Notes from 4-2-10 Bible Study.

Isaiah 29:16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it,  “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Things are turned around. The teachings of men and the carnal mind are being taught as truth, but they conflict with the teachings and the person of God. 

We are always in transformation but GOD IS FOUNDATIONAL. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Sin is sin and it has been bad from the beginning. Nothing has changed.  God will not change His position based on current trends. We go back to God and try to get Him to change what He said, but God does not change His Word. 

Our culture tells us we are not thin enough, tall enough, short enough. If we listen to culture we will think that we are deficient and incomplete, not seeing who we really are in Christ. The end of it, if we listen to cultural norms, is that we blame God for who we are not. We become so dissatisfied with ourselves. We criticize our life and what we are really criticizing is God. Did God mess this up or was it our nature?  What is the difference between a weed and a flower?  Are we criticizing God's creation?  Should we go to a place where we are esteeming ourselves as more than God?  NO! Each of us receives a measure of faith. What do you do with it?  Do you use it to improve or grow?  What we do with the faith God has given us will determine if we get stronger or weaker. When we question God it is astonishing arrogance.  Who made who?

Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;..."

If we are doing our plan, not God's plan, we are adding sin to sin. Left to ourselves we leave right for a position of weakness, we tend to allow and permit ourselves to sin.  When we devise our plan we devise it to leave room for our sin. When God says, "Don't," DON'T! We want to provide ourselves a fudge factor. We struggle, but God's plan is, "Be holy because I am holy." Our own plans that we devise to permit our sins are opposite of what God has planned for us. 

Step into the truth - call sin what it is - SIN.  Believe you are freed from it, no matter how hard it takes.

Isaiah 29:20-21 ...or the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off—who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words. 

We will be judged according to how we judge others, that does not mean that we don't judge, but it is how we judge. We are to realize that everyone has stuff that does not line up with the Word of God. 

Isaiah 30:1-2 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!"

They are doing this without consulting God.  That is a problem.  The Church has not taught people how to hear so even if they ask about their concern, they don't know how to listen for the response from God. We all have our system and it is flawed unless we learn to get beyond our cultural system and put God's label on it. We do what gratifies us and think it is from God.  Some prophesy over us and we like what they say for it feeds our flesh. We must TEST what is prophesied over us.  Ask ourselves, how did God tell you this?  Is it from God or is it from our desires?  Did the prophet confirm what God has already told us or is it a word out of the blue?  

If you hang out a fleece you will get fleeced. Nothing we hear from God will be based on circumstantial changes or by chance. God wants to be in our every day decisions that we make, and He wants us to conform to what our Spirit man is telling us. If we don't know how to get in touch with our spirit man there is no way to know if God is pleased if we don't listen. Put up the right antenna and practice hearing from God.

As we walk and talk with Jesus, we have a little closed off place. We are not going to go to Him for advice if our hearts if we are hiding secret sins.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. 

Put air to your desires, speak it out and God will respond, giving you advice and showing you how to get your desires. He wants so bad for you to do this. He needs to know our plans so He can let us know if they line up with His Word, or if it is not part of His plan for our lives. God's plan will take care of your needs if you are doing HIS PLANS. His plan includes your plan. You are never too old to be led by God.

Isaiah 30:6 The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from which came the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who shall not profit; 

They should not go back to Egypt-land, that was not God's plan for them.

Isaiah 30:7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

Rahab-Hem-Shebeth means Rahab sits idle, or Rahab the do nothing.

We recalled the story of Rahab the prostitute in the book of Joshua.  Rahab identifies the spies as Israelites and hides them from the enemy. She is given protection and ultimately ends up marrying an Israelite, and is listed in the lineage of Jesus Christ. 

Don't sit down in the desert for you will be destroyed. We can't go back to the old thing and trade in it, we need to keep moving in the direction God is sending us. If our usual response to stress is drugs or alcohol, we can't go back and do those things for that is like returning to Egypt.  Egypt was the place to go before, but now it is not what God wants for us. 

Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

The prophet who is speaking into our lives should be doing the right thing. The prophet and pastor should be on the same page.

Jeremiah 31:27-30 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast." And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.  In those days they shall say no more:  ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’  But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

He can pluck up and beak down, throw down destroy and afflict, uprooting what is evil, breaking it down.  If you pull up a plant by the roots there is still dirt stuck in the roots, you need to hit the plant on the ground to knock the good dirt from among the roots.  You don't want to get rid of the good stuff with the bad stuff. God will destroy the bad stuff in the soil and leave the soil prepared for good seed. We can make this process easier for us if we would only come to God sooner instead of later. Usually we wait until we are in affliction before we come to God. Affliction doesn't have to be a way of life for us, if we only sought to get to the end of ourselves. We either cry out to God or die in our affliction. 

If we look at the landscape, it could look afflicted, after the bad is uprooted, but it is now ready for the new. If you break up fallow ground it looks worse. Stop doing the past way of thinking, of traditions. Don't trust in traditions, trust in the new that God is doing in your life. Be ready to receive. It took Job 32 chapters to get ready, to get to the point where He says, Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. Job chose to trust God in spite of the circumstances of His life.  Job 13:15a Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.

We don't want to pay the price when the prophetic comes crashing into your life. 

A pastor loves on the sheep. An evangelist is looking for fresh meat, uses signs and wonders, which is biblical. But the evangelist can be in serious trouble if he loses God's focus. He can cast out demons, heal the sick and lead people to salvation, but there needs to be a pastor to pick up pieces and help mend and grow the sheep. 

We can have a mental conviction that what the Bible says about signs and wonders is true, but without demonstration, it is preaching. Evangelism uses signs and wonders. 

The evangelist may have prophetic words and be operating in the gifts of the spirit, he may prophesy and have words of knowledge, and operate in the 12 operational gifts, but we need to remember that the greatest gift is spiritual revelation of the heart.

A Biblical teacher must operate and live everything that he teaches.  He can prepare people for the gifts of the spirit and teach them out of carnality. Bu the Biblical teacher should be operating out of the anointing to perform all that he teaches.  

Jesus taught 5000+.  He taught them for three days and realized they needed food. He told the people that He was the Son of Man (Son of God). He was able to feed the 5000 . Later, after speaking to a crowd of 4000, Jesus asked the disciples to provide for the people and they were unable to do it. The disciples were talking to Jesus about the money and how hard it was to get to a village to get food for the people Jesus sat the people down and taught the disciples by demonstration. 

Your character has to be what sustains you in the pulpit when you have to deal with stuff. Jesus showed the disciples that whatever you have, if you bring it to God, He can multiply it, that it's MORE THAN ENOUGH. To further illustrate the point to the disciples the few loaves and fishes left 12 baskets of leftovers, which the disciples had to pick up - one basket per disciple.

God takes what you have and multiplies it, and you will have excess. 

El Shaddai - the God of More than Enough. The little boy did not complain, he gave God what he had without reservation and let God do the work. GOd will do more with our portion than we can imagine.

Jeremiah 31:28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.

The prophet is letting us know that God will not let us build what God is going to bless us with on top of the old foundation. We need to identify and ask God to help us remove our sacred cows. God will watch over them and build and plant a new seed that only God can grow.

The prophet is not to be the church but to put the church into the position to be the Church God wants. Every church needs people with prophetic giftings. There are different levels of prophetic gifting.  Some pluck up and tear down, some breathe fire into the congregation, some name and label sins, some bring affliction and sorrow of heart , digging out the pain and drawing it into the open so it can be dealt with by God.  Some bring conviction and church growth.  Some build up and plant new churches.  Some explain what is happening in current events, the causes and solutions.

I pray this blesses you.

Heather

Notes from Friday Bible study of 3/26/10

These are theological and foundational stories left for us. This chapter covers woes and blessings. The seven woes are specific to the time period we are dealing with.  

Isaiah 29:1-5 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; let feasts come around. Yet I will distress Ariel; there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel. I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siegeworks against you.  You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the ground; your speech shall be low, out of the dust; your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; and your speech shall whisper out of the dust. Moreover the multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones like chaff that passes away; yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. 

Ariel is a reference to Jerusalem. 

Isaiah 29:6-7 You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire.  The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. 

These verses speak of the future.  The enemy will be like a dream, a night vision. God will deal with the enemies that come against Israel. He permits them to apply judgment to Israel, but then they will be dealt with for their treatment of Israel.

Isaiah 29:8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look—he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look—he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves: so the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion.”

This is a diagram of a spiritual situation. A person is hungry and dreams of eating but wakes up and finds there is no food. The nations that come against Israel will wake from their delusions that they can win the battle against God's chosen.

Isaiah 29:9 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. 

There is a shift here

Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. 

The seers' and prophets' eyes are closed for God has poured out deep sleep.

Isaiah 29:11-14 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”  And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”  Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” (13) Therefore the Lord said:  “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, (14) therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” 

Jerusalem is the City of David. The prophets were there, entrenched and studying the Word. They were educated and had resources to study from.  But God points out in verse 13 that they were saying all the right things, but they were not right in their hearts toward God. They were bound not by the love of God but by the commandment of men - bound by fear.

All of us are blinded by tradition and conditioning of man and the intellect.  Many are holding on to theology they love, but that is not always based on the truth. Pastor Don called them sacred cows.

For example, evangelists teach about the love of Jesus, implying that Jesus is soft and always kind, not judgmental. They end up saying that we win them with the love of Jesus. It is true that Jesus is kind and loving, but there is also the aspect of judging that people do not want to remember. The Jesus of the new age does not look like the Jesus of the BIble. We make an idol of the Jesus we like, but not the WHOLE JESUS.  It is like getting married and finding out that your spouse has aspects of their personality that made them different from what you thought they were - they had not changed, you just are seeing their whole personality. We projected Jesus on our need, rather than reaching to the Jesus portrayed by the Scriptures. 

Jesus was gentle and meek but he also braided a whip and beat the moneychangers out of the temple and turned over their tables.

Pastor Don used as an example the parable of the 10 talents.  One was given 10 talents and doubled it, another was given 5 and doubled that, and one was given one talent. Instead of investing the talent and earning more income the man hid the talent, telling Jesus, Matthew 25:24-25 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord I know you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours."

This man had everything taken from him and was cast into outer darkness. We will be judged by our words. What the man said was not the truth about God. The truth is all is God's and God has sown all. The man should have invested what God had given him and he did not. Poor people are kept poor by the system of charity that we have set up. Charity becomes slavery.  Jesus wants us to invest the talents He has given us.

Mark 7:1-3 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 

This speaks of the tradition of the elders, not what God ordained. The disciples did not wash their hands in a special way like the elders ruled. We want our traditions to be based on who Jesus is and scripturally based.

Mark 7:4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.

God gave the Israelites 10 Commandments and the Jews turned those Commandments into 663 Biblical laws to keep.

Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 

Whose tradition are they to obey? God's or the elders?

Mark 7:6-7 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Doctrines are commandments of men, and we are all guilty of teaching and following doctrines.

Mark 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

The hand and pitcher washing that the people were questioning Jesus about was not Biblical. The law was meant as a tutor to guide us to Christ.  Jesus pointed out to the leaders of His time that they were missing the heart of the matter.  The heart of the issue was not the keeping of hand-washing rituals, but rather keeping the Sabbath. 

God writes the laws on our hearts. If we look to a rulebook we will end up establishing rules that fit our personality. Why do you think there are so many denominations?  The truth of the Bible is the same.  The only thing that should vary is the worship styles.  We create denominations not on truth but on personality. This is out of order if behavior is not based on truth.

Mark 7:9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

Living Word Chapel left a traditional denominational system to flow in the Holy Spirit.  When this happened there was a church split, and many left to go to another church that was more comfortable for them.  LWC chose to follow the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. Some pastors assert that there are no gifts of the Spirit. Their thinking is that they are pastors, they are righteous, and then something happens in their lives. For example, if the pastor's wife suffers a disease and all his praying for her does not bring about a healing, the pastor could conclude that God does not do healings in this day and age. But God does heal, he requires faith in Him and believing in Him to work. If a pastor is praying out of hope, not faith, and the wife is not praying in agreement it binds God's hands for healing. That does not mean that God will never do a supernatural healing, but the positive results increase with our knowledge of the understanding of having faith in God.

We need to know Jesus in ALL HIS ASPECTS. Not only His love, but His suffering anger, wrath, judgment, compassion, mercy. If we do not portray the full Jesus we are conveying a false Jesus. 

We can't have His love and a lie. We can't live outside of truth. God is love.  God is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Can truth be real without bringing love in it?  God's is Love, but He is also justice and judging.  

If a rabid dog is attacking your child you will protect your child even if it means the death of the dog. God will protect His children.

Are we prepared to accept the truth?  

The Pharisees and Scribes were looking for a Messiah who would come as a military leader and kill the Romans. Jesus Christ came as the suffering servant, who died for the forgiveness of sins not only for Jews but also for the Gentiles (which included Romans). Because He did not come the way that the Jewish people thought He should come, they rejected Him.  He did not reject them, but they rejected Him.

We erect God and religion in the way we want. Do we have enough heart for God to examine our stuff?   We use our mind to do a dance to keep the tradition of our denomination.

Anything that we do that lays aside the commandment of God creates a problem, for our hearts are wrong.

Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Mark 8:15-16 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “ It is because we have no bread.” 

They REASONED. They substituted ungodly reason of what they attributed to Godliness for the truth.

Mark 8:14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.

The disciples figured that they had forgotten to bring a physical loaf of bread, they reasoned that that was what Jesus was talking about. He was not.

Mark 8:17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 

Their hearts are hardened which can prevent understanding.

Mark 8:18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 

What are we to remember?

Mark 8:19-21 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?”  They said to Him, “Twelve.”  “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”  And they said, “Seven.”  So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

It was not physical bread, for Jesus could produce bread if needed.

What was He talking about?

Mark 8:11-12 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”

What bothers the Lord deeply in His Spirit is when you substitute or make up religion.  Why create signs when it's not a sign He has given us? He is the sign but they were too blinded to see that.

Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,...

Recognize that the church you belong to has a social and cultural aspect. Look at what you are doing from the Truth. 

Pastor Don gave an example - if the wife tells her husband that she would like to go to Cape Cod for a weekend and he replies, "Who cares about Cape Cod?"  It shows that his heart is removed from her. He needs to hear her heart and respond to what she needs not just give lip service to their relationship.

Jesus is questioning their motive, for they couldn't recognize the Messiah and that He was speaking the Truth. 

Let's examine ourselves to make sure we have no nonsense in our hearts, and that we are seeking the person of Christ, not the traditions of men. Ask ourselves, when was the last time I was in church and focused on the Lord? Make sure that we are spending time to pray and talk to the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Praying this blesses you.

Heather

I am trying to catch up to current teachings, as I have posted some teachings out of order,  but do not want you to miss notes I skipped to post teachings from visiting pastors. These are the notes from a teaching on March 19, 2010.

Isaiah 24 covers events at the close of the judgment, and speaks of the future judgment of Israel. Isaiah is describing ancient Babylon. It was historically fulfilled, and prophetically will be fulfilled. The physical Babylon was destroyed.  This passage is also an End Times Prophesy. The whole earth will be judged. The Tribulation Period and the Day of the Lord overlap. 

Peter quoted Joel in Acts 2, and stated that these were the beginnings of the last days. The Tribulation began then, and Paul said that we are in it. The 9th & 12th Chapters of Daniel speaks of the Great Tribulation and the End Times. Another name for this period are the time of Jacob's Trouble. Jesus spoke of this period in Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13.  There are tribulations going on, but there will be a final time of Great Tribulation. This Great Tribulation period will begin when Israel signs a seven year peace agreement, and then 3 1/2 years into that the peace agreement will be broken with the abomination of desolation. The antichrist and other nations will break the peace agreement.

During the Great Tribulation the work of the devil will become more pronounced, there will emerge a new world order and the spirit of Babel and mystery Babylon emerge. (These terms and ideas in the next few entries will be more fully explained if they are terms you are not familiar with.) 

The period of tribulation we are in now is under the spirit of antichrist, not the antichrist, but there are many teachings and people in the earth that are speaking against the truth of Christ (anti-Christ). The book of Revelation speaks of a three-headed beast, which is a spiritual, military, and political beast, seeking to destroy anything that is of Christ. This beast will do anything that is against Christ. And as a three-headed beast this represents an unholy trinity, the enemy's imitation of the trinity of God. During this time the people will be politically and militarily possessed and oppressed. During the Great Tribulation we, the whole Church will not be there. 1 and 2nd Thessalonians speak of this time. When the Church is raptured, then there will be nothing on earth to restrain the evil one and the antichrist will be revealed. When believers are no longer on the earth, evil will have the run of the earth.

Isaiah 24:5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 

The earth is DEFILED. So what happens because of this defilement?

Isaiah 24:6-11 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. The new wine fails, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourine ceases, the noise of the jubilant ends, the joy of the harp ceases. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of confusion is broken down; every house is shut up, so that none may go in. There is a cry for wine in the streets, all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. 

Things are so gloomy, the people drink to numb their pain, not as a joyful celebration. Pharmakia is rampant. Today we are seeing people getting addicted to prescription drugs and grandparents are selling their pain medication to help themselves financially.

Isaiah 24:12-15 In the city desolation is left, and the gate is stricken with destruction. When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, it shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; for the majesty of the LORD they shall cry aloud from the sea. Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light, the name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. 

They will glorify God in the dawning light, a light that is welcome when all is in darkness. Not everybody's going to die with this shaking.

Isaiah 24:16-18 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous!” But I said, “I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.” Fear and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. 

Watch and see.  Even today the intensity and volume of volcanoes and earthquakes have increased, but in these end times there will not have been any like those. Today the cycles between these cataclysmic events is getting closer and closer, kind of like labor pains. There is a shaking of the earth.

Isaiah 24:19-20 The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut; its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again. 

With the recent tsunami and other events, our earth's axis has been moved a bit, and that causes changes in weather patterns and cycles.

Isaiah 24:21 It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. 

IN THAT DAY (The end times date) God will judge the earth, punishing those in the high spiritual realms first. Judgment begins in the heavenlies. 

We can't become gripped with fear, but need the peace of God. The devil is in the earth creating problems, and ups the ante. While that is going on in the earth, from the heavenlies God is moving. What we see, is it God or the devil? The devil acts on the earth and from the heavenlies God intersects with what God is doing, and that brings on the day of the Lord.

Some of what is happening on earth is built into the design at the creation. Pastor Don explained it by comparing the earth and its axis to an old-fashioned top where you pull the string and the top spins and is upright. As it slows down the top begins to wobble until it falls over and stops. The earth will always exist, it will never not exist.  God will create a NEW Heaven and a NEW earth. The old earth after 7000 years will pass away. It is going to pass away because so much sin and evil has been committed on the old earth, that God will want to make a new one.

In the Middle East earthquakes are intensifying, it could be because of the vacuum created by sucking out the fossil fuels. The earthquake mentioned in this passage is considered the MOTHER OF ALL earthquakes. The DAY OF THE LORD is a time of trouble. It comes at the end of the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord culminates with the battle of Armageddon, the battle that God wins.

Isaiah 24:22-23 They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders, gloriously.

We wanted to look in more detail about this passage, so we turned to Ezekiel 25.  Ezekiel 25 speaks about God's vengeance on the Ammonites, Moab, Seir, and the Philistines. Ezekiel 26, speaks about Judgment against Tyre.  Ezekiel 27 is a lamentation for Tyre.  Ezekiel 27:10 speaks of Persia, Lydia and Libya. Ezekiel 27:12 speaks of Tarshish.  

Ezekiel 28 speaks of the KING OF TYRE. This is not an actual king, but the KING of a principality and power over Tyre - a demonically appointed king to rule the area. 

Ezekiel 29 speaks of Egypt. Today some of the regions of this area we know as Sudan and Ethiopia. 

Ezekiel 30 speaks more about Egypt and her allies. 

Ezekiel 30:10‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon."

Something similar will happen in the Last Days.

Ezekiel 31  Egypt is cut down and Assyria.

Ezekiel 33 speaks of the Last days, the watchman on the wall.

Ezekiel 33:2-5 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life."

If we do not share the warning of God the blood of the people will be on our head. If we warn people and they refuse to listen, their outcome is on their head. 

FAITH PREPARED  IS DIFFERENT FROM FAITH IN AN EMERGENCY.  In an emergency it is sometimes harder to work up our faith because we get caught up in circumstances. It is far better to know what is coming and apply our faith to it, preparing for what is going to occur.

Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

The watchman must warn the people.

Ezekiel 33:12-19 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’  When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.  “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair!  When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it."

We need to trust in God, in the Sovereign Will of God, not in our own righteousness. We need to ask the help of the Holy Spirit to purify and cleanse our walk.

Pastor assigned the reading of Ezekiel 34 which deals with shepherds and those who minister to the sheep.

I pray this teaching blesses you.  It is so important to stay informed about what is occurring so that we continue to have faith in God, trusting in Him, as times draw closer and closer to the end days.

Heather

Tonight was the last meeting led by Pastor Danquah before he returns to Florida.  If you live in Florida you can find him at the following address:  Christian Restoration Ministries Intl., 19255 NE 3^rd Ave., Miami, Fl 33169  If your church is looking for a great speaker who moves in the Spirit, contact Pastor Danquah.

We remembered our focus verse:  John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

When you receive God's Word and abide in it, you are free. Zechariah 4:6b Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. 

God wants to bless us. When we take the NATURAL and mix it with the SUPER we have SUPERNATURAL. God is the God of possibilities. Nothing is impossible for God. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Angels are working on God's Word and people are being freed from limitation and bondage. A limitation is an intangible barrier. You can't touch it, can't see it. It is immaterial.  Limitations intimidate our imagination, paralyzes our thinking and causes us to accept our current state as the apex of what is possible for us to do. It is demonic.  We need to remember: 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 condemn limitation in the Name of Jesus. The bondage of fear and limitation are destroyed. God creates things in the realm of the Spirit, and our freedom from limitation is already created in the realm of the Spirit. All we need to do is manifest it. 

We read a story from Acts 3:1-10 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

In this passage the man was in a predicament.

1. He was LAME.  He could not walk.

2. He was LAID.  He depended on some person to bring him to the temple and lay him down at the temple gate. His whole life he depended on a man to bring him to the temple. We are limited when we rely on men to help us with our needs. We need to depend on God to help us get free from limitation.

With finances if we depend on the economy of America we will be limited, but if we depend on God's economy we will not have limitations. But with God we need to follow His principles and rules. That means that we need to honor the tithe and give God 10% or more.  We are not to rationalize or tithes and offerings, but depend on God. God will make a way for us. If we do not pay our tithe God has no grounds on which to rebuke the devourer.

3. He was LACKING. He was poor.

4. He was LEFT. No one sat by him. When you are sick people sympathize with you a few months, but when the sickness lasts for a long time people get tired f you. Pastor Danquah illustrated how the man must have pushed himself around with his arms, to get from one place to another, for he could not walk. No one gave him water or food during the day. He had to scoot around on the ground to bring himself to another place.

5. He was STILL LOOKING for healing and help.

6 One day he LEAPED UP and was able to walk.

One day we will leap up from whatever circumstance has bound us. OUR LEAPING TIME IS NOW! Are you poor, sick, depressed, hurting, having marriage problems?  Know that your time of leaping is now. When God says, "Yes," no demon can stand against that Word. We are Covenant Children of God, under the power of the Precious Blood of Jesus.  We are bought by the Blood and under the Promise of Abraham.  Ignorance of the Word puts us in bondage. 

God has heard our cry. He is coming to deliver us. But He does not just deliver us out of something. He delivers us into something new. He is going to take us out of bondage to the land of milk and honey. There is a way out of obscurity, poverty, bondage, sickness. DON'T ACCEPT THE SPIRIT OF LIMITATION.

Every day this covenant child of God sat at the Temple Gate begging. He had no wheelchair and was 40 years in bondage. If this was a son or daughter, or yourself, how would you feel being so lame.  But one day HE LEAPED! 

Today is your day to leap. God wants to bring you out of your lameness into a new land. We can limit the potential God has placed in us. We can only hope for small things instead of the large territory that God wants us to inhabit. Limitations have nothing to do with what God has promised us. He God has promised us something, He is capable of providing it. Limitation may inhibit our progress but limitation does not have to be permanent. 

Know the Truths.

1. The man had POTENTIAL. He desired people to bring him to the Temple every day. If he had no desire, he would have stayed home. Instead he went to the temple, for he desired God. If you stay where you are you will not achieve your potential. Proverbs 10:24 What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

We need to go before the presence of God. This man daily went to the Temple.

2. The man was DILIGENT He went daily, did not miss one day. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 

We know God has sent an angel, but we don't know when the angel will reach us. Daniel prayed 21 days. Had he stopped praying after a day or two the Archangel Michael would not have reached him. The angel was sent at the first words of Daniel's prayer but met opposition in the spiritual realm. Even though we do not see the manifestation of our prayer does not mean that God hasn't sent the response to us.

3. The man made a DECISION. He did not make excuses to stay home, but went daily to the temple. We need to make a decision to follow Jesus and obey what He tells us to do. So many people say that they are waiting on God. Some wait for years. They don't realize that God is waiting for them to take a step of faith. God is waiting for us to make a bold, Holy Spirit decision based on Scripture.

4. The man had DETERMINATION. The man had been crippled for 40 years, had never walked, but was determined to make an effort and stand up. He had to fight against years of habit of limitation.

HIS PETITION.

1. He asked for ALMS from Peter.  He did not realize that he was going to get something even better from God through Peter, the ability to make a living and have a better way of life. When we ask God for something, He always provides far more than we can think or imagine. God can do it and do it beyond our imagination.

2. Peter told the man LOOK ON US. The man was looking at the wrong people. When we look to people we stay bound, only when we look to God can we gain our liberty from limitation. Scripture tells us that we want to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith. We want to look to people who will encourage us, not tear us down and point out our limitations to us. Don't look to people who tell us we can't do what God is telling us to do. Follow someone who has been successful at overcoming their own limitations, and know that they will be able to better encourage you. We don't try to become a mirror image of the person, but we do imitate their principles. Follow their principles and things will work out well for us. Don't be around people who don't encourage you.

3. The man LISTENED to God's Word. When Peter told the man God's Word, the man listened. REVELATION OF GOD'S WORD WILL OPEN A WAY. REVELATION IS FOLLOWED BY FAITH, AND WHEN YOU HAVE FAITH MIRACLES HAPPEN. When we receive our miracle we can speak freely of the goodness and blessedness of God. And our praise will defeat the enemy. Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Peter laid hands on him, or as the Amplified Bible says, firmly grasped him. Nobody rises without help. We need someone to hold us and help us. God will send us a helper, maybe a person will be like an angel to us and help us.  God gives us FAVOR. And favor will lift us up. We don't need to stay in our situations forever. We are coming out of bondage.

The anointing that Peter had from God helped the man to become strong. When you locate your strength you will be leaping. 

Notice, the man was NOT LIMPING, he was LEAPING. If you are limping it is because you are wanting sympathy from others. But when we receive the strength of God, we are leaping over limitations. This man was limited for 40 years, but he leaped. As we worship God, He gives us new strength.

After this teaching, Pastor Danquah ministered to us, and many were touched. This was followed by many testimonies of healings that happened over the past few days. 

I pray these teachings bless you. If Pastor Danquah is ministering in your area, I highly recommend sitting under the teachings of this blessed man of God.

Heather

Deuteronomy 9:1-3 “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, (2) a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ (3) Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.

John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

The Word of God makes us free. We need to hear and obey God's Word. We are saints saved by Jesus, and now that Jesus has freed us, He wants us to know the truth which makes us free. Limitations stop us from being what God wants us to be.  A limitation is an intangible barrier. You can't touch it, can't see it. It is immaterial.  Limitations intimidate our imagination, paralyzes our thinking and causes us to accept our current state as the apex of what is possible for us to do. It is demonic. 

Limitations are all in the mind, and that is where the attacks of the enemy begin - the battlefield of our minds. The enemy is trying to stop our creativity. Since God is a creator and we are made in His image, we too can create. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came to bring us life and life more abundantly. He wants to bring us out of our limitations. 

It is the truth that brings liberty. God has told us to go into the land and possess it. We are able to win against even nations that seem mightier than we think we can battle. But if God tells us to possess the land, He knows the outcome - we win. God has plans for your future that are far bigger than we can think or imagine. Most of the time when God tells us to do something it is bigger than we can accomplish in our own strength.

God says to go, and we should go even if there are giants or obstacles in the land. Fear limits us. We want to believe God, not our circumstances. The devil wants to get you debating the circumstances, not believing God. Don't give in to the limitation of fear.

Deuteronomy 9:2 (see above) God tells the people to go in and possess the land. The people say that the descendants of Anak (giants) are in the land. Which report are you going to believe?  The ten spies or God? Circumstances or the Lord?  God has something mighty for you to possess, and if He wants us to possess it He will provide the way. With God all things are possible. If we can only believe we can possess. God knows that there are giants in the land, but God promised to destroy them with a consuming fire. But if you stand still you won't be able to see the consuming fire destroy the enemy. We need to take a step and then God's consuming fire will proceed us.  If you keep making excuses or refuse to act out of fear you will never see the miracles of God. 

Had Peter stayed comfortably in the boat he would never have walked on water. He had to take that step of faith. 

Naturally speaking things may be giant challenges but God is a consuming fire.

When Caleb was 80 years old he went up to the mountain promised to him and destroyed the giants in that land. He fought and possessed the land. We are not too old or too young to possess our land.

We need to fight and possess the land that God has promised us. What is ours is in the hands of somebody, and we need to fight for our faith.

IT IS A FIGHT. ARM YOURSELF. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11-12  “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." 

We are engaged in a fight. Arm yourself and begin to possess your mountain. Behind your mountain is milk and honey. Behind your giant is gold and silver.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

The enemy is LIKE a lion. HE IS NOT LIKE THE LION OF JUDAH. He is an imitation.

Goliath was a powerful giant and David a little boy. Goliath was armed to the teeth and David had rocks and a slingshot. David could have been afraid of the giant if he only saw him with his natural eyes, but instead Goliath looked to God. David KNEW HIS GOD, and because of that could face and defeat Goliath.

PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEIR GOD CAN DO STRONG EXPLOITS.

The devil is trying to intimidate you out of what God wants you to do. 

THE SPIRIT OF FEAR RETARDS IMAGINATION, STOPS CREATIVITY. But when we have a dream or a vision from God, we must fight the spirit of fear and step boldly toward our dream.  Know that GOD IS STRONGER THAN OUR OBSTACLES. HE HAS DEFEATED THE ENEMY.

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.

Deuteronomy 9:3 Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.

We can go boldly to take our land because God is a consuming fire that is going over BEFORE US. IF GOD SAID IT, HE WILL DO IT! Take that bold step. See the power and provision that God has supplied over your life. Rise up and fight the enemy.

Numbers 13:25-27 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

They spied out the land and brought back huge fruits. They spies saw that God spoke the truth about the land flowing with milk and honey. If he spoke the truth about that, wouldn't He also speak the truth about their ability to conquer the land?

GOD CANNOT LIE. The Lion of Judah cannot lie. Believe what God says in His Word and be bold and conquer your territory. What visions and dreams God has given you, believe Him. Don't be confused by the lies of the enemy. Fear is a spirit. We want to use the SPIRT OF BOLDNESS to combat the spirit of fear.

Numbers 13:28-29 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. 

(Pastor Don says that when people say "nevertheless" they always have never more than the less.) These enemies ('ites)  are the terrorists of our lives. What the devil does is sit you down and get you to analyze the details of your situation, so that you talk yourself out of doing what God has promised you. He tells you you will die, the enemy is too big, you are incapable of doing this, you don't have enough wisdom, strength, etc. If he can get you to focus on your circumstances you won't go and possess the land God has given you. What the enemy tells you may seem real, and the circumstances may back up the lies of the enemy, but we want to pay attention to the truth of God's Words, not the lies of the enemy. 

WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO US WE WANT TO BE OUT OF OUR MINDS AND IN THE SPIRIT. We don't want to be arguing in our minds, but rather thinking the truths of God. The people feared the giants and said that they couldn't possess the land.

What is fear?
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real 

Overcome the limitations of fear to possess your promise. Venture into your new territory, don't choose to remain in your comfort zone. Take charge of your faith and move to the new territory. Take your foot off of cruise control. God wants you to move to the more prosperous territory, not just so you can be blessed but so you can be a blessing to the Kingdom.

DON'T GO WITH THE FLOW. You are different. God's hand is on you.  God wants you to perform supernatural things with His help. KILL THE GIANTS IN YOUR LAND WITH THE HELP OF GOD.

Our adversary is not always natural, sometimes we battle in the realm of the spirit, in principalities and powers. FAITH REMOVES THE MOUNTAINS BEFORE YOU. 

We must take a bold step. BOLDLY STEP OUT AND DRIVE AWAY THE ENEMY BY FAITH. When we step towards the giant, we see he has no power. The devil fears you when you step out in FAITH, BOLDNESS, POWER, and LOVE.

Promotion is open to you, but many fear the increase and block their chances to be millionaires. Fear prevents people from trying new things. Fear of failure paralyzes them. 

John the Baptist was bold, spoke the truth even though what he was saying was not popular. In our businesses we need to boldly take steps in new territory, facing down the enemy.  Have you ever noticed how many new products are out on the market? We get the new gadget, only to find a few months later there is a newer version of the same gadget. We are tempted to spend our money on these things instead of investing our money toward our career, or toward the things that would help us to grow more effective in reaching the new territory God has for us. The enemy wants us to squander our resources instead of investing in our future.

Peter feared to throw in the net, but listened to Jesus and got the big catch. He acted in fear, but later became bold and possessed the land for the Kingdom.
Jehoshaphat  feared, but believed God and won his battle.

Numbers 13:31-33 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.  There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

THE WAY YOU SEE YOURSELF IS THE WAY PEOPLE WILL SEE YOU. If we see ourselves as grasshoppers, people will see us that way. The enemy is a DEFEATED FOE. We are made in the image and likeness of God. We are the victors over our defeated foe.

Joshua 1:5-9 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

DO NOT BE AFRAID. In the Bible there are 366 times God has told us to not be afraid. Why?  Because we need to be reminded by scripture every day of the year, including the leap year to not be afraid. God is in control.

FAITH IS ACTION. We need to move forward, not remain in the same spot. Remember that the Lord goes and fights for you.

2 Chronicles 20:15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

The battle is God's.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

FEAR IS NOT THE TRUTH. We need to think on those things which are true, pure, honest, noble, lovely and of good report. Think on virtuous things that are praiseworthy, not on fear. 

The enemy wants to get us distracted by things of this world. He makes sin appealing. Achan was attracted to some of the riches of the land even though God said that he should not take any plunder from the land. Achan died and caused the death of many others because of his greed.  David was attracted to Bathsheba and had consequences from that sin.  The devil does not reveal the end result of your sin, he just attracts you to sin to pull you off course. 

What you think in your mind is what you will end up acting out. The battle is in our minds and we need to choose to think Philippians 4:8 types of thoughts.

God's Words will renew your mind.  Allow God's Word to fill us so that our mind operates from the truth of God's Word, not the lies of satan.

Then we prayed and Pastor Danquah ministered to us.  

If possible, try to attend tonight which is a night of healing and deliverance. I plan to attend. Living Word Chapel 1555 Route 28A, West Hurley New York, at 7 PM.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

What a powerful night of the Holy Spirit as many people were set free from limitations. Pastor Danquah will be at Living Word Chapel, 1555 Route 2A, West Hurley New York 12491 phone: 845-338-9305 two more nights - Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00. Come and join us for an anointed time of worship, praise, teaching, and blessings. Tomorrow Pastor Danquah is going to speak on getting free of worry and fear. I plan to come expecting a miracle, for fear and worry are two areas I am still working on in my life.

Tonight Pastor Danquah brought us to John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

The highest desire of God when we are saved is that we are saved indeed. Then He wants us to be free indeed. When we know the truth, the truth shall make us free..

ARE WE FREE INDEED? We may be born again, heavenly bound, tongue speaking, and still not be free indeed. God is wanting to set us free from limitations.  What is a limitation?

A limitation is an intangible barrier. You can't touch it, can't see it. It is immaterial.  Limitations intimidate our imagination, paralyzes our thinking and causes us to accept our current state as the apex of what is possible for us to do. It is demonic. 

Too many Christians are under bondage. We can speak in tongues, dress nicely, be on the worship team, sing, be an elder, be in the choir, be a pastor or a deacon, or in leadership and still be limited. The spirit of limitation hides out and is hard to spot at times. But God wants us to be free indeed. 

We can be born again and still be poor, struggling, and under bondage.  

It is not God's will for us to stay were we are, accepting limitations.  Don't put your life on cruise control, going only 40 mph when God can take you further, faster.

Amos 6:1a Woe to you who are at ease in Zion,

When God blesses you it is not only for you personally, but God wants to use you and the blessing to reach out to others so you become a channel of blessing. Limitations cause us not to reach the target and the goal God has set for you.  God wants us to grow higher than we are and shake off the spirit of limitation. The devil wants to destroy our destiny. 

God wants us to change, to cause our life to bless and prosper. We are a Covenant Child of God and we are not living in the freedom that the Covenant provides for us.

Luke 13:10-13 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raiseherself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 

This woman was in a predicament. She was a covenant child of God, a Jewish woman. She was in covenant with God but still had the limitation that bent her over. She went to the Temple and was worshipping, even with her limitation. She was bowed down, and could not raise herself up. Something was pushing her down, forces making her bow. 

We can be limited spiritually, demon bound, crooked spiritually. This woman suffered for 18 years. Our limitations can be momentary, or last for weeks or months or years. The enemy draws a line in our life and then tells us that we can't step over the line. Limitations push us back. The devil tells us this is as far as you can go. He paralyzes our thinking, shuts off our creativity, and tells us we are too old, too young, too whatever that prevents us from being able to do what God wants us to do.

Abraham was 70 years old when he was called. Moses was 80. How old are you?

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD EXCEPT THE LIMITATIONS THAT YOU PLACE ON YOURSELF.

This woman in the Temple was bent and twisted, her beauty was gone for she was knotted up and her spine was crooked. 

Jesus declared in Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

The anointing is present for us to be free indeed. Free from the Spirit of Infirmity, free from poverty, cancer, drugs, marriage problems, or any problem that is limiting you. Whatever the problem it stems from a spirit of limitation. 

Jesus SAW HER.  He saw her because she was at Temple.  Had she stayed at home or not gone to Temple she would not be in the position for Jesus to see her. If we stay home, don't go to church we are not in a position to receive our freedom from limitation. 

Does it have to only be at church? No. Where ever God's children gather, a restaurant, over lunch, in a home, God is there and He shows up.

Jesus called her. He is calling us to set us free. 

We need to identify the limitations in our lives and ask God to free us from what is shutting down our creative process.  

God knows our end from our beginning. He created us and knows us from before we were born. The Savior is here and we can see miracles in our lives from whatever is oppressing us. We can be free from every bondage and limitation. 

The woman was loosed from her bondage. The woman was worshipping at the Temple. It was not a special Holy Ghost meeting, or a healing service. She was just worshipping God. Jesus did not pull out oil and anoint her, or do anything spectacular. He spoke to her. "Woman thou art loosed." And she was healed. We don't need a special ceremony, a special anointing, or a touch from a person to bring about our healing. Just believe God and that He wants to free us from our limitations.  The oil is a touch point for the anointing, but it is not necessary to transfer the anointing. 

Pastor Danquah spoke freedom from limitations on marriages. Pastor Don Moore and Cynthia have been married 40 years, and Pastor Danquah has been married 26 years. The devil is trying to tear apart families and marriages, and God is seeking to restore them.

When Jesus spoke to the woman, IMMEDIATELY she was loosed. God wants to loose us from our bondages. 

He wants to loose people from an addiction to pornography. 65% of pastors look at porn, as do 85% of men. Even women are addicted to porn. 

God is a God of miracles and He will set people free. Some people can't spend time with God, they are limited. They can't even pray 10 minutes, but God wants to free us so that we are able to spend the time necessary with Him.

We then stood and prayed, praising God and asking for freedom from our limitations. Pastor Danquah ministered to the people present who needed release from limitations, then we worshipped God. What a blessed evening. I am excited to see how God moves tomorrow.  See you there.

Heather

What a blessing to have Pastor Danquah visiting Living Word Chapel again. If you want a fresh touch of God and great teaching come and visit. He will be ministering Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday at 7PM . Living Word Chapel, 1555 Route 28A, West Hurley New York 12491. If you need more information call 845-338-9305 during office hours.  It looks to be an exciting series of teachings and I don't want to miss one.

Besides having a church in Florida, he also has churches in Ghana. Recently they placed a $60,000 roof on their church.  Living Word Chapel supports this ministry in Ghana and 9 others around the world.  Pastor Danquah thanked all who have contributed to the ministry, and told us that he is believing big plans for the future. He knows that many at LWC have had hard times but still sacrificially give, and God blesses that. 

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

When God makes blessings flow in abundance for us it is not just for our personal edification, we are given resources so that we can share them to help the ministry. 

2 Corinthians 9:8 AMPLIFIED And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].

Favor in finances, favor in promotion, favor in business, favor in every earthly blessing IN ABUNDANCE. We are to share this blessing with others. 

DON'T GIVE UP: KEEP ON SPEAKING

We will be blessed, delivered, free, growing to a new level of overflow. We speak and catch the blessing spiritually before we see any physical manifestation.

Romans 12:11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; We then looked at this verse in a Contemporary English Version Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up! The devil tries to get us to give up before what we are believing for manifests. The devil will pound, use tricks, and confused emotions to get a person's mind off the truth of God's Word. Never give up. Keep speaking the Word of God into your life. You are right at the precipice of a breakthrough. We are in a marathon race and we don't want to give up when the finish line is so close. 

Winners don't quit and quitters don't win. When the race gets tough, the tough get going. 

You are not alone, you have God on your side. He knows the end before you even began the race. He has plans for you to give you a future. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God always knows the finish before you even begin. He has seen what will happen. If you give up you will miss the best of what God has for you. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The enemy wants us to stop, to lose, for he knows if we persist we will be a blessing and help the Kingdom. God is acting on your faith, we are to believe. We are not to look at the natural, but by faith have persistence. 

The definition of persistence is the quality of continuing steadily despite problems and difficulties. We do not stay down, but keep pursuing the vision that God has for us. 

The battle results are fixed - we win. Paul instructed Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. If we look at the physical we will give up and stop fighting because of the weight of the problem. We need to operate by faith not by sight.

There was no way the teenager David could kill Goliath in his own strength. We do not want to be dependent on another person, but rather dependent on God. If you focus on your giant you face defeat. When you are making strides towards God's goal the devil will put tribulations in your path. But you do not need to become mired in those tribulations.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. If those in the church are poor and lacking they are bound, if they feel they can't do what God wants them to do they are bound. God wants to set us free. God wants us to receive His blessing. But we need to resolve to continue forward in spite of the tribulations.

Resolve means to not care what the enemy will do, but that you plan to continue forward regardless. It is a commitment that does not give up no matter the circumstances.  You tell yourself, "I will not quit no matter what." And you continue to fight the good fight of faith.

2 Corinthians 4:13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,”we also believe and therefore speak,

Faith is a spirit, and is a principle used even by the Patriarchs and the old saints. They spoke what they believed. You must keep speaking what you believe, and it does not always instantly manifest. You may need to speak for weeks or months or years, or decades. Don't look at the circumstances, focus on the truth of what God is saying. 

When Joshua went to Jericho, he walked around the walls six times, and on the seventh day walked around seven times, it took 13 times around the walls before they crumbled. They kept believing what God said. If we look at our circumstances we can become discouraged, which is why we must keep speaking the Word of God. When you speak the inspired words of God you create faith. 

Your future is on your lips.  Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook. 

You eat the fruit of what you say. Your tongue either speaks words of life or words of death. Sometimes our life circumstances make it hard to speak God's Words, but we must stick to the truth of His Word. Keep speaking the truth and building up your faith in the Spirit. The truth manifests in the Spirit before we see it in the physical. Psalm 45:1b My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 

We must speak the right things which impacts the realm of the Spirit. Speak what God says and that builds images in our mind in the Spirit realm. 

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

God created the World by speaking. If He had sat with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and did not speak the World into existence, it wouldn't exist. We are created in the image of God, so when we want to bring something into existence we need to speak it. 

Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

God's Spirit hovered over the face of the waters, then God SAID "Let there be light" and there was light. 

If you believe you will speak what you believe. The Spirit gives life. God's Words are Spirit and life. The Spirit creates life in the midst of our hopeless situations.

Lazarus was dead 4 days, and was decaying in the tomb, but the problem of death was not too hard for Jesus. Jesus SPOKE and Lazarus came forth living.

God speaks life to our dead, hopeless situations. God wants us to know that we must PERSIST, and keep Speaking His truth into our situations.

Don't withdraw. Keep speaking the truth and one day our situation will turn around.  The Glory of the Lord will be displayed in the turn around. God will not only turn our situation around but He will restore all the years that the locusts ate.  When we speak God's Word we keep the angels busy. 

Psalm 103:20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.

God's Word has a voice, and when we speak His Word the angels harken to His Word, and God makes things happen. Our finances change, our relationships, jobs, state of mind, husbands, wives, children must change. It is the will of God to bring His Word to pass.

Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.

Daniel prayed to God, and for 21 days seemed to receive no response. An angel had been dispatched from the FIRST DAY, but had been hindered. Daniel kept praying and believing God even though he saw no immediate response. But notice. God heard him from the first day. God heard Daniel's Words, but there was a hindrance. The enemy, satan, adversary, opposes us, trying to get us to doubt God, and apply doubt to our future and welfare. He doesn't want us to succeed so he hinders any way he can. 

If the enemy can get us into the realm of reason he has succeeded for then we leave the realm of faith. Only speak faith words based on Scripture and God will send His angels to bring His words to pass. Nothing is impossible of God. God says, if you can believe, all things are possible for you.  Believing will cause miracles to happen for ALL things are possible. 

Even when our situation seems dry, the Words of God can turn the darkness to light. He can change our weeping to laughter, our heaviness to joy in the Holy Ghost. We have been given the authority to stop the devil. The devil wants to kill, steal and destroy. If we do not open our eyes and see his wiles, we permit him to destroy our future, our children and families. WE HAVE AUTHORITY TO SPEAK AGAINST THE devil, and cast him out. WE HAVE AUTHORITY given to us by Jesus Christ.

Mark 16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

Cast out demons, speaking them out. TAKE AUTHORITY AND SPEAK. We don't have to stay bound, we are FREE. Speak and see things changing.

We need to speak out the truth. If we don't speak the truth the devil will take advantage. In Matthew 4 during His temptation, Jesus kept saying, "It is Written."  Speak the Words of God, satan cannot stand the Words of God. He will fail when we speak faith filled words.

Luke 17:5-6 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”  So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 

Faith as small as a tiny mustard seed can cause a tree to be pulled up by the roots and put in the sea. Your words can move a mountain. God said it so I believe it. God knows HOW, we don't have to know HOW God did it. All we need to do is believe, God will take care of the details. The tree listens to the Word of God. And what is a check in your checkbook made out of - wood (tree), so speak to your checkbook and tell it for God to increase your finances. Not money for self, but provision so you can support yourself and the ministry. We want to reach people in these last days. 

If we speak to our mountain (our mountain may be cancer, sickness, fear, poverty, etc.) we can tell the mountain to move, and we are free. We need to believe and SPEAK.

Tomorrow Pastor Danquah is speaking on limitations. We tend to limit God. God is so much greater than we can think or imagine.

Hope to see you tomorrow night.

Heather

Notes from Bible Study taught on 3/12/2010 by Pastor Don Moore, Living Word Chapel, West Hurley, NY.

This is a Messianic passage.

Judgment of Shebna

Isaiah 22:15-17 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “Go, proceed to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the house, and say: ‘What have you here, and whom have you here, that you have hewn a sepulcher here, as he who hews himself a sepulcher on high, who carves a tomb for himself in a rock? Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently, O mighty man, and will surely seize you.

When we read a passage we want to ask questions, who - sepulcher, tomb. The person is anticipating death and made a tomb. The sepulcher is made on high, and they carved the tomb for themselves in a rock. This is as if in preparation for their own death and they are hoping to establish for themselves as an altar in the heavenlies or above what God has for us. Our plan will fail. God will overthrow this plan violently.

Isaiah 22:18-20 He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball into a large country; there you shall die, and there your glorious chariots shall be the shame of your master’s house. So I will drive you out of your office, and from your position he will pull you down. Then it shall be in that day,  that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;

IN THAT DAY, they are seeking to establish their kingdom above the Kingdom of God, but it will not succeed.

Isaiah 22:21-25 I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt;  I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house. They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the LORD has spoken.’”

Eliakim - the Lord shall Rise, Hilkiah

Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 praise to God, the exalted one, unmatched in Heaven. They are given a servant (Jesus) to help restore the authority that satan took from Adam. Jesus gained that authority back.

The house of Jerusalem - is the Jews, the House of Judah, and we are grafted in, so the praisers are not only Jews but also Gentiles. The Key to the house of of David is Jesus, and His authority sits upon his shoulders - we saw that in Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 9. This is the cross. And as a result of that, there is a Glorious throne in Heaven and all will bow knees to him.

Galatians 3:26-29  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

At the name of Jesus EVERY knee will bow.

Jesus received all the glory of the Father's house. And in this passage it mentions the vessels and cups for the Temple Service, which calls to mind Belshazzar's sin of using those for a secular party, not taking care of the consecrated objects. We are vessels of God, and as vessels we want to remain sanctified. Some of us are large vessels, some small, some with holes, some ruined, but we want to keep our vessels sanctified and ready to receive and pour out the River of Living Water. We are to be Rivers of Living Water not lakes or streams, but rivers.

The peg is what held the Savior of the World to the cross.

It mentions "IN THAT DAY", on one day the plans we thought were secure will fail and be removed. God will deposit sin in hell. Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins, but those that choose to reject His precious gift will find themselves in hell. But when Jesus died it was said, 1 Corinthians 15:55 “ O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

We must believe the truth that Jesus died and forgave ALL our sins, satan wants to keep reminding us of what we did and cause us to feel shame, but it is a lie. Believe the truth of God, not the lies of the enemy.  We looked at how verses in Revelation lined up with Isaiah 22

Revelation 1:16-20 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.  Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

Jesus is the Second Adam - pegged to a tree, but now alive and well.

Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Revelation 2:16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

Revelation 2:25-26  But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—

Revelation 3:1-2 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

These are the same Spirits of God mentioned in Isaiah 11.  They believers have done works, but they are holding on to old levels and are dead. God wants to push them to a new level.

Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Will come upon the whole earth

Revelation 3:17-18 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—  I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

God has two fires, one is a purging fire to cleanse and refine and one is a punishing fire .

Revelation 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:

Isaiah 22:22 The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.

The only safe place is at the Cross of Jesus, we must know Him.

Isaiah 24 is speaking about the present day. In the fall of Babylon are parallels with today and what is coming now. For believers the ending is happy, but there are those who have rejected Jesus and the times will be filled with great trials.

Isaiah 24:1-5 Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste,  distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be: as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, for the LORD has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away; the haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

The church must examine what they are teaching to make sure that it lines up with the Word of God, our lives must line up, for there is no difference between servant and master, people and priests. All must obey God. There is a graphic picture of what will happen in verses 6-23, a long passage but well worth reading.

Isaiah 24:6-23 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. The new wine fails, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourine ceases, the noise of the jubilant ends, the joy of the harp ceases. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of confusion is broken down;  every house is shut up, so that none may go in. There is a cry for wine in the streets, all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city desolation is left, and the gate is stricken with destruction. When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, it shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; for the majesty of the LORD they shall cry aloud from the sea. Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light, the name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:  “Glory to the righteous!” But I said, “I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”  Fear and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.  And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut; its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again. It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem  and before His elders, gloriously.

Notice that this describes the rapture and the subsequent events. The intensity of the events are increasing, the tribulation will continue to increase in magnitude. The beginning of the Tribulation was at Pentecost, and Peter spoke to the people and said that this is that which Joel is speaking about. We have been in tribulation, but there is to be a great tribulation that will come.  Once there is a peace treaty signed about Israel that will herald the start of the Great Tribulation. There is no point in scriptures that says that when this happens God will rapture the Church. We are to be ever expectant regarding the rapture but there is no day, hour or event that specifically tells when this will happen.

Christ is looking for a church without wrinkle, spot or blemish, and He periodically tests to see if the Church is meeting the requirements. In Revelation the Churches met some of the requirements, but not all.

Jesus can come at any moment and we are to expect His coming, looking for His glorious coming. The rapture is a picture of His coming for His Bride. There is the parable of the 10 virgins, where five were ready with extra oil (Holy Spirit) and five were foolish and not ready. When the groom  comes no one is to know the day or the hour. This is a picture of the Jewish Wedding celebration. In the traditional Jewish wedding, the bride and groom share a cup of wine and she is betrothed to him. The groom goes off to his father's house to build a home for the bride and the bride makes ready for the groom's return. He will come unexpectedly when the Father tells him that the necessary preparations are done.

The Father will lean over to Jesus and tell him to go get His Bride (He has been in Heaven preparing a place for us). We won't know exactly when this will happen but we are expected to know the times and the seasons. And another parable tells us that two reapers will be in the field, one taken, one left. It is usually done at Midnight, when the groom comes for his bride. Jesus wondered before He went to the cross if He would find faith on the earth. Some people abandon their faith when trials increase.

Pastor Don wondered if St. Peter walked into the churches of today would he stay or would he have words of correction for them. Would St. Peter call us hypocrites and idol worshippers?

Persevere, then they overcame. We are not effectively working together as one Body. There is not enough good will and finances to take care of all the disasters through our government. What kind of people are we going to be? Are we going to reach out and help? God is bringing judgment on the earth. When bad things happen on earth and life becomes difficult, some will choose to cope using alcohol and drugs. We need to be ready to speak God's truth over our life and circumstances, for the power of life and death is in our mouths. To reach out and help. As a church, pulling together we can survive what is coming. Pastor Don said that one person could bring potatoes, another rice, another a few carrots, another a piece of meat, and we can make a stew that can feed many. But we need to work together.

Revelation 6:9-12 (Key verses) 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. 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; 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. I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

Those who have been persecuted, will be avenged. In this day and age more people are persecuted for being Christian than the combined total of all previous persecutions.

While earthquakes have been increasing in frequency and intensity,there has not been an earthquake of the magnitude mentioned in Revelation 6:12, nor has the signs in the sky manifested. There have been local incidents of blood red moons and darkness, but not a world-wide manifestation.

Revelation 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

These will not be isolated incidents, and there will be other signs and happenings.  How bad will it be?

Revelation 6:14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

Earthquakes with such power that they will rearrange the earth. We have already seen that the recent earthquakes and tsunamis have recently changed weather patterns on the earth. This will be even worse.

Revelation 6:15-17 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

They know what's happening, and realize that it is from God.

John was shown these things before they happened. 

Revelation 4:1  After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Come up here is the rapture. Some say that all of the events of Revelation have occurred, but there have been no earthquakes and heavenly signs to mirror what is written about in Revelation.

Some say that the missions church 1730-1900 is equated with the Church of Philadelphia.

The Laodicea church is from 1900 to the present, lukewarm.  It rejects sound biblical teaching. The members are so wrapped up with themselves and their own stuff. They want to do their stuff, not God's stuff.

In Matthew 25 it talks about the ten virgins. We do not want to be foolish, we want to have enough oil in our lamps before the end times and we want to apply the values of the Scriptures to our lives.

When there is more pressure from the outside on the Church and biblical values, will we demonstrate the value system God has left for us or will we cave in to politically correct thinking and speaking.

We have gotten off course. The church has become a place where members are more concerned about what is to be done for them. They want the pastor to do this or that for them. When God brings pressures on our lives to grow us up, instead of learning from the challenges we whine and cry and complain. God does not want a whining, crying and complaining Bride.

The key to growing up is self-sacrifice. Jesus was put in the olive press and came out glorious. The battles that we will fight are worthwhile. It is about values, not making a name for yourself.

Churches need to pray together. Jesus wrote to the seven churches telling them to get it together.

Revelation 3:16-18 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—  I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

There will be 144,000 without spot, wrinkle, and blemish.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Jesus' rebukes for the Churches were done out of love.

Revelation 3:20-22 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Jesus is saying to get busy, that He is coming for overcomers.

Revelation 4:1 (see above) is a rapture verse that comes two chapters BEFORE the seals are broken. The first seal breaks and war breaks out around the globe.  Then will follow scarcity, inflation, pollution and death.

The devil is not everywhere and these events will have pockets where things are not so bad. But the events will be terrible enough to put people into proper perspective, if they choose to change. What we see as terrible today is a walk in the park for others. We haven't faced the devastation of Chile or Haiti or India's persecution in the Hudson Valley. When real persecution comes, will we be able to stand?

I am praying that we grow in Him to stand when times get tough.

Heather

 Taught 3/5/2010

Isaiah 23:15-18 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:  “Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.  (18) Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

This prophesy covers a 70 year period of time. Israel played the harlot with idols and many problems came from this. Verse 18  states that the wealth of the wicked will be set apart for the Lord, for the Kingdom of God on the earth. Evil will prosper, but evil has victory only for a time.

God is sovereign and there is a law regarding wealth. God always balances the scales. If you believe by faith, God will prosper the work of your hands. There will at one point be an exchange of wealth and even in these tough economic times God will help you to find opportunities to prosper. He can give you a God idea that will bring sustenance and bless you. Bring the tithe into the storehouse and that will bless those who are in the House, and they will receive a portion of the wealth of God.

The Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. Currently we are still writing the book of Acts.

To claim any Old Testament or new Testament promise we need to discern who is God talking to. What is God talking about? and Who is He saying it to?  In verse 18 the only criterion is that the treasures will be for the gain of THOSE WHO DWELL BEFORE THE LORD.

We looked up Tyre on a map in our Bibles to find out where it is located.

 

Tyre is near the top of this map on the seaport (in the area of Phoenicia). Babylon (only in History) was a city which is located in Iraq, and was under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar. Tyre would be located in Lebanon, in the Lebanon region beyond the Northern Border ordained by God to Moses as the boundary for Israel.

Tyre was a port in the Babylonian Empire. Jerusalem and Tyre were part of the region the ancients called Assyria. The Jews were sent into dispersion for 70 years because they played harlot with local idols. Daniel details those 70 years for those brought to Babylon.

Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Tyre and Sidon were also conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 2 covers the dream of Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel's interpretation which covers the history of the area, from Nebuchadnezzar's time until the end times.

Daniel 3 covers the image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar built, the fiery furnace.

Daniel 4 is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar that showed that he had puffed himself up in pride and would become insane for a time until he realized that God was in charge.

Daniel 4:34-37  And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

Daniel 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.

Belshazzar messed up big time. He was the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar. They were drinking wine at a feast and he made the following bad decision.

Daniel 5:2-3 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.

They drank from consecrated vessels of the Temple, drank from what was given to God as holy and sanctified. What is given to God is sanctified and this was very disrespectful to God.

Daniel 5:4-5 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

The handwriting on the wall. No one could or would interpret the words, so they sent for Daniel.

Daniel 5:24-28 Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written. “And this is the inscription that was written:  MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEK: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;  PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

The Holy Spirit gave the interpretation to Daniel. The gift of the Spirit is always in operation when we line up with the Holy Spirit. None of the king's people could interpret this heavenly language. Even non-believers can witness the truth of the Gospel.  God holds us accountable and expects us to treat Him and His things with respect.

Daniel 5:29-31 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.  And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

While the gifts and callings of God are not revocable, the blessings of God are revocable - and Belshazzar's disrespect of God cost him his kingdom.

We then skipped to Daniel Chapter 9:1-2  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Here are words about Darius - the Mede/Persian ruler. From the time of the dispersion the clock began to run. Daniel was aware of the prophesies and had counted. Now they have been in Babylon 70 years. Daniel understood the times and the seasons. In our fleshly minds we have an emergency and expect God to act instantly. We feel we need to have our blessing NOW, but NOW may not be the time for things to be restored. God looks at the Kingdom principles, not our immediate, fleshly desires.

Faith helped Daniel and the others to pass through this period of time and line up with God's timing. God made the schedule. He knows when it is time to take you to your next destination. God knows about you, your circumstances, resources and success, so He can sustain us. In the meantime we want to shore ourselves up to be workmen rightly approved, doing our work and our due diligence.

Pastor Don shared that the enemy used to make him feel like he had wasted so much time - that he should have begun doing God's work when he was 24, but he messed up and started being a pastor much later. God knew what was happening in Pastor's life and has redeemed the time, the shame and guilt for the past was the devil's way of keeping Pastor Don off the battle field. The Lord leads, satan pushes. People are fallible and will beat you up. At the age of 24 Pastor Don realizes now that he would not have had the maturity to deal with the trials that came with pastorship. God has a schedule that will help you to learn to deal with your inner skeptic and to build up your resolve so that you can weather storms that come with your tasks.  God's timing is perfect. Daniel had read the prophet Jeremiah.

Daniel 9:3-5  Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebeled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.

Daniel prays and fasts, notice he doesn't say they sinned, but WE sinned.

Daniel 9:6-10 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebeled against Him.  We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

Daniel recognizes God's mercy and forgiveness.

The conclusion is Daniel 9:18-19  O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

You can get far calling on the mercy of God, much further than calling on your own stuff. You need faith to know that God is God. How can you say God is good when something bad happens? Your faith helps you to realize the goodness of God in the midst of the mess. Know that God is good. That God keeps His Word. When you are in a situation know that God will do what's best with your situation, that God is covering you.

Jeremiah 29:9-10  For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD.  For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

This is the prophesy and Word of God that Daniel held onto that let him know that the time in Babylon was over. Daniel realized the 70 years were up and that something good was coming. God takes what is wicked and turns it to good. Many take Jeremiah 29:11 out of context,

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

They forget that this verse is in context of the 70 years of captivity, and that the wicked prospered seemingly for a time, but God still was there with a future ad a hope.  Verse 11 is followed by

Jeremiah 29:12-15 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Because you have said, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”—

Jeremiah 29:11 is said with the heart of humility because God has restored Israel out of captivity. When God rescues us from something don't remember the pain of it and keep reproducing the error. God has fixed a prophet for them in Babylon. When things are not working find a Daniel in your Babylon to return your attention to God.

Jeremiah 29:16 therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity—

Not everyone will choose to leave their captivity.

Isaiah 23:15  Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

The seventy years - Tyre was in Babylon and Daniel realized it was THAT DAY.

Isaiah 23:17-18  And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

Seventy years and their life is up, for they played harlot. God placed them in captivity and returned the Jews to their home so that the Jews could eat of the good of the land. They were to go back and rebuild the Kingdom.  God restored Israel. Nehemiah was given letters, gold and silver to finance the rebuilding of the wall. The people had not labored in vain.

There is greatness locked up in every believer, and God will help to restore them to the glory that God has planned for them, but they need to put their faith and trust in God and God's perfect, sovereign plan.

Praying your day is blessed.

Heather