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YOUR QUIET TRUST
David Wilkerson


“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green; and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

We see in verse eight that the one who trusts God during hard times is “planted.” He is deeply rooted, stable and fruitful, always green with fresh life. When things in his life get dry and troublesome, he will not be afraid.

This person says, “Jesus, I give up looking to any person to bring me out of this trial. I turn to You alone! You are my only keeper, my only hope and I look to You to keep me strong and bring me through in victory.”

The Lord desires this kind of faith from us in our everyday lives. You may say, “But, Brother Dave, I’m still unemployed and things are really tight.” Yet I have to believe what we read in God’s Word: “Trust Me and you will be blessed.”

You may answer, “But I don’t know what I’m going to do. The storm is raging all around me and it looks totally hopeless. I don’t see any sign of help or deliverance.” And to all this God still says, “Trust Me, My child, and you will be blessed.”

Your trial may be with your family, your business, or your provision. But if you continue to put your total trust in His Word and His faithfulness, God promises to bless you. And He cannot lie!

When the heat comes, you will not be bothered. When the wind blows, you will stand strong. Why? Because you will have learned to trust Him in spite of all your unnerving circumstances. You will be a green tree bearing the abundant fruit of confidence, and everyone around you will be given hope and encouragement as they observe your quiet trust.

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A DEVASTATING SIN
Claude Houde


“Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” I deeply believe that the sin of unbelief is among the most devastating in modern Christianity. Unbelief spiritually cuts our throats and blinds us. It puts us to sleep and binds us little by little, inexorably, year after year, until we accept the unacceptable.

The kingdom of God worldwide is presently experiencing the greatest spiritual revival in the history of mankind. However, in the same period of time, more than 90 percent of evangelical churches throughout North America and Europe are showing no significant growth. They are reduced to recalling their past awakenings, or desperately clinging to the latest fad promising some breathtaking and instantaneous breakthrough somewhere in the unknown future.

Please understand me. I am deeply grateful for what God did yesterday, as well as what He is doing around the world. I praise Him for it. But I am here — today! I must repent (to repent essentially means to change direction) for the unbelief and dullness in my faith that has caused me to tolerate the intolerable.

Unbelief is immensely more serious and devastating than we can understand or fathom. Surrounded by a world filled with immorality, decadence, idolatry and demonic religious rituals — disgusting in their cruelty and totally empty of any spiritual life or true spiritual significance — Jesus stood firm and stayed strong. But He wept at unbelief. Unbelief literally tore Him up.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and there is no favoritism with our God. He is immutable — never changing; omnipotent — all powerful; absolutely just; and totally committed to doing in your city, your church, your country what He is majestically and supernaturally doing all around the world even as you read these words.

Between us and the limitless greatness of His power stands the gulf of unbelief. That is why we cannot live another day without crying out, “Lord, increase our faith!”

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ABC's of Salvation

So simple......

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CLEAR DIRECTION
David Wilkerson


Most Christians do not listen to God. They go to Him to talk! Yet the Scriptures reveal that any person who was ever used of God learned to remain in His presence until he heard from Him.

Scripture makes it clear that the Lord wants to talk to every one of us. “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).

As a little girl with leukemia neared death’s door, she struggled with the thought of dying. Yet, one morning when her mother came into her room, the girl was aglow and happy.

“What happened to you?” her mother asked.

“An angel came to me and said I was going to take a trip,” the girl answered. “And then God came and took my hand and walked with me through a beautiful garden. He told me I was going to go there tomorrow to be with Him.”

God spoke to that little child and took all the fear from her heart! When she left to be with Him the next day, she had total peace.

Tell me, when you are communing with Jesus, do you receive such clear direction from Him? Does He tell you what to do, and when and how to do it? Some Christians don’t believe God does this but Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice . . . and they follow me” (John 10:27).

The only way through your trial is by getting alone with Jesus and crying, “Lord, You’re the only One on this earth who can help me. I’m not going anywhere until I hear You speak to my heart.”

The kind of prayer that pleases God stops everything, all activity, until His voice is heard. You will hear Him speak clearly to your heart such things as, “You’ve got to make things right with this person.” Or, “Don’t be in such a hurry! Sit in My presence and trust Me.”

If you will seek Him and wait, He will give you clear direction!

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Moravian Daily Texts
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Monday, February 6 — Psalm 19:7–14

2 Chronicles 8:1–9:12; Acts 19:21–31

When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 8:12,14

Paul wrote: What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? 1 Corinthians 4:7

Gracious God, you fill us with your love. What more could we ask? For all that you have provided in our lives, we give thanks. In humility, Amen.

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A DEATHBLOW TO DOUBT
David Wilkerson


“Ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord” (James 1:6-7).

Many Christians sit in the house of God and murmur and complain, as if God doesn’t hear them. But God does hear our murmurings — accusations that He does not care for us, insinuations that He has let us down.

God warned me not to give voice to nagging doubts and fear — not to my wife or friends or colleagues. He said to take those doubts to Him and ask Him to heal my unbelief.

Israel spent forty years in turmoil and there was a lot of backbiting, complaining, jealousy and bitterness. What a miserable existence the Israelites led while still claiming to be the children of God.

You must come to a place where you learn to trust Him. When you do this, you will have dealt a deathblow to all doubt, fear and unbelief.

Where do you start? First, look right into the mirror of God’s Word! Consider your actions over the last thirty days: Have you been complaining? You may answer, “Well, I’ve complained a little but I haven’t complained against God.” Oh, yes, you have! No matter who heard your complaints, they were all directed at God.

Everywhere I turn in the Bible, I read, “Trust Me and I’ll see you through! Just commit your ways to Me.” What does that require? Simply that you stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. You may ask, “But what if nothing happens?” That response alone reveals doubt and fear.

Dearly beloved, turn to God and tell Him that you choose to trust Him and wait for His victory. Let God make you a testimony to the world, a witness to His faithfulness. Love Him with all your heart right now and give Him all your problems, all your faith, and all your trust.

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GREEDY AND UNGRATEFUL
David Wilkerson


If you don’t deal with your doubts, you will be given over to a spirit of grumbling. You will live that way and die that way because your doubts cannot simply be suppressed. They must be pulled up by the roots!

Just three days after Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, they encountered a new test. They had been singing, shaking their tambourines and testifying to the power and strength of a mighty God. They were boasting that He was leading and protecting them — and then they arrived at Marah, which means “waters of bitterness.”

This was an example of how God just keeps allowing us to encounter crisis after crisis until we finally get the lesson He is trying to teach us. If we keep refusing to learn it, a time comes when He gives us over to our own bitterness. “And they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. . . . And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:22, 24).

On Sunday they were having a great time — singing, dancing, praising! But by Wednesday they were in trouble; another crisis, and they were falling apart. How could they lose their confidence so quickly? Because they had never had any! They had never had that foundation truly built under them.

So again they failed the test. They had learned absolutely nothing from their previous crises and again they missed an opportunity to shine forth the greatness of their God. They even began to take His goodness for granted. They had no food, so He sent them manna from heaven. He dropped quails out of the sky, piling them up outside the camp three feet high. But not a word of thanksgiving was heard. Instead, the people turned to greed and hoarded up all that God gave them. And then Israel became stiff-necked!

What a shame it is to go from crisis to crisis and learn nothing in the process. It carries with it a curse and you will be given over to a spirit of murmuring.

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Mid-East Prophecy Update – February 12th, 2017
A little long, 45 minutes but very informative and worth the listening.

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Psalms 23 Psa 23:1* A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.*
Psa 23:2* He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.*
Psa 23:3* He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.*
Psa 23:4* Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.*
Psa 23:5* Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.*
Psa 23:6* Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.*

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NOTHING WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE YOU
David Wilkerson


“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24).

Beloved, you are not building upon the rock if you need a preacher to thunder at you to obey God. Or if you need a set of rules laid out for you. You don’t need a rule book, you need a passionate love for Jesus.

The more you love Jesus, the easier it is to serve and obey Him. When your heart is enraptured with Jesus, you won’t have to constantly go before Him, crying, “God, break the power of the devil over me.” No, those chains will begin to fall off as you get to know His heart, and obeying Him will become second nature to you.

If you are in love with Jesus, I have several questions for you:

How can you go through the day without spending time in His Word?

How can you not yearn to get alone with Him in prayer?

How can you not praise and worship Him?

How can you not seek to learn what pleases Him?

Jesus tells us, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). What an incredible promise!

Search the gospels and get to know Jesus’ words. Begin with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and read through chapter 7. And then as you learn His words, do them! God’s commandments are not grievous or burdensome. On the contrary, obeying them becomes easier the more you grow to love Him.

As you build your house upon the rock, you will be able to stand unafraid when the storm comes. Nothing will move you — because you are walking in loving obedience to the Father.

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HEAR HIM KNOCKING AT THE DOOR?
Claude Houde


Jesus confronted the Laodicean church, which represented the Church of the end times. He gave her this warning that reaches out across the centuries to speak to you and me today: “If you don’t repent, I will spew you out of My mouth” (see Revelation 3:16). What incredible words!

What is the crime, the unimaginable sin committed by the modern Church? Listen to the words of the One who, above all, seeks our faith, trust and surrender: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. . . Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and have dine with him and he with Me” (Revelation 3:15, 19-20).

This passage of Scripture, so often quoted, is not addressing a lost world in need of “letting Jesus in.” Rather, it directly and solemnly is a call to modern believers who are lazily lying on the bed of indifference, quite happy with themselves and the portion they have.

This generation has been diabolically blinded to the spiritual revelation that without a burning faith it is impossible to please Him. Jesus is literally and dramatically standing outside the door of a self-sufficient Church that trusts in methods, strategies and “cutting edge” paradigm shifts and tactics borrowed from the secular marketplace. He is crying out, “Let me in! Repent! Turn away from these broken cisterns that offer no living water! I am calling for a people who will walk in faith, whose trust and confidence will hold solely to My promises. I long for a people whose faith will allow them to see the invisible, believe the unbelievable, and receive the impossible!”

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WE CAN’T — BUT HE CAN
Gary Wilkerson


“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Many think that Jesus is issuing an invitation to throngs of hurting people in this verse, but this is much more than an invitation. He is telling us — commanding us, in fact — to come to Him because He alone can supply the rest our souls need.

Is it even possible for us to “come to Him” on our own? According to Jesus, it is not: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Why would Christ command us to do something we are unable to do?

He is giving us an important lesson here, one that is critical to the Christian life. When we are given a command, we cannot just charge ourselves up and say, “I can do this. I’m your man, Lord!” If we do that, we are in trouble before we begin. A command in the gospels exposes our inability. God does this on purpose because as He reveals to us His will, He also shows us our inability to achieve it on our own.

How wonderful that Jesus follows every impossible command with a promise. After He says, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him,” He immediately adds, “And I will raise him up on the last day” (verse 44). God will draw us to Himself but He will also raise us up into new, resurrection life. New life comes only through Him.

“Whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:21, my emphasis). I love how the King James Version translates the last part of this verse: “That his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

God is fashioning the work in us. As soon as He reveals our inability, He reveals His ability and willingness to accomplish it all.

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The Many Supernatural Events of the Rapture

1 Corinthians 15

It is impossible to separate the power of the Holy Ghost from the Rapture and Resurrection of the Saints. If the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was clearly the Divine function of His Spirit, then our resurrection is even more the sovereign work of the same Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul said it plainly, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11) This verse is not only speaking of His resurrection but also our present resurrected life with a clear secondary meaning in relation to our coming resurrection. You cannot separate our present Spirit anointed life from our future Rapture and resurrection. It is all the work of His Holy Ghost in us, shedding forth the power of His resurrection. If you do not have that power working in you now, you cannot expect to receive some kind of infusion when the Son of God splits the sky.
This future demonstration of this office of the Holy Ghost is breathtaking. The powers and supernatural activities of this event will expend the greatest display ever to occur at one moment of time since creation. In fact, I think it will be so similar to creation that we can learn much from that historical moment. The account of Moses in Genesis is a beautiful picture of sheer Holy Ghost creative power. When God the Father chose to create this earth, the Son of God was the Word and the Holy Ghost was His right arm. “And God said” was a statement which embodied the action of His eternal Son, who He called the “Word.” John’s gospel begins with this account, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (St. John 1:1-3)
But we must give His eternal Spirit His rightful place, also. Even before Jesus the Word spoke the first statement of creation, the Scripture stated, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) I love that statement, “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The triune God was creating this Universe and each member of the Godhead was powerfully involved. The Father made the choice, the Son spoke the Word, and the Spirit of the Father and the Son acted in supernatural powers and this cosmos “was created.” Every sphere of life in this entire created universe is throbbing with His spark of life since that moment 6,000 years ago. If His presence was withdrawn for one minute, every expression of living cells, atoms, and molecules would fold in instant death. All life is the living manifestation of the whisper of life by His mighty Spirit.
Creation was an incredible moment of mighty acts of power. Our bodies are a living testimony of this power, as is all of creation. Every creature after his kind was created and Adam named them by their characteristics. Scientists baffle themselves in their study of life when they refuse to believe the account of Genesis. I have been reading a book entitled, The Body Electric. This capable doctor and surgeon speaks glowingly of the body’s ability to heal itself and has proven that our body is not just a mechanical machine. His documentation of a current, which he cannot understand, acting in the human body amazed him. All I could think was how much he needs to meet this Creator I know, and then he could know. The mystery of life is everywhere and God’s Spirit (the Holy Ghost) is the ordained source of every speck of that life. Nothing exists apart from our Great God.
The Holy Spirit fulfills this office of all life and resurrection as the Spirit of Jesus Christ. All the glory is given to Christ when the Scripture says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (St. John 1: 4-5)
The glory goes to our Lord Jesus Christ who by His Spirit gives physical life to all creation, even the unsaved. “ . . . For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) Thank God that He not only gives us natural life and a natural world where His evidence is everywhere, but to the souls that surrender to His saving blood, He gives much, much more. It is impossible to be “born again” without the convicting office of the Holy Ghost and His renewing and sealing of our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ. His Spirit renews our spirit and we are quickened to life in His likeness. We become “new creatures.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)






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Revelation 4








The Rapture and the Resurrection

No wonder the Holy Ghost is called “the Seven Spirits of God.” Just as in the trinity we do not dare speak of three different Gods, so in the person of the Holy Ghost we do not speak of seven separate and different Spirits. The Holy Ghost is one, but His expressions and offices are set forth in the completed expression of “seven.” He is the Spirit of Life and was active with Jesus Christ in His resurrection. He is to us the Spirit of Life and there is no resurrection without His anointed powers. Jesus Christ could not be held in death because there was no sin to grant powers of death to His enemy, Satan. If His resurrection was aided by the Holy Ghost even though He was without sin, ours is totally dependant upon the Holy Ghost because of the death which works in our sin nature. But our Lord by His blood has defeated death as our substitute and if we are cleansed by that blood then death has lost its sway. “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24-25a)
Our resurrection and rapture is guaranteed by His New Testament covenant with us. To the Corinthians He said, “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” (II Corinthians 5:4-5) The Holy Ghost anointing upon our life is our “insurance policy” or “earnest” (guarantee). Multitudes of empty church people are going to be miserably disappointed after the rapture. You have no assurance of this glorious hope of the rapture if you have no fire of the Holy Ghost in your soul. His living and anointed presence working in your life is your certainty of readiness. It is not an experience we need but a total surrender to His will and leading. Our song must become, “Where He leads me, I will follow.”
The Sheer Display of Holy Ghost Power

No one can possibly doubt the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost. The Bible is a catalog of incredible acts of Divine intervention, expression, and creation. From the parting of the Red Sea, where a host of tens of thousands of escaping Hebrews fled before the Pharaoh’s army, to the event of three Hebrew boys that were unscathed by a fiery furnace, miracles are the common facts. Elijah was supernaturally transported from earth to Heaven, Lazarus was called out of a tomb after his body was already decaying, and Blind Bartimaeus received his sight by a simple command. All of these miracles and a multitude more fill the pages of God’s Holy Bible. The Spirit of God was the Father’s and the Son’s manifestation of the Godhead’s every supernatural act.
This future resurrection and rapture will be the church’s grand finale of supernatural intervention. Nothing since creation comes close to revealing so much power in one moment of time. Every grave of every dead saint from all history [except Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and the saints that arose at His resurrection (Matthew 27:51-53)] will be opened as a testimony to his or her escape. Their dead bodies will be changed from the dust of death and in some cases gathered from seas or the winds to become glorified specimens of eternal lives. Millions of living saints will step out of their suits and dresses into transformed specimens of the same eternal glory.
There is no such thing as a secret rapture. There is no way such a display of Holy Ghost power can escape the attention of this world. Thousands of cars in the developed world or riding carts in the undeveloped world will suddenly be missing their drivers. Telephone lines will be jammed with frantic calls from hysterical husbands, wives, parents, children, etc. to make missing person reports. Big name politicians, who discover that their old grandmother that begged them to serve Jesus has disappeared, will drop to the floor of some government chamber unable to stand. The news will suddenly be filled with liberal ministers explaining the disappearance with deceiving words to cover their broken theology. The world will never be the same after that day. There will be millions that repent and prepare that day for what they missed.






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Amos 3







The Event Itself is Supernatural in Every Detail

The Apostle Paul declared this by describing the details, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-18) Our Father does not send His greatest archangel, but the Son Himself will descend into the mid-air. It’s a little thing with God but it’s a transcending matter to the church. Satan is the “prince of the power of the air.” This evil personage of fallen glory has a kingdom of millions of fallen angels organized for warfare. They inhabit the air above us and even the saints with glorified bodies are no match for their skills. Michael, one of the greatest of angelic beings, refused to rebuke Satan in his own power but rested in the victory of the Lord. Jude, the brother of Jesus, stated, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” (Jude 1:9) Our victory now and forever is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
So Jesus descends into mid-air above us, but below Satan’s kingdom, and leads His saints back to the mountain of His Holiness, Mount Zion on the sides of the North. (Psalm 48:1-3) The very nature of this victory is totally divine and supernatural. Someone has said that gravity loses its hold, but, no, my friends, gravity has no need of change. The earth’s gravity or natural power has never hindered the acts of God. Nothing about this event is natural. Jesus had but to speak and the storm on the Sea of Galilee was quieted. Demons (fallen angels) begged for mercy at His feet. Death is already a vanquished foe, so His descent to rapture His Bride in waiting is but the first transcending act of His coming kingdom.
The Son of God shouts as He descends. Why does the Bible confirm that He shouts as He returns into mid-air? Consider that He shouts just to dislodge the army of the fallen angels or disorient them and confuse their battle plans. Of course, He shouts to wake the dead for He is the Word and when He speaks, there is creation in His voice. This shout will shake the universe and start the entire matter of resurrection. Every grave of every saint will hear that shout and the earth will literally cast out the dead. This is His earth and He created every atom of life. When He shouts, nothing in this universe will resist. His shout is a triumph over every foe.
His archangels are mighty spirits or created beings to whom He has given great power. The presence of an archangel giving orders suggests a host of angels at the archangel’s command. So, indeed the Lord comes with a host, a multitude, and they will take up positions before every fallen angel in Satan’s charge. Nothing could possibly be hated more by Satan than to see the church escape his accusations. The saints have always been “Satan’s axis of enemies.” He hates the saints that defy his effort to lead them to hell. This great host of our Lord’s Heavenly army will compose His defense of the resurrected and raptured saints. We will not need to fight as we pass through the mid-air, meet our Lord, and follow Him to the Heavenly Jerusalem for the Judgment Seat of the saints and our celebration around the throne.






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2 Timothy 3







The Mortal Will Put on Immortality

Of all the Holy Ghost powers manifested, nothing is more glorious than our change from the mortal to the immortal. Let’s allow the Apostle Paul to describe this moment in our future. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (I Corinthians 15:50-54) This passage reveals the indescribable facts of our coming change. Our bodies are destined to put on a “house not made with hands.” (II Corinthians 5:1) Everything about our new house/body will be supernaturally constructed. Flesh and blood born of woman is a marvel and was originally created to live forever with the aid of the Tree of Life. This new body will replace the old so we can share in His resurrection likeness for eternity. While we will enjoy the Tree of Life in the new city, we will not need its fruit to live forever.
Consider our body that is made of billions of cells constantly dying and being renewed, replaced with new eternal ones. This body is a living organism created to constantly replace itself by its built-in creative powers. It is substantiated by a kind of supernatural life which proceeds from the Spirit of Life. We are already a marvel but this is only a taste of the new body. Every cell will be changed in a moment. The present corruptible body will be totally changed to an incorruptible body by the quickening of the Holy Ghost. The mortal will put on immortality and this change will be instantaneous. When Jesus descends into the mid-air and shouts the command, an explosion of resurrection will master the darkness of death. The saint, dead or alive, will be infused with this sheer supernatural power to step out of flesh and blood and step into flesh and spirit. All of this, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”
Can you imagine a stubborn husband that rejected his wife’s gentle witness and Godly life sitting beside her when this change occurs? A beautiful Godly woman will suddenly become a glorified radiant saint. That man will never have another comfortable day unless he is enabled to fall on his face in repentance and prepare to die at the hand of the Antichrist crowd. Encounters of this nature between the resurrected and the “left behind crowd” will be multiplied millions of times. “Death will be swallowed up in victory” right before a stunned world and this world will never be the same again. It will produce conviction and consternation far beyond any past human event of devastation and judgment.
Graves Opened and Saints Appearing

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was God’s “first fruits” of the coming resurrection of the dead in Christ. It was the type or example of how the future event will be manifest. The picture that Matthew gave us will be replayed and multiplied by millions. It will be sheer Holy Ghost power great enough to shake the cosmos out of its complacency of sin. I promise you that sin will never have the same satisfaction after this coming hour. Matthew alone described this first fruits resurrection of dead saints. He stated, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew 27: 51-53) This is God’s pattern.
This old earth will tremble like a dying man at the very moment the Lord shouts. Rocks will be rent and immediately “graves will open” all over this earth. Many graves will be in long lost graveyards, built over, paved over, under houses, commercial buildings, and highways. They will be opened wherever they are and the world will finally know that “Jesus is Lord.” No wonder the Bible says “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11) This is a perfect moment for that confession, at least for millions.
The Resurrected saints will visit homes and marketplaces across this globe. Notice again, “They came out of the graves . . . and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” This is going to be one of the great moments of the coming Pre-Tribulation Rapture. No wonder the Bible says, “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Imagine an old grandmother knocking on the door of her favorite grandson that has put off surrender to Christ and now has missed the Rapture. When he sees her in her new body and senses the glory of her resurrection how his heart will smite him. Multitudes of those in these type encounters will have already made their last choice and have no hope. Many will still find mercy, get saved, and be killed by the Antichrist’s throngs of thugs.
Conclusion
Never has an event of Biblical fulfillment exceeded the transcending moment of the Resurrection and Rapture. There are other wonderful truths that will also be grand in their fulfillment but this beginning of the end exceeds them all. The resurrection and rapture is like the opening of a long and glorious drama with each day revealing more and more of the accomplishment of His cross and redemption plan. This world as we know it cannot continue much longer. Even nature is groaning for redemption and the dead will be removed from its bowels of sorrow. The spiritual war that is being raged by Satan and his host is especially directed to defeat this prophesied event. Satan will fail and we will escape before his last acts of blasphemy. The Rapture is certainly at the door.

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

GOD IS CONCERNED
David Wilkerson


Satan has a strategy to deceive believers and make them doubt the faithfulness of God in answering prayer. He would have us believe that God has shut His ears to our cries and left us to work things out for ourselves.

A great tragedy in the Church today is that so few believe in the power and effectiveness of prayer. Without meaning to blaspheme, multitudes of God’s people can be heard complaining, “I pray but I get no answers. I’ve prayed so hard for so long without any results. All I want is a little evidence that God is changing things. How long must I wait?” These believers no longer visit their secret place of prayer because they are convinced that their petitions, born in prayer, are somewhere miscarried at His throne. Others are convinced that only “spiritual giants” can get their prayers through to God.

In all honesty, many saints of God struggle with doubts: “If God’s ear is open to my diligent prayer, why is there such little evidence of His answering?” Have you been praying a certain prayer for a long time without receiving an answer? Have even years gone by and still you wait, hoping . . . yet wondering?

Let’s be careful not to charge God with being slothful, unconcerned about our needs and petitions, as Job did. Job complained, “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me” (Job 30:20, ESV).

Job’s vision of God’s faithfulness was clouded by his present difficulties, and he ended up accusing God of forgetting him.

It is time for Christians to take an honest look at the reasons our prayers are aborted. We might be guilty of charging God with neglect when all along our own behavior is responsible.

“Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land” (Psalm 37:34).

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Scriptures for Ashe Wednesday

Psalms 51:1-17
Psa 51:1* To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.*
Psa 51:2* Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.*
Psa 51:3* For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.*
Psa 51:4* Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.*
Psa 51:5* Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.*
Psa 51:6* Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.*
Psa 51:7* Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.*
Psa 51:8* Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.*
Psa 51:9* Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.*
Psa 51:10* Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.*
Psa 51:11* Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.*
Psa 51:12* Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.*
Psa 51:13* Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.*
Psa 51:14* Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.*
Psa 51:15* O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.*
Psa 51:16* For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.*
Psa 51:17* The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.*

Matthew 6:1-21
Mat 6:1* Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.*
Mat 6:2* Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.*
Mat 6:3* But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:*
Mat 6:4* That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.*
The Lord's Prayer
Mat 6:5* And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.*
Mat 6:6* But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.*
Mat 6:7* But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.*
Mat 6:8* Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.*
Mat 6:9* After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.*
Mat 6:10* Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.*
Mat 6:11* Give us this day our daily bread.*
Mat 6:12* And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.*
Mat 6:13* And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.*
Mat 6:14* For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:*
Mat 6:15* But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.*
Fasting
Mat 6:16* Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.*
Mat 6:17* But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;*
Mat 6:18* That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.*
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
Mat 6:19* Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:*
Mat 6:20* But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:*
Mat 6:21* For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.*

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

ARE YOU TRYING TOO HARD?
Gary Wilkerson


Many Christians today are exhausted by their efforts to ward off sin. They are drained of every last ounce of joy, and the victory Christ won for them gets lost in their dogged efforts to establish a righteousness of their own.

Righteousness that is pursued by anything other than faith will always fail. You see, there cannot be both God’s righteousness and our own. That would mean there are two gospels: His and ours. We cannot mix our self-righteousness with God’s holy righteousness.

But aren’t we supposed to put forth some effort? Doesn’t the Bible say we are to avoid sin? Yes, but there is only one way for us to avoid sin and that is through Jesus. He is not just a truth we accept, He is the living God and His sanctifying work never stops day or night.

Paul answers the question of self-effort in Romans 9. He speaks of a people who actually attained righteousness: “[The] Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith” (Romans 9:30). These people did not get worn down by their own efforts; they were not weighed down by their failures. They put all their faith in Jesus’ work on the cross for them — and they were sustained by His abundant life.

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). This verse has brought freedom to all generations of believers. Christ is the end. There is nothing else! “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Friend, are you worn down from trying to do better? Are you weary of the endless cycle of recommitment and failure? Then put it all behind you; let your striving end. Your right standing with the Lord does not depend upon your will but on God, who has mercy on us.
__________________

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DAVID WILKERSON DEVOTIONS


WHAT IS HOLY GHOST BLUSHING?

“For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. . . . Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 6:13, 15).

The prophet Jeremiah saw a horrible condition coming upon God’s people. To hide their sins they had begun living behind a facade of superficial peace and security. Greed and covetousness had so overcome their hearts that they camouflaged their hurts with a phony brokenness. Their entire lives had become superficial—superficial tears, superficial repentance, even superficial healing.

God’s people had lost their sense of shame and grief for sin—sin in society and sin in their own lives. They no longer felt God’s hatred and wrath against iniquity. Sin had become “just one of those things.”

Jeremiah cried out, “Were they ashamed when they sinned? No! They were not at all ashamed—neither could they blush!”

Holy Ghost blushing is not just red cheeks from simple modesty. It is feeling wounded, ashamed, devastated—grieved that the name and purity of Jesus our Lord has been trampled, that His reputation has been smeared.

God’s people sat under a message of searing truth yet they turned away from it. They rebelled against it! “They have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return” (Jeremiah 5:3). They were committing adultery by romping with harlots and lusting after their neighbors’ wives. In verse 11 of the same chapter, Jeremiah called it outright treachery against the Lord!

In spite of all the prophetic warnings by Jeremiah, these people went their merry way, saying, “Neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine” (verse 12). “Judgment is not God’s message for us,” they said.

God warned His people to heed the instructions of the word being delivered to them or He would depart from them. “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee” (Jeremiah 6:8). And again God said: “I am speaking clearly! I am warning! But who is listening?”

Sounds quiet familiar of our times today......

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

Peace with God Through Faith

Rom 5:1* Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:*
Rom 5:2* By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.*
Rom 5:3* And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;*
Rom 5:4* And patience, experience; and experience, hope:*
Rom 5:5* And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.*
Rom 5:6* For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.*
Rom 5:7* For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.*
Rom 5:8* But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.*
Rom 5:9* Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.*
Rom 5:10* For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.*
Rom 5:11* And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.*

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

The Pouring Out of the Heart
David Wilkerson


The following word, given to me by the Holy Spirit, is for those who need an answer to prayer, who need help in time of trouble, and who are ready and willing to move God’s heart according to His Word.

Lay hold of the covenant promise in Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

The phrase very present means “always available, immediately accessible.” Faith must rest in the assurance that God’s Spirit abides in us all hours of the day and night, continually. And because He took up a habitation within us, He listens to our every prayerful thought and cry. We can be sure that if He hears us He will grant our petitions. Indeed, the Holy Spirit will move heaven and earth for any child of God who takes time to pour out his heart to the Father.

Read and believe Psalm 62:5-7. This is the prayer of David that touched God’s heart. David said in essence, “Wait on God only! Expect help from no other source. He alone must be your provision, your only hope and defense. Only He can supply you with the strength to keep going until your answer comes.”

Here is the heart of it all, the secret to prevailing prayer that every saint throughout history has learned: the pouring out of the heart before the Lord. “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8) Hannah is our example in doing this. Desperate for a child, she “poured out” her soul to the Lord (see 1 Samuel 1:15). And Scripture says, “Her face was no longer sad” (1:18).

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Romans 8:1-17 (GNB)

Rom 8:1 There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin.
Rom 8:4 God did this so that the righteous demands of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit, and not according to human nature.
Rom 8:5 Those who live as their human nature tells them to, have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants.
Rom 8:6 To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.
Rom 8:7 And so people become enemies of God when they are controlled by their human nature; for they do not obey God's law, and in fact they cannot obey it.
Rom 8:8 Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to---if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Rom 8:10 But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because of sin.
Rom 8:11 If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you.
Heirs with Christ
Rom 8:12 So then, my friends, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to.
Rom 8:13 For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live.
Rom 8:14 Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children.
Rom 8:15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! my Father!"
Rom 8:16 God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children.
Rom 8:17 Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

Christianity vs Religion

In the past God spoke to our
forefathers through the prophets at
many times and in various ways,
but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, and through
whom He made the universe.
(Hebrews 1:1-2, NIV)

The great German theologian Karl Barth once was lecturing a group of students at Princeton University when one of the students asked him, "Sir, don't you think that God has revealed Himself in other religions and not only in Christianity?" Barth's answer stunned the crowd. With a modest thunder he answered, "No, God has not revealed Himself in any religion, including Christianity. He has revealed Himself in His Son.”People are by nature religious because every person is born with an innate sense that there is a God; One who is infinitely greater than any human being; One who is waiting to be acknowledged; a God who desires a personal relationship with each one of us. As King Solomon put it,

“[God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11b, NIV).

At some point each person decides whether to accept that internal
belief in God, inquire into it, or reject it.In one sense religion is man's search for God primarily through his own efforts, or through a man made religion. On the other hand, Jesus (or real Christianity) is God's search for man. And that makes all the difference in the world.Because we are all sinners, it is impossible for us to save ourselves through our own efforts or any man made religion. This is why God, in His eternal love for us, sent His own Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins.

For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and only Son.(John 3:16-18, NIV)

Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. There is no other way. Narrow? Yes. But had there been any other way, why would Jesus have come to earth as a man to die an excruciating death on a Roman cross to pay the penalty for our sins? We need to keep in mind what Jesus plainly taught during His earthly ministry:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate
and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and
many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow
the road that leads to life and only a few find it.(Matthew 7:13-14, NIV)

So the important question is not, are you religious? Or, do you belong to a Christian denomination, or are you a member of a Christian church, but have you surrendered your life to Jesus as your Savior? Is your trust in Him and Him alone for your eternal salvation? As Jesus said,

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me" (John 14:6, NIV).
Religion cannot save you ... only Jesus can.A Suggested Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving my sins
and giving me the gift of eternal life through the death
and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. And Jesus,
because You died for me, help me to live for You
always and in all ways ... not for the sake of religion,
but for the sake of love love for You my Savior,
my Master and my Friend. Thank You for hearing and
answering my prayer. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Jim Newsome
Friedberg Moravian Church

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Speak to the Foxes
Carter Conlon


Once you are determined to set things in order in your life, don’t be surprised if the enemy comes and tells you that you are not going to make it. Even Jesus had to face these lies, but He knew it was only a fox trying to destroy the fruit of the vineyard that God had given Him.

The Scriptures tell us of a time when “some Pharisees came, saying to [Jesus], ‘Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.’ And He said to them, ‘Go, tell that fox, “Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected”’” (Luke 13:31-32, NKJV).

“Perfected” means that He will reach His goal. The devil will no doubt attempt to get you off course, saying, “This pathway is too hard for you. Take an easier way. You don’t have to do things God’s way!” Yet notice Jesus’ response, “No! I cast out demons and healing is flowing. And on the third day I am going to attain my goal by the power of God!”

You, too, have the power to speak to the foxes in your life: “I will entertain you in my life no longer! By the grace of God, I will be rid of you. I have been given power to confront evil, and healing is flowing through my life. I am not bringing something to my workplace that calls itself Christianity but stinks as I pass by. No, I am bringing that sweet presence of God with me everywhere I go! I am going to finish my journey, and I am going to reach the full potential of what my life is called to be! No little fox is going to drive me from the plan of God for my life!”

Speak to the foxes and then trust the Lord for His grace and provision!

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Dethroned by Thorns
David Wilkerson


Growing numbers of Christians are no longer fully satisfied with Christ. The Lord is being dethroned by what He Himself called thorns — which He defined as the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other things entering into the heart. Christ said these are the thorns that choke the Word and cause it to become unfruitful (see Mark 4:7).

Is the Lord more on your mind today than a year ago? Do you spend more time in His presence today than a year ago? Is your passion for Him growing or withering?

Many of those who were once passionately in love with Christ now run about pursuing their own interests. They’re burdened down with stress and problems, chasing after riches and the things of this world. They have grown cold or lukewarm, and they have less and less time for Jesus. The Lord and His church now get only an hour of their time — on Sunday mornings.

Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered” (John 15:6). In other words, that person is drying up, no longer drawing life from the true vine. He is deceived by thinking all is well, because he still speaks the language of the intimacy he once enjoyed with Christ.

The Holy Spirit is calling people back to their first love. Back to hungering and thirsting for more of Christ. Back to spending quality time in His presence; loving His Word; casting all cares upon Him; depending on Him for guidance.

Christ yearns for His beloved to return to Him with love and obedience. The Holy Spirit is stirring our hearts to draw us closer to Himself.

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God is Thinking of You
David Wilkerson


I have a short message for those who are experiencing a painful, overwhelming situation. I am not speaking to those who now enjoy a time of rest from suffering, who are not in any kind of pain or sorrow. Thank God for those times of quiet rest.

Rather, I receive many letters from precious followers of Jesus who are living with incredible inner sorrow and crisis situations: divorce, children on drugs or in jail, the death of a spouse. A woman deeply in love with the Lord grieves over the death of her children, who suffocated in a fire. A pastor grieves for his wife, who left him and his children for a lesbian lover.

I have a message for you godly people who are suffering. In Psalm 40, David cried, “Innumerable evils have surrounded me. . . Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!” (Psalm 40:12-13). “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. . . But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God” (40:16-17).

I have been so blessed and comforted by this one line in verse 17: “The Lord thinks upon me.” Imagine that! The Lord who created all things, the God of this universe, thinks about me. Even now, in your hour of need, His thoughts are about you.

When Israel was captive in Babylon, mourning over the loss of homes and families, God sent word to them through Jeremiah: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). God said to His people, “Your nightmare is going to end. I have only good, loving thoughts toward you, and if you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me.”

Pour out your heart to the Lord. He is thinking of you!

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THE WHOLE MINISTRY OF CHRIST’S CHURCH

Gary Wilkerson


Here is the definition of the gospel ministry, according to the apostle Paul: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Paul is very clear with Timothy: “I charge you as a minister of God: reprove, rebuke, exhort. That is fulfilling your ministry!”

I ask you in complete honesty: Is the whole ministry of Christ’s church being fulfilled today? Or have we settled for a church of comfort and pleasure? I can promise you, if pastors are allowed to be pastors — if worship leaders are allowed to spend as much time in prayer as at rehearsal and sound check — if people come seeking biblical truth instead of just fleshly comfort — then our joy will return. Our purpose will return. And our mission will be clear.

When that happens, we will testify with the prophet Jeremiah, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16). Then, when a stranger enters the door of our church, he will fall on his face in holy awe. He will realize he has found the answer he has hungered for his entire life. And he will cry, “Surely God is in this place!” Amen! May it be so, Lord Jesus.

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Marks of the True Christian

Rom 12:9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.
Rom 12:10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another.
Rom 12:11 Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion.
Rom 12:12 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.
Rom 12:13 Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.
Rom 12:14 Ask God to bless those who persecute you---yes, ask him to bless, not to curse.
Rom 12:15 Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep.
Rom 12:16 Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise.
Rom 12:17 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good.
Rom 12:18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.
Rom 12:19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, "I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord."
Rom 12:20 Instead, as the scripture says: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame."
Rom 12:21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

GNB

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Our Great Protection
David Wilkerson


When you’re in the midst of a battle, Satan will send accusations at you. He’ll remind you of every past sin, every dark moment, every foolish thing you ever did. It is no wonder Paul calls such accusations fiery darts or “flaming arrows” (see Ephesians 6:16). The translation is “enflamed rage.” Many saints know the pain of mean and hurtful words coming at them from those around them. Such thoughtless accusations are truly flaming arrows of enflamed rage.

At times you may think you are the only one under such severe attack. In such times you feel alone, isolated in your suffering. Even those who care for you most deeply cannot seem to understand all you are going through.

The apostle Peter reminds us: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12–13).

Finally, Paul instructs: “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench [extinguish] all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).

What exactly is the shield of faith? It is an impenetrable armor built from the promises of God and burnished with our faith. This shield is our great protection against every devilish, hurting word spoken against us. To hold it up against the enemy’s onslaught is to extinguish every voice of fear and unbelief. It is a defense that states with confidence, “Devil, I am not ignorant of your devices. Nothing — not blinding pain, not shaky finances, not world chaos — can separate me from the love of God.”

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

Rom 14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions.
Rom 14:2 Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables.
Rom 14:3 The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person.
Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed.
Rom 14:5 Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds.
Rom 14:6 Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God.
Rom 14:7 We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only.
Rom 14:8 If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
Rom 14:9 For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead.
Rom 14:10 You then, who eat only vegetables---why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything---why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.
Rom 14:11 For the scripture says, "As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God."
Rom 14:12 Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.

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re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

Prayerful Hymns For Good Friday

O Thou Who through this holy week

1 O Thou, Who through this holy week
Didst suffer for us all;
The sick to heal, the lost to seek,
To raise up them that fall:

2 We cannot understand the woe
Thy love was pleased to bear:
O Lamb of God, we only know
That all our hopes are there.

3 Thy feet the path of suffering trod,
Thy hand the victory won:
What shall we render to our God
For all that He hath done?

4 To God, the blessèd Three in One,
All praise and glory be:
Crown, Lord, Thy servants who have won
The victory through Thee.

Amen.

What Language Shall I Borrow

1 What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend.
For all Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee!

2 I give Thee thanks unfeigned,
O Jesus, Friend in need,
For what Thy soul sustained,
When Thou for me didst bleed;
Grant me to lean unshaken
Upon Thy faithfulness,
Until I hence am taken
To see Thee face to face.

Jesus, Source of my salvation, Conqu'ror both of death and hell!

1 Jesus, Source of my salvation,
Conqueror both of death and hell,
Thou Who didst, as my Oblation,
Feel what I deserved to feel,
Through Thy sufferings, death, and merit,
I eternal life inherit;
Thousand, thousand thanks to Thee,
Dearest Lord, for ever be.

2 Lord, Thy deep humiliation
Has atoned for all my pride;
I need fear no condemnation,
Since for sinners Thou hast died.
Thou becam’st a curse, dear Savior,
To restore me to God’s favor;
Thousand, thousand thanks to Thee,
Dearest Lord, for ever be.

3 Lord, I’ll praise Thee now and ever,
Who for me wast crucified;
For Thy agony, dear Savior,
For Thy wounds and pierced side,
For Thy love, so tried, unending,
For Thy death, all deaths transcending.
For Thy death and love divine,
Lord, I’ll be for ever Thine.

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Christ Our Risen Lord and Intercessor
David Wilkerson


"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

What does scripture mean when it says Jesus makes intercession for us? I believe this subject is so deep, majestic and beyond human understanding, I tremble even to address it. Biblical scholars hold various views on its meaning. But no book or commentary has satisfied my search. In fact, the more teaching I’ve read on the matter, the more confusing it all sounds.

Yet, through prayer and trust in the Holy Spirit's guidance, I’ve begun grasping just a little of this incredible subject. Praying very simply, "Lord, how does your intercession in heaven affect my life? Your word says you appear before the father on my behalf. What does this mean in my daily walk with you? I don't need to know what the great scholars have learned. Just show me a simple truth I can grasp and appropriate for my life."

The popular evangelical view of Christ's intercession is that Jesus returned to heaven to act as high priest on our behalf. There is no question about this. The Bible clearly states: "Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24)

I believe Jesus intercedes today to preserve his people, keeping us from sin and maintaining us in God’s love. He won't allow anything—any fear, any temporary fall, any accusation from Satan—to alienate us from the Father. In short, he prays for us in the same way he prayed for his disciple Peter: "that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:32).

Our savior is alive in glory right now. And he's both fully God and fully human, with hands, feet, eyes, hair. He also has the nail scars on his hands and feet, the wound in his side. He has never discarded his humanity; he's still a man in glory. And right now, our man in eternity is working to make sure we're never robbed of the peace he gave us when he left. He's ministering as our high priest, actively involved in keeping his body on earth full of his peace. And when he comes again, he wants us to "be found of him in peace'' (2 Peter 3: 14).

May this Easter be a day that you can celebrate that He is risen and the peace poured out on us because of it.

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Moravian Daily Texts

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Tuesday, April 18 — Psalm 50:16–23

Job 21; 1 Corinthians 2:3–16

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NIV)

Paul wrote: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12–13 (NIV)

Lord God, we take comfort knowing that you are with us, that you desire to be close to us in joyful times as well as sad times. Help us to always seek our refuge in you, remembering that we can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us. Amen.

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Is God Mad At You?
David Wilkerson


“‘For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?” (Hebrews 12:6-7).

You are never more loved than when you are chastened or corrected by the Lord. In fact, the entire process of chastening has everything to do with God’s desire for you. It is all meant to take you into the knowledge and glory of Himself. And remember, God never chastens His children in anger.

Yet, make no mistake. The Bible calls these times of chastening grievous. They are in no way joyful. “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present” (12:11). Nevertheless, we’re told, “Afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (same verse).

Over the years I have had to quench many of Satan’s darts and lies, yet today I proclaim with assurance, “God is not mad at me. And, dear follower of Jesus, He is not mad at you. Therefore, quench everything the devil says to try to convince you otherwise!”

This is the victory of the cross: Peace with God and the very peace of God.

re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
 

Approach Him With Confidence
Nicky Cruz


In order to be able to follow the Spirit and be sensitive to all His detours, we must first have an open, prayerful heart that stays connected with God. Jesus is our greatest example of this.

No aspect of Jesus’ life shines more brightly than His dependence on prayer and communion with His heavenly Father. It is the defining characteristic of His ministry, the strength behind all He said and did. Jesus prayed constantly, at every opportunity. He prayed for sinners, for His disciples, for wisdom and guidance, for His food and water — for everything. And He often went away to be alone so He could listen for the Spirit’s voice without distraction.

Prayer is the portal by which the Holy Spirit is allowed access into our hearts and minds, and any serious inquiry into God’s guidance and direction must begin with this simple act of communication.

When we pray, we can be completely honest. Jesus knows our hearts, our motives, our thoughts, our sins and struggles. He fully understands our pain and temptation: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Jesus understands us much better than we understand ourselves. He made us and lived among us. He knows what we are going through. And part of our being an effective tool for Christ is being willing to open up our hearts and souls to Him — allowing Him to share with us in our successes and failures.