Patricia King shares her testimony......

I found this video clip of Patricia King sharing her testimony and wanted to share it with you! 

I appreciated hearing her heart and understanding her past connection to the New Age Movement and why she got involved in it. I think it is important to understand her perspective on this, because often we can misjudge people involved in obvious occult practices. Check it out!

Prophetic.TV - Steve Shultz's interview with Patricia King

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus........precious Jesus!!!

Your name is like honey on my lips, your spirit is like water to my soul, your word is like a lamp unto my feet..............I love these lines from a song I just listened to by Skillet. I have to say, I can repeat them and sing them truly out of my heart. I never used to be so in love with Jesus name, I never knew just how refreshing the Holy Spirit really is, and I have become so hungry and eager to ravish the word like never before. Why is this? Because of Him, His love and His grace becoming unveiled more and more in my life every day!! I just can't get enough!! Who else wants some honey?!! More Lord, more of you!!! Come join me and have a mini worship session right here on my blog......Just praise Him for His love, lift up His sweet and precious name and be refreshed by the Spirit.......like I am right now as I write this, woohoo, it's so good to be alive in Him!!!!

A thank you note.....

Thank you Lord, for your fresh daily mercies, I never cease to be amazed that I wake up every day, to them! 

Thank you Lord, that you love me so much, so much more than I can even fathom! Thank you that your love is better than anything, and that your love never ceases and that your love keeps me safe, that your love covers over my multitudes of sins. Thank you that you loved me so much that you sent Jesus your beloved Son, as an offering a sacrifice for my sin, and that it pleased you to bruise your beloved for me! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus for your love! I cannot grasp it in it's totality, but I am amazed and I praise and thank you!! Thank you for all the benefits I receive because of your great love and your most unselfish sacrifice for me! Thank you for taking my sin and giving me your righteousness! Thank you that I now have access to my Daddy in heaven, and can call him Daddy, because you have made it possible for me to be called daughter!!! Thank you for giving me newness of life in you! Thank you that by your stripes I am healed!!! Thank you for continually interceding before the Father on my behalf!! Thank you that your blood continues to cleanse me, forever!! Thank you for never leaving me or forsaking me!! Thank you for your compassion and mercy!! Thank you for your awesome goodness and your lavish grace!!! 

Thank you Holy Spirit that you are my personal living comforter, like a little child who clings to his/her blankie for comfort, so I shall cling to you! Thank you for your tangible presence in my life!! Thank you for constantly encouraging me that I am so secure in Christ, and that the Father always sees me perfect forever! Thank you for your gifts! Thank you for your power! Thank you for your weighty glory!! Thank you that your power is alive inside of me in the very core of my being!! Thank you for not condemning me, EVER! Thank you that you do not point out my faults, but always gently and graciously remind me that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, what more can I say but Thank You!!!!

Destined to Reign......

Recently I picked up a copy of Joseph Prince's book, Destined to Reign, at my local library. I have daily looked forward to a time when I could slip away and read it. I am finally finished and am here to tell you, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK! No, I am not getting any profits for my enthusiastic support of this excellent resource. I just think it is so worth reading! I have been encouraged greatly and blessed by Joseph's passion for preaching grace radically and for unveiling Jesus throughout the Word. The amount of revelation this guy has is amazing!  He shares confidently and boldly, that as believers we are destined to reign. He is passionate about bringing the Word in Spirit and in truth to further our faith and revelation in Jesus Christ and his finished work.  The secret to effortless success, wholeness, and victorious living lies in the truth of the Gospel and our living in God's free grace and believing Him at His Word. This book truly is a breath of fresh air!! 

If you have never heard of Joseph Prince or his ministry, you can check out his website here, and I highly recommended checking out some of the snippets of his sermons here. Enjoy, I really believe you will be blessed!! Much grace to all!!!

For the thirsty.....

Isaiah 55

 1WAIT and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].

    2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy].

    3Incline your ear [submit and consent to the divine will] and come to Me; hear, and your soul will revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant or league with you, even the sure mercy (kindness, goodwill, and compassion) promised to David.

    4Behold, I have appointed him (Him) [David, as a representative of the Messiah, or the Messiah Himself] to be a witness [one (One) who shall testify of salvation] to the nations, a prince (Prince) and commander (Commander) to the peoples.

    5Behold, you [Israel] shall call nations that you know not, and nations that do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.

    6Seek, inquire for, and require the Lord while He may be found [claiming Him by necessity and by right]; call upon Him while He is near.

    7Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon.

    8For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

    9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

    10For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

    11So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

    12For you shall go out [from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland] with joy and be led forth [by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His word] with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

    13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name of renown, for an everlasting sign [of jubilant exaltation] and memorial [to His praise], which shall not be cut off

Wrong doctrine is worse than bad behaviour.....

There is such a problem in the church today. What is it? The preaching of a mixed message, the mixing of the old and new covenants, and of law and grace. Otherwise, known as Galatianism. This doctrine or mentality tries to combine a little bit of law and a little bit of grace and creates a huge distortion of the Gospel and of Jesus finished work! (check out my friend Julie's post, The Hybrid Gospel. for her thoughts on this as well.)

In the Galatian church, you will find Paul getting very riled with the Galatians for drifting from grace. He goes so far as to call them "foolish" or we might say "stupid." Why? They mixed law and grace! In Paul's understanding of grace, this was a huge problem. Now, we know that the Corinthians were champion sinners. Their outward sinning was apparent, blatant and heavy duty. (going to temple prostitutes, yikes!) They were also misusing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and just very immoral and in chaos! But, did Paul call them foolish? No, he did not. In fact he spoke postively and encouragingly to them and told them that they would be confirmed to the end and blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wow!!!

Okay, so what I want to say is that in the church today we are so caught up in fear with people who are living, what I call, "messy" lives. Their outward struggles look really ugly. (such as a recent incident in my own life that became very ugly!) Often, christians don't even know how to handle other Christians that outwardly are obviously sinning and don't "look" so godly to them. Its a sad truth. (I have been on both sides of the coin here, so I am not directing this at any one in particular, it's simply a general observation) It's interesting that we forget who Jesus loved, had compassion for and gave grace to. The obviously messy sinners!!! 

Anyway, back to the contrast between Paul's treatment of the Corinthians and the Galatians. 

He said to the church in Galatia, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Are you so foolish?" Do you think he might be angry here?  Most people would expect Paul to be upset with the Corinthian church, but he simply wasn't.  His intense reaction toward the church in Galatia reveals what is of priority to God. It is clear that in God's eyes, believing the wrong doctrine is worse than exhibiting wrong behaviour! Wrong doctrine is far worse than wrong behaviour! To God, wrong doctrine is far worse than wrong behavior!( I know I repeated myself, I did it on purpose!)  When it came to wrong behavior in Corinth, Paul was cool and collected toward the believers. He was able to handle their wrong behavior because he knew that the grace of God was able to take care of their spree of wrong behavior. That is why he was able to speak positively to them even telling them, "I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus...."  But when it came to wrong doctrine in Galatia, he rebuked the believers there because they nullified God's grace by mixing it with law. 

In the very first chapter of Galatians, Paul says, "I marvel.." or as you and I would say today, "I am appalled.." What appalled him? Paul continues: "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ." 

Paul was angry because the Galatians were turning away from "the grace of Christ" to a "different gospel," and because there were some people who wanted to "pervert the gospel of Christ." Paul had preached the gospel of grace to the Galatians, but he found that there were Judaizers who introduced the elements of the law to them, mixing God's grace with the law. Do not belittle this problem. It was a serious problem and it made Paul very angry. Since Paul was full of the Holy Spirit and his anger was Spirit-inspired, it would benefit us to really understand why the mixture of law and grace angered him. 

I believe strongly that when this message gets mixed it really brings in confusion, (which the enemy just loves,) and perverts the Gospel of Christ. For example, when I have feebly attempted to share about God's grace to others and how God has revealed his grace to Keith and I, and we are living in more freedom and joy, people have said various odd things. Such as, "Well, you have to be really careful with grace, you really do." "Well you really do have to talk about sin and focus on it or you won't know you need grace." Or the typical comment, "Oh be careful grace will lead you to license to sin", or "yes grace is good, but don't you have to pursue your own holiness?" And on and on. Typically, I don't get too many "Yahoo's." That is really Good News! The grace of God has freed me from sin and death and I am not under the law but grace. His blood shed for me paid the price and was pleasing to God to cleanse me from my sin, not just my past sin, but all my sin, his blood keeps cleansing me. That's great, okay now what's my part! Only believe! You can't do anything it's all been done for you, that is the wonderfully wonderful good news!!  So, can you see how bringing in the law or anything about what do I have to do can be so dangerous. It simply screams out, I have to do something because surely His finished work was not finished!!!! That is in essence what we say when we try to balance grace. You can't balance grace!!! What man calls balance, God calls mixture. Your justification is either entirely a work of His grace or it is by your own works. His grace will be nullified when you add even a little mixture of man's own efforts to be justified. (see the new wine in old wineskins passage.) This is very serious. God hates mixture. 

Grace is the undeserved, unmerited, and unearned favor of God!!!!! The moment you try to merit the free favors of God, His grace is nullified. 

I don't know about you but I have lived in the "balance", the mixture and it never worked and never brought me victory over my struggles with sin. I think this mentality and practice numbs people and robs them of the power to have true victory and takes away the enjoyment of their freedom in Christ. It's the abundance of His grace that leads us to triumph!  I would much rather admittedly be the mess that I am and allow God's grace to transform me, because it will, rather than try to pursue my own holiness through efforts and a mixture of law and grace. It almost seems ridiculous, but it's God's idea not mine!!! 

(much of my post was taken from a portion of Joseph Prince's book, Destined to Reign, chapter 20, The Problem with Mixture.) 

The man in Romans 7........

The man in Romans 7 - I was just thinking today about the argument or debate over the "doctrine of indwelling sin" and how some have compelling arguments about how they still sin, etc...so therefore it must mean they have still have indwelling sin.....I know Steve McVey would say he believes we still have indwelling sin, but he would consider it "in our members" or our flesh.....now I would agree that our flesh is weak, because our flesh still gets in the way and often takes us down paths we don't want to go, or into sin .....anyway....the point I want to make is I think it becomes confusing when we don't understand the make up of a believer, by that I mean the trinity of man....spirit, soul and body.....our spirit, is one with Christ, our old nature, or spirit is gone and we are now new creations in Him....so in the spiritual realm we are perfectly righteous since God sees us as He sees Christ. Our flesh on the other hand is a whole different story.....so my point is, that whether we all agree on indwelling sin or not, I believe it is crucial to point out the difference of our make-up, our three parts....spirit, soul and body.....if we focus on how God sees us in Spirit it frees us to live more like that in reality in our flesh......but if we focus on our "indwelling sin" which is really our flesh, we may think we have no hope of ever being free from sin, or sin patterns, when that is completely not true. We identify as perfect forever! Not as forever people with an indwelling sin problem! That is not a helpful way to walk around in life as a Christian who has been promised to reign in life! Anyway, just some more of my thoughts on this very confusing man in Romans 7........!!

And Joel, please feel free to add your 2 cents worth, ha, I love it!!!! 

The man in Romans 7........

The man in Romans 7 - I was just thinking today about the argument or debate over the "doctrine of indwelling sin" and how some have compelling arguments about how they still sin, etc...so therefore it must mean they have still have indwelling sin.....I know Steve McVey would say he believes we still have indwelling sin, but he would consider it "in our members" or our flesh.....now I would agree that our flesh is weak, because our flesh still gets in the way and often takes us down paths we don't want to go, or into sin .....anyway....the point I want to make is I think it becomes confusing when we don't understand the make up of a believer, by that I mean the trinity of man....spirit, soul and body.....our spirit, is one with Christ, our old nature, or spirit is gone and we are now new creations in Him....so in the spiritual realm we are perfectly righteous since God sees us as He sees Christ. Our flesh on the other hand is a whole different story.....so my point is, that whether we all agree on indwelling sin or not, I believe it is crucial to point out the difference of our make-up, our three parts....spirit, soul and body.....if we focus on how God sees us in Spirit it frees us to live more like that in reality in our flesh......but if we focus on our "indwelling sin" which is really our flesh, we may think we have no hope of ever being free from sin, or sin patterns, when that is completely not true. We identify as perfect forever! Not as forever people with an indwelling sin problem! That is not a helpful way to walk around in life as a Christian who has been promised to reign in life! Anyway, just some more of my thoughts on this very confusing man in Romans 7........!!

And Joel, please feel free to add your 2 cents worth, ha, I love it!!!! 

God is in everything......

I am all about looking for God in everything these days. I find it so refreshing to walk through life this way. You could almost go as far as to say that I am addicted to God! I just can't get enough of Him touching my life! Yesterday, I was full of joy and had a chance to chat with a friend on the phone for awhile. It was a very uplifting and encouraging conversation and we both were so blessed to steal away some time to chat. Next thing you know time had flown by so much and I had to bolt out the door without feeding the kids any lunch. I just thought, oh well, we'll just have do fast food. So, I took a survey of where the kids wanted to go, and found out everyone had different preferences. I thought I will just get going and see what comes across our path. Nothing ever did, so I drove a bit further and found a pizza shop. Meanwhile, I had those thoughts creeping in, like if only you were more prepared this wouldn't have happened and other such condemning thoughts, with truth laced in, but I chose to ignore them. After all there is no condemnation right! I just decided my phone call was meaningful enough to have this inconvenience happen. Anyway, back to the pizza. I went in to the shop and placed my order only to dig through my purse and realize Keith had my credit card and the checkbook and I had no cash. Uh oh. I found an old credit card, which I was pretty sure was a dead card but I handed it over anyway, sort of hoping it would work. Nope, declined. I told the woman I was very sorry but I would have to cancel my order. She said, "Don't worry about it, just call me later with your card, I trust you." I stood there momentarily stunned. Was she for real! People are just not that nice these days. She reassured me it was okay and handed me my food and said "Don't worry about it."  I thanked her profusely, and practically ran out the door as tickled as could be. Wow, God you did it again, you met my need. Did I mention how hungry the boys were? And we would be out for hours at a park and would have had to totally mooch off of others. It's not like it was a huge deal or anything, but I still regard this as God looking out for me. I also felt like he was reassuring me that I don't need to worry about things, He WILL take care of me and He certainly does not want me to feel one bit condemned. I just love looking for God in all things. He really is in everything, if we just open our hearts minds and eyes and look, we will surely see Him. Even in the seemingly small ways, He really is there!!

"Ask and it will be given to you,.......how, much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7-11)

Does the Holy Spirit convict you of sin?

This is a question that came to me some time ago after God revealed to me His awesome grace.  If Jesus died to take away all sin and God does not see our sins anymore, he only sees us as He sees Christ, perfect forever, then how does the Holy Spirit see us. Is is his job to convict Christians of their sins? I wrestled with this because I had been taught that he does. The truth is the accuser, Satan accuses us night and day of our sin. So how can it be that the Holy Spirit would fill that same role. The truth is He doesn't. There is no specific Scripture in the Bible to tell me that the Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin. Why would He do that, why would that be true anyway? What then is the Holy Spirit's job if this is not the case? 

I don't know about you but I certainly don't need the Holy Spirit to point out my faults. I have a conscience, a family, that though they love me, they are not shy about telling me what I have done wrong and let's not forget our enemy, the prosecutor Satan. Even non-Christians who do not have the Holy Spirit in them are quite able to discern when they have failed. So what then does the Holy Spirit convict us of?

We need to be constantly reminded and reminded, like the word of God says "to renew our minds", that we are indeed already forever forgiven and in God's eyes perfectly righteous. When I fail, I need to be reminded of this truth so I do not fall into condemnation. If the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin constantly I would think about my failures a lot more than I already do. I would think that is how God sees me and wonder if He was happy with me or not. I may feel very stressed out and not realize I am under condemnation because  I think it is obviously God's will to show me my sin, if it is the Holy Spirit's job to convict me of sin. But the truth is that is a lie, the enemy wants us to feel defeated. God wants us to reign in life, He wants us to triumph over sin. How can we ever feel able to triumph if we are constantly being told both by the enemy and the Holy Spirit we are in sin! Please tell me how this could possibly work! It can't work and it doesn't, because it simply isn't true! 

Jesus has completed the work, he has erradicated our sin through his death on the cross. There is power available to us now through his shed blood, He was condemned in our place so that indeed there would never be one iota of condemnation for those who are in Christ. Isn't this amazing!  I am washed completely by Jesus blood and his blood never stops cleansing me! Now that is what I need to hear over and over. 

Okay so there is one Scripture in John 16:8-11 that is important to understand,  "And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged." 

I am going to quote a portion from Joseph Prince's book, "Destined to Reign" because I think he does a fabulous job of explaining this, 

"It is important to always read Bible verses in their context. Many people end up misinterpreting Bible verses because they fail to do this. One way to read Bible verses in their context (and this is a key Bible interpretation principle) is to identify who are the verses talking about. So who was Jesus talking about in John 16:8? Was He talking about believers or unbelievers? 

When He said that the Holy Spirit would come to "convict the world of sin" because they do not believe in Him, it is clear that He was referring to unbelievers because they are of "the world." And notice that the Holy Spirit does not convict the world of "sins" (plural). It is only one "sin" (singular) that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of, and that is the sin of unbelief, the sin of rejecting Jesus and not believing in His finished work. 

Jesus died for the whole world, but does that not mean that the whole world is automatically saved. Each individual must make a personal decision to receive Jesus as his Savior. So the Holy Spirit is present to convict unbelievers of that one sin of unbelief. But when people take John 16:8 out of its proper context, they start to believe erroneously that the Holy Spirit is here to convict believers of their sins. None of us need help in that department. We all know when we have failed. 

If the Holy Spirit never convicts you, the believer, of your sins, then what does He convict you of? Jesus says that the Holy Spirit convicts you "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more."  Now, who was Jesus referring to here? Clearly, with the use of the second person pronoun "you," Jesus was referring to His believers, as represented by His disciples whom He was talking to. This tells us that the Holy Spirit was sent to convict believers of righteousness. 

Now, are you made righteous by your works or by faith in Jesus? By now, you should know that you are made righteous by faith, for righteousness is not right doing, but right standing before God because of your right believing! So when you miss it, the Holy Spirit comes to convict and remind you that you are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. He is present to remind you of the main clause of the new covenant - that God will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins, and your lawless deeds He will remember no more. (Heb. 8:12)  The Holy Spirit is your Helper. (John 14:16) He was sent to live in you to help you, not to nag at you and point out all your faults. Nobody can live with a nag. The Holy Spirit is not a nag. No, He was sent to help you by convicting you of your everlasting righteousness."

I also want to include verses 13 & 14 of John 6, Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." I believe that the Spirit leads us into the truth of Jesus. What does that mean.....as He is so are we in this world. He brings us the truth of who we are in Christ, that is fully forgiven and 100% perfectly righteous forever. 

I am so grateful to have gained clarity and revelation on this truth. After all God really is FOR us! I think what happened in the past for me was obviously not the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin, but the accuser and in addition to that still I was still living under the law in an old covenant, fading glory mentality. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase and show us our need for a Savior. The law was not meant to be kept, it was meant to show us how we could never live up to it and we needed a Savior.  Thank you Jesus - you did it all for us!

Now I like to think of the Holy Spirit as a comforter(John 14:26), like a warm blanket enveloping me, kind of like a reminder of His robes of righteousness that have been placed upon me!! 

More Impartation......

Last night I attended a worship service at House of God's Light. I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this, but as this is sort of a journal of mine and as I love sharing testimonies in the hope that it will stir up others and in a sense I hope this post may "impart" something to others who read here. So here goes. 

I have already shared a few testimonies of meetings I have experienced with this group, here, here and here. It seems to me there is a momentum going in these meetings, especially since Neil and Janet Lozano have returned from Lakeland Florida. This truly is a group hungering for more of God, and for the Spirit of the Lord to come and touch them and transform lives. Neil prayed for the group and began to walk around and pray individually for people as the Spirit led him to, laying hands on individuals to impart what God had given to him and to Janet in Lakeland. As he walked around the room you could hear people being touched by God in various ways. One thing that was so precious to me, was that many of the children stayed in the meeting and were touched by the Spirit as well. It was awesome! 

For me personally it was a huge time of refreshing . The past two days had been emotionally draining and difficult for me. I knew I desperately needed to be encouraged and God did not disappoint, he knew just what I needed.  A wonderful woman named Ann came over to pray for me (at this point I had already been prayed for once and had spent some time soaking and at this point was just watching everyone else receive.) She said, " I just want to bless you, because you have already been such a blessing to me."  Are you feeling the love?! And so we prayed and I got hit with the most intense hysterical laughter! I just love that we can fall under the power of God and laugh our head off, is God not so fun or what!  It did not wane for some time, and then she put her hand on me again, and said "How about some more," and again I rolled around in hysterics. I think she must have been enjoying it, because she did it again, "Oh how about one more time."  I couldn't stop and my stomach was beginning to hurt! I am telling you this is good stuff, this is God's way of blessing us and touching us tangibly!! Well apparently others wanted to see it continue and I got touched few more times and just couldn't stop the gut wrenching hilarium (if that's even a word.) It truly was precious, I got so filled I was overflowing!! 

What is the point, some may wonder? Well, just this morning I was hugging one of my kids and I just couldn't help but tickle him and make him laugh. Then I was holding my littlest one and I couldn't help but squish him and kiss him. And I think God is like that, He loves us so much and wants to bless us and touch us tangibly. Just like our kids feel special and loved when we touch them, we too are so blessed when we sense the love our Heavenly Father tangibly. I once read a book where my favorite chapter was entitled, "Saturation Love." The whole purpose of the chapter was encouraging parents to make an effort to saturate their kids with physical love, such as hugging, tickling, holding, kissing and just telling them how much they love them. Why?- so that children would be so confident in their parents love for them that it would begin to transform their lives and help them grow confident and secure. When we are touched by God's tangible love for us, we can be so confident in His love for us that it gives us a confidence that hopefully spills out of us and onto others. Knowing God's love will transform you and you will never be the same!! 

Christianity is not just religion, or theology or doctrine and dutiful serving or right living or pursuing holiness. Christianity should be all about a relationship. When we ask Jesus into our hearts we are in essence saying I want to be in relationship with you. Jesus made a way so the curtain could be torn in two, allowing us permanent access to God. We can relate with Him any time freely. It's truly amazing! (before the cross it was not this way, thank you Jesus for what you have purchased for us!)

Another thing I was thinking of that I think helps tie this post together a bit, was something I learned as a young child from the catechism. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever!! (correct me if I am wrong, but I think that is the gist.) So, in essence we can glorify God by enjoying Him, by enjoying His special touches on our lives!! God wants us to enjoy Him......it truly brings him glory!! Amen!

The Spirit comes in power.....

My post on Saturday, led me to go dig up some Scriptures about God's power and I was so compelled by  Don's wonderful comment I decided to share them in this post. I remember as a child and a youth being well versed in the stories of the Bible, especially the old testament. Now as an adult I can't ever remember thinking as a child that the same spirit that came in power on many in the Bible was for today or for me to experience as a believer. It's interesting though to me that those God used to accomplish his purpose had the "spirit of the Lord come on them in power." You can go dig through the Bible and find many accounts where this was the case. Samson, even Saul in, 1 Samuel 10:6..."the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will be a different person," and David, 1 Samuel 13:16, then  Elijah, Daniel, Micah. Those are some of the ones I found that said specifically, "the Spirit of the Lord came on them with power." You will find John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11 saying, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Many believers get baptized in water, but why not in the Holy Spirit? Why accept one and not the other? 
We also see that the Holy Spirit came on Mary in power. Acts 1:8....Jesus tells the disciples that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them....Phillip was taken away by the Spirit from one location to another location entirely!! (Acts 8)I didn't include all the many Scriptures that simply talk about God's power. I think most Christians are quick to believe and agree on His power. It's just that there is not a wide spread belief in the power of the Holy Spirit for the believer today. I never knew him personally, I simply lived in naivety due to the environment I grew up in, not just my home church but I also went to a Christian school and never heard about the Holy Spirit. Which to me is interesting, I now think it's a package deal...salvation, baptism of the Holy Spirit and like Don said, signs, wonders and miracles. Again, why is it that we accept salvation, and then get baptized in water,  but not baptized in the Holy Spirit? Hebrews 6, says baptisms, plural, meaning more than one kind of baptism. Salvation is for us, for our eternal redemption, which is a wonderful gift. But it's by the power of God's Spirit that we will be more transformed into His likeness and it's by the power of His Spirit that we will go forth and preach the gospel, and see the sick healed, and the oppressed set free, demons cast out. (Demons were not just for Bible times. Many people need to be set free from demonic oppression.) 
About a year ago my mom and I were talking about whether or not believers could have demons oppressing them. (She mentioned Mary Magdelene) So over the course of this year, I have been exploring this question, can Christians be oppressed by demonic influence? Absolutely! Anyway, I am getting off topic a bit, I do think is important to understand this though. I mean it is obvious people are sick and people need to get saved, but it is not obvious to many believers that they can be oppressed by evil spirits. All of which we have authority and power given to us to overcome, so we shouldn't fear this fact, just simply be aware of it so we can learn to deal with it, or that it may be a reason someone seems to be in bondage to "sin".
What I really want to do in this post is raise questions for people. For me, since coming to a full revelation of God's grace, His pure gospel, I have found myself searching and seeking to know God more and it has been kind of a natural progression for me to find out more about the Holy Spirit, who He is, His job in the life of a believer and to find out what baptism in the Holy Spirit means, then asking to be baptized in the Spirit, getting baptized speaking in tongues, learning to get set free from demonic oppression and now longing to walk in His kingdom authority healing the sick, seeing signs and wonders in my life and getting people saved. 

A form of godliness that denies the power.....

For quite some time I have had this phrase swirling through my mind....." a form of godliness that denies the power." (2 Tim. 3:5) This verse sums up most of my Christian experience. Christians, myself included, that seek godliness, but don't know or live in the power of God. The bible says .."avoid such people." Wow!!  It almost seems to say that there is no point to being a Christian, if we don't experience God's power.(my interpretation here, feel free to disagree) I mean should there even be a Christianity that is simply just learning how to be more holy and pursuing godly ways of doing things?  Without His power we simply are denying the truth of His word and the Gospel. When the Gospel is preached, truly truly, there should be evidence of people getting saved, healed - signs and wonders should follow the one true Gospel of the New Testament. Paul says to the Corinthians, when I came and proclaimed the mysteries of God, I didn't do it with lofty speech or wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:1-5)  I wonder what exactly he meant by "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"?  I simply can't ignore these kinds of verses any longer. Jesus also always preached and demonstrated in power God's love and desire to heal all who He touched. Everywhere He went, He taught and healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons and set the captives free.  Why is it that modern Christianity does not look like the Christianity of the Bible? Why are people so skeptical of the Lakeland Revival and the outpourings of the Spirit's power going on there? Do we not read our Bibles and believe the whole thing? For me, a lot of it has been naivety, a lot of it has been a wrong focus when I did study my bible and some was the teaching I received and believed to be true, that never once taught me about the power of God or understanding the Holy Spirit's job in the life of a believer. A lot of my own issues were fear of man or seeking approval of people. That truly was a fetter keeping me back from moving on in the things God truly has for my life. But, thankfully, the Spirit will lead us into all truth, as we seek to be led and are hungry for God and long to know Him at a deeper level. And He is truly doing this in my life!! Hebrews 2, talks about  Without His Holy Spirit working in us and through us we cannot generate genuine fruit. Real fruit comes from the inside out. Not from applying biblical standards and disciplining ourselves, etc, etc. - but is the priority of our whole life to be focused on our own walks or on the big picture, seeking first the kingdom of God, seeing the lost saved, the captives set free, the cripples walking, the blind eyes opened. This was Jesus main ministry!  

Last night Todd Bentley preached a wonderful message at the revival. He has come under much criticism and last night shared that people want to know why he wasn't preaching the gospel. He went on to share that the gospel is not just preaching a message, but it demonstrates the power! The same "method", that Jesus Christ and Paul the apostle used. He preached the on the Lord's prayer and gave a compelling message( which unfortunately I did not take notes and eventually fell asleep before hearing the whole thing), that we should pray thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. On earth as it is in heaven. What is it like in heaven? Well go look in your Bibles and study up on what heaven is like, and then you will know what to pray for. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, it is for now. We do not have to wait for the whole shebang until we die and go to be with our Lord. God wants us to bring heaven down to earth and invade it for His Kingdom and for His glory!! 

Another thing, what does salvation mean anyway, does it simply mean you are forgiven of your sins, which that in itself is amazing?! Salvation in the Greek is sozo, which means healing, provision, wholeness and preservation. By His stripes we are healed. Not just from the power of sin, but from sickness and poverty and emotional deprivation! Folks this salvation we have is far more amazing than we realize. I want to live in it! No longer do I simply want to pursue a form of godliness that denies the power of God in my life!!  

adrianwarnock.com: Disagreeing with Piper Over the Man in Romans 7

I found an interesting post today, that I couldn't pass by. As I spent years in a church strongly committed to teaching indwelling sin, I believe to the detriment of the church. I was appreciative of Adrian's perspective and willingness to disagree with some prominent men in the Reformed circles. Check it out! 

adrianwarnock.com: Disagreeing with Piper Over the Man in Romans 7: "DISAGREEING"

The Bible in context....

Recently I ran into a woman that I knew and hadn't seen for awhile. She was so sweet and caught me up on all that is going on in her life. She said she had some Scriptures that she was looking for clarity on and asked me about a particular one. I said I didn't know the Scripture specifically and asked her lots of questions. Then I simply shared that I have been learning how important it is to read the Word in it's proper context and that there were many things to consider when trying to understand individual verses for their proper meaning.  I wrote a post awhile back titled, "Rightly Dividing the Word."  I thought it was time again to write a bit more of what I am learning about in regards to reading the Bible in context. (which no one ever taught me, I had to learn it the hard way and dig out these truths for myself.) It is just so important to understand that the Bible is divided into 2 parts, no I am not talking about the Old and New Testament here, but the divide between the 2 covenants. The old covenant continues through the New Testament, and some of what Jesus preached was the law, the old covenant. It is the cross that divides the Covenants, before the cross was the old and after came the new.  The main clause of the New Covenant is the forgiveness of all your sins because of Jesus shed blood. It says that God is merciful to all your unrighteousness and has forgotten all your sins, and your lawless acts. New Covenant believers have been freely justified and are now seen as God sees Christ, perfectly righteous. So God doesn't see our sin, he remembers it NO MORE. So, anything that does not line up with this truth, is not for you to internalize literally. The more we understand this truth, the more we will internalize God's truth of the Gospel and we will learn to discern the Word better and better. 

 

I am also learning how important it is to understand the original languages the Bible was written in, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, or at least refer to them when trying to discern a passage.( Not always are the words in our current Bibles the best direct translation.)

Many of the preachers, whose teachings I am currently listening to refer to the Greek meaning of certain words to get a better understanding of a passage. Don Shorey pointed out how helpful understanding the literary meanings of the Scripture can be. As well as simply understanding the culture of the time when the word was written and the history of the time. Also look at the Bible with an arial view, take into consideration the whole of Scripture when you read. Don't just get to the parts that seem like a to do part and ignore the whole of Scripture and assume you have to "do" it. The new Covenant life is more about relationship to God, not a religious duty or responsibility. 

It is important when reading the Bible, to know to whom is the passage directed or spoken to, who wrote it and why did they write it. And then to note if it is even applicable to us as believers.

Joseph Prince says this....."When you read the Bible, be sure to read everything within its context, because when you take the "text" out of its "context," what you are left with is a "con"! Many believers are hoodwinked into believing "cons" and erroneous teachings when something is lifted and taught out of its context.

...and Rob Rufus taught me something interesting, in his latest message, that I was not aware of,  when you read something in the Word that is in italics, that means it wasn't part of the original manuscripts. 

It can be very dangerous to take passages of Scripture and lift the Word of God out of it's context. We should be very careful not to take a verse out of it's context and build a teaching or doctrine around it. Again I will quote Joseph Prince; "Bible teachings have to be confirmed by several supporting verses and these have to be studied within their proper contexts. When you hear teachings that put fear in your heart and place you under bondage, don't just swallow them hook, line and sinker, fisherman and boots. Look at the context of the verse, and see if it is a new covenant truth or an old covenant teaching. Who was the verse spoken or written to, and how is it applicable to you today? Just remember that all new covenant truths exalt Jesus and His finished work. Hallelujah!"

Another thing I have to mention here, is those read the Bible in a year programs. You know, the one where you get a hand out and it breaks down the passages in four sections so you can get the Bible read in a year. I think that these programs and lists and breakdowns can be very confusing. They break down the Bible so you are reading 4 different books at the same time, instead of digging through a passage to get it's full context and understand it fully. And these programs are all in the name of helping you to get the whole Bible read and under your belt. Honestly, I think there may be good intentions behind them, but I personally find this method to be potentially harmful for Christians if they are not understanding all the above mentioned ways to interpret and analyze the Scripture. I mean you are reading through the geneologies thinking this is so boring, but I should read it, just so I can say I read the whole Bible. The geneologies are so important when wanting to understand the history the Bible. (anyway, I won't get into that..)  But the truth is I used to use those reading plans and only felt condemnation when I couldn't keep up to date and only grew confused as I read. If you want to read the Bible in a year, just read it!!! I am not saying all of this to be judgemental or offensive here, I just think these plans can be a potential hazard and felt the need to point it out!

One more thing to leave you with. And again I am quoting from Joseph Prince, 

"The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of Christ. I know that in most of your Bible translations, it says that faith comes by hearing "the word of God." But if you study the original Greek word for "God" here, it is not Theos for "God", but rather Christos for "Christ." You see, faith does not come by simply hearing the word of God because the word of God would encompass everything in the Bible, including the law of Moses. There is no impartation of faith when you hear the Ten Commandments preached. Faith comes only by hearing the word of Christ. This doesn't mean that you should only listen to preaching from the portions in your Bible that are printed in red, indictating that Jesus spoke those words. (Putting the Bible in red letters what Jesus said is a human convention anyway.) To hear the word of Christ is to hear preaching and teaching that have been filtered through the new covenant of grace and Jesus' finished work. You can preach from Genesis to Revelation from the perspective of Jesus and His grace. In my church, I am known to preach and teach extensively from both the Old and New Testaments. After all, Christ is in the Old Testament concealed, and in the New Testament revealed. In the Old Testament, you will find shadows of Christ in the five levitical offerings, the tabernacle of Moses, and even in the high priest's garments, but it takes a new covenant minister to draw Christ out. Only when Christ is preached will faith be imparted. Hallelujah! I love talking about Jesus!" 

So do I! Well that about wraps up what I really want to drive home here. All of God's Word is written for our benefit, but not all of it is written to us. 

 If any of my grace blogging friends, or non blogging friends have anything to add here that would be additionally helpful, please feel free to do so in the comments. Grace and peace to all who read here!!

Have your faith in God.......

On my way home today from a playdate at the park, with a wonderful group of ladies and their children, I had a bit of an accident. As I was turning into an unfamiliar parking lot, I turned too soon and hit the curb and quickly realized that was not a good thing. So, I parked the car got out only to wince at what I saw. A totally flat tire and bent rim!! Bummer!! Four tired kids in the car to boot. What now! So I made some calls, fumbled a bit as to what to do and eventually got the kids sent home with my kind mother who came to get them. My poor dear husband showed up at the scene, having just been operated on the day before for a hernia, not really able to do anything and me not letting him, (just what we need him busting open his hernia again)! We had a hect of a time figuring out how to get out the spare tire and then it was time to loosen the lug nuts on the tire...ha! I tried, I really did....are you kidding me, who can do that, guess I need to work out more. Anyway, Keith kept saying you just need to find someone to help and I was a bit frustrated and said, " Do you see any available brawny men walking around with a moment to spare!!"

Next thing you know a guy comes walking by and Keith runs over to solicit his help. He was in work clothes, dirty and brawny to boot! He proceeded to take over and initially it seemed he was only going to loosen the lug nuts, but then I think he really took pity on us and went ahead and did the whole job. ( I had never taken TireChanging 101) When it was all said and done, we thanked him sincerely and as he shook my hand, he said quickly and somewhat quietly, "Have your faith in God, that is my repayment." And walked off before I could respond, I wanted to shout out, "We love Jesus!!", but he was already far off and I chickened out.......!

Anyway, all this is to say......Wow, God always provides....I didn't mentioned earlier the quarrel Keith and I had about how to handle this situation, I had called a tow truck and he didn't want to spend the money, so we struggled to figure it all out, it took us awhile to find the spare and so on, I will spare you the details (no pun intended).....the point is, deep down I wanted to understand Keith and honor him, even though I wanted the easiest option out and he wanted the cheapest one......I knew this situation would be a frustrating one for him as these days our finances are dwindling and it seems like we keep getting deeper...so I hung in there thinking "Are you kidding me, how am I going to change this tire.....but I will try!" ....And I think God in His awesome provision and kindness just took care of us. I am all about looking for God in every situation, looking for His touch, His love and His mercy on our behalf. It's such a great way to walk through life!! Keeps joy and peace coming, ya know!!! And so in that end of this story, it really is all about what the kind man who changed our tire said...."Have your faith in God!!"

Making Music Together.....

I just read a fabulous little story, painting a picture of the Father's love and faithfulness that really touched my heart. I was struggling a bit over a letter I had written to someone, thinking did I say that wrong. Did that part sound offensive? Did I sound arrogant? Honestly my intent was to be loving and respectful, but did I sound like a fool? On and on it goes, the second guessing of myself that only torments me. So I read this beautiful story, which I have heard recently elsewhere, and it was such a refreshing reminder of how God can redeem anything we do. He will never allow, what we think might be mistakes or mess ups to hinder His ultimate purposes. He causes all things to work together for good. Isn't that amazing!

The story comes from my monthly GraceVine newsletter, sent out by Steve McVey. 

A mother once took her son to a Padrewski concert. After they were seated, the mother was temporarily distracted by talking to a friend. Taking advantage of the chance to explore, the little boy walked away. He went through a door marked, "No Admittance."

When the house lights dimmed the mother turned to see that her son was missing.  About that time, the curtains parted and the spotlight was focused on the grand piano on stage. Seated at the keyboard was the little boy, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato.

Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what had appeared to be a terrible blunder into a creative masterpiece. The audience was overwhelmed by the beauty of that moment. The moment had been redeemed. 

Whatever your situation in life may be, you don't have to worry. Your Father's eternal arm's are around you, working to accomplish His purpose for you. He will create a masterpiece of your life. You don't have to worry that your performance isn't as good as it should be. Trust Him and He will work with you where you are. In union with Him, the two of you will make beautiful music together. (all italics from Steve McVey's article)

I just love how God is - He is for us and He uses us in ways we never thought possible, because He wants His grace to be known more than anything and for that we should give him all the glory!!

My Soul Thirsts For You O God.....

Psalm 63

 1 O God, you are my God, 

       earnestly I seek you; 

       my soul thirsts for you, 

       my body longs for you, 

       in a dry and weary land 

       where there is no water.

 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary 

       and beheld your power and your glory.

 3 Because your love is better than life, 

       my lips will glorify you.

 4 I will praise you as long as I live, 

       and in your name I will lift up my hands.

 5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; 

       with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

 6 On my bed I remember you; 

       I think of you through the watches of the night.

 7 Because you are my help, 

       I sing in the shadow of your wings.

 8 My soul clings to you; 

       your right hand upholds me.

 9 They who seek my life will be destroyed; 

       they will go down to the depths of the earth.

 10 They will be given over to the sword 

       and become food for jackals.

 11 But the king will rejoice in God; 

       all who swear by God's name will praise him, 

       while the mouths of liars will be silenced.