Belief and Faith

This is from the blog A Word in Season:

“We having the same spirit of faith…”

2 Corinthians 4:13

In the original Greek, there is very little difference between these two words; belief means “to have faith”, a living faith that draws from God. But very often today the Gospel has been reduced to what a person believes. Salvation is presented as words rather than power. Belief has become a doctrinal concept where the power of God is no longer taken into consideration. We hear “just believe,” as in assenting to a phrase and a concept; it matters little whether or not the “belief” is accompanied by change. Somehow words will ensure our relationship with God is good regardless of any transformation or not. It becomes no different than the offerings of any other religion where you pray multiple times a day the same repetitive prayer, or follow certain rules and procedures, or travel to some special location at least once in your life, or any number of empty mantras.

Belief (in our day) is what a person understands and mentally ascents to; faith is the power to walk in those beliefs. Faith is the dynamic of God in us demonstrating His Life. Belief is simply the framework of an individual’s concept of God.

“You believe that God is One. You do well;
even the demons believe and shudder.”
James 2:19

James follows this statement with:

“But are you willing to know, O vain man,
that faith apart from works is dead?”
James 2:20

The penetrating question of the Spirit of God is: “Are you willing to know, oh vain man…”? Many in this hour are not willing to know the truth. They hide behind what they believe to justify a dead and impotent faith. The demons believe and tremble, but it is not possible for them, nor for those whose faith is dead, to do the works of God. It takes the inspiration of Faith to know the victory of Christ and the power to walk righteously. Belief allows one to be deceived as to the verity of the condition of their faith. The powers of darkness rejoice in those with no ability to touch the power of a living faith.

The Apostolic ministrations often exhorted the people of God to examine themselves whether they be “IN THE FAITH”.

“Examine yourselves,
whether you are in the faith; test yourselves…”
2 Corinthians 13:5

Paul is not asking what we believe; he is pointedly asking, “are you IN the faith”. Is the faith of God moving you, pressing you, and causing you to walk in obedience? The writer of Hebrews wanted to present to the people of God what faith IS. A simple reading of Hebrews chapter 11 defined faith by what people did, not by what they believed.

It is the error of false teaching that a large part of the church today reduces faith to a statement. People and organizations often seek to define and validate themselves by these statements of faith rather than understanding that what they DO is their statement of faith. A faith that produces nothing is worth nothing. A faith that is not costly to walk in, which does not bring repentance and growth in our personal lives, is the bane of religion.

It is not what we believe, it is how we conduct ourselves. Faith produces a life that will cause others to glorify our Heavenly Father. Jesus says to the multitude:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16

Notice the connection Jesus makes between light and works. His Light shines forth from His Works in and through us. Those who carry Him in their lives cannot be bereft of works.

The great deception of our day is that if I believe right, I am therefore right with God. The true ministration of the Sword of the Spirit will bring to us the burning question, “are you willing to know”?

“But are you willing to know, O vain man,
that faith apart from works is dead?”
James 2:20

It is imperative that we desire the truth of God for ourselves. Our works, our daily walk, and our internal thought life are the revelation of our faith. John pleads with the people of God to not be deceived.

“Little children, let no one lead you astray;
he who is doing righteousness is righteous,
even as He is righteous…”
1 John 3:7

God is very clear concerning righteousness; he who is DOING righteousness is righteous. Doing righteousness is revealed in our walking in forgiveness, casting down vain imaginations, freeing ourselves from jealously, envy and lust. Giving of our time, our resources and the secret prayer life where we find grace to bless those who despise us, exclude us from their company, and walk free from the temptations of all this world has to offer.

“But are you willing to know, O vain man,
that faith apart from works is dead?”

May we allow the penetrating work of the Holy Spirit to keep us in the living relationship by the power of a faith where the love of God produces the works of God in our lives.

Note: There are many scriptures that use the word “belief” in reference to salvation; for example:

“For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness…”
Romans 10;10

The phrase “unto righteousness” is key. It is not by a powerless belief that salvation is secured; it is a belief that brings the heart unto righteousness. How we have misinterpreted these verses as if a mental assent is all that is required. Religion rests in words, God’s power is revealed in transformed lives.

My life as a hopeless addict. associated with gangs and living on the streets, needed far more than words, something beyond confessions and teachings. His coming to me personally, imparting to my miserable existence the breath and wonder of His own LIFE transformed me in that instant, and by his grace continues to change me. I will forever be indebted to the One who found me and saved me. That is the Gospel!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth INTO (the true Greek meaning) Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”
John 3:16

The end result of believing INTO Him is “everlasting LIFE”!

AMAZING GRACE!

Brian Troxel

Believers in Hell - David Pawson

A Wall of Fire - Divine Protection

This is from What Saith the Scripture?:

The current fighting in Central Africa is a regional war which now involves eight African countries. Last summer it spilled over into Congo where American Baptist Missionaries have remained. The genocide and senseless killings in some areas have occurred so often that many in the Western world have become immune to the tragedy in this part of Africa. But God's people have been praying and He responds in sometimes miraculous ways. The following story did not make the evening news.

Tutsi soldiers had broken down the door of a young pastor's house and stood poised to slaughter by machine gun fire, him and his entire family right where they sat. Their intent was to massacre the civilians in this Hutu village. "Wait! the young man implored, would you not allow my family and I a moment to pray before we die?" I can almost picture the sneers on the face of these soldiers as they watched this family, an African couple and their young children soberly kneel, arm in arm, in a circle on the floor and pray to God for mercy. The remarkable thing is that the expected shots never came. After praying, the family slowly stood up and saw that the soldiers were gone, not only out of their house but away from their village as well. It was not until several months later they found out just what had happened.

At a church meeting in another town where Christians from both sides had gathered to pray, this young pastor told his story and the seemingly miraculous way in which the soldiers "just disappeared from his house and village."

"I think I can explain," came a quiet voice from the back of the room... spoken by one of the Tutsi soldiers who had been there that fateful day. "You see," said the soldier, "I was there when we broke into your house. I was one who had your children lined up in my rifle site as you kneeled and prayed... when suddenly a wall of fire, fierce and ferocious, jumped up and surrounded the lot of you. We couldn't even see beyond the flames. Due to the intense heat and fire, we knew the house would burn down so we fled. When we went outside and saw your home consumed by fire and yet not destroyed, we fled the village as well. Later I realized that this was not the type of fire we are familiar with, but a fire sent by God. If this is how your God responds, I want to know Him too! I am tired of the fighting and the killing... this is why I came tonight."

Miracles abound in war torn Central Africa. Prayer is, and will always be, the only response to the tragedies and crises in our lives.
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A mighty fortress is our God...

"For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a Wall Of Fire round about, and will be the Glory in the midst of her" (Zechariah 2:5).

The Fire of the Lord
Samuel Kaboo Morris
God's Protection in Battle
Prophetic Vision of Joseph Ayo Babalola
No Weapon Formed Against Thee Shall Prosper

Samuel Morris - The African Mission to North America

Our God is a Consuming Fire

John G. Lake - The Presence of God Kills Disease

Ex-devil worshipper, John Ramirez, says he couldn't touch Christians who had the Holy Spirit

Peace with God means Conflict with the World

Jurgen Moltmann, German Reformed Theologian

This is from the blog A Word in Season:

“That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”
 
― Jürgen Moltmann

The World is the Battleground

Kierkegaard: "how highly do you value God's Word?"

Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855

This is from the blog Dover Beach:

“…how highly do you value God’s Word? Imagine a lover who has received a letter from his beloved. I assume that God’s Word is just as precious to you as this letter is to the lover. I assume that you read and think you ought to read God’s Word in the same way the lover reads this letter. Yet you perhaps say, ‘Yes, but Scripture is written in a foreign language.’ Let us assume, then, that this letter from the beloved is written in a language that the lover does not understand. But let us assume that there is no one around who can translate it for him. Perhaps he would not even want any such help lest a stranger be initiated into his secrets. What does he do? He takes a dictionary, begins to spell his way through the letter, looks up every word in order to obtain a translation. Now let us imagine that, as he sits there busy with his task, an acquaintance comes in. He knows that the letter has come, because he sees it lying there, and says, ‘So, you are reading a letter from your beloved.’ What do you think the other will say? He answers, ‘Have you gone mad? Do you think this is reading a letter from my beloved! No, my friend, I am sitting here toiling… with a dictionary to get it translated. At times I am ready to explode with impatience; the blood rushes to my head, and I would just as soon hurl the dictionary on the floor – and you call that reading! You must be joking! No, thank God, as soon as I am finished with the translation I shall read my beloved’s letter; that is something altogether different.’… All the scholarly preliminaries were regarded as nothing but a necessary evil so that he could come to the point – of reading the letter from his beloved… Let us assume that this letter contained not only an expression of affection, but also a wish, something the beloved wanted her lover to do… the lover… he is off at once to fulfill his beloved’s wish… think of God’s Word. When you read it in a scholarly way, with a dictionary or a commentary, then you are not reading God’s Word… If you happen to be a scholar, then please see to it that even with all your learned reading you do not forget to read God’s Word. If you are not a scholar, rejoice! Be glad that you can listen to God’s address right away! And if in the listening you hear a wish, a command, an order, then – remember the lover! – off with you at once to do what it asks.”

--Soren Kierkegaard

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This is my comment:

We read the Scriptures in faith: faith in God, not faith in our intellects. Or we could say that the Lord uses our intellects to read the Bible and uses the Holy Ghost to give us spiritual understanding. The Bible is spiritual–it is inspired by the Holy Ghost. We must read the Bible, so that the Holy Ghost can engraft the Scriptures into our spirit. 

I John 2: 27: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

The Scriptures engrafted into our spirit is fertile ground; the Scriptures engrafted into our brain is death.  Head knowledge kills; Holy Ghost knowledge (revelation knowledge) gives live.

II Corinthians 3: 6: “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”

The Spiritual Man
Man Reasons, but God Reveals
Physical Sight and Spiritual Sight

Leftists Attack Melania Trump's Invocation of 'The Lord's Prayer'

President Donald Trump with First Lady Melania Trump

By Breitbart News

After First Lady Melania Trump opened President Donald Trump’s campaign rally Saturday in Florida with “The Lord’s Prayer,” she was savagely attacked by leftists on social media, disparaging her for her religious faith, her accent, and other things.

From Fox News:

Leftists on social media tore into First Lady Melania Trump, mocking her accent and religion and branding her everything from a hostage to a whore – all for the secular offense of reciting “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Melania Trump began President Trump’s rally Saturday in Florida by delivering the prayer, which Christians – many of whom recite the prayer in church each week – believe was first said by Jesus Christ. The crowd at Orlando-Melbourne Airport received the prayer enthusiastically.

Left-leaning social media users were a different story, however.

Breitbart
Donald Trump for President
Donald Trump is a Friend of Israel
Two Dreams with Donald Trump

Broken . . .Crushed . . .Qualified?

This is from Bringing Back Brotherhood Ministries:

Broken..Crushed…and now we are Qualified?

Has the world fallen down around you? 

Is the pressure of the world becoming too much to bear? 

Does every move that you make forward seem to be canceled out by adversity and obstacles?

Have you come to the place of brokenness?

“The breaking of the outward man is the basic experience of all those who serve God. This must be accomplished before He can use us in an effectual way” (Watchman Nee).

The painful and hard moments that push us past our limits are not destroying us. If we choose to look upon these experience through a different perspective we may see that the tool of trouble is not destroying us but shaping us. Each moment of adversity that we overcome builds a new found strength. Each trial that we overcome develops our character. Each experience equips us with a resource of wisdom earned through tribulation.

Only then after suffering great loss does one have the heart to come along side another who suffers the same. Only one who has been through pain will be welcomed into the painful moments of another’s crisis. Only after experiencing all of these things can we truly see our need for God as our true source of strength and hope.

We, the broken, stand firm upon a foundation that is unshakable and unbreakable because it is not made by human hands. We the sinners, can reach out to others not because we are worthy but because we have been forgiven. 

We the scarred post traumatic souls can share our burdens with others thereby lifting their spirits. We, who were once lost, can help seek out our brothers and sisters in solitude and truly identify with their hearts.

We, through pain and brokenness, have become qualified in such a way that no one else with degrees or certifications can compare. For we can learn more from those who have faced calamity, suffered great loss, battled addictions, and dealt with difficulties than pious who have never walked a mile in our shoes.

We can truly “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)

For we have been there, in brokenness, but we reside there no longer and we are equipped to journey into another’s pain without being destroyed by it. We have the peace of God that passes all understanding. So when others don’t understand your pain, seek out those have been there and who have the peace that passes all understanding.

We have a comforter like no other, for God has brought us through our trials with His comfort, and providing those who comforted us during our pain. Now our trial, our pain, and our difficulty have made us qualified to help others in a way that no one else can. For when we look in their eyes and say “I know how you feel”; you can honestly say that you do…

God bless the broken heart spirits who take the time to lift up others who are going through the same struggle. 

Andy Starnes 

He Who Belongs to God Hears What God Says

Photo:  Henrik Lundh III

This is from the blog The Lord Is With Us:

Written April 21, 2015

Authentic ministers of God’s word are not taught it by man; we receive it by revelation from God, learning it directly by His Spirit, which is one with ours by faith in Christ (see Gal. 1:11-12; 1John 2:20, 27; 1Cor. 6:17). God brings revelation and teaches us most often as we meditate on His word. Jesus of Nazareth heard from God this way also (see Luke 4:16-21, perhaps in a new light). Recall that He told the Jews My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. (John 7:16). He described himself as … a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. He then told them, He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear from God is that you do not belong to God. (8:40, 47).

Mere “head knowledge” of God and His word is insufficient to save or sanctify us, regardless of what our deceived natural self asserts: behold the religious Jews whose self-righteousness prevented them from seeing that they were persecuting the Messiah. The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63). Effectual ministers of God’s word must not only hear the Spirit, but listen to what He says and act in accordance with Him (see Rev. 2, 3; Mt. 7:24-27; James 1:22-25; 2:17; Ro. 8:5, 13).

Now, please pay careful attention to what follows. Like Jesus and Saul of Tarsus before us, we who receive and respond to God’s unique call on our lives must beware consulting with flesh/tradition about such matters, lest the natural realm deter us from obeying the heavenly vision. Fellowship and receiving what the Lord tells us through others is essential, but we must carefully discern what is the Lord and what is not, and move only as He moves us. 

Men of God, apostles even, can unintentionally misdirect others by what remains of their flesh. Recall these words: But when God… was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus (Gal. 1:15-17). God’s call on Saul’s life to preach Christ to the Gentiles was drastically different from what the other apostles had heard from Him at that time; in all likelihood, they might have considered Saul to be deceived and dissuade him. Let us thank God for His gracious gift of discernment and use it!
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I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 
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Acts 26:19b-20

Daniel stopped the mouth of lions

This is from the blog Daily Meditation:

Daniel 6:20: And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

The people who surround Daniel were envious of him because he was about to be elevated above them. They formed themselves into an investigative panel so that they can look for fault with him. They made a thorough search of issues concerning him but saw that he was blameless (Daniel 6).

They decided that they their only alternative is to create a conflict that does not exist before between Daniel’s commitment to the God of Israel and the law of the Medes and Persians.

They made the king set up a law that no one should pray to any other god except the King for period of 30 days and anyone who disobeyed will be fed to the lions. Daniel would immediately contravene that law by praying to God facing Jerusalem as he used to. And of course he was arrested and thrown into den of lions. But God saved him.

He explained later that God whom he served unflinching and who supports him unbendingly, sent his angels to save him from the lions.

And in a classic case of one with God being a majority, the king fed the people who schemed against Daniel and their families to the lions. They were paid back in their own coin. They fell into the trap they have laid.

Because Daniel was focused on obedience to God, he shut the mouth of the lions. And in your case, what is meant to devour you will only promote you when you stand in faith. That was what happened with Daniel. What was meant to crush him crushed his adversaries.

The writer of the book of Hebrews obviously referred to Daniel, when he said by faith some people shut the mouth of lions (Hebrews 11:33). That shows that underneath the whole drama of Daniel going to and coming from the lions’ den, his faith was in operation.

What is meant to bring you down will only take you up when you are in faith. Faith uses adversity as soaring board. Faith says that it is not over until you win. When Daniel was thrown into that dark pit of a den full of lions, his adversaries thought that was the end to him. They thought he would no longer be any threat to them or their ambition, that they have rid themselves of him. But God would have none of that.

And Daniel would be given a public recompense of his devotion to God and his enemies will be given a public recompense of their opposition to the man who is with God. The Lord is committed to oppose those who oppose you. You can stand secure in his protection. God said, touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm (Psalm105:15). You are marked by the anointing and you are protected. John wrote that this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith in God (1John 5:4). And greater is he who is in us than the one who is in the world (1John 4:4).

Faith is about bridging between heaven and earth. It presents a possibility above human ability. It activates the activity of angels.

When Jesus was about to be arrested, he said he can ask his father in heaven and he will make available 12 legions of angels to his defense (Matthew 26:53-54). He declined to activate faith to save himself, because of his commitment to go through with dying on the cross to save humanity.

Angels hearken to the word of God according to the testimony of scriptures (Psalm 103:20). So when you put the word of God in your mouth, declaring it over your situation, angelic activities are activated. The words you declare shows that you believe in God and angels get excited when they are around someone who believes in God and his declaration lines up with that.

I know that because when Zechariah, a priest, John the Baptist’s father was before angel Gabriel, he irritated Gabriel by mouthing disbelief to the word of God (Luke 1:18-20). And as punishment the angel said that the priest will be dumb for a season. He said that because he was pissed off by the unbelief of that priest. That was a negative action of the angel.  Faith does the opposite; it activates the positive actions of angels on behalf of the believers.

Faith unleashes enormous power. The bible says that the prayer of faith saves the sick and that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much (James 5:13-18), dynamic in its working and makes tremendous power available. That shows there needs to be present, for tremendous power to be made available, the threesome of righteousness, faith and prayer.

Daniel was standing in faith and his connection to God was without fail, which is righteousness. He was also a man of prayer; he defied the law of the land to go and pray on the pain of death by being eaten alive by lions. Prayer, righteousness and faith were present in his life and the three give forth a formidable combustion of spiritual energy as released by angels.

Righteousness is about a lifestyle that pleases God; faith is stepping out on the word of God, with active expectation that what he says, he will do, and prayer, is focusing the word of God as a laser beam in the realm of the spirit to get the will of God done.

But since God does not hear sinners, it means that righteousness is the core of all these. A life of faith starts with obedience to God, which is another definition of righteousness. There can be no activation of the help of God when you are not right with him. He is holy, remember?

However, the gift of righteousness that we receive from Jesus takes care of any acceptance issues between us and God (2Corinthians 5:21).  In Jesus, we are covered on the righteousness front. And God accepts us as he accepts Christ. The sacrifice he made was because our sin was laid on him, so that according to the logic of divine exchange, his righteousness can be put on us. He didn’t do anything to deserve the cross in the same way that we didn’t do anything to deserve his righteousness.

That, however, is not the same as license for lawlessness (Romans 6:1-2). After accepting the blood sacrifice of Jesus and we are now born again, we need to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4), walk in the truth (3John1:4), walk in the light (1John 1:7), walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Though we start with the gift of righteousness we are supposed to go on from there with the life of righteousness (1John 3:7). Because what Christ gives us is not just a gift, it is a change. We are new creatures (2Corinthians 5:17).

In Jesus we have our righteousness, in him our faith stands firm, and we use his name in prayer. He therefore represents for us victory over the lions of this world, whatever they are, and victory over whatever seeks to consume us.

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"A man with God is always in the majority."

"Let a thing be noted, that the prophet of God sometimes may teach treason against kings, and yet neither he nor such as obey the word, spoken in the Lord's name by him, offend God."

     --John Knox

Had A Dream: That The Global Jewish Community Would Recognize Tanakh’s DANIEL As A Jewish Prophet

No Shame in Stillness

No Shame in Stillness

A Mysterious Tension: Personal Initiative and Divine Timing

A Mysterious Tension:  Personal Initiative and Divine Timing

Holding Course

Holding Course

God's Creative Protection

God's Creative Protection

Small But Mighty

Small But Mighty

A Step Towards the North

A Step Towards the North

Was the Alabama Victory over Notre Dame Prophetic?

[8 January 2013]

Last night I watched the University of Alabama football team run over the University of Notre Dame, 42-14, for the national title.  I probably watched ten minutes of the game.  I am not a follower of Alabama football, but I was rooting for Alabama to win the game.  It was one of the most complete and overwhelming victories in a college football championship game that I have ever seen.

If this victory is prophetic, what does it mean?  The United States has a federal government that is huge, over-reaching and oppressive.  There is a lot of sin in this country.  If people don’t want God in their lives, then the Lord will give them big, oppressive government.  If you don’t want God, you can have the devil.

Several years ago, I was reading a Christian website and someone gave a prophecy that said, “the South will rise again.”  Does this mean that the Confederacy of the Old South will be revived?  No.  I believe this prophecy means that states rights will become a dominant force in our nation’s political and social life.  I believe that certain governors and state legislatures will assert their power and prevent the federal government’s abuses on their people–like ObamaCare.  Barack Obama is another King George III.

The University of Notre Dame represents centralized government.  Ultimately, the Vatican City in Rome has some say in the existence of Notre Dame.  The name “Notre Dame” is French:  Notre Dame was named after a Catholic cathedral in France.  France represents foreign influence or foreign entanglements.

The University of Alabama represents states rights.  The Governor of Alabama and the State Board of Regents oversee the operations of the University of Alabama–not our federal government and not Rome.

I am not baiting Catholics here.  I was raised in a very Irish Catholic family and went to Catholic schools in my youth.  If this game had taken place in 1972, I would probably have rooted for Notre Dame.  I am not a Catholic, I am a Christian.  I don’t care for Roman Catholic structure, but I have met some very devoted Christians in the Catholic Church.

I am not a Southerner.  I was born and raised in Iowa (my favorite football team is Iowa State University).  When I saw the way Alabama ran all over Notre Dame, it really bore witness with my spirit.  It was as if Notre Dame wasn’t even there–and shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

I know that the Lord uses everyday circumstances to show us things and teach us things.  He who has ears to hear (spiritual hearing) will be able to hear what the Lord is saying.  I believe that the Lord used the Alabama victory to encourage American Christians that there will be victory over our abusive White House and federal government in the near future.  Praise the Lord!

For the past few weeks the Lord has been showing me “January 7th”.  It looks like the Lord wanted me to watch the Alabama-Notre Dame game.  God is in the details.

The Forward Pass
The Green Bay Packers and Super Bowl XLV

Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662

Back in 2002 this guy picked me up while I was hitchhiking through Humboldt, Iowa.  A few months later he saw me walking through Estherville, Iowa and showed me Ezekiel 21: 27 (which is very significant to me).  He later sent me a letter and told me about Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) and a book written about him by Karen Armstrong.  I have read maybe one page of Pascal’s Pensees.

Armstrong writes:  “On the night of November 23, 1654, Blaise himself had an experience which lasted ‘from about half-past ten in the evening till about half an hour after midnight’ (November 24) and which showed him that his faith had been too remote and academic.  After his death, his ‘Memorial’ of this revelation was found stitched into his doublet:

          FIRE

          ‘God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob’

          Not of philosophers and scholars.

          Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.

          God of Jesus Christ.

          God of Jesus Christ.

          My God and your God.

          ‘Thy God shall be my God.’

          The world forgotten and everything except God.

          He can only be found by the ways taught in the Gospels.

“This was not the God of the philosophers, but the God of revelation.”

Armstrong later writes:  “Faith, he insisted was not a rational assent based on common sense.  It was a gamble.  It was impossible to prove God exists, but equally impossible for reason to disprove His existence . . . This gamble is not entirely irrational, however.  To opt for God is a win-win solution.  In choosing to believe in God, Pascal continued, the risk is finite, but the gain is infinite.  As the Christian progresses in the faith, he or she will become aware of a continuous enlightenment, an awareness of God’s presence that is a sure sign of salvation.  It is no good relying on external authority; each Christian is on his own . . . Faith is not intellectual certainty, but a leap into the dark and an experience that brings a moral enlightenment.”

Ezekiel 21: 27:  "I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him."

Genesis 49: 10:  "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

Blaise Pascal
Great Creation Scientists: Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
The Computer, Iowa State University and Jane Smiley
Book Review:  High Plains Drifter 
A Sword is Sharpened



A.W. Tozer on Blaise Pascal's "Fire" from Tozer's book Whatever Happened To Worship?:

Page 91:  "Were these the expressions of a fanatic, an extremist?

"No.  Pascal's mind was one of the greatest.  But the living God had broken through and beyond all that was human and intellectual and philosophical.  The astonished Pascal could only describe in one word the visitation in his spirit:  'Fire!'

"Understand that this was not a statement in sentences for others to read.  It was the ecstatic utterance of a yielded man during two awesome hours in the presence of his God.

"There was no human engineering or manipulation there.  There was only wonder and awe and adoration wrought by the presence of the Holy Spirit of God as Pascal worshiped.

"What we need among us is a genuine visitation of the Spirit.  We need a sudden bestowment of the spirit of worship among God's people."

Faith, Revelation, Obedience

Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
23 October 2006

Psalm 118: 22: “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”

Matthew 21: 42: “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”

I Peter 2: 4: “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.”

Matthew 16: 18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

“The head stone of the corner.” “A living stone.” “Upon this rock.” Revelation knowledge. Jesus operated in the power of the Holy Ghost—fresh revelation. A living stone, not a dead stone; abiding-in-the-Holy Ghost revelation, not separate-from-the-Holy Ghost, borrowed revelation. Fresh, not stale. Give us this daily bread; give us this daily revelation. Fresh revelation is like a fast-running mountain stream of cold, refreshing water. Stale, or borrowed, revelation is like disease-infested swamp water.

“Upon this rock [of fresh revelation] I will build my church.” What of the born again people who always resist the Holy Ghost? Talking to them about the Gospel is like talking to dead stones. They have had a salvation experience, but they cannot enter into the Promised Land of the Kingdom of Heaven; they may be in a church, but they are not in the Kingdom of Heaven. Their church (or the doctrines they adhere to) is not built on the power of the Holy Ghost, so the gates of hell will prevail against it. “They had a form of godliness, but they denied the power thereof.” They knew about God, but did not know Him intimately.

Acts 7: 51: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.”

How can we obey the voice of the Lord if there is no revelation? How can there be revelation if there is no faith? If we do not live by faith, we are living in sin. If a man is stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ear that means there is still much carnality and pride in his life. Humility is the fertile soil of faith, revelation and obedience. Faith, revelation, obedience: a trinity, a three-fold cord that is not easily broken—and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Obedience: The Bondage Breaker

The Titanic and the Hand of God

Last night I was in the kitchen watching the film Titanic (1997, directed by James Cameron). I probably watched the first hour of the film when Susie walked in. She said that she had seen the film before. Susie then said something very interesting. She said that John's (her husband) grandfather was in England in 1912 and had bought a ticket to America. He was supposed to leave on the Titanic, but at the last moment, he gave his ticket to someone else. Wow! And, of course, that individual probably perished when the Titanic hit the iceberg and sank. The Lord obviously preserved John's grandfather for a reason.

John's grandfather was a French Basque and he eventually made it to America. He ended up here in the Cedarville, California area. He was sponsored by a rancher and worked as a sheepherder. In my hitchhiking travels, I know that there are a lot of people of Basque descent in Nevada and Idaho.

Back to the Titanic film. There was this scene at the beginning where this wealthy family was getting ready to board the Titanic. This young man was bragging about the greatness of the Titanic and said that God himself couldn't sink her. A few days later, the Titanic was lying on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Pride comes before a fall.

God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. In God's economy, some vessels are created for honor and some vessels are created for dishonor. Example: Moses was created for honor, but Pharaoh was created for dishonor or destruction; Jacob was created for honor, but Esau was created for dishonor; more recently: Winston Churchill was created for honor, but Adolf Hitler was created for destruction. What comes into play in all of this is a tension between God's sovereign will and man's will.  Will man submit to the will of the Father?

The Basque Museum & Cultural Center in Boise, Idaho
Titanic, the Movie:  What God Showed Me
The Titanic, the Church:  A Comparison

Jekyll Island - Titanic - Federal Reserve

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God is Sovereign

2 October 2022

I was watching a video on Operation Barbarossa (World War II) earlier today. At the beginning of the video, the narrator says something very interesting. He said that in July 1944, Winston Churchill was planning on parachuting a sniper into Nazi Germany and have him take out Adolf Hitler. Churchill soon put an end to the plan because he knew that Hitler was a mediocre war leader. Hitler in power was the Allies' best weapon. (Hitler was a corporal in the German Army in World War I, so maybe he did not have an understanding of the strategic aspects of war.)

Operation Barbarossa: The Invasion That Doomed Germany (the first minute ten seconds)

I saw another video a few days ago with David Nino Rodriguez and Gene Ho, the Editor in Chief of George Magazine. Gene Ho said that Joe Biden as the "leader" of the United States has united so many people against the Deep State Democrats and Republicans because he is so incompetent. Everybody knows that Brain Dead, the fake president is a puppet of Barack Obama and George Soros--and they want to destroy the United States.

Gene Ho - Behind the Scenes with Trump

A year or two ago, I saw this documentary Sheep Among Wolves. There is Volume One and Volume Two. It is an excellent documentary of the fast growth of the Christian church in Iran. They interviewed this Iranian who said that when the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, radical Islam became the greatest evangelist for Christianity. Why? Because the people of Iran could see the true face of radical Islam. Now in Iran, the mosques are mostly empty and the Christian church in Iran is the fastest growing church in the world.

Sheep Among Wolves: Volume II (12:10 - 12:50)

If we know the ways of God, sometimes we have to let evil take its course. In time, evil will expose itself and then evil will kill itself. In our daily lives, we continue to live for the Lord and be a witness to those around us, but the Lord has the big picture under control. Satan is on a very short leash.

Psalm 34:21: "Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate."

Isaiah 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

God's Sovereign Power Over All People - Zak Poonen