Category: Prayer


Entering the Third Heaven

Filed under: Jesus is the Most Holy Place, Possess the Vision, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, Uncategorized — 2 Comments
April 2, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

In our “A-Visit-to-Heaven,” postings last week we presented a video where a minister claimed that he had gone to heaven on several occasions.  In it he talks about being in the third heaven and references Paul’s claim to have been in the third heaven as well. In this video he makes several comments about what it is like in all three heavens.

We of course have been using the Tabernacle of Moses as a prophetic model of Jesus Christ for quite some time. We have also been stating that the three chambers of the Tabernacle are prophetic of the three relationships we can have with God. These types of relationships come with there own set of support capabilities here on earth and there own privileges in heaven or in the spiritual realm. These postings can all be referenced by going to the home page of this web site and clicking on the hyperlink that leads you to these postings. Alternatively, a good posting to start with is: The-Tabernacle-is-Prophetic-of-Jesus.

The fact that a third heaven exists is communicated in the following scripture:

It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.  Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me (2 Cor 12:1-6.)

Like Paul I believe that is not profitable for me to boast, so just let me say that I also know of a man caught up in the third heaven, which is also called the heavenly Holy of Holies by some people. The following passages describe what happened.

Searching For the Holy of Holies

Years ago this man attended a bible study on the Tabernacle of Moses. The bible study group met once a week and the study went on for months.  The classes were very informative, and all gained significant insight into the tabernacle of God through this teaching of the scriptures. For example, we learned about the blood sacrifices and how, where and why they were conducted. We learned about the golden lamp stand, golden altar of incense, the table of showbread and the brazen laver. We learned about the arc of the covenant, what it contained, and what it represented. In addition, we learned about the golden cherubim between the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence was to be found.

The Tabernacle Courtyard

Each week we were presented a teaching for about an hour on a new aspect of the Tabernacle. This was followed by a prayer service, and we would pray that the people in the class would enter into the Holy of Holies. There were many breakthroughs reported by various people who attended, and some were even healed of significant illnesses.

During the classes this man developed a desire to enter into the Holy of Holies. He started praying every night as he lay in bed that God would grant him the privilege of entering into His secret place. He often prayed for hours, or until he fell asleep.

One night after one of these services he went home to bed and prayed with an increased determination to enter the Holy of Holies. He must have dozed off because when he awoke his clock read 2 a.m. He dozed off again and had a very unusual experience. He found himself traversing his way through the stars of the universe. He scanned the stars around him and noticed that there was one star that was slightly brighter than all the others. Somehow he knew that if he focused on it directly that he would enter into the passageway to the Holy of Holies. He knew that this was his chance so he turned and focused directly on the star with determination. He then was instantaneously transported to the location of that star. It was as if everything around him simply sucked him up and catapulted him across space and time and in the blink of an eye, bam, he was there.

As he looked up in this new place he could see the cloud of God’s power that stretched across the horizon in all directions as far as the eye could see. From this observation he thought that God’s power was infinite. He could also hear the sound of God’s power which sounded very much like the hum of an electrical power station, only much louder and somehow, mellower. By some unknown means, he also knew that God’s power was resting at the time. However, even at rest this power was strong enough to shake the ground [ii] so violently that he could not longer stand on his feet. He was in awe of God’s power and thought to himself, “if this is the awesome power of God at rest, then woe to those who arouse Him to anger.”

 

The Power of Prayer

Then, he found himself in a place where there were many others, but he could not see them clearly, for they were shrouded by a light, misty cloud of some kind. It was as if each entity was a point of light, and awesomely there were billions of them arranged in circles around God. God appeared as a giant ball of light in the center of everything. He could hear them as they were praising and worshiping God in song all around Him. The was a profound unity there as the billions were all giving fourth something like a song without words, like a series of musical notes.There was emotion in this music, it was a sound of awe and total surrender at the greatness of God. It was a song of blissful love. On and on this blissful music went in perfect harmony, in a way that can not be described in our current human form. 

It looked like the universe of stars in orbit around a central sun except that the stars were arranged something like loosely configured rings of Saturn. He could hear voices and conversations praising God, and he also wanted to join in very much. At first he found it strangely difficult to open his mouth. After working on this task for a while he was successful in opening his mouth but when he attempting to speak, the words did not come out. Instead of words vomit came spewing out his mouth. This discharge apparently triggered something that he did not understand because everything closed up around him as quickly as he had arrived. He was once again sucked up by the environment around him and transported across space and time back to where he started. He awoke in bed and looked at the clock again, it read 4 a.m and he marveled that the whole journey had seemed like just a few seconds. He knew then that he was not ready to enter into the Holy of Holies but because of his steadfast prayer and desire, God had granted him a look at the promise to come.

[ii] Psalms 29:8  The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.


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A VISION OF A WHITE DOVE

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Possess the Vision, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, the Holy Spirit — 4 Comments
February 22, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

A VISION OF A WHITE DOVE

It all started with an experience I had while in a prayer group meeting with members of my church. It was a vision of the bride of Christ. So, in our recent postings I have communicated what I experienced. In these postings I have communicated a vision of the bride of Christ that reveals her attributes, nature and mission.

The Power of Prayer

This prayer group experience was preceded by my surrender to God and a promise to do what ever He wanted. So, God had me on the fast track, so to speak. In my prior two postings I have communicated my experience of hearing the audible voice of God call my name. I also communicated that I saw a vision of a straight path that I was given. An artists drawing of the straight path can be found on the top of this page. This path leads to the glory of God that is on the horizon. Today’s posting is a vision of a white dove.

One day an evangelist came to minister to our church. My wife and were quite impressed with him when we went to church on Sunday and we were quite excited to hear that he was going preach at several special services during the week. We wanted to attend each of these services but that would require that I drive 50 miles across the heart of downtown Los Angeles. The commute time alone would be an hour in each direction minimum. I did have some flexibility in my schedule however, so I planned to take an early lunch, attend the service for about an hour, and then return to work. I would then stay late to make up for the lost time. So I decided to give it a try.

Giving such an effort to grow closer to God, frequently results in marvelous consequences, and sure enough, something glorious happened while I was driving down U. S. Interstate 5 to one of the services that week. As it happened, my mind was wandering as I drove in heavy traffic when suddenly I noticed a white dove in the distance. It was flying straight toward me, coming directly down the lane in which I was driving. As far as I could tell, it was pure white. As it approached, I could see its eyes, and it seemed that it was looking straight at me. I also noticed that it was flying very fast because its wings were flapping extremely fast.

Then, the thought occurred to me that the dove was flying directly toward my windshield. I braced myself as it approached, thinking that it was about crash into the car. But, it swooped at the last second just inches away. This is the way that the Holy Spirit manifested Himself to me that day.

I now see this as a sign that the Holy Spirit will support the earnest efforts of people to find God.

 


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GOD KEEPS ON TALKING

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Possess the Vision, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — Leave a comment
February 7, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read the truly amazing life story about how the forces of good and evil battle over a man and the vision that God gives him. Joseph W. Gordon’s Possess the Vision (Xulon Press, $12.95, 140 pages, ISBN 1-59781-205-6) tells about the mysterious spiritual experiences that occur throughout his lifetime.

GOD KEEPS ON TALKING

In our recent postings we have provided a basic understanding of the bride of Christ. In these postings we have illuminated a vision of who the bride is and in doing so, have adequately revealed her mission as taking up the work that Jesus did on earth. We started all of this because of my experience of being a part of the bride in a prayer group meeting.

The Power of Prayer

If you recall, we were getting involved in personal relationships at a new church God had moved us to from half way across the country. Prior to this I had surrendered to God and promised to do what ever He wanted. The vision of the bride of Christ was but just the first of many communications that were to come from God in short order. All of them are supernatural, and because of this they are for the most part totally unbelievable to most people in the world. In today’s posting we start with a message delivered by the auditable voice of God.

THE VOICE OF GOD

One day, I was out on the deck soaking up some sun and looking at the ocean. After fifteen minutes, I decided that I had enough sun and started back inside through the doorway leading from the loft. As I proceeded through the doorway I heard a powerfully masculine and yet gentle voice say, “Joe Gordon.” It was as if everything else stopped when the voice spoke. While it was speaking, everything started moving in slow motion—time itself was slowing down. While it was speaking, I could hear nothing else. I knew that it was the audible voice of God. I lost control of my muscle function, and my entire body turned as limp as a jellyfish. My legs stopped moving at the precise moment that the voice began, and my knees started to crumble as I fell forward through the doorway. My forward momentum carried me on a collision course with the glass top of the pinball machine that was just inside the loft door.

Amazingly, my muscles regained their strength at the very instant the voice stopped. It stopped just in time to enable me to get my hands and arms in position to brace my fall against the metal edge of the pinball machine. I had adverted injury that could have been substantial had I not regained my strength at the last moment. I got my feet and legs back under me and gradually stood up straight, looking around the room for a visible manifestation of God. I saw nothing but the things in the room. I waited silently for more words from God but none came. I did not know what to do. So, I responded in the same manner as the prophets of God in the Bible. I said, “Here I am Lord,” but there was no answer. My heart was pounding as I stood perfectly still, hoping that the voice would return. I wondered if there would be a message or direction from God. Still, there was only silence. Eventually, I slowly walked off, being very puzzled.

I started thinking about the voice that for a moment had nullified my strength. It was so perfect, and I could not help but wonder about it. How could the voice be so powerful yet so gentle at the same time? This voice displayed perfect pace and enunciation as well. The inflections of the voice seemed to convey a type of call but otherwise did not evoke any other kind of emotion. It was devoid of anger or agitation. It was a voice of peace. I did not know what to make of a voice that simply called my name and uttered nothing more. I would get additional insight into this event the very next day.

In an effort to get closer to God I had made a commitment to read the Bible every day. It became my habit to get up very early each morning and read prior to prayer. I had set a goal of reading the entire Bible from cover to cover. At the time, I had already finished the entire New Testament and was almost half way through the Old Testament. The following scripture was one of the passages I read

the next morning:

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, oh Jacob and He who formed you, oh Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you (Isaiah 43:1–2).

This scripture was the confirmation of what had happened in my life. Chills ran up and down my spine as I realized that God had just called me by my name. I belonged to Him now, and if I did not know it before I now knew that He would be with me through all the difficult times ahead. He was with me at that moment, and would be there throughout my future. He would be there for my walk toward His plan.

Read the truly amazing life story about how the forces of good and evil battle over a man and the vision that God gives him. Joseph W. Gordon’s Possess the Vision (Xulon Press, $12.95, 140 pages, ISBN 1-59781-205-6) tells about the mysterious spiritual experiences that occur throughout his lifetime.


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WHO IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST?

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Jesus, New Jerusalem, Possess the Vision, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 7 Comments
January 13, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

WHO IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST?

In our prior posting I communicated that I attended a prayer meeting in which I spiritually became one with the bride of Christ. Later, as things were to unfold this experience proved to be critical in the development of what God wants us all to be a part of during our remaining time hear on earth. In essence, this prayer group experience becomes a corner stone to the vision communicated in the book, “Possess the Vision.” Because of all of these facts, and since we plan to present this vision to you in later postings, it would seem appropriate at this point to delve into the scriptures and glean additional insight into who the bride of Christ is.

The bride is the cumulative body of Christ, formed of the redeemed of the Lord: 

But, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:15 – 16). 

This statement ties in with my prayer meeting experience when I perceived the bride to be the accumulation of all the righteous of the Lord into one body, wherein each person is like a single atom of that body. Each individual has its own function and purpose but is at the same time is linked together will all others, such that they function as one body toward the accomplishment of the Lord’s mission.

The bride is pure and holy. She is a gift to God, perfect in every way:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25 – 27). 

This statement also ties in with my prayer meeting experience as I experienced the bride preparing herself for the union with Jesus. She did this by making her garments perfect and pure and by meditating on all the reasons that she is in love with Jesus.

Jesus spoke to His disciples about the bride in the following passage:

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:2 – 6).

In this passage Jesus states that He will come again and take His disciples into Himself. Therefore, the two become one and this is symbolic of marriage where the two are proclaimed to be one. Since Jesus also describes the building of many mansions in the statement above, there must be enough people to occupy these many mansions to comprise the entire city of the holy Jerusalem, which is clarified in the scripture below:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ”Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God (Revelation 21:9 – 10).

 

So the bride of Christ is the holy Jerusalem that descends out of heaven from God. This passage confirms that the Lamb (Jesus,) has a wife and therefore is married. In our next posting we will drill down a bit into the bride’s preparation.

 

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The Spiritual Realm of the Bride of Christ

Filed under: Bride of Christ, Jesus, Possess the Vision, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 6 Comments
January 11, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Read the truly amazing life story about how the forces of good and evil battle over a man and the vision that God gives him. Joseph W. Gordon’s Possess the Vision (Xulon Press, $12.95, 140 pages, ISBN 1-59781-205-6) tells about the mysterious spiritual experiences that occur throughout his lifetime.  

The Spiritual Realm of the Bride of Christ

 We had made some new friends at church and they in turn, introduced us to a prayer group meeting that they knew about. It was being hosted by another couple who attended our church. During this meeting, I had an experience where I kept hearing a series of words over and over again in my head. I wanted to memorize these words and the repetition helped me do this.

The Power of Prayer

 In addition, I had thoughts and memories that were not mine. I had the distinct understanding that they were the thoughts of the bride of Christ on her wedding day. It was as if I was inside the bride of Christ. The following passage is what I remember experiencing during the meeting:

We were alone in a beautiful room. It was a quiet time; a time of preparedness, for there was to be a great event of which none can compare. There was joy and happiness. There was anticipation, for we are the source of celebration. We are the focus of attention. There is no sound in the room, just the song of rustling linen.

 

The quiet is good for reflection upon the images of the old world. There were trials, tribulations, and threats of war. In looking back, there were wars, earthquakes, storms, floods, disease, famine, pestilence, and sin. The earth was fouled. There was war with Satan, and then the victory of souls. Eventually, confrontation came with the beast and the final victory—the deliverance and unity of the saved. 

We are a new creation! We are the culmination of saved souls. We are one being comprised of many in the perfect image and likeness of God, assembled like the atoms of the bodies we once knew. There is great unity and power in the new creation. There is ecstasy in the bride. Every soul that exists in the bride shouts with joy, for we all know that we confessed Him. We all know that we changed our sinful ways for Him. We all obeyed His commandments, and we all loved Him. We are so united when we think of Him.

 

How many times did He forgive us? How many times did He heal us? How many times did He save us from evil or keep us from harm? How endless is His love? Truly, this is our hour. The preparation is complete.

 

Someone knocks at the door. It is the Father, and He is beaming. He holds out His arm, we take it and walk arm in arm. We enter the great hall where the floor is as a single dark green emerald. In this room, the pews are crystal,29 the walls are gold, and there is no ceiling, just the sky. The seats are filled with the winged angels, dressed in white. They are all gazing at us while singing the wedding song in seven-part harmony. We look for Him, but the aisle is too long to see the end. We walk, and we walk.

 

We see Him! JOY! JOY! He is very handsome as He smiles a big smile, and we see heaven in His eyes. We keep walking, and then we are there. The Father presents the bride. Jesus holds out His hand. Our heart sings as we take His hand.

 

The angel, Gabrielle, conducts the ceremony, but we can think of nothing but Him. We say, “I do.” We hear, “You may kiss the bride.” Anticipation! He comes closer, facing us. He lifts the veil, draws closer and embraces us.

Jesus is the Light of the World

Cheers and celebrations! We turn to face the assembly. We walk down the aisle. The angels are delirious. They sing, they fly, and they cause great explosions in the sky. A new, larger sun rises30 over the altar behind us. A new world awaits us.

During the prayer meeting, I spoke words very similar to these for all to hear. These are the thoughts and words that I received from God and spoke in prayer at the meeting that day. Despite having spoken these words, I had no previous knowledge of their foundation. I did not know anything about the bride of Christ. Indeed, I did not even know that there was such a thing. I had no idea what I was doing or experiencing.  

When it came my time to pray, I had simply repeated the words that God had given me just moments before. I also thought that they were special enough that I wrote them down when I got home. Not immediately, but over the course of several years I began to see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Review – SIGNIFICANCE TO THE VISION

In the postings of the past several months, I have been telling about the spiritual attack that brought me to be brink of death on multiple occasions. An attack that even took me to the other side of our human reality, into the spiritual realm that exists beyond our death. I experienced hell, the lake of fire, the devil and the judgment day while outside my body.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

When I returned I though all of this was a really bad dream but the reality was that the devil kept attacking me time after time until I finally surrendered to God.

 I finally told God that I would do whatever He wanted and He gave me a vision of an earth filled with Jesus that was a beautiful, ever blooming flower. Still unaware that He was moving in my life, God relocated me to a place where I could learn more about the vision He has shown me, and He blessed me all along the way. He drew me to the exact church and ministry where I would find the vision. Shortly after I arrived there I publicly surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and at that moment, a major victory was won in the heavenly realm.

From this point forward there would begin a steady flow of messages designated to instill in me an understanding of the vision God wanted me to possess. I did not understand much of this yet, and a lot would come later with the writing of my book, “Possess the Vision.”

Starting with this posting we will introduce more of the spiritual experience that led to the development of the Vision statement foundation, and we will also look at the scriptures that support them as well.

 

Read the truly amazing life story about how the forces of good and evil battle over a man and the vision that God gives him. Joseph W. Gordon’s Possess the Vision (Xulon Press, $12.95, 140 pages, ISBN 1-59781-205-6) tells about the mysterious spiritual experiences that occur throughout his lifetime.  

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Twilight Zone Realities

Filed under: ESP, Possess the Vision, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 10 Comments
July 7, 2010

Twilight Zone Realities

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

In a previous posting (Possess-the-Vision) I communicated that I was going to present a number of spiritual experiences of my life that led to the creation of the Possess the Vision Mission Statement (PTV Mission-Statement.) This is one of them.

When I entered high school I started lifting weights with my friend Kenny. He had a really good set of weights in his basement and I worked out three to four afternoons a week at his house to get into shape.

We liked to talk about things that can not be explained by our physical science. Things like ESP for example. In particular, we loved to talk about the unexplained things that we watched on the television program called, “The Twilight Zone.” We marveled that these incredible stories were touted as renditions of real life experiences. We were fascinated with ESP and wondered how in the heck someone could know of things that were to come in the future.


One day after our workout we thought that it would be great fun to test our own ESP abilities. Our plan was to test our skills by predicting cards that were pulled from a deck of cards at random. So we tested ourselves and determined that I was quite good at predicting the cards that Kenny pulled from the deck. We kept statistics on the number of correct and incorrect answers and the results were that I had a significantly higher prediction rate (about 50%) than could be explained by simple probability rates (about 4%).

So not being satisfied with this, thinking that perhaps this was just some form of luck, we decided to make our tests more difficult. We were using a Pinochle deck, which contains twenty four unique cards in a deck of forty-eight. This meant that each card in the deck had a twin. So for example, there are identical Kings of Clubs and so on.

So, the plan was that Kenny would cut the deck of cards and keep the entire set that he cut in front of him on the table. I would then also cut the deck from the remaining cards, trying to cut the only card that would match the card at the bottom of Kenny’s set. Remarkably, on the very first try we both cut the exact same card. To say the least, this was a very exciting experience. I felt that we had demonstrated a strong connection here.

We did the same thing three more times and wound up cutting matching cards two of the three times. This was remarkable. I remember my heart beating inside my chest as we continued to cut matching cards. I could also see that my friend was getting a little spooked as well. Our success was actually starting to scare us. It was then that my friend proclaimed that we would do the same thing once again, except this time we would call out the card that we would both cut in advance. I said, “Okay, let’s cut the Queen of Spades.” He cut the cards first and kept them face down on the table directly in front of him. Then I cut from the remaining cards and did likewise. Subsequently, we both turned over our cards at the same time. They were both the Queen of Spades. I remember getting an energy spike in my heart that started my chest pounding. My friend was so spooked by what happened that he got up from the table. He was very keyed up, and he proclaimed that he would never again fool around with ESP. He walked toward the entrance to the living room holding his chest, then turned and called me a freak. He turned again and entered the living room. Dismayed, I took that as an invitation to leave, and I did.


I did not see Kenny much after that. I would come to his house to work out at our regular times but he would not be there. The fact was that Kenney did not want to be my friend anymore. I guess that it is one thing to be fascinated by the thought of ESP experiences and quite another to actually experience them.

Of course, all of this leads us back to the question: “How is all of this Possible?” Based upon my own experiences, I believe that there is a spiritual realm that we can tap into because we are in fact all spiritual creatures encapsulated in physical bodies. When we tap into the spiritual realm we can often see the future because there is no time there.

I believe in God and believe that God has certainly communicated too many people in an effort to deliver His message to the rest of us. Certainly, many of these messages were delivered in the spiritual realm. How else can you explain Jean Dixons warnings to JFK prior to the assassination?  Or even my own JFK experience that I conveyed in “The-Day-Everything-Changed,” posting? These occurrences are not all that rare, although most people decline to talk about them much because of the backlash. The messages come from the spiritual realm in which God exists. They come to help us by warning us of danger or redirecting our path (see Premonition-of-an-Automobile-Accident and My-Encounter-with-a-Brick-Wall.)

So why does it work for seemingly trivial things like predicting a card to be cut from a deck? I’m not sure. One thing I do know is that just like many of my other experiences my path was changed that day. I lost a friend and my life was changed as a result. Was this for my protection? I can’t say. My message to you is to pay attention to the messages that come your way. Seek them out. Pray to be enlightened in the things of God.

If you would like to view any of the past postings on this topic, please feel free to use the following hyperlinks:

Possess-the-Vision

Dad-Comes-Home

Take-a-Leap-of-Faith

The-Meaning-of-Choice

Seeing-the-Devil-at-a-Young-Age

I-Dream-that-i-was-Like-Superman

Premonition-of-an-Automobile-Accident

My-Encounter-with-a-Brick-Wall

The-Day-Everything-Changed

Lights-in-the-Fort-Ord-Sky

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Do We Have the Love of Jesus in our Heart

Filed under: Christian Love, Covenant, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Prayer, Spirituality, the Holy Spirit, The Meaning Of Life — 1 Comment
April 6, 2010

Do We Have the Love of Jesus in our Heart

Continuing our discussion from our past posting we now address another important point. Based on the scriptures presented in that posting, we suggest that the law of the Jews is replaced by the love in the hearts of the true followers of Jesus. To illustrate the case in point, the law states: “Thou shall not commit adultery,” but Jesus teaches us that it is a matter of the heart:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Clearly this is a higher standard that simply refraining from the act alone. This higher standard requires a change in heart, something that the law could not provide.

After all, what kind of heart will not resist an evil person but turn the other cheek? What kind of heart will give a thief both the cloak as well as the coat? What kind of heart will give to those who ask and not turn away? What kind of heart gives love their enemies, blesses those that curse them, does good to people that hate them and prays for those who despitefully use and persecute them?

Disciples Carry Jesus Down From The Cross

It takes a perfect heart. What kind of heart does it take to pray to truly seek and worship God rather than pray for our own selfish desires? What kind of heart will fast simply to shed the bonds of the flesh so as to move closer to God? What kind of heart will turn aside the treasures of the earth in favor of the treasures of Heaven? What kind of heart will sell all they have and follow Jesus? Whose heart will trust Him in all things?

Hearts can only be changed by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

This infilling comes only when we seek to move closer to God, to change our lives and to become more like Jesus. The Holly Spirit comes only to those who seek Him. It is our choice to do so and our actions and commitment reaffirm this desire. God will not come to us uninvited.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

So seek Him with all of you mind, body and spirit.  And pray!

The Power of Prayer

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Christian Love Hopes All Things

Filed under: Christian Love, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Prayer — 14 Comments
February 1, 2010

Christian Love Hopes All Things

If love believes all things (the subject of our prior posting) then most certainly love hopes all good things as well. Hope is the belief in things not yet seen or fully experienced. We live in a world where we have seen and experience many good things, and as a result, we can hope for these good things in the future as well.

However, there are spiritual things that are not often seen or experience in this world. Most of the things in the kingdom of heaven are outside our normal perception on earth.

Jesus is the Light of the World

For example, how many of us can say that we have seen angels or have talked with God face to face as Moses did?

Moses before the Burning Bush

Despite the fact that these types of events are not as frequents as we would like them to be, we have hope that they will be manifest in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones as well. Our hope is that these things will be bestowed upon those who earnestly seek them in love.

I am sure that Jesus had hope for His disciples and all who would follow them because of their testimony. Jesus hoped for the unity of all of His disciples in His Holy Spirit. Jesus hoped that all would receive the glory that He received and that they would be kept from the evil one.

Paul Follows in the Spirtual Warfare of Jesus, even to Death

All of this hope is presented in the following prayer of Jesus:

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:6 – 26)

Jesus prayed for what we all hope for, that we may be one with Jesus, one within the Father, and that the world may know that the Father send Jesus to be the Savior of the world. The answer to this prayer is the love that we all hope for, the love that will provide all good things forever.

We have presented a number of posting that address the principles of Christian Love. Each of them is reinforced by examples taken from the life and words of Jesus. The following list of hyperlinks is provided to help those interested in reading these other postings. Clicking on any of the links below will transfer you to the posting of your choice:

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Never-Fails

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Jesus Sent His Disciples out Empty Handed

Filed under: Jesus, Ministry, Prayer, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
December 2, 2009

Jesus Sent His Disciples out Empty Handed

In scripture, Jesus is reported to have sent His disciples out empty handed denying them the customary clothing, provisions and money required for the success of their mission. In thinking about this for a moment I believe that being sent out empty handed is much more common than one may think. At least for missions that come from God.

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.  And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.” (Luke 10, 1-4)

I think a mission to heal the sick would be deemed impossible by most of the world today.

Saint Peter Healing the Cripple - Raising Tabitha - Masolino

Therefore the lesson of Jesus is clear; to be successful in our God given ministries we must learn to have total faith in God.

After all, only when the world sees the impossible achieved by the power of God will they start to believe our words. This was true for Jesus himself, who performed miracles in support of the words that He spoke to the people. It was also true for the disciples as well. Peter and John healed the beggar at the temple gate for example and the entire congregation took notice of the event.

When the world sees the miracles of God supporting His saints they will become more likely to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

Why would any Jew or Moslem for example, be persuaded to believe in Jesus when all we have is words? It is through miraculous circumstances that the unbeliever will become ripe for the harvest.

The point is that if we are committed to modeling our lives after our Savior Jesus, then we do not need worldly things for the ministry to be successful. If we do not have what is required then we can pray knowing that He will provide what we need.

In fact, we are much better off having an undoubting faith than to have magnificent resources in support of our ministry. Speaking for myself, I believe that the favor of God is a requirement for successful ministry. Without it all the assets of the world can be ineffective.

We should not hesitate to take on a mission that comes from God simply because it has an improbable outcome. After all, what glory is there for God if the world knows that we mortal men have achieved something on our own abilities? If Jesus has sent us out, then we should not worry about our inabilities or limited resources. If He sent us, then He will provide the money, materials, people and anything else we need for that matter. Have faith and stick to the things that He has shown you. Continue on in faith and do not doubt. I tell you He will deliver what is needed at the very last minute. Do not waiver but rather, stand strong and you joy will be great:

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” (Luke 10, 17-20)

In addition, do not try to solve problems in accordance with the ways of man. God deserves all the credit, wait on Him and let Him do the impossible through you. Most of all ensure that you give God all of the glory when He comes through for you.

Finally, when He calls you and sends you out, act quickly, be obedient and do not be distracted from your mission.

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Pray That You Are Sent Into The Harvest

Filed under: Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Prayer, Spirituality — 2 Comments
November 30, 2009

Pray That You Are Sent Into The Harvest

Many of us have daily prayer lists that remind us of the items we in which we desire God’s assistance. So, for example, we pray for health and healing of our loved ones, financial security in our personal lives, salvation of family members and friends who do not know Jesus, and so on. Like so many others, I can testify that praying without doubt often results in miraculous answers from God:

The Power of Prayer

Interestingly, in the following passage Jesus tells us that we should also pray to be sent into His harvest:

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

Remember Jesus statement about, “I am the vine and you are the branches?” In this parable the branches that produce fruit are pruned by the Father such that they will produce more fruit in the future. Branches that are barren will be cut off, cast into the fire and burned. We must be sent into the field that was planted by our Lord Jesus to harvest the fruit that is born of the seed of His life and words. If we do not work in the field of His harvest we can not produce fruit that is pleasing to God. Therefore, pray as Jesus recommended. Pray without doubting that you will be sent into the harvest:

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” (John 4:34-38)

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