was amazed at the healing – which was impossible without a miracle. Pastor Don said that he still has that surgical boot in his garage and when he has a trial of faith; he can look at that and remember what God did.

 

By the way, regarding taking medicine, we also can put our faith in the fact that the medicine will cure us, and God created the doctors and the herbs that form the medicines. We have also seen studies on placebo effects.

 

Why does this work?

Romans 4:19-21 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

We need to stop going over and over our symptoms, to stop considering our body. Abraham was in his 100’s when God’s promise came true, but Abraham believed for many years before he saw the birth of his son.

Pastor Don has been preaching for 17 years, and he said that every Sunday he doesn’t always feel good. There are times when he wakes up hurting, sick, with a fever. But Pastor Don comes to church and preaches and teaches, and God always comes through.

Pastor Don told us that God is a God of Glory. He told us that often when people are sick they stay home from church when the place they really need to be is at church where they can receive a healing. God wants to heal us right now. There is no situation that is too big for God to handle. Instead of feeling sorry for our sickness, we need to tell the devil where to go. Yes it hurts at times, but we need to speak God’s truth no matter what our circumstances appear to be. We will not waver. If we find ourselves doubting God’s Word we have to say, “NO.”.

Romans 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

We can’t heal ourselves, but when God shows up in our lives, we give the glory to God. When the manifest power of God shows up, we cooperate in spite of what we feel and take that first step. When our faith is not working, we do the mechanics. If we have a bad report, we do what God says and give glory to God. We work on our selves.

 

CHANGE OUR ATTITUDE AND REACH A NEW ALTITUDE.

 

Praying that this teaching blesses you. It was one that I really needed to hear.

 

Have a blessed night,

Heather

We had another snow storm here, but this time we lost cable and internet for most of yesterday and just got it back. I have to give my husband first dibs on the computer. So, even though I have half of a Bible study typed up, it will be a bit before I am able to give it to you.

I received an email with a wonderful link for learning the 10 Commandments, perfect for children, but also has some wonderful images that help to keep the commandments in order. I am famous for getting them all but have them out of order, and it helped me.

Here is the link:

http://www.smartyface.com/

Enjoy, and I will update asap.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Pastor Don talked about his visit to Florida. He went to the Everglades, and told us that at one point the Everglades purified the water, and in an attempt to play god people built roadways over the water that stopped the flow of the water. The water began to get foul and undrinkable. The roadway builders did not follow God’s plan so they had to destroy what they built to restore the water system.

Jesus Christ is the bulldozer that breaks up the stuff that you built, destroys the old foundation. Jesus Christ brings fresh clean water (the Word) to purify us all over again. We want to stay in line with God’s design.

As a believer we do what our “Doctor” says, whereas non believers only rely on physical doctors. We follow God’s plans as believers regarding church, finances, health, sickness, and relationships. When nonbelievers ask why, they don’t see things the way we see them. We have to answer, “It’s an inside job.”

When you are committed to a marriage in spite of trouble, and follow God’s plan, people do not understand, and they don’t realize that its an inside job.

We know that God will never leave us or forsake us. That God did something inside of us that sets us apart, something that no one can take away. He did an inside job.

The stuff we used to worry about, we now know where to deposit it, in the hands of our Savior. We can’t sell, bottle up, the testing of a life. When We get in trouble, when we get sick, we know where to turn. It is an inside job.

We’ve got something that they don’t have. They won’t have it until God does the work and they are prepared to commit themselves to God.

No one can cause me to say that I want to go back to the way it used to be. I’m not going back to that old garbage like a dog goes back to his own vomit. God will get us through.

We may not properly discern our mistake, but Jesus is walking with us and we may not recognize Him. We want to play god, and act as god, but we are not God. So often we feel that God is not there if God is not doing what we want Him to do, working the way we want Him to work. But we do not know what is best. But God knows.

Isaiah 54:11-12 “ O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies,  your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones. 

Life will not always be peaceful, but God can build real beauty on a foundation set by Him. When our situation looks like chaos we know that there are eternal rewards in Heaven. There is a permanent place of peace in Him when everything else is falling apart.

Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. 

As parents we worry about whether or not our kids are getting it. We think it is the test of our parenting if our kids come to Jesus or not and stay true in His Word. God has our children and He teaches them. Some worry that if we came to Christ later in life (Heather’s note: like me), and our kids saw us sinning before we came to Christ (BC – before Christ), and they saw us do the jive half step, the abuse we did to our lives, and the sins we did. Then we come to Christ, and now we have the mind of Christ. Our kids observe that, AC – after Christ, they will see that our lives are better. That the Word becomes your foundation. Your “no” becomes NO. And your “yes” becomes yes. Your household is no longer dysfunctional. We do not replicate the dysfunctional households we grew up with, and no longer pass the blame onto our past.

We need to live Godly lives and that will draw a person to you.

Pastor Don said that if your husband does not come to church, don’t go home and preach at him. Shut up. As his father taught him, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” He asked us if we go home and complain about the church service, complain about the songs, the sermon, the other people, the pastor, how attractive will it be for that person to come to church? And if they do come to church, then they will look around to see who was being complained about, it won’t be about worshipping God.

Instead of complaining, let your spouse see that you just came from a love feast with the Lord. Love on them. And God Himself will teach your children. The promise of God is that your whole house will be saved. By osmosis people will get stuff from you.

Isaiah 54:14 In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 

In righteousness we will be established. God knows that oppression will come, but this is a wonderful promise from God to stand on.

Isaiah 54:15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. 

God is not running around oppressing and terrorizing his own children. But there is something from God that looks like oppression and terror to the enemy.

Isaiah 54:16  “ Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy. 

God is Sovereign. All powerful, and he knows what is needed, what weapon to make, what spoiler to destroy the enemy’s plans.

THEREFORE

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,  and every tongue which rises against you in judgment  you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the LORD.

We will all go through stuff. If we don’t have discernment we may yell at the devil, yell at God, or blame someone, but the reality is NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST YOU SHALL PROSPER. We can trust in that.

Not all the stuff we go through comes from the enemy, we too create some of our own stuff. And when we are out of order, Jesus made it perfectly clear that a loving parent will chasten his child. At times God will permit satan to challenge us to test us, so that we know where we are in our spiritual walk or so that we can be strengthened in an area that needs strengthening or to correct us and make us realize where we have missed the mark.

Pastor Don talked about how God refines us like gold. The impurities are burnt out by putting heat under the metal, the impurities are skimmed off until the refiner can see His reflection. The pure stuff is revealed through the application of heat. God will permit situations in our life to produce that heat so that we can grow spiritually.

Pastor Don pretended to be a bull fighter, and shouted ole’. He said that God is like the bullfighter. Hidden in the cape is a sword to kill the bull, but for awhile the bullfighter allows the bull to attack the cape, but when God has deemed it time to stop, He will destroy the bull, and protect us. The bull will be allowed to attack us as long as God deems it is for our good, but not one moment more.

Some people are under the misunderstanding that once you become a Christian nothing bad will happen. That is not true. We live on a fallen world and bad happens to Christians and non-Christians. (Heather’s comment, and some of the bad stuff we bring on ourselves.) But God will let us deal with the bad things so that He can get us to a place of repentance, or spiritual growth.

But God will ultimately go ole’, and control the bull. There is nothing that is too strong for God to take out.

We can say, “I ain’t much, but my God is everything.” God will permit things to make us stronger.

Remind yourself: I AM IN TRAINING FOR A GREATER VICTORY. If it looks like oppression, know that God will use it for our victory.

Praying that we all flex our spiritual muscles after our workout in God’s gym. (Heather’s note, sorry, couldn’t resist this line.) And know that we will have victory because it’s an inside job.

Have a blessed night.

Heather

The snow is beautiful, but I am so ready for spring.

It is still snowing. this is a view from my front deck.

View of my back deck.

The flash of the camera caught the snowflakes falling.

It is pretty, but I feel we have had enough snow.

I will try to type another Bible study later tonight, when the computer is more free.

Have a blessed night.

Heather

What I love about the Bible studies that Pastor Don teaches is that if someone has a question, Pastor Don has no problem answering the question, and will spend the time necessary to make sure that people fully understand the teaching.

Pastor Don told us that when a person dies confessing Jesus as Lord they go to Heaven, and they will find out that the streets are really not gold, but a translucent material that looks like gold. They will see so many wonderful things that they will say, I didn’t believe that, I didn’t understand it. And then they will find out truths, some of which they will then say, “Why didn’t my pastor tell me that?”

Examples of this are on Resurrection Sunday, why did some churches permit Easter eggs? Why didn’t churches celebrate the Passover? Why did the churches not share all the truths of the Bible? Pastors will be held accountable for misleading the sheep. Some feel that there is no hell, that God will not judge harshly. They are mistaken. It tells us very clearly in the Word.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

God made provision for judgment. There are 2 judgments. One is the judgment seat of Christ, and God will reward works done in His name, and the other is the Great White Throne Judgment.

Pastors, teachers, prophets may confess and repent that they have missed a move of the Lord. Some will not realize that they had to believe the virgin birth. There are false teachers out there and we have to discern true teaching from false. We need to know the Word of God.

But a human being is responsible for what they know.

God is judging and God is fair in His judgments so there may be a possibility of clemency, of release and forgiveness in there. It may seem incredible, but there is a possibility that if Adolf Hitler repented that he could be saved (the probability is that he did not repent and has faced judgment for he had a satanic bent).

Some think that they will be judged on the basis of their works, if all that they did on the earth, were continually evil, God judges the thoughts and intent of their hearts. They can beg forgiveness and repent, but God would also read their heart. Only those who are truly saved would have new minds and new hearts and they would have changed while still on earth.

When the Jews denied the Messiah, God blinded their hearts because of their disobedience. Paul writes that the Jews will be saved, but he doesn’t know how. It is a mystery.

Fallen angels, satan, and everyone whose intent is to do evil and love it, and still want to sin, if they don’t repent during their life on earth, why would they do it later?

We can’t forget that salvation is by faith. If you repent after you know that what the Bible says is true by experiencing it after death, then you are not accepting salvation by faith, but by knowledge.

2 Peter 1:5-9  and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and reserve the unjust for punishment in the day of judgment.

2 Peter 1:10-14 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.

Those who choose to perish in their own corruption will reap what they sowed. They will have refused God’s offer of a new heart, choosing to maintain their practices and hearts of stone.

2 Peter 1:15-17 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;  but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Pastor Don reminded us of Balaam, who chose to disobey God, and helped Israel’s enemies figure out a way to pervert the moral behavior of the Israelites. And God calls such behavior wells without water.

2 Peter 1:18-20 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (20) For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

Verse 20 begins to lay out the conditions for blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the later end is worse for them than the beginning.”

2 Peter 1:21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Satan won over 1/3 of the angels by deception. These angels knew the truth – as satan did – for they were in Heaven, worshipping God, and knew that He is Lord, and they turned from the truth and went off on their own. That is the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. There are specific things that need to occur for this to happen. To see it in another place, we are going to look at Hebrews, for God tells us that by the testimony of two or more witnesses the truth can be discerned.

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

In order for the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit the person has to know, live, and function within the basic doctrines of Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits

The heavenly gift is Jesus. And they have to have been partakers of the Holy Spirit.

In order for a person to have salvation, the Holy Spirit has to convict us of sin. None of us have never sinned. Only Jesus walked on this earth sin free. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and lets us know that we need a Savior. The Holy Spirit brings Jesus the Christ and leads us to a relationship with Jesus. When we are in trouble allah, buddah, Bill Gates won’t show up. But Jesus will.

Everyone is given a measure of faith. What we choose to do with that faith is up to us. Do we want to walk around being god in our life and reject Jesus, or make Jesus Lord of our life? Where are we going to put our faith?

Pastor Don told us that we are seed planters, and every seed adds up. So never give up on the unsaved. But he does suggest not preaching at people all the time. Learn to shut up and let them see that you have a sweet tongue and let them observe how Jesus works through your life and actions. They will see a change in you.

Pastor Don also told us that it is natural to complain. Many people go home and complain about the pastor of their church, their fellow parishioners, and your unsaved love ones hear your complaints. Why would they want to go to church with you if everyone is so awful at your church? And if they do go, they are going to be more focused on observing those whom you complained about rather than going to worship God.

We went back to Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

In order for the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit to occur, they have to have worked with the Holy Spirit, had repentance of dead works and faith toward God, been baptized, functioned in the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead.

Hebrews 6:5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

They would have to have experienced the Rhema Word of God – the inspired, breathed in Word of God. When we read the Bible we can read it like a novel or we can read it looking for God to speak with us. When God opens up a passage of the Bible for us it becomes a Rhema Word. The living Word. We get revelation form God.

Jesus is the prophesy of the future. For the blaspheme to occur we have to be 1. enlightened by the truth, 2. had a saving relationship with Jesus, 3. be functioning in the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders, 4. have the supernatural Word of God, and 5. prophesy of Jesus within us. We have to know all of these for verse 6 to be able to occur.

Hebrews 6:6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

We have to go back to verse four for the start of the sentence, “It is impossible…” if they fall away to renew them to repentance. If you reject the Work of the Holy Spirit, talk bad of the Holy Spirit, and then make a fully informed decision that you do not want Jesus, the Gospel, prophesies in your life anymore, and walk away, it is impossible to renew you to a second repentance.

That being said, a believer who has doubts, a person who is struggling with Christ does not fit that category. We all have ups and downs in our faith. But a person who has tasted fully of the gifts of God, has operated in the gifts of healing and prophesy, is well grounded in their faith, has a strong relationship with God and the Holy Spirit, knows Jesus and THEN turns their back on it all can blaspheme. (Pastor Don was asked if a person is worried about blaspheming the Holy Spirit is that a good indication that they haven’t, for they don’t want to. He said that might work, but then he gave the following example.)

A biblical example of one who blasphemed the Holy Spirit is Judas. Judas rejected Jesus and the cross. He went out with the disciples when Jesus commissioned them and laid hands on the sick, cast out demons, and functioned fully in the gifts of the Spirit. He walked with Jesus, knew Jesus, learned about Jesus’ mission, and then chose to reject Jesus. He couldn’t repent and say, “I didn’t know…”

Pastor Don talked about a time when his son was three, and went to a store with him. His dad paid for what he purchased and started walking out of the store. His son had grabbed a candy bar and started eating it. When his father discovered this, he took his son back to the store, explained that we have to pay for the candy or else it is stealing. His son did not know that you had to pay for the candy bar, so he was not guilty of the sin of stealing in this situation. He couldn’t be punished to eternal damnation for what he did not know. But once he knew what stealing was, then he would be guilty of the sin.

Another biblical example is lucifer and the fallen angels. They were with God in Heaven, knew God intimately, and rejected God.

In order for a sin to be forgiven we have to

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Peter sinned, but he repented. He came back to Jesus and the cross. Judas did not.

Some people want to do evil, and when evil is unmasked, they repent – not at the cross, but they are sorry they got caught. If they repent and ask forgiveness, God will be faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The repentance and forgiveness is through the blood of Jesus.

But if you reject Jesus and the Cross, it is impossible to renew you to repentance for Jesus would then have to be sacrificed again.

Satan takes over nations, substitutes everything and blasphemes God. In order to stop this from occurring God has to put an end to it. He cannot let the cancer grow.

Someone asked about why God instructed the Israelites to completely kill all of the enemy, men, women and children. It did not seem consistent with a loving God.

Pastor Don responded. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not have enough Jesus to stop sin and perversion. In their day might made right, and everyone did what they wanted.

Pastor Don gave an example of what life in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s time was like. He said, supposing a neighborhood church sees our church building, the new wing and the beautiful “babes” (women) that attend our church. they come in, shoot all the men, rape the women, and pillage the wealth. They pick some of the strong people to be slaves and the good looking women for wives. Only a few are left alive, and all the babies are then sacrificed at the altar. Pregnant women would be disemboweled. That was the culture of the Hittites, Amorites, and all the other “ites” in the days of the patriarchs. The Moabite practices were so evil that they also included prostitution and homosexuality.

Abraham got free of that, but Lot wasn’t free for Lot chose to live near Sodom and Gomorrah.

God knew Jacob/Israel’s 12 kids were going to get into trouble, in that land. There weren’t enough of the Israelites to survive, so God took His children out and planted them in a safe spot – in Egypt, so that they could grow in numbers. Egypt was a pagan culture, but wasn’t as evil as the “Ite” cultures. They spent 400 years in Egypt. Pastor Don said that he wants to meet Sarah in Heaven, for if she was so beautiful at her age that Abraham had to lie about her to protect his life, she must have been quite beautiful.

After 400 years there were more than a million Israelites, and God marched the people toward the promised land. But they were knuckleheads. They did not fully conquer the land. God taught them to become warriors in the wilderness. But God knew that if evil was not stamped out completely, it could return. Pastor Don told us that if a five year old girl was left alive, as she was growing up, she would have remembered what her ancestors did. If the country had a tough situation, she would remember that in the old days they used to sacrifice children to ensure crops, and the idol worship would return to the land.  Culture and tradition’s roots go deep into a person.

Pastor Don comes from a background of Baptist preachers, but he had to go through stuff before he got into a Bible based church. He did not walk away from his faith, but for awhile was not walking close to God. Yet God will forgive those who come to Him.

Hebrews 6:7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;

All know that blessings come from God.

Hebrews 6:8-12  but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The ones who commit the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit know the face of God and choose great evil and the face of sin. They misdirect the purposes of God, create their own system with knowledge and evil intent.

Another biblical example is Balaam, the prophet who chose to help the enemy find ways to defeat the Israelites. He was gifted spiritually, he knew God’s voice and was told to prophesy what God told him to say. He did that, but loved money and power far more than obedience to God, and we later learn that he taught the enemy how to pull the Israelites away from God.

Pastor Don shared about a prophet that came to his cousin’s church. This man asked his cousin if the “Lord could have His way.” His cousin did not see what was coming, so he said, “Sure, the Lord can have His way.” What the “prophet” proceeded to do was sell prophesies for $29.00. Pastor Don’s cousin stood back and watched, and was surprised to see his parishioners step up to pay for these prophesies. He did not stop it because he felt that the people needed to be ripped off to be taught a valuable lesson. He knew that they should have known better than pay for prophesies. So the next few weeks he taught them how much in error they were to do that. And Pastor Don’s cousin also learned a lesson, for he should have asked the prophet, “Which Lord?”.

In our church, Pastor Don told us that a few years ago someone came into the church and had styled themselves as a prophet. The person got up and taught on the verse that said, “If possible, even the elect will be deceived.” He implied that the elect would be deceived, taking the verse out of context. Again only a few went up to Pastor Don to question that teaching, and Pastor Don had to spend a few weeks educating the people to respectfully question a teaching in the pulpit if it does not follow the whole counsel of God. Pastor Don told us that God had him pray this person out of the church.

We read that verse in the Amplified. Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones).

It isn’t possible. The devil wants us to believe that the elect can be led astray, but the elect has the Holy Spirit to guide them to truth. Deceiving spirits sometimes imitate the gifts of God, even in the Body of Christ, so we need discernment to know where the gift is coming from.

We have tasted the truth of God, it is as solid as concrete. Our knowledge of truth is solid, not an abstraction.

We ran out of time in Bible study.

I hope this helps to clarify the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

I am so happy to have Pastor Don back from vacation, but he did deserve the time away, for he works very hard as a Pastor.

We began Bible study by reviewing the proof text that we have been studying in great detail:

Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

Pastor Don reminded us that these are ELEMENTARY principles, and that includes the resurrection of the dead.

He told us that the Church hasn’t done an effective enough job of teaching about life after death. So for Christians, many are affected by death. Death is inevitable. So many who attend funerals are miserable, for they see death as a loss. But for a believer, we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Pastor Don suggested going to see the movie The Bucket List. He also suggested that we read books from a Christian perspective about death and life – for example 90 minutes in Heaven. Not the new age stuff.

We need to become rooted and grounded in our faith and in the basic doctrines of our faith. If Jesus tarries, we will all face our end somehow. And when that happens our view about it has to be biblically based. Yes, we will have sorrow for the person who died for we will miss them, but we know that beyond this life there is something better.

Pastor Don asked us, how come more people die and DON’T come back? They don’t want to come back. What Piper’s book (90 Minutes in Heaven) suggests is that the memory of earth is diminished. God does it so that the transition is easier for us. We are so earthbound. But what those who have died and gone to heaven realize, is that in a short time their saved friends and family will be here (in Heaven).

Paul talked a lot about it in the epistles. He told the believers that if he wasn’t needed here on earth to seal the gospels that he would be out of here. There is a timelessness in God’s realm. Our time on earth is but a moment in eternity. Piper told his readers that he was met at the moment of his death at the gates of Heaven by friends, family, and many who had input in getting him saved.

1 Corinthians 15:3-6  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

He (Jesus) was seen by Cephas (Peter), then the 12, then by over 500 at once. Notice, at the time of the writing of this epistle, that many were still alive. The falling asleep refers to physical death (not soul sleep). So at the time that this letter went out, people were on earth that could have said that what Paul wrote was untrue. That did not happen. Jesus walked around for 40 days on this planet and was seen by many. When a person dies, their body is resting in the earth, but their spirit is with the Lord. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There have been DNA and genome studies that show us that the essence of the body is still present in the DNA, no matter what condition the body is – whole, ashes, decayed, or in the dust in the coffin. The spiritual body is present with the Lord.

The fact that Jesus walked around the earth and was seen by so many is why the Gospel could not be silenced. Even Josephus commented on this by saying that many claim that He (Jesus) rose from the dead, and that they have seen Him. It is also why those who saw Him were so willing to die for the truth of the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:7-8 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

Pastor Don asked what these verses meant. And we remembered that Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, and it was well after Jesus ascended to Heaven. That Paul (called Saul at the time) was out to murder Christians thinking it was God’s desire. Then Paul met Jesus, and realized his error – so he was not in Jesus’ physical presence like the other apostles and people who knew Jesus in the flesh.

1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

The Pharisees and Scribes were divided on this issue. In the book of Acts, Paul uses that to his advantage, to divide and conquer.

Pastor Don told us that if we are ever in a place of spiritual warfare in any situation that we should “PRAY FOR CONFUSION IN THE ENEMY’S CAMP.” The enemy is not a cooperative enemy. There is no central rule in satan’s camp.

In God’s camp Gabriel brings order, and all in God’s camp love God. Satan’s demons fear satan and obey orders under the power of fear. If they can get away with something, they will. The demonic battle within a person has the demons locked in a power struggle for demonic control.

When you become sold out to the Lord, the soul, mind, body and Spirit want to do right. Pastor Don said that the most sweet phrase of today’s time is, “What would Jesus do?” If you just seek to obey the simple answer from that question, you would line up with God’s will. You would choose the kind and appropriate thing.

In satan’s kingdom there are a myriad of opportunities for total confusion. Demons want to come back in the flesh. And that is why, when a demon is cast out of a person and their house (body) is clean from that, it is important to make sure that space is filled with God’s Word, for demons will come back and try to invade that space, bringing more demons – making it seven times worse. They need the cooperation of the demonic forces to have power.

All we need is the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God that binds the demonic forces. Pastor Don told us that it takes a, “Stronger man to bind the strong man.” God is far stronger than any demonic spirit. All we need to do is get people into the presence of God and into a prayer mode. God can heal deeper than many of our earthly therapies can. When a person confesses the Lord Jesus, their eternity is solved. We don’t want to fall into culture. We can’t go back and we can be sure of the resurrection of death because Jesus conquered Sin and death.

1 Corinthians 15:13-17  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

The reason we can trust this foundational belief is that faith operates in us. If Jesus just died for our sins that would not be sufficient. He had to rise from the dead, He had to conquer death. Since Jesus was not guilty of any sin, He could rise. Jesus drops sins in hell and satan thought that he had conquered Jesus. But, because Jesus had no personal sin, he said, “See you later.”

The law states that those with sin must die, but since Jesus had no sin, satan had no legal right to hold Jesus. And because Jesus died for our sins, satan has no legal right to hold me or anyone else who has sinned and looks to Jesus for salvation. the only exception being the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit.

A lot of questions were raised about the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit, and we spent a long time on that. I will share that in total with you tomorrow, for I think it is important to fully understand what that means.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

I was excited this morning when I realized that I am VERY, VERY close to 50,000 visitors to my blog. If you happen to be the 50,000th visitor let me know. It would be exciting to see who it is. – Heather

CONCERT DETAILS:

PERFORMER: Phil Wickham
DATE: Feb. 29, 2008
LOCATION: Our Saviors Lutheran School
                     63 Mountain View Avenue
                     Colonie, NY 12205
                     (518) 459-2248

TIME: Doors open 6:30 PM for food and Refreshments, bands following.
PRICE: $10 advance; 12 at the door.

We had a visitor at church yesterday, David Metcalf, who told us about a concert in the Albany area on Feb. 29, 2008. I want to pass the information on to you. Speaking with him after church, I found out further information. They are using these concerts to help evangelize and win back Albany for the Lord. David Metcalf gave me the following letter to share with you:

To Whom it May Concern:

As many of you know the great body of Christ has been sensing a need for a sustained worship event in the capital district region. There have been prophetic words spoken, letters written and many e-mails sent. We all love and have heard of worship bands such as Delirious, Matt Redmond, Jason Upton, David Crowder, Tree 63 and many others. This is now no surprise because the scriptures talk of the return of the “Tabernacle of David.” If you have been sensing this need to gather and worship with the greater body of Christ you are not alone. I also want to remind you of another term called worship evangelism. These new artists have proven to reach this new generation in a way that has not previously been done. I believe this is the beginning of the prophetic words spoken about the return of David’s Tabernacle. This tabernacle is different from the previous because it is the tabernacle that the gentiles can enter even the heathen ones. Originally planned for the Egg in the capital and after getting the permission it was decided to change the venue to a larger one with a larger seating capacity. After calling Jay Francis, he recommended to take a look at Our Saviors Christian School. Little did I know they were just putting the finishing touches on a brand new acoustically built gymnasium. Right next to the gym is also a brand new kitchens we will be serving a fine dinner out of. Another confirmation was how happy the staff were about it. On the very next day after looking at the facility the secretary called to confirm we were already approved. Another confirmation came over the summer when the song “divine romance” was played, may it put you to tears like it did myself. We need this divine romance do we not? The last confirmation was the date because originally in the time frame asked for, Phil Wickham was booked solid. All that is except for the last day of February which just happens to be LEAP DAY. This is great because it only happens once every four years. So I ask you, would you like to join the greater body in this time of worship where there will be no speakers but rather worship? If you are feeling the worship vibe you will you make a point of announcing this at your Church? To make it even easier, we have a 3 1/2 minute DVDs which are available to make an announcement. Don’t hesitate because there are only 600 seats available. If your Church wants to be a part of the first 30 Churches who are responding we have something special to offer you as a leader. May I leave you with this funny scripture, “But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays, you will LEAP like cows going out to pasture.” As Toby Mac recently stated at the Washington Ave. Armory, “The greatest way we have to witness is this,” they shall know us by our love for one another.

Sincerely,

Jonathan David Metcalf
House of the Heroes

HOUSEHEROES64@YAHOO.COM

If you are in the area and want to attend, please contact him at the above email address. It looks to be an exciting concert, and he told me that Pastor Don is planning on being there.

Hoping your day is blessed,

Heather

 

This was a copy of the close captioning script, slightly edited. The words in the brackets [ ] are what people in the congregation said. All I did was take out repeat words, for example if Pastor Don said “I, I, I feel that…” I made it “I feel that…”

In the sixth chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ the Lord is speaking to us. John the Revelator in his Tabernacle and he is beginning to see some things begin unfolding. It says,

 

Revelation 6:1-2 ” Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.”  And I looked, and behold, a white horse.  He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”

 

In this first verse we have a passage of scripture that theologians have debated for a some time. But as I am trying to teach you, the Word speaks for itself if we learn to read the Word with clarity it will tell us who the players are. Because it says, “He’s coming out on a white horse,” we have an inclination to want to make this to be the Christ. But we have to understand where are we? What is the time period in Heaven? What is going on? And what is it that the Lord is trying to show us? 

 

He is beginning the process of opening the seals. These seals are not invitations to a wedding, they are not invitations to a dance or a party. The breaking of these seals means that the judgment of God, the wrath of God is going to be released upon the earth. Did you get  that? Now we have to understand an amazing thing about God. God will use whatever He needs to use to accomplish His Will. He will manipulate the devil himself to get the end result that God wants. Did you hear what I am saying to you?  [Yes]  Alright. So, let’s read this passage and see if we can’t identify who this person is. 

 

In Verse two, “behold, a white horse.  He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was…” What?  [given to him] “a crown was given to him…” wait a minute, now. That tells us something immediately. A crown has to be given to this particular character. He hasn’t earned it. He hasn’t taken it for himself. It has to be permitted to Him.  Hallelujah!  John is in the vision and the Lamb of God is opening the seal, therefore He is opening the seal which is showing what is to come.  This personage who is riding a white horse is coming to conquer and to do conquest.  But it is some conquest that is given to him. 

 

In other words what we are seeing is, we are seeing the evil one, we are seeing the prince of darkness as we saw him in Daniel Chapter 9.  In Daniel Chapter 9 it says in the last days, at the end of time, the evil one would come onto the earth to do war.  Let’s see if it is him and we can follow by seeing what does the next passages say. 

 

Revelation 6:3 “When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.”  Notice, it says “another horse.”  In other words this horse is of the same paddock as you would of the other horse.  And it says,

 

Revelation 6: 4 “Another horse, fiery red, went out.  And it was granted…” The crown is permitted or given to the one who’s coming out to bring war on the earth, to conquer, he’s coming to conquer.  This one it is granted to him.  When Jesus, Himself, comes, He doesn’t have to have anything granted to Him.  He is already coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He doesn’t have to have anybody give him anything because everything is already His.  Amen.  Can you see that?  So we know that this one is of the evil one. Further information shows us.  “…the one who sat on it…”, the one who sat on this fiery red horse, “to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.“ 

 

Now if we break this out into, into the language we see first of all, that in the Greek, where it says to kill one another the word there used is the same word that is used in reference to killing of the Lamb or the killing of the saints.  And it is a very specific sword, when it says a great sword, it is the sword that is pronounced “machaira.”  The machaira sword is a short killing sword that is used to kill the sacrifice.  And therefore we can see from this passage that this one coming in the first verse as well as the one coming in the fourth verse is coming to kill and martyr the saints.  To cause a sacrifice to be made.  And if we’re still not sure that these are evil personages, let’s go on to the next verse. 

 

Revelation 6:5-6 “When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.”  So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” 

 

Now before you start shouting in the Holy Ghost, be careful here, let’s learn to read and watch and see what’s happening.  When we look up this denarius at that time, here’s what we are talking about.  We have a first horse that’s coming to conquer.  We have a second horse that is coming to create martyrs and to kill and take peace from the earth.  To bring the earth into a warlike state.  And then we have this third horse that is coming to bring runaway inflation.  The reason it’s runaway inflation is because a denarius was a wage of a day.  In other words a man will have to work a whole day just to get a loaf of bread.  That poverty will be so much in the earth, inflation will be so runaway, that a man will have to work a whole day just to get a loaf of bread. 

 

How much does a loaf of bread cost today?  Two bucks, something like that?  [many talking] Nobody knows?  Where are all these shoppers?  What’s a loaf of bread cost?  A couple of bucks.  OK, thank you.  See, I know the problem.  You know what the problem is? Some of you are so rich right now that you’ll be buying that super wheat bread.You’ll be grazing with all the organic.  But this is saying that a time will come, listen to me a time will come where a whole day’s wages will be a few dollars.  And so what you have then, is this worldwide inflation, and this worldwide recession, hard times coming on the earth. 

 

But notice it says, “don’t hurt the oil and the wine.”  Now there’s a couple of things we can learn from that.  One is, we want to say well, it’s a picture of the saints of God and the Holy Spirit.  But, wait a minute, in the verses right in front of this, it used the same word for killing of the saints and martyring of the saints. This is a time period then when those who are still on the earth, because remember, last week I told you more than likely that in the fifth chapter the church has been raptured between the fifth and the sixth chapter.  Remember that?  And we are going to look at that in more detail.  But the saints that are on the earth will be suffering the same thing because they were not, Matthew Chapter 25, virgins who were ready.

 

There’s some who were not ready.  There are wise virgins and there were foolish virgins.  The only difference between the wise and the foolish was what?  The foolish were not ready. That’s going to be the group of people that love Jesus but preach against the rapture.  They love Jesus but they’re not waiting for His coming.  And I’m going to give you the scriptures on that.  Because God said that we should be anticipating.  In Peter is says this, it says that we can hasten the coming of the Lord, because why?  Because we’re looking for it.  The same thing that Paul and Peter wrote about, they’re looking for the Blessed Hope.  We’ll give you more scripture on that to prove that. 

 

So, in this particular passage (Revelation 6:6), runaway inflation.  Now if you remember, I spoke to you about the Churches, remember the seven Churches at the beginning?  When we look at the seven Churches, and look at the wealth that they had, in cities like Smyrna.  These great powerful and wealthy cities, we learn something.  Inflation, runaway inflation hurts the poor and the middle class.  But the rich get along just fine when the price of the bread goes to a day’s wages.  The picture of oil and wine is this, that luxury items will still be in existence but only a few people will be able to afford them.  That’s the type of inflation it’s trying to show us.  It’s trying to say that it will not be an inflation of supply.  There will be a sufficient supply, but the demand will be so great, it’ll be overwhelming because people don’t have the resources to get it.  There will be oil and wine which are luxury items at the time of this writing, and what it is projecting is that in the future when this type of end times inflation comes, there will still be Lexuses, but nobody will be able to afford them.  There will still be luxury items but no one will be able to have them.  Alright?  So, it’s a little bit different from what you have been taught.  But when we look at the words and we put it in its proper context, do not hurt the oil and the wine, do not harm them.  And it will be luxury items are available. There will be a full supply, but there will be no money. 

 

In other words, it’s going to be a worst type of poverty than the planet has ever seen.  Most types of hardships or hard times are there’s no supply.  In this case there will be a supply, but there will be no money to buy.  It will be a different picture.  So let’s go down a little bit further.  In verse seven He says,

 

Revelation 6:7-8 “When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.”  So I looked, and behold, a pale horse.  And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him...” I want you to notice who these characters are. Now, I think you begin to see what God is doing in opening these first seals. That He is permitting satan to have his day and his time. He is permitting the evil sources, these dark spirits to have their time on the earth.  And He says, that death is going to come on the earth, hades which is hell of course, follows after him.  “…And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”  Well you say to yourself, how can that possibly happen?  Well if we hold our place here and go back to Thessalonians, we can take a peek, just a peek because I’m going to go over it in detail next week.  But this scripture is so important to see.  Okay, in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 He tells us of a time in Chapter 4 verse 13

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be…” What [caught up] shall be what?  [caught up] “shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  And then He says, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”  Now go to the second chapter of Thessalonians.  So that we can understand this event in context.  Second Chapter, second book, 2 Thessalonians, second chapter, second book.  Are you there? 

 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”  So before the day of Christ comes, all hell is going to break loose on the planet before he comes.  Do we see that?  [Yes] Tie the Revelation there to this to the other part and then he says,

 

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day” the day of Christ “…will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,“  Now we can undress this pretty quick here.  If you just stay with me and look at the Words.  The Word here is the apostasy.  We break down that word, we tend to put our flavor to it.  But we need to look at words in the Greek exactly for what they say.  Usually when we say “apostasy” we refer to people in the Church falling out of the Church and falling away from the Church.  Now that’s our coloring to it.  But here’s what it says in the Greek, The root of the word “apo” “apos” or apostasy is this word, it’s snatching away.  A falling away, or to take away, or to remove.  Now it has a different flavor when you read it for just what it says.  What does it say?  It says that there is a catching away or a falling away that must occur and that will produce the revealing of the antichrist.  That will reveal that all of this work that is being done now, and why. 

 

In another passage it says that He must be taken out of the way in order for the evil one to be revealed.  You guys got that?  Now why would that be?  The reason is, if those horses were loosed on the earth and the Spirit filled saints were on the earth, what would we do?  [pray] We’d pray.  We would bind them suckers.  You all don’t shake your heads like you believe it.  You believe it Cari. (a person in the congregation) We would pray.  We would pray.  I don’t believe that the Church of Jesus Christ would let another Adolph Hitler rise up and just sweep all over Europe again.  We would pray.  We would begin to bind him.  We would have the heart of God.  It says that God does nothing unless He tells His prophets.  Unless He lets His children know what ‘s going on, and the Spirit of God would say, that’s the antichrist making his move, bind him.  [Yeah] Lord have mercy!  You all ain’t sure.  We would see it.  We would identify.  We’d say, “Stop, in the Name of the Lord.  Stop, in the Name of the Lord.” We would do stuff like take your hands off our money, take your hands off our bread.  Take your hands off our resources.  We would bind death at it’s door and say, “You’ll not come in here.”  [Right] I’m talking about the Church.  The Church would rise up and bind him.  But it says that there has to be a falling away, a snatching away, a catching away, in order for all of these darknesses, these spirits of evil to be revealed in the earth. Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.  And I think some of you aren’t sure about it, but let’s get it all together here.  In chapter 5 there’s a number, a number of verses that point to this reality.  In verse 3 it says,

 

1 Thessalonians 5:3 “For when they say, “Peace and safety!”  then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.  And they shall not escape.”  Come upon who?  He’s not talking about the Church.  Can you prove it?  Sure, let’s read the rest. 

 

1 Thessalonians 5:4 “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.“  In other words, somebody, somewhere is going to preach the truth and the Church is going to know.  Hey, we can smell evil a mile away. 

 

1 Thessalonians 5:5-8 “You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.  But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of” the hope of [salvation] “the hope of  [salvation] “salvation.”  He is talking to people that are saved.  He can’t be talking about the hope of them getting saved, he is talking about the hope of salvation.  He is talking about what Jesus said, “Pray that you will be worthy.”  To do what?  To escape in the day of His wrath.  Well, let’s go a little bit further.  If Pastor’s right, you can see it.  For in the next verse he says,

 

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God…” Let’s Read together, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

 

Well, what is going to happen?  The first seals are going to be opened.  Then the wrath that is coming is the permitted wrath from God, that God is permitting to come upon the earth.  But that wrath [is not for us]…not for us. [amen] The wrath of God is what?  [not for us] say it again [not for us].  But what about the wrath of satan?…We’ve been in the last days since Peter declared it in Acts Chapter 1, Chapter 2.  We’ve been in the last days.  The wrath of satan, has continually been poured out upon the Church.  Hallelujah.  But greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world.  But many will be martyred.  Many will die at his hand.  But the wrath of God is what?  [not for us].  We will suffer persecution.  You know, we don’t like it, but the reality is there will be persecution.  You want some persecution?  Go stand up in front of Walmart this afternoon and start preaching the Gospel.  You will be persecuted.  Probably arrested.  But we will suffer persecution.  Go home today after church and point a finger at your unbelieving mate our unbelieving child or relative, and begin giving them the Gospel message.  And say, “Pastor Don today was preaching about making the rapture!  Not making the rapture and your name right now is  not on the list1!”  [Laughter] You will suffer persecution.  But it won’t be the wrath of God.  Amen. 

 

Alright, let’s go back to Revelation.  Is some of this coming clear to you?  [yes] It’s a confusing puzzle unless you ask God, who are the players?  9th verse, fifth seal. 

 

Revelation 6:9 “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.”…Let’s get that again. “…the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.”  In other words, when all of the other seals are opened and the evil one comes to conquer, the saints who are on the earth at that time who did not go in the rapture they will hold to their testimony of Jesus Christ.  The second testing they’re going to make it.  They’re going to stand strong.  They’re going to stand tough.  They’re going to give a testimony.  Can I prove that those are the saints who came through the great tribulation?  Let’s see if we can read a little bit here.  Go on to verse 10. 

 

Revelation 6:10-11 “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”  Then a white robe was given to each of them...”  White stands for what?  Righteousness, purity.  “…and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.“  So, what do we end up with? 

 

We end up with in this chapter, satan is turned loose to do his thing.  The Church is no longer on the earth, so there is no united power to stop it.  Individual saints are spread out all over the place.  But they’re not organized into churches.  Persecution comes against the Church.  Begins to crush it.  People are martyred, but those of us that go in the rapture will be praying, “Lord, when will you avenge them?  When will you bring vengeance on them?”  And He says, but not till their number is completed.  They will live on this earth in the most horrible time ever known to man. 

 

Today you have a great opportunity.  A great opportunity.  Why put salvation off another day?  Why, in your heart, reject the voice of the Lord which is calling out to you to come up, move up another level?  Why reject the opportunity to serve the Lord in Spirit and in Truth and to remove from yourself those things which so beset and hinder you?  Why do that?  Why wait another minute to answer the call and say, “Lord, here am I.”  There’ll be enough proof to convince you, but will you become convinced before you have to go through it without the power and the presence of the Lord?   I’m just trying to do my job.  I’m just trying to say in the best way that I can, live the best life you can now, so that you can have the strength that you need. 

 

I’m a faith preacher.  I believe in it, I’m going to preach it, till Jesus comes.  But there’s one thing that I’ve learned about faith, in order to have it when you need it, you have to seek it when you don’t need it.  [oh, yeah] I’m preaching to somebody.  In order to have faith when you need it, you have to seek it when you don’t need it.  Let me say it one more time.  [go ahead] In order to have faith when you need it, listen, sickness, disease, trouble will come to all of us, we’re all going to not get through this without problems.  You’re going to have some problems.  There’s going to be some stuff raining down on you, that you’re going to need some faith to overcome.  [amen] Lord have mercy!  There’s some stuff happening on the planet that right now you need some real faith, not some phoney head faith, you need some real get down, old time religion faith, that you believe it because God said it!  And you’re not going to be swayed to the left nor to the right.  Your eye is fixed on Jesus and you are locked and you believe and it will be as you say so!  [amen]

 

That’s the kind of faith you’re going to need in this last day. There’s going to be some stuff going down, and it’s on the planet right now.  But the doctors have no cure, they can’t fix some stuff that’s going on now.  There’s new strains of this in wacky zacky dacky, popping out all over the place, you better have some faith to say, “No, in the name of Jesus, I am the Child of God who’s walking in faith.”  And those of us that are the children of God are those who are what?  Led by the Spirit of God.  And the Spirit of God is leading us to faith.  Don’t wait till you need faith to run and try and get it.  It’s a little bit late then.  You better have rise from the dead faith now because you need it now.  You’d better have get up from the bed of sickness now, because you need it now.  You’d better have out of poverty faith now because poverty is coming.  You’d better have, I can take it and I’m going to make it faith right now because there’s opposition on the planet and you need to know Jesus has made you promises, precious promises that you can only access through the prayer of faith.  That is believing and without fluctuation.  Locking your heart and mind on it and saying, “Jesus said it’s mine, therefore it’s so.”  [amen] Therefore it’s so. 

 

Don’t wait for the President of the United States to bring peace.  You need to have the peace of God, that passes understanding, that guards your heart and your mind….The End Times, the Body of Christ must be prepared for the End Times. 

 

That was the end of the program. I pray you are blessed.

Heather

Father Daniel told us that we need to have a sense of humor. People make their problems bigger than God. And it doesn’t have to be their own drama, it can be someone else’s. If we have a sense of humor, we can put things into their proper perspective.

He reminded us that all we need to do to make God laugh is to tell Him our plans. God is sovereign. God makes the sun rise, we don’t. We have to let go and let God.

When we are in Christ we can have a sense of joy even if our circumstances are not great.

Spiritual maturity is having joy in situations that would ordinarily drive us crazy. To keep peace when a person cuts you off on the road, when there is someone in front of you that has 12 items in the 10 item or only line.

Father Daniel told us that whatever gets us upset can be our greatest teacher. We don’t choose or teachers. We don’t choose our broken marriage, we don’t choose our hurts. But we can choose to be teachable in our situation. We can choose to be a person in Christ.

Sometimes in our situation we do not feel that Christ is there, but that does not mean that He is not present in the situation. We too need to be present for Christ, to sit in His presence. Sometimes it is hard for us to be present to Him. But Jesus offers everything. He will not go away or abandon us.

Father Daniel gave us an acronym for the word LOVE.

L – listen. Listen beneath the words that people are saying. So often we are like ships that pass through the night. There is a quality of presence when you listen. Try to hear what the person is saying. He said that a Simon and Garfunkle song expresses what some feel, “The Sounds of Silence” – some of the lyrics are “people talking with out speaking, people hearing without listening.” We often take each other for granted. Margaret Mead once stated that the loneliest people were not the ones who had no one around, but they were the ones with many people around but no one listens to them. Married couples can be lonely. God tells us to, “Be still and know that I am God.” Father Daniel said that he likes to take away one word at a time from that phrase. “Be still and know that I AM.” “Be still and know.”  “Be still.” “Be.” Sometimes after mass (or church) instead of running out, sit and stay in His presence for a bit. Let it sink in. He also told us that we need to make sure to spend time listening to single people, to priests (who often feel like they are the odd man out), to older folks in nursing homes. Teenagers have a desire to feel connected, and they are in a time of difficulty for they want to be connected, but then they don’t want to be, then they do. It is a very confusing time for them, but they need to know that someone is listening.

We had teenagers in the group and Father Daniel spoke to them about not having sex outside of marriage, and told them the joke of the ant and the elephant. He said that an ant and an elephant got married. They consummated the marriage and the elephant died. The ant was complaining, one night of passion and I am spending the rest of my life digging a grave. His point was that we should not be ruled by passion outside of marriage, for we will live with the results of that for the rest of our lives.

O – overlook. We have to overlook some things, and not let them affect us. We have to stop carrying grudges for things that people did 20 years ago. Not carry around bitterness and unforgiveness. Unforgiveness won’t change the pain. He told us that when our kids were little they liked to put their feet on ours and we would walk around with them, then they get older and they walk all over our hearts. To overlook things does not mean that we are a doormat. Being a doormat is a form of self hatred. Who is it in your life that is causing you distress? Sometimes fellow church members can cause us distress, but that doesn’t mean that we leave church. We are learning to be the Body of Christ. Sometimes people at church look so holy, but then they go home and tear your guts out. That was not what God wanted us to do. He wants us to treat each other in a loving manner.

V – verbalize. Say the things that need being said. Don’t let the sun go down before you tell someone you are sorry. Don’t assume that people know that you love them – tell them. People need to hear that they are loved. When you need to make amends, sometimes you have to be the first one. Send a card, call a person and get the situation straight between you. (Heather’s comment, Jesus tells us that if we have anything against another to make things right, then leave your offering at the altar.) To be Christian means to involve all of yourself.

E – effort. We need to make an effort even if it is difficult. We want to be a person of peace.

Luke 7:36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.

Jesus would have been reclining to eat as they did in those days. So the table would be in the middle, and all the diner’s heads would be toward the table, and their feet would be facing outward.

Luke 7:37-38 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

Her loose hair was a signal of her trade. She had a bad reputation. She brought the oil which was her life’s wages. Father Daniel told us that sometimes that oil would be used to mask the pungent odors of those who came to her for services. She must have heard Jesus’ preaching and teaching, and needed a touch from Him. She felt she had to touch Him so that He knows me. The people who were hosting Jesus did not offer him common courtesy, but she washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. (Heather’s comment. I heard a teaching once that mentioned that the fragrant oil would fill the room and the people would have a momentary whiff of it, but the woman would carry the fragrance of her worship around for a long time because it would cling to her hair. That worship is fragrant to God, a sweet savor.)

Luke 7:39-44  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”  So he said, “Teacher, say it.”  “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.

Jesus told them to LOOK AT HER. So often there are people that we overlook. We don’t notice. Or we choose not to notice people that we walk by that we don’t want to be bothered with. Jesus knew her many sins and forgave her. Even Peter, who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, a few minutes later was told by Jesus, “Get thee behind me satan.”

Jesus never shunned anyone but those who should know better like the priests and Levites.

In the Presence of Christ, we have to be present to each other. We need to make the effort to act in a Christian manner toward others. The world view of Christians are that they are hypocrites. If we don’t make the effort to show Christian love, people are left with a bad taste in their mouth.

Sister Dolores, a classmate of Father Daniel, works with handicapped children – these children face many changes in their lives as health care professionals change on a rotating basis and the significant ones in their lives are changing. She told Father Daniel that the kids ask 4 questions.

1. Am I good? They know they are different and they wonder why they were born handicapped, so they equate that with not being Good. Sister Dolores confirms that they are good.

2. Do you love me? They feel unlovable – and she assures them that she does love them.

3. Will you be here tomorrow? The volunteers in their lives are constantly changing, and they see so many people that they want some consistency. She is still doing this same job, so she has been there for them consistently.

4. What’s for lunch?

We as adults ask the same questions. Am I good? Do you love me? Will you be here tomorrow? We also ask those questions of God.

Jesus, am I good? We are weighted down by our past. And yet He died for our sins. Does anyone love us? So many are false friends, who say nice things but don’t follow through. Jesus loves us. Will you be here tomorrow? Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will always be there for us.

The Redemptionists publish a magazine called the Ligorian Magazine. One time they put a cover picture on their magazine of Jesus laughing. They got more complaints about that cover than for any other magazine. People cannot conceive Jesus laughing.

Father Daniel asked, how can you be saved except by someone who loves you, and has joy. Christ has joy, loves us, and died for us. He told us about how his sister was pregnant, and one thing he always wanted to do was feel the baby move in someone’s belly, so his sister let him feel the baby. Then after the child was born, he got to hold the child and it was then that it dawned on him how Jesus came to earth, and was fully human. His mom, Mary, held Him much the same way that Father Daniel held that little baby. That Jesus came fully in the flesh, fully human and yet fully God.

Father Daniel told us that the most important thing we can do for our kids is to keep telling them how much we love them. That there are very critical periods in a child’s life where there are growth spurts and synapses that are very strong, 2 months, 9 months, 2 years and 7 years were times he told us about. During these times what is given to a child is absorbed and held onto. Make sure you speak how loved you are.

A baby does not have a sense of self, so when he cries and mom comes and cuddles him, he gets the sense that I am good. It isn’t his sense of I am good, but the other (mom) that gives him that sense through her actions. Then when he cries and father come to pick him up, he also gets the sense of I am good. I love you.

God says I love you, you are good. When we fully understand the depth of God’s love it will change our life.

We don’t change so that God loves us. God loves us, so we change.

God feeds us, giving us spiritual food and love, so that we can feed others.

If we look to God, we can ask, do you love us? Jesus says, “Yes, enough to die for you.”

We ask God, are we good? He answers, “Yes, I created you that way.”

Will you be here tomorrow? God answers, “Yes, I will be here till the end of days.”

We were then led in a guided meditation that showed that God was with us through all of our life, even when we did not feel that He was. And ended with a blessing of oil being given to us with the question, “Do you accept the love and healing of God.”

Very powerful and impacting.

Praying your Saturday is blessed.

Heather

I had the privilege of sitting in St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Woodstock, listening to a Redemptorist Priest talk about the love of God. He was so spirit filled as he talked about the incredible love that God has for us. People from all faiths attended, and Father Daniel peppered his talk with many jokes so we did a lot of laughing as we contemplated some tough questions. If he ever has a mission anywhere near where you live, I would highly recommend it. It is the first time I ever attended a mission and I really had no idea what to expect. I would attend again! There were four meetings. I got to attend the first 2, the 3rd was snowed out, and during the 4th I was giving my altar Bible study.

Father Daniel mused that it had been 8 years since he spoke at St. John’s and he thought about how much life has changed during those 8 years. We got into the dot.com era, we survived 9/11, the headlines have shown priests and ministers being arrested for pedophilia, Martha Stewart went to prison and came out of prison. We have had Wall Street problems, and many of the institutions that we used to take for granted are falling apart, for example marriages are falling apart. Our media and entertainment has changed its content so dramatically, schools drive kids to achieve education to attain good jobs – not to obtain education for education’s sake.

The good news is that people are tired of spiritual junk food. They are demanding more from their faith and more from their religion. The # 1 group of Christians in the USA are Catholics with 24.7%. The second largest groups of Christians in the USA are Ex-Catholics. There is a hunger for connection, for a relationship with God in their lives.

If the Church is not speaking the truth and following love, it will fail.

Father Daniel said that being Catholic is like a joke (Heather’s comment, he is not implying it is a farce)- you either get it or you don’t. Those who get it will stay Catholic and involved in the face of the things going on in the church and the world. Those who don’t will drop out.

It takes more that just attending Mass and good people to make a person remain active in the Church.

There are many big questions that have to be answered.

When Katrina happened, people wondered about the devastation, why some people lived and others who were good died? Why some sinful people were not hurt, and Christians lost a lot. Why was one church standing and another destroyed? Where is the money to rebuild?

Another big question is when attending a wedding, a single person may wonder, when will that happen to me? When we see a person in a coffin, we can also wonder, when this will happen to me?

Father Daniel told us that unsettling things are not bad. Seeking the answer can lead us to be more grounded in our faith.

We can’t keep the big questions out of Church. God is not afraid of our big questions. If we don’t start with our story, looking at God’s story could be boring.

Father Daniel told us that he too has wrestled with big questions. He said that many see God as sending down Grace to us (kind of like through tubes) to the earth. And if you are good and do the right things you get more grace, if you don’t do the right things you get less. Sometimes we try to manipulate God. We figure if we go to Mass, say certain prayers, give up certain things, that God will give us grace in a situation. God doesn’t dance to our manipulations.

God is life, love, peace. He gives us Grace. We don’t get more grace, we just become more aware of it. If we look we can see that God was with us at every moment of life, even when He seemed distant. We will still be in the love of God, even when at the moment He has disappointed us and we think we are out of His love.

If we are still thinking of God the way we did when we were a child, that is toxic.

Father Daniel told us that his Italian grandmother died when he was 12. He saw his father crying, and what held them together through this sad occasion was faith, family and food. He started asking those big questions. If God sees everything where were you God? Why did his grandmother lie three days on the floor? Didn’t God see her lying on the floor?

He then asked us, “Where do you go when you have suffering in your life?

He said, some people pray three rosaries and ask God to do something. When God doesn’t answer their prayers they conclude that if that’s the way God treats us, why go to church?

Do you have no faith? Or do you think God is always present?

God loves all, he even loves Hitler, your x-wife, Saddam Hussain. There is nowhere you can go to escape God’s love. One Psalm that illustrates this is Psalm 139.

Psalm 139: 1-18  O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. 
         
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 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.
         
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 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. 
         
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You. 

You can’t go away from God. You can pretend there is no God or that you are away from Him or that He can’t see you, but that is not the truth. So you ask, what about sin? When we choose to say no to life, no to God, it is DIS-grace. 

The fundamental relationship in our life is God, and He is with us every moment. 

Father Daniel told us that we have a tyranny of time. That one time an advance placement student came to his master’s house in a frenzy for there was so much to do. The student came at night and asked the teacher’s advice. The teacher’s answer was to blow the candle out. 

Many of us go from drama to drama, and at times the dramas are not even involving real people. The other day Father Daniel overheard a conversation about a family that was splitting, and had a lot of tragedies, only to find out that the people were emphatically discussing a TV serial. 

We think that we will be happy if we get to the next moment, if we get the next raise, a bigger house, a longer vacation, but that is all an illusion. All we have is NOW. Yes, you do plan for the future, but the only time we can really change is NOW. Many of us live in psychological time, but we can’t let it control our life. Many of us are functioning in the realm of EGO:

E – edge
G – God
O – out

Satan tried to put doubt in Christ’s mind with asking him, “IF you are the Son of God.” We often think IF we just get to the next big item, IF we get the next thing. But all we have is right now. We are between tomorrow and yesterday. 

We seek healing of the past, the tyranny of time, expectation and actuality, and we need to receive these things by GRACE, not by ego.

Happiness is fleeting. Joy is inside. You don’t get more joy, you just use more of what God gave you. Joy is from within. 

He gave an example of someone who sinned in their 20′s and something bad happened 30 years later, so she concluded that God was punishing her for her sin that she committed when she was 20. She was still seeing God like the eternal policeman, the Santa God who has a list of who is naughty and nice. This is the God of her childhood, and now she needs a more mature relationship with God. We have silly superstitions that we hold onto.

God does not have to punish us for sin, we do that ourselves (Heather’s note: or satan steps in and lends a hand). Evil is its own punishment. 

Many come to Church to find someone for a relationship, or to get something from God. They are using God as a means to attain something, but that is not a relationship with God.

He also told us that people tend to test the limits of God – what is the most sin that I can do before You leave me? What is the least amount of obedience that I have to do for You to still love me? 

God is always there, but our spiritual ups and downs tend to make us perceive differently. But a fish does not ask, “Where’s the water?” 

Jesus told people that the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is at hand NOW. Bad things will happen. Faith is not a good luck charm or a lucky rabbit’s foot. Faith gets us through the bad times. Faith will not prevent the bad moments. 

If your relationship with Jesus is strong, you can get through anything. What is your image of God?

You don’t have to change so God loves you. God loves you, so you change.

God has a sense of humor. What you can’t laugh at you make an idol of. Laughing at ourselves helps us to enjoy life. Laughter brings joy into our lives.

We are not our problems or issues. we are about life. 

Father Daniel told us the story about the elderly man whose daughter invited her pastor to talk with her father because her father was talking to himself. The father told the pastor that he had a hard time praying, and someone suggested putting a chair across the room from him and imagining Jesus sitting in the chair, and having a conversation with Him. The man started to do that and often did that as he prayed to Jesus. One day the pastor was called and told that the man had died. The daughter told him that the most peculiar thing happened, the man had died with his head in the chair next to his bed. The pastor knew that the man died with his head in Jesus’ lap.

How real is your faith?

Relationship is not based on law, but it is based on love. It is through the Scriptures that God speaks to us. we want to be people of truth, love and forgiveness.

It was an incredible talk about God’s love. I pray that it blessed you, for it sure blessed me!

The Redemptorists have a website that can show you ways to deepen your prayer life and faith. Their website is www.redemptorists.net.

Have a blessed night. Thank you for your prayers about my Bible study, it went very well.

We have tons of ice in our driveway. I do believe in Spring, I do, I do, I do. I will not believe in my icy circumstances.

Heather