Everyone has their own set of experiences and events in their life that causes them to view the world differently; this is their perspective. This perspective is the filter through which everything passes. Their thoughts, words, and deeds are all chosen based upon this perspective.

Consider the following…

When witnessing to a lesbian a heavy majority of Christians will try to convince her to stop by use of scripture, wisdom, or statistics. Some would try yelling at her about her sin. Some would give her a hug and tell her there’s a better way. Some would just try to be her friend and hope for the best. Although, I do admit these tactics had to have worked sometime for someone they have never worked for me and I’ve never seen them work for anyone else. This is sad because the Word IS Truth, IS Life, IS Freedom. We rack our brains night after night wondering why “they” don’t get it. We pour out our love hoping they will see the light but to no avail. We pray for their eyes to be opened, that they leave their evil ways, that they will turn from temptation. We soon become disillusioned and frustrated with God and our faith because we see no results.

Every man does what is right in his own eyes.
-Proverbs 21:2

Every man, not some, not a few, every single one.

A Different Approach: Seek to understand then to be understood. Ask “Why?”

Q: Ms. Lesbian, why are you a Lesbian?
A: Because I hate men.

Q: Why?
A: Because all men are evil.

Q: I don’t believe that. Why do you think that?
A: My father raped me repeatedly as a child.

Suddenly, it all makes sense. Her conclusion is perfectly valid(wrong but completely valid). The man who created her whom is supposed to raise her, protect her, provide for her, love her, and be willing to die for her did nothing but take her most precious physical treasure in the midst of her innocence.

Note To Men: few of us understand how damaging rape is to a woman. The closest you can get to understanding is by trying to imagine how you would feel if someone castrated you. I know, it doesn’t seem to make sense; it seems completely different, but rape to a woman is this severe, just accept it.

Side Note: I’ve met 12 lesbians. All had been raped; 3 by their father, 5 by another family member, and 4 by a close friend or boyfriend. I doubt this is the statistical norm, but it definitely says something.

Now, with this new information you could attack the root of the problem and attack it strategically. You can rule out discussion of the law(being that it was written by men it will only anger her more). Salvation would be pretty useless as well because she will only relate it to all the other Christians who told her how evil she was. Talk about how she has a Good Father in Heaven. His deep and intimate love for her. The anger He has toward what has happened to her. How He longs to heal her. Discuss evil and the consequences of her father’s decision. Discuss the justice she will have when he is punished. Discuss the great relationships you have with the good men in the church.

This concept can be applied to anyone in witnessing or discipleship. Of course, it will need to be tailored accordingly and you will have to (God forbid…) actually take time to love the person and find out who they are, rather than just shoving a tract in their hand. Who would have thought? Thinking and working are necessary to lead someone to an eternity with the Lord? Naw…

Do not depend solely on your intellect or this new tactic though. Remember…

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
-Ephesians 6:12

So prayer and fasting are paramount in this task.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
-James 5:16

Now, you can pray effectively. In our example, prayer for healing, love, revelation of the Father, revelation of good and evil would be appropriate. These prayers WILL be answered and it is my experience that they will be answered quickly.

I think you get the point so I’m going to cut it short. I could go on for hours. Take this to prayer and serious consideration. It’s not the only way to witness but certainly a new tool to add to your arsenal.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
 
I’ve read these verses many times in the midst of many trials and been very encouraged by them.  I’ve danced, shouted, and praised God about the trials I’m going through because it means that I’m getting more patient.  I’m in a trial right now so I set my faith on this verse once again, but this time it jumped out at me.  I realized that, I know I’m getting patience, I know patience is good, I know what it is, but not why I want it.  Other than God having just said it’s something that I should want, I really had no idea what benefit it gave me. 

The Word could have offered me rubber chickens for going through trials, and I would have been equally joyful.  Clueless about the purpose, but joyful.

Thinking about it, I concluded that hundred dollar bills, as a reward, would probably be better.  So I told God he should change it, but He wasn’t “feelin” that.  So I began to converse with God and find the usefulness of patience.

The Holy Spirit said very, very quietly, “Patience is the perfect obedience.”

I didn’t get it. So I meditated on this Word some.  

From Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Patience is
1. The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. 3. The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent.  Patience springs from a Christian submission to the divine will.

We don’t often expect or want to wait when we pray or believe for something.  We pray for healing, NOW, financial relief, NOW, financial blessing, NOW, a new job, NOW, more friends, NOW, a marriage partner, NOW.   We rarely pray for them to come in God’s timing and even more rarely listen to find out if God is saying “Wait for them.”

“Patience is the perfect obedience.”

My worldly mindset and foolish ways have many times in the past caused me to believe for something, NOW, that didn’t turn out very profitably.  
 
Funny Story:  In an effort to test my faith, I’ve actually taken some faith scriptures and said “the Word says that if I say something and believe in my heart that it will come to pass, I will have it.”  Not kidding.  I’ve foolishly picked out a piece of grass and told it to grow to be a foot long, immediately, before my eyes.  And I believed in my heart that it would grow!  It didn’t grow.  I confessed faith scriptures over it, I confessed prosperity scriptures over it, I rebuked it for not following the commandment of a Christian because we have authority, I’ve cast out all of it’s demons, I even used the mighty name of Jesus’.  All over a piece of grass.  And I’m not proud of it but I’ve done this for hours before… and not just once.  I can think of three times off the top of my head that I did it.

The grass never grew.  Needless to say it wasn’t one of my shining faith moments.

Patience is the ability to wait.  Waiting sometimes is the most important act because timing is extremely important to God.  The right timing can mean the difference between someone getting saved or not.  If God has called you to go out street evangelizing one night from 6pm to 9pm, but you decide to be super, super holy and go early to get an extra hour in, you might miss His entire purpose for you being out that night.  There might be one specific guy that you are supposed to talk to that will become the next Billy Graham.  But you might pass by his house and miss him entirely cause you were disobedient.  

“Patience is the perfect obedience.”

Often we come to God wanting to know what to do to stop the trials and tests.  We pray, “God, I’m going through this how do I fix it, what do I do.”  But He doesn’t want the trials to stop immediately, otherwise He wouldn’t have given them to us in the first place.  When your house is burning and crumbling around you, anyone can pray and obey, if God says put it out or run out of the building, but who has the faith to stand there and smile at the fire and go through the trial.  That is perfect obedience, to be even burning and wait, just because “God said so.”

“Patience is the perfect obedience.”

The next verse in James says, “let patience have it’s perfect work.”  I’ve always read that and thought the perfect work was only internal, within me, but patience also does a perfect work externally on the tests that you are waiting to be delivered out of resulting in perfect timing. 

The next verse says, “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

The Word says that we can be perfect, complete, and lacking nothing!

When you are delivered out of tests in a perfect timing, you will receive tremendous blessing and spiritual growth, so much so that you may even become perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

That’s amazing.  Truly amazing, to think that if we count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience. And we let patience have it’s perfect work, then we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

“Patience is the perfect obedience.”

P.S.  I shared this word with a few of my closest friends and one brought up what I thought was a great example. 

Just for fun let’s call her Barbara.

Barbara’s Revelation: Think about patience and how we always want something, now, often before it is in the right timing.  If we didn’t wait for a baby for 9 months, it wouldn’t be whole and complete.  Sometimes, we aren’t patient and say I wish this time would hurry up.  But it’s through that time that the baby has to grow, develope and become complete.  It has to have everything that it needs to survive out in the world. 

P.P.S.  If rather than praying for the grass grow immediately before my eyes, I had just prayed for it to grow and been patient, the grass would have grown.  It would have grown even miles and miles over a long enough time, if it were only nurtured and pruned(cut) properly.

Next time you ask God for something NOW, reconsider and figure out if maybe He wants you to be patient.

Explanation: My pastor is far, far beyond me in developement and maturity(which is how it should be).  He is extremely kind, loving, gentle, humble, etc. etc. etc.   But even HE has hurt me; it is very rare but has happened.  Likewise, it is true that I have friends who have hurt me.  And because they aren’t as mature as my pastor it happens more often.  My wife, wonderful as she may be,(almost perfect)  (cha-ching just got some husband points), has also hurt me. 

Truth #2: The more intimate or involved the relationship the more you are going to get hurt. 

Explanation: My wife has hurt me more than my friends, not because she’s less mature but because I hang out with her more often.  Spending more time with her creates more potential for her to hurt me.  As well, she is more comfortable around me and understanding my faults causes her to be less focussed on politeness and perfection.  This level of comfort sometimes contributes to slackness and lack of caution with words and actions, thus causing me more pain.  I’ve never hurt her. 

Husband Points…0     Sleeping on couch points…100

Our Reactions to the Pain 

When we are hurt there are only two natural reactions that we can have.  We either become mad or sad.  There is no other NATURAL reaction that we can have(I capitalized ‘natural’ because it is possible to have a third type of reaction but this is spiritual and explained later).  There ARE varying degrees and combinations of madness and sadness, but it always boils down to the two basic elements of mad and sad.   In fact, almost always the actual reaction is a combination of mad and sad.

Here’s a scale so you can visualize the variations and combinations of mad and sad reactions.

I know; it’s complicated.

The temptation is to think that the scale displays how extreme of a reaction someone has.  For example, someone who gets completely mad, would start shooting people, or someone who gets completely sad, gets overly depressed and cries for three days.  But this scale doesn’t show that. 

This does.   

All the old people are scratching their heads right now thinking, ‘Straight up nuts, what the?’   Old People Translator: Straight Up Nuts=Insane.

Someone high on the intensity scale might start killing people or go into depression.  Often we are taught to work on our intensity scale by either holding the emotions in or toning them down.  This is a good plan.  If you currently kill people when you get hurt, I suggest you continue working on that.  But for those of us who think we might have a handle on ourselves because we don’t kill people, throw things, or cuss, there is a new level of maturity to strive for. 

Foregiveness.

Mmmmm, yummy word.  Webster’s 1828(Wonderful Christian Dictionary) defines forgiveness as such, the pardon of an offender, by which he is considered and treated as not guilty.

In my words, you let go.  You stop the hurt in its tracks and don’t allow it to make you either mad or sad.  This is the spiritual reaction which I spoke of earlier. 

When you harbor your unforgiveness and hold onto the pain, only evil occurs.  Either you get sad which hurts you and makes the other person feel guilty, or you get mad and hurt the other person with evil words or thoughts.  Nothing good comes from the natural reactions, so Jesus says “Don’t have them.”  I know, I know, you think, ‘that’s easy for Him to say, He’s Jesus.’  And that’s true, so I’ll sit Jesus down, have a chat with Him about this, and make sure He understands that He needs to make things a little less difficult for us<God Laughs>.  But until then, you can only work on you; you can’t work on Jesus(although it’s clearly more His problem than ours).  <Lightning Bolt>  “Alright, I get it not funny anymore.”  <Whisper> ‘Someone woke up on the wrong side of the cloud this morning.’  <Lightning> “ALRIGHT, I’LL QUIT WITH THE BLASPHEMY! JESUS!”  <Lightning>  “AHH!!”

Back on track…

It seems these things always come back to the Cross.  To be honest, I feel really good inside when I can relate things back to the Cross.  Because that’s what we should always look to.  Sadly, I don’t very often relate things to the Cross when I’m talking with my friends, but God seems to have a way with always bringing me around to the Cross on these revelations; it’s wonderful.

So imagine Jesus on the Cross.  He’s chillin’.   As always, bleeding, thorns in His brow, stripes on His back, can’t breath cause the weight of His body is crushing His lungs; you know, just a normal day in the life of a Savior.  Then here comes Mr. Hurt.  Jesus created us, now He’s dying for our mistakes, He’s about to go to hell for us and give us victory over death, and all we can do is mock Him and belittle His sacrifice.  I’d say there’s a good chance He got hurt.  But let’s analyze.  Did He get mad?  Nope, no fire, no brimstone, though we clearly deserved it.  Did He get sad?  Nope, He didn’t start crying, have a pity party, and give us guilt trips.  He just said, “Father, please forgive them.”  <And SNAP!>  He immediately cut straight through all the pain and let it go.  We’re happier, He’s happier, the Father’s happier.  It’s a win-win-win situation. 

Matthew 18
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

If He can handle the Cross, you can forgive your neighbor for letting his dog poop on your lawn; you can even forgive his dog.  Let it go, you’ll heal quicker. 

Ultimately, it’s all small stuff in light of God’s sacrifice for us.  This will be tough to read,(and I’ve never been in the situation so I can’t begin to understand the pain) but even if you’ve lost a loved one to the hands of a murderer; consider what your sin has done to God’s Son.  Did He deserve it?  Did His Father still forgive you?  Let it go, you’ll heal quicker.

For everything inbetween…Let it go, you’ll heal quicker.

One last bomb of exhortation, I’ll let the Word itself do all the preaching.  Remember, not my words, His. 

Remember to send all complaints to:

Jesus the Christ
P.O. Box 1
RightHandOfTheFather, Heaven      33333

23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

Ouch…

Neat Point: The servant owed the master ten thousand talents.  My pastor recently did a study on a “talent” and came to the conclusion that it was probably about a million dollars(in today’s currency).  So this guy owed ten thousand, million dollars or 10 billion dollars.  And my guess is that a denarii is in the dollar range.  He was forgiven a 10 billion dollar debt and went to demand a 100 dollar debt…WHAT AN IDIOT!  Oh wait, that’s me, oops.  Definitely a good representation of how much we’ve been forgiven compared to how much we are owed.  Good Job, Jesus. <Thumbs up>

Go. Pray. Forgive; and ask for forgiveness, for your unforgiveness.

Our western culture doesn’t allow us to truly appreciate the verses until we change our mindset to that of an eastern culture, so before I give you the verses I want to put a few things in perspective.

Consider The Goat

Consider what a goat meant to the average Jew.  My dad is from India, so I have been blessed with several trips to visit his side of the family over there.  Goats are important in India, not much to the moderized, westernized cities but to the small, poor villages.  I have had the opportunity to be around goats a decent amount.  Which only gives me a vague understanding of the important role a goat plays in their culture, but my guess is that the goat was similarly important to the Jews.

Food

Goats have meat.  You can eat meat.  Meat is good food.  Food sustains life.  (Thank you captain obvious)  Goats, also, make milk(like cows).  Milk is good with Frosted Flakes and Oreos both of which were readily available to the Jews at all times.

 Clothing

Goats are animals.  Animals have fur.  Fur makes clothes.  Clothes are good.  Thus, goats were helpful, once again.

Companionship

We have dogs.  They had goats.  It’s that simple.  The phrase used to be “Goat, a man’s best friend.”  They were shepherds; shepherds hang out with goats all day.  When you hang out with an animal all day you become very close and attached.  A fondness or even love begins to develope.  Similar to the love we feel for a pet dog or cat.

 The Cuteness Factor

Goats are ridiculously cute.  You might not think so right now, but watch these videos.  I promise, you’ll be convinced.  CUUUUUTTTEEE!!!

Sacrifice

Being that goats were their livelyhood, shepherds often had to make great sacrifices for their goats.  If one was lost they had to go find it.  They had to provide protection from wild animals, as well as thieves.  Often shepherds would be risking their lives for a few or even one goat.  Craziness.  So goats didn’t simply play an important economic role they were necessary for survival and often were even considered pets.

Now, the verses…

Leviticus 4:27-29, 31c

‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering….So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.’

Let’s pick this apart.

If you sin, you have a list of things to do.

1. Get a kid(baby) goat that is a female.

2. Make sure it has no markings, bruises, cuts, scrapes, scars, or deformities.  In essence, it must be perfect, beautiful, having nothing wrong with it.

3. Take the baby goat to the temple.

4. Place your hand on its head.

5. Kill it. To be more detailed, with one hand is on the baby goat’s head, while the other has a knife, and you must slit its throat so that it bleeds to death.

That was graphic and for the girlies and children I apologize, but it is necessary to truly help you appreciate this revelation.

Everyone (man, woman, and child) had to do this if they sinned.

Why?  Well, most of you may know that this is a representation(type and shadow) of the cross, and how the perfect Jesus would be the sacrifice for our sins.  What you may not have realized is that this graphic and almost barbaric ritual had a profound effect on the person performing it.

Back to a previous point, their goats were like our dogs.

Ever feel bad after you spanking your dog for wrongful behavior? Me too.

Try this(please don’t)…really, try to picture yourself doing this…

Go spank your dog for doing nothing at all.  Feel worse? Me too.  Now, spank your dog because he loves you with all his heart.  You feel even worse.   It gets better.  Now, go do something bad.  Then spank your dog because you were bad, and remember, you are only spanking him because he loves you enough to take the punishment in your place.  Don’t anyone in anyway ever do this because we are covered by the blood of Jesus, but imagine, having to take your panting, happy, jumping around, chasing butterflies, in everyway perfect dog(which you raised from a pup) to the alter placing your hand on his head pulling out a knife and saying “You have to die because I sinned,” slitting his throat.  He bleeds to death, wimpering, scared, betrayed, and heart-broken because you couldn’t keep your eyes off that girl or you couldn’t control your anger or you forgot to tithe or you drank too much wine or you told someone a secret you shouldn’t have(gossip) or you told a white lie.  By the way, your dog you love so much just died with sin on his life, thus he is now in hell.  You will never see him again to apologize.

<Take a few moments for this to sink in>

The very thought of loosing my precious puppy that I love so much makes me cry.  Loosing my puppy because I sinned causes me to hate my sin more than is imaginable.  If I as a child or adult had to go through that ceremony the devil himself could never tempt me to sin again because the price would be too great.  There is no sin in this world that is worth a perfect dog with perfect love, gladly, dying in my place.

But this is a dog, replace it with a human, whose worth is much greater than any dog.  Don’t replace the dog with your enemy, but rather with the nice, old lady down the street or your favorite 3rd grade teacher or your kind, gentle, loving pastor.  Then replace that perfect person with God.  God whose worth is infinite compared to that of any man.  You have to take your perfect God who created you, who blessed you with everything you have, who loves you more than you can imagine; place your hand on his head, transfer your sin, and sacrifice Jesus on the altar because you sinned.

So after God gave me this intense and emotional revelation, He played this song on the playlist I was listening to and I cried.  The cross is so beautiful.  Listen to these words.  The lyrics are typed out below the player if you would like to read along.

We worship you tonight, Jesus. We lift you up God.

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyong all measure.

That He should give His only Son,

To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away.

As wounds which marred the chosen One,

Bring Innocence to Glory.

Behold, the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders.

Ashamed to hear my mocking voice,

Come out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there,

Until it was accomplished.

His dying breath has brought me life,

I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom.

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and RESURRECTION!

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart,

His wounds have paid my ransom.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart,

His wounds have paid my ransom.

Take the time to thank the Lord for His tremendous love and sacrifice.

This is why only He is worthy of our praise.

Example: I have a friend who is a zoologist.  He knows more about animals than Jeff Corwin and the late Steve Irwin combined(this might be an exaggeration.)  So God uses information about animals to teach my friend things.   He will come to me with great revelation about birds and sea creatures and how they act in nature as an example of how we should act in our own lives.

So being in management God has used the little understanding that I have about it to teach me about Himself.

A Few Definitions First:

A Micro-Manager is someone who insists on doing a majority of the work, which they are overseeing, themselves.   Often they operate believing “if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.”  The people they oversee are simply there to support them in the work they do.

A Macro-Manager is someone who insists that the people he oversees learn to do the work correctly and do all of the work themselves.  This often frees up the time of the manager to accomplish bigger and more important tasks.

From what I see a Micro-Manager will often get more work done better and quicker at first but will suffer down the road because no one besides themselves can handle the responsibility of the work required.  While a Macro-Manager will get less work done initially but will by far make up for it a few years down the road because they have trained many to have the expertise it takes to do the required work rather than depending on themselves.  

God Macro-Manages everything. 

He wanted trees, so instead of creating each individual tree, he created a system where all previously created trees would make seeds that turned into baby trees. 

He wanted the trees to change to keep things interesting, so instead of adding, changing the color of, and taking away leaves every few months, he created the seasons and a system so that the trees know when they need to change colors and lose leaves then regain them, according to the temperature. 

He wanted the universe to be rotating and dynamic without the planets running into each other, so instead of turning everything with His hands constantly like a science fair project, He created a system that moves and keeps the planets in place and yet ever-changing.

He wanted each of us to stand on the ground and not to just fly out into space, so instead of tying strings to each person, animal, and thing anchoring them to the earth, He created gravity to hold us all to the ground.

He wanted new humans to form continually, so rather than creating from dust each of us continually at a rate of 360,000 per day(yeah that’s a true fact), he created a system of sex, conception, and birth. 

Pretty awesome stuff.  This Macro-Manging can be applied to anything in creation.

…well, almost everything.

Here’s the part where you learn something practical.  Earlier it seemed like I was knocking(Old People Translation: belittling) Micro-Managers and hyping(Old People Translation: exhalting) Macro-Managers, and honestly, my flesh would love to do that(because I am a Macro-Manager).  But regardless of what my flesh thinks the truth is a truly great manager is one who appropriately(not equally) balances Micro with Macro Management.  By appropriate balance, I mean sometimes using more of one than another depending on the situation.  In a crisis situation, a good manager will get his hands dirty and micro-manage in order to pull out of the crisis(a bad manager will lazily assign the task to someone else).   While in times of great profit, a good manager will macro-manage more, by hiring more employees and expanding the business.  Appropriate balance is the key.

I think it’s safe to say that God is probably the best manager around.  So when does He Micro-Manage?  In the crisis times, delicate times, and times that He would not and could not trust to another.  Just about all of these times concern US(humans not the country), His greatest and most beloved creation. 

When we are seeking Him and want to know how to grow and conduct our lives does He solely leave it up to others around us to give us the answers? No.  He will speak the answers to our hearts.  James 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

When we are in sin, lost in the world, dead to God, suffering without any peace or joy in our lives, does He say “My system is, if you stop sinning everything will work out?”  No.  He Micro-Manages, He comes down here right along side of us and dies for us in our place.  John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In everything that we consider great and amazing (creation,  the universe, and birth), He Macro-Manages and lets a system handle it, but concerning those things which He considers truly amazing and special He will only Micro-Manage.  Let us be wise enough to realize that people and their salvation are truly at the center of the heart of God.  And let us be humble enough to consistently do the work that He has called us all to do, evangelism.  Not necessarily in the streets or preaching to the masses but certainly, to the few that He will cause to cross the path of our lives in an intimate way, these are the ones whom we can truly touch with the love and power of God.

Comments on this blog can be posted here.

Oh Mercy, wrap my tired body in Your embrace.

Lean down from heaven, breathe deeply,

and give me Your breath.

Infuse me with Your strength, for I am weary,

and lowly of heart.

Let me take shelter under Your branches,

that shield me from the burning sun.

Let me rest my head on Your lap of kindness and peace.

I wish to dip my face into Your healing waters and

drink deeply of Your love.

Son of Heaven, hear me as I call to You

Hear my prayer as it rises above the earth,

and joins with the songs of the glorious stars

I need the press of Your lips upon my spirit.

King Jesus, come to me, for I am weary, and lowly of heart.

 If you would like to comment, give Esther a high five, or try to buy the rights to the poem from her, you can do so  here.

This one is from Doug777. 

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to ROOT out, and to PULL down, and to DESTROY, and to THROW DOWN, to build, and to plant. -Jeremiah 1:10

I definitely agree.  We need to start exposing the evil works of darkness…Lord, please give us the boldness to rise up against that which you hate, against the works of darkness.  You want your church to be SPOTLESS and BLAMELESS.

Whatever our idol is…I just had a problem with something which was becoming an idol, even though God revealed to me numerous times that this was becoming a snare of the devil.  When I finally realized, I remembered the power God gave to Jeremiah and what he gives to REAL Christians.  To speak his WORD with authority…but first to TEAR DOWN ALL demonic and worldly strongholds in our lives.  No matter what it is…A secular CD, a filthy hollywood movie, the opposite sex, our money…ROOT OUT, PULL DOWN, DESTROY, AND THROW DOWN ANYTHING THAT COMES BETWEEN US AND LORD JESUS.  There is so much filth in this world, and people, even “Christians” idolize their sin.  Their girlfriends, boyfriends, money, pornography, whatever…I can’t believe I was once fooled into believing Once-saved-always-saved! That sin was ok!!!! That is a lie from the DEVIL! ITS AN ABOMINATION!!!!!  PAUL WRITES IN HEBREWS, that without holiness no man can even SEE the Father!!!   EVEN SEE THE FATHER!!!?  That’s not even saying you wont go to heaven, you prob. wont even be able to SEE HEAVEN!

LORD, WAKE UP THE BRIDE…LET US BE AWARE IF THEIR IS SIN IN THE CAMP!!!!  GOD FORBID IF WE EVER TRY TO MASK OR JUSTIFY OUR SIN!  LORD, I PUBLICLY REPENT OF ANY IDOLATRY THAT HAS COME BETWEEN US!!!!

This one is from Humbled Follower in the forum.

Doesn’t this just get you fired up??
Why can’t they see?  I guess those that are truly rooted in the word know the answer, people today don’t have desire for self denial or control.  They want what they want and want it now. Fore-saking kingdom rewards for temporal natural rewards.

But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime fully received [what is due you in] comforts and delights, and Lazarus in like manner the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish Luke 16:25 (Amplified Bible)

When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. Deuteronomy 29:19(NIV)

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?  There is more hope for a fool than for him.  Proverbs 26:12(NIV)

Why do you provoke Me to anger with the works (idols) of your own hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you [of your own accord] have come to dwell temporarily, that you might be cut off and become a curse and a reproach (an object of reviling and taunts) among all the nations of the earth? Jeremiah 44:8 (Amplified Bible)

As for me I am forever grateful that HE has developed in me a reverential fear of HIM,  I would rather be rewarded at HIS return than something temporary……  Im not in anyway saying that I am perfect as no one can boast of that except for the one and only but I thank HIM for showing me whenever deceit tries to work it’s way in.

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Act’s18:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

       Our Lord Christ stated in the gospels that “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be shortly before His return. Idolatry is practically as old as mankind itself. It has and always shall be an abomination unto God. It is a favorite ploy of the enemy because it causes man to defocus his allegiance and loyalty from the true and living God unto self, the world or false deities that can provide no redemption.

Unlike our passive perspective today regarding the moral sewer we must incessantly wade through. Paul took  genuine exception to an entire city having been seduced by the spirit of Idolatry!

1.)Paul discerned both natural and spiritual the obvious degradation in the land!
              Where is the discernment in the body for the Land?
2.)His spirit was stirred(repulsed and quickened) by this spiritual tragedy! The regenerated God consciousness in him could not be at peace while witnessing others in bondage!! He was truly disturbed!
              How long can we be “cool” with the staus quo in America? Woe unto them that be at ease in Zion!
3.)The Power Of One man when he operates in his Purpose, Destiny and Assignment! Without the Gospel prep team to “set the atmosphere for his type of annointing” he presses his way! Hmm…, without a flock of armor bearers to ward off potential groupies or possible foes he trods onward.
4.) The Whole City Steeped In Idolatry….daily we witness entire neighborhoods engulfed in addictions, whole communities buried beneath alternate lifestyle.  Countless hamlets swept way by Islam and New Age Deception!
5.)Being aware of these situations and the ability to mouth off deep theological and social ideas concerning their origins means nothing. Even being stirred in our spirits as Paul was goes for naught unless the “Stirring” is a literal stirring to arms, a stirring to action, a clarion cry to take back what the enemy has stolen or what we have so cowardly allowed him to run roughshod over and handed to him on all but a silver platter!

                                                 America’s 3 Biggest Idols
1.) Self Will Run Riot!- Me, myself and I! I’m accountable to me and me alone! When the Gospel is watered down there is an explosion of immorality. Where there is no vision the people perish! No regard to human life, no regard for innocent children and no shame for ungodly behavior. Men now openly boast about their sins! A majority of men are doing whatever they deem right in their own eyes. Perhaps Jeremiah stated it best “The harvest is past, summer is ended and we are not saved”…this has got to be if not the saddest, one of the grimmest scriptures in the entire Holy Bible! 

2.)Mass Entertainment & Sports Media!-Wow, we  truly love  and enshrine Hollywood and Pro Athletes when entertainers and  jocks can easily command 10 million a movie and 120 million dollars over several season’s.  It’s very apparent that a vast majority of Americans have no life at all, other than that which they attempt to live vicariously through these small gods known as “stars”. “Surely we’ve hewn out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water”!

3.)Mega Ministry Super-Stardom!- I thank God for the multiple ministries he has extended to the Body and the tremendous audience and worldwide sphere of influence is a testimony to the glory of God!
What is appalling in the sight of God is the sickening level of “Spiritual Co-Dependency rampant within the body of Christ! Millions claim they cannot get breakthrough unless this prophet, this man of God lays his mitts on em, prays for them, speaks a word into their life! They regularly drive great distances to hear, see or just be in the presence of their particular spiritual giant.  Often times sowing enormous “seeds” into their ministry all the while the Pastor of their church has a difficult time keeping the lights on!  The vessel of God now has become the object of idolization and reverence! This known as “Improper Enthronement” almost likened unto “Be my Holy Spirit”!  Just remember this “God will never allow another individual to become God in your life”!!! Perhaps if more Pastors and leaders would begin to defer from themselves and their names and in turn refer them to the “Name that is above all names”  the likely-hood of so much Spiritual tyranny/dependency would be greatly reduced. The Bible says “Like Priest, like people! Maybe then we will begin to see wholesale dismantling of this Shrine called “America’s Idols! “If I be lifted up I’ll draw all men unto me”!

Be Blessed,
Elder R.L.Turner

 Webmaster Note: I’m normally highly against people that preach against “mega churches,” specifically Joel Osteen.  I think it simply causes strife and division within the body.  I don’t agree with Joel’s lack of focus on repentance and the fear of God, but I do think that he is clearly winning souls for the body.  To paraphrase Paul, “As long as Christ is preached, it’s all good.”  But I think Mr. Turner has given an excellent discernment of this section of the body.   It is not the preacher(Joel Osteen) but the lukewarm and man pleasing Christians that follow him who are to blame.  Ultimately, no amount of “God loves you” or “Fire and brimstone” preaching is going to get anyone saved or closer to God.  It is the very people themselves who are accountable to “work out [their own] salvation with fear and trembling.”  The preacher is only accountable to God to preach as he feels led and to be faithful with the flock that has been trusted to him.  I’m done.

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(Continued)
This kind of power is not power as we may think that can be exercised at will.  Power that can be exercised at MY will is called witchcraft.  Evil stuff.  But power that is excercised at the will of the Spirit is miraculous, always giving glory to God.  But this power is not really power as our society defines it.  A better word would be responsibility.  If God can trust you in such a way as to be able to cause miraculous things to happen by your word then you have a GREAT responsibility.  You are responsible for the faith of many.  God has called you to build other’s faith and set people free.

Put yourself in this scenario:  You have this great power.  With this great power comes fame.  Sadly, it is inevitable.  Many will know you and many will have seen your works.  What if one day you miss it and tell some wet rocks to catch on fire or a mountain to be cast into the sea, when it’s not the will of the Spirit.  Nothing happens.  The faith of possibly millions would be damaged.  Because like it or not(and though it may be ungodly) many of those people have based a portion of their faith on you.   Now, consider a worse scenario.  You are tempted and sin.  People find out.  The taller the tower, the greater the fall.  It has happened a handful of times where someone who was given great responsibility was caught in sin.  Churches destroyed, people turning from God to sin, people questioning God’s existence.  Do you think you’d feel a little guilty?  I know I’d feel guilty enough to consider killing myself, like Judas.  I wouldn’t go through, but the temptation would be strong.

This is the meaning of the verse: For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required. - Luke 12:48

You: Then how do I receive this power?
Me: Do Nothing.

To paraphrase one of the previous verses: “I do nothing, unless the Father tells me to.”

Nothing… ‘I do nothing’ doesn’t mean I go to church on Sunday; it doesn’t mean I read my bible everyday; it doesn’t mean I have a Jesus fish on my car; it doesn’t mean I pray alot. It means I do nothing. Jesus didn’t know if He was going to wear a red shirt or a yellow shirt for the day until He’d prayed about it. In fact, He didn’t even know if He was gonna wear one at all, til He prayed. He ate when God said ‘eat.’ He slept when God said ’sleep.’ He prayed when God said ‘pray.’ He preached when God said ‘preach.’

The real answer isn’t nothing.  The real answer is you must die.  Die to yourself.  Too many of us (myself included) make the mistake of thinking that taking up our cross daily means to put on a necklace with a cross on it every morning, which (lets be brutally honest) half the time we hide under our shirt.  Again, we must die to preach the Gospel, physically if need be.  This is the ultimate act of humility.  Humility is to act for the highest good of another(in this case God) regardless of personal cost or sacrifice.  The greatest sacrifice is to die.  Again, physically if need be.

Brace yourself, a description of perfect humility follows.

And when God said ‘you are going to take the sins of the entire world upon yourself, be beaten, crushed, hung on a cross, mocked, ridiculed, die, then be separated from Me for three days, and tormented in the flames of hell.’ Jesus’s reply? “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Got Humble? Then you got power.

I want to take some time to expand on us having the power to make a difference.  It’s kind of a cheesy line; I feel like a government sponsored ad for little kids when I say it but can’t change it now.

So Jesus made a difference, that we all know.  But He didn’t JUST make A difference.  He made the biggest difference.  Every evil thing that sin had brought into the world, He redeemed the world from.  Making it so that we no longer have to live with the pain and suffering sin causes.  He redeemed us from sickness; ALL SICKNESS (Isaiah 53).  He redeemed us from hell, death, eternal torment.  So I’m thinkin’ this Jesus character is a pretty solid guy. 

Now, since reading the last post no matter if it was a few minutes ago or a few days I’m sure the devil has said “Yes, being one man He changed the world, but He was God and you are not.  You can’t do anything.” 

Remind me to kick him in the face and karate chop his neck later.                             My wife, Jenny—->>>>   

Our dog–>>  devil is a pansy-><<–Me

We try to make kicking the devil’s butt a family affair.  Don’t worry we’ve got the ‘OK’ from the big man.

Back on track.

So the devil has said “Yes, being one man He changed the world, but He was God and you are not.  You can’t do anything.”  Yes, Jesus was God.  But He had no power to do anything.  Blasphemy?  No.  Check it.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. -John 5:19

I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. -John 5:30

 Back, Back, Back. You stupid legalistic spirit.

It may not seem so but it’s hard to type ‘Jesus had no power.’  Even when I had a couple direct quotes from Him confirming it.

Bottom Line

Jesus had no power.  We have no power.  WHEN APART FROM THE FATHER.  But as Jesus demonstrated so well through the Father ALL things are possible.  If we eat, drink, sleep, and breath God.  We can walk in the same power that Jesus did.  In fact, we can have greater power than Jesus did.  

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  -John 14:12 

You CAN Make A Difference (Part 3) - God does not reveal Himself to the casual inquirer.  There is a price to be paid to receive this power.  Find out the price tomorrow. 

Hint: it’s not $5