CONSIDER THIS: TESTIMONY

   TESTIMONY….”And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death….Revelation 12:11

CONSIDER THIS: The word “Testimony” means the giving of evidence in support of facts. In personal terms, it serves as evidence of a life completely converted, rejuvenated and turned around by Jesus Christ. If a person does NOT have a testimony, they have not been saved. This may sound rather harsh, but the Truth is meant to both set a person free, as well as to inspire them towards doing the right thing…..as this verse plainly states. We can ONLY overcome/win/defeat the enemy and have eternal victory in Jesus via the precious, supernatural Blood of the Lamb of God, for the forgiveness of ALL our sins and the substitutionary atonement thereof.

ACTION:  Do YOU have a testimony? Can you “testify” under oath…give evidence to…and speak publicly about HOW and WHEN Jesus Christ changed your life? Can you? Our very eternal future has been bought at a price and we immediately know it in our very being. So now, that we are keeping, maybe not daily, but somewhat, a note in our Bible or prayer journal, can we act on this – write out your testimony OR tell someone this week, how Jesus Christ removed you from the Dominion of Darkness into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light.

Father in the Name of Jesus, I pray for that divine appointment to share my testimony with someone this week, about what You have done for, in and through me, because Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. It could be, Lord, a family member, or friend or someone completely unknown, I pray for that opportunity to witness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in order that both the hearer and myself, may be edified and the Name of the Lord will be greatly to be praised, in Jesus’ Name amen.

PLUMBLINE DEVOTIONAL: COLOSSIANS 2:13-15

TEXT: COLOSSIANS 2:13-15

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities[b] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

NO RETREAT...SEEK...ABIDE

TEXT: PSALM 27:1-6 (KJV) - PUBLIC DOMAIN

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

KEVIN'S KORNER: "WHEN MEN AND MOUNTAINS MEET"

This article comes from a member of Finding Noah, a documentary chronicling the journey of an intrepid group of explorers searching for the final resting place of Noah’s Ark.
Great things are done when men and mountains meet. – William Blake

Finding the Depth of Man

The tag line for Finding Noah reads: “Beyond myth, science, and faith lies

KEVIN DEVRIES

something deeper.” But what exactly does that mean? If time can only tell what eternity has to say, what is the depth of this statement trying to tell us? What can be so deep as to be beyond even our faith? Can myth become fact? Will science someday give way to the supernatural? How can eternities weight thin time into what the early Celtic Christians called a “thin place” – a place where anything can happen in time because it has already happened in eternity? 

These deep questions can drown a shallow man. But there is hope beyond hope for all of us. There is depth in the heart of every man that only eternity can fathom. We live in time, but we are made for eternity. When hope only hinders and faith fails, love alone prevails. Hope helps. Faith believes. Love knows. The bridge from hope and faith to love is an act of grace apart from us.

Finding Our Purpose

And from the place where grace dances among the glorious ruins of our original glory, we discover this: We are all Noah. We are all searching for the same mystery that filled a man with marvel (Genesis 6:8) while a world drowned in madness. In Finding Noah, God’s mystery disguises miserable monarchs as mythic mountaineers. We climb misery to find our message. When we find Noah, we find what is most true about ourselves – we’re all exiled kings in a foreign country, wandering a wasteland of wounds who must climb our own Mt. Ararat – “The Painful Mountain” to discover our purpose. Pain encrypts purpose. 

Find your pain to find your purpose. Your destiny is formed and and most often found in suffering. The same is true of your heart. It is the chamber where eternity resides (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The true and greatest journeys are always within. Everything you need you cannot see unless God’s grace has first opened the eyes of your heart to a secret kingdom only the child within can enter (Matthew 18:3).

Finding Ourselves in God’s Mystery

We know from Proverbs 25:2 that God’s glory is secrecy. The glory of monarchs is the search, so God’s majesty is revealed not in mastery but mystery – a mystery that answers our unanswerable questions with God’s unquestionable Self. Mystery that cloaks itself in the shrouded mists of a mountain’s hallowed halls and ragged ravines rustling with the rumor of a King’s return and with it our original glory as well. This same mystery crowns white, wispy peaks with a crown and robes shoulders with majesty as if they were our own. What else can transcend the savage within to crown us as nobles and give us a new and numinous name except the love of God to us as His beloved sons? 

Love is the mountain that conquers us as we climb towards God. We are climbers not criminals. We must descend to ascend and heal. Nothing heals in thin air. We are patients not prisoners. Pain is more than punishment. We hurt to heal. We cannot heal if we cannot feel. Guilt convicts and hurts to heal. Shame condemns and hides to harm. Guilt is good. Shame is bad. Guilt says you’ve made a mistake. Shame says you are a mistake.

Pain therefore is the passport that takes us to places pleasure has neither the courage to go nor stay. It bends our will so we are formed into the beautiful likeness of God’s Son. It breaks barriers so we pass without sound into a great silence. A silence so deep and profound it can only be shattered by the same silvery voices that sung like morning stars when time was only a wrinkle on eternities face. Pain is heavens salty tears dripping into our wounds made by weapons that have both wrought and wrecked us with wonder. It is the final portal we must pass before we enter into paradise where death drowns in dreams of life that never end. Do we know anything before we suffer? Hardly. Death is the final suffering before we truly know.

Finding A New Beginning

Timeless trauma can only be healed with transcendent time. Sometimes we have to travel to the ends of the earth to reach the end of ourselves and find a new beginning in God that never ends.

And what do we find in the end? An Ark? You’ll have to discover that for yourself. In our search for the Ark of History, we found the Arc of our Story. Finding Noah is more than about finding a boat. It’s about a brotherhood found in Christ. Chaos creates calling and misery moves men to climb mountains to make a movie with a message so large it can only be read from the final frontier of the heart. A message from eternity that echoes into time: The greatest discovery in life is Who finds you when you are looking for something else.

Don’t lose heart. If you cannot change your circumstances, allow God to change your character instead. There is great hope in that. More than that, you’ll find a Fathers love awaiting your prodigal return as a true and mythic mountaineer searching for an Ark inside your painful heart. 

Kevin DeVries is an Entrepreneur-Explorer, Author-Adventurer, Inspirational Speaker and loving father of two from Grand Rapids, MI. He has served as a director and consultant for several faith based, nonprofit organizations across the country and is currently the Founder and President of Grace Explorations.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VISIT HIS WEBSITE AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS POWERFUL MINISTRY AND THE MOVIE "FINDING NOAH".

WORD OF LIFE, PART 20: "DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL- BUT BREAKTHROUGH COMING!"

Is there such a things as the "dark night of the soul"?  Some would defintely agree with this.  Even the strongest believer can stumble into a dark hole and come face to face with a crisis of Faith. This is nothing abnormal. Is there such a thing as Despair in the Believer? You bet there is. Apart from being a saved and sanctified child of the Living God, the faithful are still human beings, in a fallen world. The thing we have to consider is our response and then God's role in emerging revived and renewed when we run off a spiritual cliff. The Bible is full of examples for us, of great souls who suffered under great physical, mental and even spiritual torture.

Jeremiah is called the "Weeping Prophet". There is an entire book of the Old Testament called Lamentations which is exactly as it sounds. It contains the wailing and weeping of a man who simply believed, did what God told him to do and paid some heavy costs for it, as a man. The thing was that his "lament" was not about himself, but his people. Does the lost nature of the people around you and I cause us to weep and be scared over their eternity away from God, because they keep rejecting Him? If it does not, we are in worse shape as the Body of Christ than we thought!

The Apostle Paul spent most of his life, post-conversion to Christ, being persecuted and in situations which would have destroyed the modern western believer. Christians in China, the Middle East and Asia face the same thing and worse. He said "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies" (2 Cor. 4:7-10).

Please, let us look closer at Paul's response here from this passage:

 ~ Afflicted (attacked, sometimes in bad health or slammed by life in so many ways. YET - NOT CRUSHED. Sometimes physical pain or a variety of illnesses can easily distract us from our previous joyful walk with the Lord. How do we keep from being depressed and the feeling of being hit by a 2000 pound boulder? Community. God created us to fellowship with the saints, from our immediate families to those in our churches and small groups. Here is where we need our fellow saints to come around us and lift us up in prayer and encouragement.Do not neglect the fellowship of the saints.
 ~ Perplexed (in other words "WHY, LORD?....Why ME, Lord?").  YET NOT DRIVEN TO DESPAIR. There is nothing which we suffer in this life, which people from ALL backgrounds have not experienced since our time on this planet began 5777 years ago (from the current Hebrew Calendar). Solomon said it best all through Ecclesiastes - "there is nothing new under the sun". How we deal with it and ALLOW others to help us cope, will decide how long we stay in the dead zone and not allow ourselves to partake in a "pity-party".
 ~ Persecuted (from the extreme hatred and evil we see in non-Christian countries to judges/politicians forcing Christians to disregard their beliefs in the West). YET NOT FORSAKEN, because we know WHO is with us. We are a people sealed by the Holy Spirit and the world only has so much power against the Godly.
 ~ Struck Down (financially in harsh economic times; physically by evil or ill-health or morally by a corrupt culture). YET NOT DESTROYED. Modern culture and society can only distract and destroy us and our children if we allow them to. The Key is Faithfulness to Abba Father and the Word of God. The lock is guarding our hearts and instructing our children to not partake in the evil and cultural rut and filth of these times.

We see this in the next section of our Journey through Psalm 119:
Psalm 119:153-160
Resh.
153   Look upon my affliction and rescue me, for I do not forget Your law.
154   Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word.
155   Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek Your statutes.
156   Great are Your mercies, O Lord; revive me according to Your ordinances.
157   Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.
158   I behold the treacherous and loathe them, because they do not keep Your word.
159   Consider how I love Your precepts; revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160   The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

These verses are almost completely similar to what Paul was talking about in the passage we just looked at above (from 2 Corinthians 4:7-10). 
Psalm 119:
Verse 153 tells of the affliction and need to be rescued from the "dark night of the soul" or the dark place or traps which have befallen us.  YET we do not forget God's Word in the Bible and His Promises. We know from studying the Bible that the Law actually gives life.

Verse 154 tells us that when we cry out "Why Me?" we have an Advocate with the Father who will plead for us. Scripture and the Holy Spirit CONFIRMS that this Advocate IS JESUS! THEN, this same verse informs we can ask for a renew of Spirit and the Word (the Bible) and the Word Who became Flesh (Jesus) will most certainly do so! (P.S. Question to self: "Is Jesus your Lord" or are you?)

Verse 155 tells us of the sure judgment and eternal disaster facing the rich, poor, middle income or the powerful and those who reject God and persecute His Elect. So let that alone and let's move on. We ask "how long shall the wicked reign"? Well, they will face God on That Day too....and will have a different final destination. Do NOT dwell on that but pray for their eyes to open before it is too late for them.

Verse 156 reminds us to keep our FOCUS ON HIM because in the midst of this darkness, despair, depression and even death, He is willing and able to bring us around to His side, heal, reveal goodness, while He conceal our hurts. He is a good, good God and full of Love, Mercy, Grace, Long-suffering, patience and Kindness. Take Him at His Word.

Verses 157 and 158 tells us that we MUST understand the spiritual battle we are in. We are horribly misinformed by weak teaching if we do not recognize this truth. Read Ephesians 6:12 and be alert at all times. Hate ALL forms of evil and do not fellowship even with fellow Christians when the Holy Spirit reveals what they are about to do can lead to potential sin and ruin. The enemy, the devil, is looking for an opportunity to destroy us. Don't let him.

Verses 159 and 160 can be summed up like this: the weeping Prophet Jeremiah's despair, weeping and hurt over the destruction in the book of Lamentations are so intense and stunning. YET in the midst of all of that, here is what the Holy Spirit led Jeremiah to write in Lamentations 3:22-24: "The LORD'S lovingkindnesses (mercy and grace) indeed never cease, For His compassion never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS - DAY 12 (VICTORIOUS)

BIBLE VERSE:  For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14)

TRUTH:  Can a Christian live in victory in these times of evil and destruction? Of course we can. So why are so many Christians cowering and hoping Jesus would come tomorrow and take them away? This is so because of little understanding of the meaning of this verse and the authority the Believer now has over sin.  This also argues for true conversion from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of His Marvelous Light! Because most of us have difficulty memorizing or remembering endless chapters of the Bible, let us then resolve to remember this Truth: the Grace of God which saved us when we trusted in the finished work of the Cross and repented/renounced/rebuked our sin and our past, has activated the NEW nature within us  which has the Power of God embedded, via His Holy Spirit. This Power is what  has now enabled us, through daily vigilance and diligence,  to say NO to the sin that destroyed us in the past and threaten to do so until we are called home. The use of this sin-busting Power is what gives us confidence to win the victory daily. This is a Truth that leads to True Peace and one worth celebrating - YOU CAN OUTRUN SIN!

Image Credit Here

THY WILL BE DONE: PRAYER- "BE PRACTICAL"

PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER

I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and loving-kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 

7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 

8 Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 

10 They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”(Nehemiah 1:4-11)

There are so many great prayers in the Bible, they can fill many books and sermons about their content, meaning and message. One of the greatest leaders and men of God of all time, is Nehemiah, the first Governor of the Judean district (where Jerusalem was) after the Babylonian exile. Nehemiah was chosen by God to rebuild the city after the remnant of the Jewish people had withstood 70 years in exile, in pagan Babylon. As Nehemiah began to rebuild the wall, he faced a lot of opposition, taunts and real enemies from people like Sanballat, Tobiah and their Arab friend. Still Nehemiah and the faithful remnant stayed focus on rebuilding their portion of the wall (read the rest of the Book of Nehemiah), while keeping a vigilant eye open for danger. This is a great example for God's people for all time about practical living in the face of evil while persevering.

This entire prayer of Nehemiah's, to the Lord (see verses 4-11 above) stand out as one of the most powerful in all Scriptures, as the Lord not only granted victory but did it in a spectacular way.  So what was it about this was so powerful that the Lord my God responded with overwhelming victorious response. Let us briefly look at how Nehemiah wasted no time or word and was both practical and proactive in his methodology of praying.

Verse 4: "I was fasting and praying..." -  While some Christians do not fast or even believe in fasting, I can testify to the fact that an intentional fast signifies a willing heart open to hearing from heaven. Fasting sharpens the senses, and especially the spiritual senses as our hearts are more in tune with the Holy Spirit Who is our guarantor that God will hear our prayers. In dangerous times, the practical thing to do is to pray like Nehemiah - in submission, and temporarily depriving ourselves of the things of this world.

Verse 5: “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God...". Practical praying gets to the Point by acknowledging openly and truthfully, the Sovereign Power of God - His Might, His Majesty and His Mind Which attends the affairs of mankind. He responds any way He wishes, because He is sovereign over all.

Verse 6: "let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant..." Practical praying is pro-active in immediately asking the Father for His full attention to your petition, problem or issue. Notice how, after you read the entire verse above, after Nehemiah asked the Lord's full focus on the matter at hand, Nehemiah went on not just to confess the sins of the people but HIS OWN SINS. In verse 5, the Judean Governor praises and acknowledges the Sovereignty of God, and in verse 6, the petition and confession begins. This is our cue to lay are our souls bare before Him. Every hidden sin must be confessed before God and repentance must begin.

Verse 7: the confession and repenting of sins continues and Nehemiah uses the Plumb Line of Scripture to show just how horrible the departure from God's statutes was. We are in the same boat. Nothing in modern life matches up to Scripture and almost everything in life today, violates the Word of God. The road to restoration continues down the path of repentance.

Verses 8 and 9: "Remember the word..." Here Nehemiah "reminds" the Lord what He said He would do to His people if they strayed and while He disciplines, He is divinely merciful and loving like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son. Practical praying for a solution is first to KNOW the promises and proclamation of God and secondly, how to apply them appropriately and recall these promises, WITH GREAT AWE AND RESPECT - back to Him! We can say something like "Heavenly Father, remember when You said "If Your people return to Your Word, obey Your commandments and statutes You will hear from Heaven, and if Your people who are called by Your Name....Lord I long to follow You more intentionally and walk in ALL Your Ways, please hear my prayer as I stand on Your Promise to hear from Heaven and heal....."

Verses 10 and 11: Notice that Nehemiah, in essence summarizes, presents and then yields to the Lord with expectation in the positive result. He is actually practical, concise and given the fact that the Holy Spirit included this short prayer in Scripture. Some of the most practical (and effective) prayers in Biblical history have been short, to the point and sweet. When Peter started walking on water towards Jesus, than took his eyes of the Lord and started to sink, he did not pull out his book of prayer from the Christian bookstore and launch into eloquent speech. Peter simply cried out "LORD, SAVE ME"...and He did! Here Nehemiah summarized effective in Verse 11 "I beseech thee"...."may Your Ear be attentive"....and I "revere Your Name"...so "make Your servant successful and grant Him compassion"

That is it! With this in mind, in spite of obstacles, in spite of serious spiritual attack, with this prayer as the foundation, Nehemiah led his people to a victorious conclusion. They were buffeted by Ezra the Scribe reading from the Word of God for hours, aloud, to ALL the people.  The lesson for us is this: be practical, be fully prayed up, be clear and be buffeted by the Word of God.

TEN DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH: OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 2, 2014, Day 10

My friend, Pastor Mike Henderson said in his upcoming new book "SIFTED

GENERATION" that Hatred is the daughter of Persecution. If you look at the sheer evil and brutality of the forces of darkness - from Pakistan to the Iraqi deserts to Nigeria's Boko Harum - it is just pure out and out hatred for God. We also do have persecution and harassment of Christians in places like North Korea and

Reverend Lleonart Barrosa &
wife, Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez

the latest from Cuba is the wife of a pastor - Yoaxis Suarez - who is under heavy harassment by the communist government of the Castro brothers. These are the same Castro's whom American leftists and atheists deify as their role models for governing.

Several years ago, when Pope John Paul II visited Havana, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who owns 32 houses while most of his people starve, promised to reopen a Catholic church in Cuba. However the same compassion does not extend to evangelical Christianity and bible-preaching protestants who see the hopelessness and spiritual vacuum in Cuba. As a result of speaking out, several Cuban pastors are now under the gun and facing worse, on that island.

The following is from iCommitToPray as we lift up the latest incident from this Caribbean island, which is of prime importance to the United States, due to its proximity:
Authorities arrested the wife of a Cuban pastor and religious freedom activist on Oct. 16 and tried to force her to sign a document that could be used as justification for future arrests and criminal charges. Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez, the wife of Reverend Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, refused to sign the document but was warned that she will face imprisonment if she continues to have contact with "counter-revolutionary" elements. Reverend Lleonart Barroso and his wife have had numerous run-ins with the police because of his activism and interaction with other pastors who have faced persecution from Cuban authorities.

YOU MAY ALSO POST A PRAYER HERE FOR HER AND ALL CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN CUBA (AND WORLDWIDE) WHO STAND NOT JUST FOR THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, BUT FOR THE RIGHT TO LOVE AND MINISTER TO HIS PEOPLE.
WE MUST ALSO PRAY FOR AMERICAN PREACHERS, WHO ARE THEMSELVES BEING SIFTED, TO STAND APART FROM THE PROSPERITY, WORD FAITH AND THE LIBERAL APOSTATES OF THE MAINLINE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

LET US PRAY:
FATHER GOD, WE REMEMBER WHEN THE LORD JESUS SAID IN HIS WORD, TO "BE ON THE ALERT" AND STAND AND WATCH BECAUSE OUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH. LORD, WE KNOWETH NOT THE DAY OR THE HOUR WHEN WE SHALL BE IN THY PRESENCE AND MEET THEE FACE TO FACE, BUT FATHER WE KNOW WE ARE TO USE OUR TIME WISELY TO MINISTER TO THE LOST AND THE HURTING AND THE ABANDONED AS WELL AS THE PERSECUTED WORLDWIDE. HELP US TO STAND IN THAT TRUTH AND CALLING AND EVEN ANOINTING TO BE ALIGNED WITH THE MASTER AND HIS WILL, AS DEMONSTRATED AT THE CROSS AND ALL HIS TEACHINGS.

LORD, WE PRAY FOR NEW VIGOR, NEW VISION, NEW VICTORIES FOR THE KINGDOM DAILY....NOT THE KIND OF VICTORIES WHICH THE PERISHING WORLD COVETS BUT THOSE WHICH WILL SHINE THROUGH THE REFINING FIRE OF THE JUDGMENT WHEN WE, THE ELECT, STAND BEFORE THEE TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF OUR STEWARDSHIP. THE CORRUPT AND EVIL WHO RULE THIS CURRENT WORLD DECEIVE THEMSELVES AND THEIR FOLLOWERS THAT THERE IS NO JUDGMENT, THERE IS NO SIN AND THERE IS NO WRATH WHICH IS TO COME. THEY BLASPHEME YOUR WORD, YOUR DEEDS THROUGHOUT 6000 YEARS OF RECORDED HISTORY AND YOUR POWER, BECAUSE THEIR JUNK SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS DO NOT KNOW YOU.

BUT WE KNOW YOU FATHER, THE MASTER PRAYED FOR US IN THE GARDEN IN JOHN 17 THAT WE MAY BE ONE AS YOU AND HIM, ADONAI, ARE ONE. THROUGH YOUR SPIRIT, OH ELOHIM, MASTER OF ALL THINGS, WE ARE NOW ONE WITH THEE AND THY PRECEPTS. WE ALSO ARE ONE WITH EACH OTHER AND THAT INCLUDES OUR BROTHERS WHO ARE PERSECUTED -WHETHER IT IS PASTORS AND THEIR WIVES RIGHT NEXT DOOR IN CUBA...OR ANYONE UNDER THE PERSECUTION OF ISLAM OR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS HERE IN OREGON, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO OR THE SCHOOL CHILD WHO IS TOLD HE CAN'T READ HIS OWN BIBLE IN HIS OWN FREE TIME AT SCHOOL. LORD WE PUT THE ENEMIES OF CHRIST INTO THY HANDS AND PRAY THEM THERE FOR YOU ATTENTION, WHILE WE PRAY FOR THEIR SALVATION AND THE SOULS THEY ARE AFFECTING. BY DOING THAT, WE FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES TO PRAY FOR THE ENEMIES OF THE BRETHREN WILL LOVING ON OUR OWN PEOPLE - YOUR ELECT. FATHER GOD, YOU ARE OUR DEFENSE AND WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED. WE LOVE YOU, WE PRAISE YOU, WE MAGNIFY AND GLORIFY YOUR NAME, THROUGH CHRIST OUR KING AND COMMANDER, AMEN AND AMEN.

(Information and photos from Cuba, courtesy iCommitToPray.com)

WHITE CLOTHS ON A GREEN TREE

A STORY OF FORGIVENESS AND GRACE!

Back in the days when railroad was the main article of cross-country travel, a minister came upon a young man sitting in the middle passenger car of this long train running. The youth's seat was by the window,  and the minister asked if he could sit next to him. This was a divine appointment, the old pastor thought as he noticed the young man's eyes squeezed shut. Asking his name, he inquired the reason his eyes were shut, even though he was obviously awake!

The young man said that he had run away from home recently, but realized he made a mistake and was going back to his hometown. He told the pastor that he had written his father, asked forgiveness and expressed a desire to return home and make it right. His father never replied. Broken even more now, he said that he then wrote his mother and said "If you forgive me for running away, and would take me back home, I would be on the 5pm train coming into town from Tulsa. If you forgive me and I am welcome back into the family, please place a big white rag on the big green tree right before we stop and pull into the train depot. If I don't see the white cloth, I will stay on the train and go on forever!"


He then told the pastor that the train was about 1 minute from his hometown and he was afraid to look because he was afraid there would be nothing on the tree! After thinking for a couple moments, the pastor finally said "why don't I look for you? I will tell you if I see anything or not".

The train had already slowed down as it entered the small town. As it creeped to a stop, the young man heard the pastor weeping and asked...still with his eyes shut..."well, what did you see?!" Through his tears, the battle-hardened minister barely got these words out "You know what I saw, son? I saw the entire tree covered with white cloth on every branch! Welcome home, young man!"


Stories like this and others should fill our hearts with wonder; gratitude; warmth and joy at the Amazing Grace of God! He says in Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins".  Psalm 103:12 says "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.


You may say this is Old Testament, well how about this "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14)


Mark 11:25 says "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."....I can go on quoting verse after verse from the Word of God. (Those who forgave this young man in the story, obeyed that verse).


The point is, there is nothing that you have done in this life, for which you are truly sorry and repentant, for which God cannot forgive you. No matter how young or old or far gone you think you are, if you seek Him, He will be found. Only, seek Him with a truly contrite, broken and repentant heart.


God does not desire that anyone should slip through the cracks. It is easy in today's throw-away society for that to happen; whether it would be in senior homes or public high schools. The Father is looking for true worshippers, those who will worship, praise, bow down, adore and acknowledge Him - in Spirit and in Truth.


He has sent His Only Son, because there is not other like Him. His Only Son's blood was shed red to make us as white as those cloths hanging from that tree outside the train station. Are you in that place now? Are you ready to quit squeezing your eyes, hoping to see the lily white cover of your redemption....well here is how you KNOW instead of just wish:


Father in the Name of Jesus, I have not only sinned against You, but against some of my loved ones who have been hurt even more than You have, by something I may have done, said or not done, in the course of my life. Lord, there is nothing I can do, on my own, and I know it now, In my weakness, I know now that I have never been stronger and come to You to seek total forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation. I come to You to ask that the Blood of Christ would wash and cleanse and purify and refine me to be as clean as snow that I may enter into Your Holy Presence.


I repent of all that I have done and acknowledge that YOU and YOU Alone are the Lord of my life, right now...and right now, I commit my life to You. I also accept the Forgiveness You have just given me and promise to now live the rest of my life for You. And Father, when I think of that story of the cloths on the tree, which indicated that this young man was forgiven and welcome home, it reminds me of another pure Sinless Soul, Who hung on a tree, that I may be welcome by You.

I love You, praise You and now bow down before You in complete humility and gratitude at that sacrifice on the Cross for me, in Jesus' Holy and Precious Name, amen.

(CREDITS: images by google)