It Is Time

This year has gone by so fast that we now stand one day away from June 1, 2015. 

We all know that tribulation is coming to this world, however, that tribulation was not meant for us.  The tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble is just that, a cycle change back to Israel away from the Church.  Where is the Church?  Read the book of Revelation and you tell me?  Show me where the Church is mentioned by name as it clearly is in Rev 2-3 anywhere past Rev 5?  No one can show me because the Church is not there.

If the Lord would have me write something, if there is any impression on my spirit it is this:  comfort the Church.  Those who are in Christ who are in right standing (righteousness) with our Lord should not worry, should not fret, should not live in fear at what is coming.

What is the Word of the Lord that this brother would pass on to you?  Here:

2 Peter 2:4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

The Godly will Be Delivered

7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from what?

From this:

from temptation,

πειρασμοῦ

peirasmou

3986

an experiment, a trial, temptation

from peirazó

If that Word looks familiar it should because we also see it here:

Rev 3:10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

of testing,

πειρασμοῦ

peirasmou

3986

an experiment, a trial, temptation

from peirazó

Same exact word.

What has the Lord God said?  Forget what men have said.  Forget all the people who have told us the Word of God does not actually say what is clearly does say in its unaltered form.  What does the Word of God plainly, clearly say?

9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations

The Lord knows how to deliver you from experiment, trial, temptation. 
The Lord will keep you from the hour of experiment, trial, temptation.

Do we really need a 50 page document to tell us what the "hour of trial" is?  No, we do not.  And regardless of what anyone thinks it is, we will be delivered from it.

 Starting tomorrow, it is time for us to prepare unlike any preparation we have done in the past.  Time is short and I do not know when the events we know are coming are going to happen but I do know the signs are everywhere that it is close.  What do I suggest we do?  I suggest we begin (if we have not already) praying for:

1.  All those in Christ
2.  Our families and friends
3.  Ourselves

As obedient children, let us do what we were told to do and let us do it together.  What were we told to do?

36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

 Starting June 2015, here on this blog we can do this together.  I will post prayers along the way that we can pray together, joining our faith and His Word to pray as we were told do in obedience to the Word.  We will approach the Lord in agreement according to His Word below.

19Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 It is time.

grace and peace

The God of All Comfort

3Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 10Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; 11Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

This is the God we serve, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.  Looking back, I see why the Lord had to drag me through trials and tribulations.  It was so I could do the work He has for me today.  That work is to provide a testimony to you from a real person who has been through the fire and came through to the other side to tell you that you too will make it through your fire and come through to the other side.  Then you too will have a testimony to share with others, to comfort and encourage.

Here is my testimony:  our God can be trusted.  He will do what He said He would do if you are faithful and patient.  Yes, most of the time your faith and patience will be tested that is just how He works, but in the end you will have your answer and a testimony.  You will have your peace and mercy and comfort that only our God can provide. 

In a sense this is all quite easy.  Why?  There is no where else to turn.  This world is brutal and merciless, is it really an option to turn to this world for help?  No.  Our God must, can and will come through for us.  He must provide, He must protect or we are all done for.

We all know there are dark days ahead.  So what?  So, 1.  we might not go through the darkest of those days and 2.  Whatever we do have to go through, we will go through hand in hand with our loving, merciful, faithful, comforting Master.  The same God who puts food in our mouth and clothes on our back today, is the same God that can and will do it tomorrow.

If there is one thing I am impressed with from the Lord today it is that His people should take comfort.  Trust Him and see what He will do.  Please remember that our Lord does not take unbelief lightly as if it was something to overlook with a wink and a nod.  No, He considers unbelief evil and wicked:

Hebrews 3:12 See, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from [the] living God.
English Revised Version
Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God:


Do we believe the promises?  We should, we must for our own survival.  Please also remember how little faith it takes to move mountains:

Matt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.


Note with me that you do not have to have faith the size of a mountain.  No, you only need faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain.  You just need a spark.  A way of thinking about your faith is; your faith is like the small flint stone on a bic lighter and we are standing in a room full of flammable gas (the spiritual laws in place around us).  If you continue to spark that little tiny flint stone, you will ignite the entire room....If you continue to ignite your tiny little amount of faith, you will ignite your answer to prayer, your miracle, whatever it is you are asking for.  What did the Lord say?

and nothing shall be impossible unto you.


If you are looking for peace and/or comfort and/or an answer to prayer and/or a miracle, continue to ignite the tiny mustard sized seed of your faith and see what happens. 

You will not be disappointed if you persist in faith and patience.

grace and peace

Everything You Need For Your Miracle

Almost....right here:

Romans 4:19And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: 20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.


1.  He did not consider the physical 'reality' of his situation:

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb

2.  He did not stagger, question, doubt the promises of God:

20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

3.  He was fully persuaded, he knew the Lord could and would act on the promise:

21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

4.  The Lord was please with this ^^ (Abraham received his miracle):

22And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

The only part of the miracle process, and its a big one is remaining in this state in patience.  We must hold onto faith in patience.  That's it.

So when the Lord tells us, promises us this:

Matt 7:7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Are these promises ^^?  You bet they are.  So what must we do?

1.  Do not consider the physical 'reality' of the situation.
2.  Do not stagger, question, doubt the promises of God.
3.  Be fully persuaded, know the Lord can and will act on the promise.
4.  Be patient in faith.

We all need answers to prayers, many of us need miracles.  This nobody who writes to you is always completely in need of the Lord's working hands.  The Lord has shown us the way, let us follow it.

grace and peace

A Lesson In Miracles: From Death To Life

If you are a Christian, you believe in miracles.  The first thing you have to believe is that our Lord died for our sins, then rose from the dead.  Rising from the dead is a miracle.  We also have a hope of a future miracle that when we die we will be like Him.

So we start our journey with this belief that death precedes life.  What you are reading right now is absolutely critical to receiving your miracle:


1 Cor 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

Over and over again we see this pattern yet most people do not receive it because they do not understand it and they abort their miracles through unbelief before they have a chance to be born.

When all worldly hope has died, when windows of wordly opportunity have closed, that is when you should begin believing in earnest for your miracle.

Your faith, your hope and your miracle must be sown in death that they may be raised in life.  The pattern is well established:

1.  Israel was backed up against the red sea with Pharaoh's chariots bearing down on them, did they have any worldly hope of getting out of that situation?  No.  Worldly hope died first, the miracle came second.

2.  Romans 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb

Sarah's womb was dead, that came first, the miracle birth came second

3.  Lazarus: John 11: 5Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was

Now please get this, what do we read?  Jesus loved them!  So what did He do?  He waited two days to make sure Lazarus was dead?  This is the difference between God Almighty thinking and men thinking. 

Death first, miracle second.

How many people abort their miracle the moment the wordly windows of opportunity close?  Once they see the last worldly door slam shut (death) they say "well, that about does it, no miracle for me!"  and when they tell themselves that they abort their miracle.  No faith, no hope=no miracle.

Please understand this as well.  This brother has seen many miracles, glory to God.  This brother writes to you as a testimony that our Lord's miracle working power is as real and active today as it ever was in the past.  When you see the death taking place before the miracle happens, yes it hurts.  The pain is real because the death is real.  However, this is where your miracle begins.

Stop trying to understand your miracle, stop trying to figure it out.  If you could have figured it out you would not need a miracle!  Relax, rest, trust and understand how the Lord works.  Death comes before life.  We understand this as one of the very basics of our faith but when it comes to believing the Lord for other things we just don't seem to piece the puzzle together.  The principle is the same, always, every time.

Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.


You believe that our Lord died, and is risen.  Then you are baptized acknowledging your death and burial with Him that you can also be risen with Him through faith.  Both are miracles!  Now apply this to the miracle you need today.

Watching the death of all worldly possibility is the first step to receiving your miracle.  Death comes before life...

grace and peace




'

Believing For Your Miracle

This writing is to support and encourage those believing for a miracle.

1.  The Lord still does mighty works for His people in the visible, physical realm:

Psalm 27:13  I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.


So when you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, remember and be confident of this:  you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  That means right here in the material world.

2.  Ask, Seek, Knock

Matt 7:7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

The Lord our God cannot lie.  If He said it, He meant it and you can hang onto it like a life rope and not be disappointed just do not let go!

Notice the finality and all encompassing Words the Lord uses:

For everyone who asks receives..

The way ^^ this is written in means everyone with no exceptions.

Yes, there are people who would say "well brother D I have asked for lots of stuff that I did not receive."

To which we should refer to:

Heb 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.


Through faith and patience we inherit the promises.  Matt 7:7 is a promise which means we inherit it through faith and patience.  How many have failed the patience test?  Many.

The Lord knows every detail of our situation.  There is no aspect of it He has failed to consider.  He knows how every possible scenario that might happen in your life will play out.  He is the Master Chessplayer, He knows the last move before He makes the first move. 

In this we can rest with confidence.  Our God who knows all and is all powerful has everything under control even when everything looks completely out of control.  We cannot handle completely out of control but for Him nothing is impossible we just have to let go of our preconceptions and preconditions of how the Lord "has to" answer in any given situation.

He who parts the Red Sea and raises the dead can surely ensure victory for you at the end.  How and when your victory come are completely His domain, not ours.  Chances are good that the way He answers you have not even considered yet.  One thing He has made me confident of after seeing many miracles is if we trust Him, in the end we will look back in victory on our situation and be satisfied.  We will know that He did indeed come through for us according to His Word and our faith.

We have to be patient, and rest in Him.  Miracles by definition are out of our hands.  If the answer was within our power we would not need a miracle.  Our Lord is in the miracle business.  Bring Him your faith, His Word and wrap it all up with thanks and rejoicing for the answer is surely on its way.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

 grace and peace

When You Are About To Give Up

Remember this:

When you have lost what seems to be 500 battles in a row and things don't look good, remember:

2 Cor 5:7 For we live by faith, not by sight

When your strength seems to be at an all time low and you are not sure if you can make it even one more day, look inside yourself and ask if you have enough strength left in you to compare with a speck of sand or said another way:

Luke 17:6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Why are these questions and answers important?  Because you can lose every battle (seemingly) and still win the war.  This works on a micro level (your life) and the macro level (the battle between good and evil God and the devil).  Look around, seems like evil has been winning in this world for a long long time right?  Guess what?  Today it looks worse than ever but we know for a fact we win this war in the end.  Lose many battles but win the war....

If you can find enough fight/faith within you to measure with a mustard seed

then you can win your war (get your prayer/miracle answered).  Why?  That is the way this test which we call our lives has been setup.  Yes, everything is a test.  Everything?  Almost, yes.

1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

What are the test parameters?  Faith over time.  That is pretty much it in a nutshell.  It pleases the Lord to wait in order to test us.

James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing

And when we have been tested, and we have suffered in patience and great emotional and spiritual tribulation and we held on with the last mustard seed sized strength that we had not giving up, that is when out of nowhere, almost instantly our answer/miracle shows up swiftly.  Then we exhale with relief and dance before the Lord with tears and rejoicing.

Is  this ^^ all just theory or theology?  No, this is testimony from a brother who has been there and done that, many times.  Each time repeats the same pattern (more or less).

Its easy to move forward when you are full of strength and energy and everything is going right, but what do we do when things go wrong.  What decision do we make when we are weak and nothing is going right?  Do we hold on in faith with our last mustard seed worth of strength?  I pray that we do because at those moments when we have reached what feels like our last stand, it is those times when our answer is just a heartbeat away.  We can never ever give up.  When we feel the weakest is when the Lord is at His strongest in our lives:

2 Cor 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

It is always darkest just before the dawn.  The Lord is strongest in our lives when we feel the weakest.  Remember that this is a test.  The Lord can give us our answers any time He wants to but He is at work in many different ways in many different lives and each one is unique.  We are being perfected by the fire of patience and suffering in our spirits.  That said, our Father is merciful and tenderhearted towards us.  He knows how much we can handle and He knows how much strength we have.  We are expected to hold out and fight for our answer down to the last mustard seed worth of faith within us.

When you fight the good fight of faith and win:

1 Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

you will have your answer and a testimony to help those who are going through what you are going through now.  Glory to God.

grace and peace

Promises Only an All Powerful All Knowing God Can Make

Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding [in the matter] for which I sent it.

Notice the Lord tells us something and does not have to hem or haw His way around the statement.  Notice what He does not say.  He does not say "sometimes it will not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire."  No, His Word will not (ever) return to Him empty.  His Word will accomplish what He desires.

Which leads us to another similar statement:

Matt 7:7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

This is what our Lord does say.  What did He not say?

Ask and (sometimes) it will be given you.  Knock and (sometimes) shall be opened unto you.  He did not say that.  Only an all powerful all knowing God can make promises like this.

So what?  So either it is true or it is not.  Either our Lord meant what He said or He was lieing.  Which is it?  Did our Lord intent to back up His promises?  We just read His own Word which tells us His Word always does what He sent it to do.

The Word will do what it was sent to do.  The question is will we have the faith and patience to see the promise fulfilled?

Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

What an interesting statement ^^^.  Think about what He says here.  We do not want you to become lazy?  What does lazy have to do with faith and patience?  He is clearly telling us this faith and patience business requires WORK.  Yes, being patient and remaining faithful requires work.

James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

How do we inherit what has been promised?  Through faith and patience and patience is work.  The Lord has promises many many things and He does not fall short on any one of them.  If we would see the promises realized in our own lives we must let patience have her perfect work and we must fight the good fight of faith.

1 Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

So, wrapping this up patience requires work and faith requires a fight.  To inherit the promises we must work and fight our way to them.  Surprising?  What did the Lord tell us?

2 Tim 2:3 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Chris

Eph 6:12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. 13Wherefore take unto youthe whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore,having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparationof the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Armor? Soldier? Fight?

Sounds alot like a war to me, and it is.  Whats the point?

Through faith and patience we will inherit the promises, what the Word was sent to do.  Faith and patience require work and fight.  How many people are willing to work and fight their way to inherit the promises?  As many as want to see the promises fulfilled.

When somebody (like you perhaps) is in the process of working and fighting for their own miracle, they don't want to hear a sermon or hear someone's theory.  They want to hear somebody who has been there and done that, lived through the experience (sometimes many times over) which has resulted in a testimony.

This nobody that writes to you today has a testimony.  That testimony is: the Word is true, our God does not lie.  If we are faithful and patient, if we work and fight for our answer, we will certainly have it.

And what will happen when we ask, then we do receive?  We knock and the door is opened?  The Lord shows us what the experience will be like as we finish with the next verse from Isaiah 55

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth 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.

Yes, ^^^ you will jump, and shout and dance when you get your answer.  I know I did but what you are reading here is meant for you. This nobody was sent to testify to you that the Word that cannot fail to do what it was sent to do is for you and will work with you if you are faithful and patient.  Glory to God.

grace and peace