I would like to take a quick moment in my life to thank all those who sent comments yesterday and encouraging words. I would also like to share that I understand that not everyone who received an email or blog post yesterday, or visited this site, will understand what was said. It is questionable whether I should have shared quite so much of God's revelation to me, but I get excited when God speaks....perhaps this is a weakness, but I believe to mostly benefit my life. I just can't help myself when I have spent time with the Lord of Lords, and He has shown me something magnificent. I understand that I am the only one who knows what my relationship with the Lord is all about, so I just thank those of you who with blind faith were supportive. I agree with those who stated, if it is God, then it will come to pass. Absolutely. We are in a place where we are believing (having faith) in what was heard, and we are putting works to our faith. There a couple of scriptures I wanted to share this morning:
John 10:14 (NKJV):
"I am the good sheperd; and I know my sheep, and am known by My own."
Acts 5:38-39 (NKJV):
"And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it--lest you even be found to fight against God.
1 John 4:1-3 (NKJV):
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which have heard was coming, and now is already in the world."
Joel 2:23-29 (NKJV):
"Be glad then you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given you the former rain faithfully, And he will cause the rain to come down on you--The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. So I will restore to you the years the swarming locust have eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And my people will never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days."
I pray today that God would open your hearts, and that you too would obedient to listen to the Spirit of God within you (if you are a believer) as He reveals the plans and purposes for your own life. I pray that you be obedient to His Word, and the leading of the Holy Spirit, so together we might bring in the greatest harvest of souls this world has ever seen! May God bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
His servant,
Sarah
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
A Move of God...
My faithful and loving family, friends, and readers. My husband, myself and my children have some very exciting news to share with all of you. We will be moving to the beautiful state of Colorado, often referred to as God's country. We will be making the move in the last week of March, or first week of April.
But the bigger news is that this is a move of God's will and because of His divine revelation to us. The Lord put it in my husband's heart over a year ago the idea to get out of the military and move to Colorado. When I first came to Christ, I wanted to be back with my family so much that I wanted to leave my husband and move home (whether my parents knew that or not, I am not sure). We almost got divorced because of my great desire to be with my parents. After committing my life to Christ and deciding to let Him rule and reign in every part of my life in 2007, the Lord began to work in my heart through this need to return home. After awhile, I surrendered my desire to return home to the Lord, and excitedly told Him I would go anywhere He called us to go, and I would be faithful in my walk with Him. For awhile, I looked in every direction, waiting for an answer as to where we would head next - would it be stateside, overseas, Europe, Japan, WHERE in the world was God going to send us WITH the military. Meanwhile, my husband kept talking about getting OUT of the military and it was a thought that I was not really comfortable with....the military paid our bills. It provides us with medical insurance, food on the table, and a warm place to live in....free of charge. The military has the capability to send us to far off lands that we have never dreamed of before for "missionary" work. I was sure that the military was the place for us to be, so I just waited on the Lord for an answer or direction. My husband and I faithfully began praying over our situation for the whole next year.
I believe it was in August when my mind began to realize that God was calling us to get out of the military. While I was driving in my car one day and praising God, and praying, God began to show me a vision in my mind of what was to come for us. It was so powerful that it felt like it took my breath away just seeing it in my mind. My heart was immediately FILLED with joy and I began to praise God loudly, shouting in the car, and crying. I just KNEW that it was our life unfolding before us, as God has shown me so many other visions and given me knowledge about other people's lives to come....I was so excited that the vision was finally about US. He showed me the most amazingly clear images of us living in secluded ranch location of at least 30 acres, with small modular home, and a pond, a barn, and several outbuildings. He showed me that we would be able to look out the windows and see the La Plata Mountain range. It was absolutely amazing to see in my mind. My breath truly was taken away in that moment. This time of vision lasted for about 20-25 minutes, probably one of the longest visions I have ever experienced, and it happened while I was driving (but we were safe, God is good!) I went immediately home and began to pour out the vision that I had seen to my husband. He looked me very in a very casual way and said, "I have been wanting to go to Colorado all along." At this time, I knew the vision was true, but we know that God has His own timeline, so I did not think that this would happen anytime soon. I thought that it must be a future revelation, and that ten years down the road or more, we would find ourselves living in that place doing the kind of ministry that God had shown me.
So, we continued to pray harder and harder, and with increasing passion. Jeff decided that he did not want to stay in his current career field, and he told me that if he did not get a NEW career in the military, we would get out. This was hard for me to accept. I prayed fervently over the decision making process of him submitting his retraining packet. We asked our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with us the whole time as well. I remember one day, I was at the church with a sister getting ready to pray, and we were talking about the things that were happening, etc. She said to me something about moving to Colorado (she is gifted prophetically) and I told her my vision of eventually moving back there. She said no more and we kept praying, but I wondered if it was going to be soon. Waiting for the retraining decision was long and difficult, but in the end, he was denied to receive new training. The thought of getting out NOW became heavier as Jeff began to really seek out employment outside the military. One day, I was praying and the Lord said clearly to me "Pray that you would GO HOME." I told Jeff immediately because the revelation shocked me. Here I was, fully prepared to stay in the military and travel to foreign lands in Jesus' name, and He was telling me to go home to Colorado. I thought, "Right now????" But the Lord pushed in on me harder, and I began to feel a great burden to pray that we would go "home." The last month or two have been a flash in our minds, and God has moved so quickly. We have fasted and prayed, and asked the Lord several times what to do. Jeff put out probably 60 applications and resumes to different companies all over the US - we figured the way home might be roundabout, so we kept our options open. NOTHING happened. No response. So I figured in my own mind, well, this must not be the time. Maybe we go later.
But Jeff was persistent in continuing to apply. He had several very promising job prospects come up, but one went on a hiring freeze (which should almost be over), another couldn't wait for him until April (when we separate), and so forth. One problem after another...just bad timing right, with the economy??? NOT in God's eyes. As we prayed through the process, one day the Lord spoke to me again and said "Are you willing to go and obey me, even if Jeff does not have a job?" This was a real test of my faith. The economy is crashing, all around me I see destruction and downfall, and the Lord wants us to make a move to Colorado with NO job lined up. This is borderline crazy in the world's way of thinking. But God knows what is happening with the economy, and He knows His plans for us, plans not to harm us but to prosper us, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). So I went to Jeff again and gave Him the revelation. He had a hard time with it. I had already told the Lord that I would go with or without a job, I trust in my Lord's character as Jehovah Jihre, the Lord our Provider. But the Lord also spoke to me that He needed to speak directly into Jeff's heart and let Jeff lead this family wherever we go.
So...Jeff and I still decided to go ahead and file for an extension in the military for one more year, due to a lack of employment opportunity. Smart, right? Not in God's eyes. The moment Jeff began to seek the signature of His commander, my stomach got sick. I KNEW we had been disobedient and not followed the Lord's direction in our lives, but I knew it was going to take a miracle of God to give my husband the faith to change his mind. So, it took a few days for the paperwork to move through the channels, all the while, I could hear the Lord crying out to me saying "I didn't tell you to do that." It hurt me that I was disobeying my Lord, my best friend, and the love of my life....and WHY, because of my own fear and lack of trust. That final morning, we found out the paperwork was ready to be turned in for the extension. I couldn't take the heartache I had any longer...I told Jeff my thoughts, and told him we might be making a mistake to extend. And I WAS the one who originally was so bent on staying IN the military. What a change of heart. I began to fast that morning and pray, and seek the Lord for direction. Immediately, He spoke again and told me that we needed to move to Colorado without knowing Jeff had a job. I said to the Lord in the secret place, "Lord, I HEAR YOU, but you are going to have to speak directly to my husband about this. I will not tell him this, you will need to tell him."
That afternoon, when I first talked to Jeff, one the first things out of his mouth was "I think we should move to Colorado without a job lined up." That sealed the deal for me. No more doubting, no more wavering, I knew the Lord had spoken that word with faith directly into my husband's heart. He had immediately answered my prayer. So we made a decision that afternoon to shred the extension paperwork and file for separation, and MOVE to Colorado with employment lined up. It was truly a faith based decision. We are trusting that God has ordained us to move to Colorado to start this ministry, and we are trusting that since God is with us, none can come against us, not even the economic woes of today. It is amazing feeling to trust God that much with my life. But I realize it hasn't happened overnight...it has taken months upon months or daily studying, reading God's Word, His amazing grace, His Presence and miracles in my life building my faith, His daily provision for my family. Walking with God is no passive matter. Walking with God is beyond anything natural, it is something that hardly anyone can imagine, but everyone longs to have. Daily intimate fellowship with Lord of Lords, King of Kings, answered prayers, provision, security and most of all - LOVE beyond all measure.
So...we are on our way to Colorado in April. By the grace of God, we inherited some money by the passing of my grandmother in December, so we will not be without provision for awhile...but it will not last forever, we must trust in God and not in money or ourselves to make this happen. Our lives belong to Him, therefore, He will sustain them. The Lord is currently leading us to the properties (two of them) that closely match the vision which I saw. It would be easier if I was on the ground and could see the land myself, but I am trusting God will make up for this lack by pointing us to THE right property, which we may have found yesterday....42 acre ranch land with a modular on it, with a barn, a pond and several outbuildings. It has the landscape of my vision and a view of the La Plata Mountain range right out the window. God is detailed in his visions, and that is proof that your dreams really CAN come true when you are following God's perfect will for your life.
God WILL get Jeff a job that will meet all of our needs....I just hope He reveals that part of the plan sooner rather than later. But God is good, we will survive and flourish in the land. We have started a website for our coming ministry called "Fire on the Mountain Revival Center." It will be a place of people getting to know the Lord one-on-one, in a personal, face to face relationship. We are going to be teaching people how to meet, and speak with their Lord without any interventions on behalf of man. It is a place for revival of God's people, and evangelism to a lost, dying and hurting world. The Lord is going to bless our ministry with provision that will shared with those in need, including food, possibly shelter, and other necessities for living. We are directed by the Lord to use horses in ministry for the healing of broken people, and teaching them to trust others, and God. We are going to have an outdoor ministry eventually where we take youth and adults into God's creation and teach them about the wonders of the Lord. We are going to be doing baptisms on site, I believe, and we will have a heavy emphasis on worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. It is a place of learning to live in God's Word, and not by any rules and regulations of religion. It is teaching people to walk by faith, not by sight, and to believe in God's grace as their only means of salvation through the blood of Jesus' Christ that was shed on the cross. The Lord has shown me that it will start VERY small in a one room building next to the house on the property, but it will grow to be international. There will be leaders that come from around the world to our revival center to seek the fire of God, to take back to their churches and spread it! It is a mighty vision of God, and we are just normal people with hardly any money, but a whole lot of heart for God. God will provide for all of our needs.
If this vision has sparked something in you, and the Holy Spirit is leading you to give to this upcoming ministry to help us get started. Very soon, after we apply for an EIN number with the IRS, we will be able to begin collecting funds for the ministry to get started. If you are interested in sowing a seed into God's vision for revival in this country, you will have an opportunity to do so very shortly. I do not want to collect money until I have made sure I covered the bases with the IRS....you know how it goes. But we will be an offical non-profit organization called "Fire on the Mountain Revival Center."
For now, you can visit my website (but forgive us, we just started it - needs a lot of work)....but very soon, I am going to start posting teachings in various subjects related to our upcoming ministry and will be giving updates on both this blog and the website about our progress. Please continue to check back in the coming weeks, and months:
www.fire-on-the-mountain.org
If you decide to donate now on the website, I will get you a receipt per the guidelines of the IRS for non-profit organizations. I am going to apply for an EIN in the next 24 hours, so perhaps it would better to wait another day or so to donate.
More than even MONEY, we NEED PRAYER of those who would like to support us as faithful prayer partners. We believe prayer is probably the most powerful thing a Christian can do, so we need a lot of it!!!! If you would like to be a prayer partner, please email me at wildcat_sarah@hotmail.com
If you have any more questions, concerns, encouragements, words from the Lord, anything to share with us, please do not hesitate to email me. I will reply to you ASAP! :-)
May God bless you all as you stand with us in this move of God, and we will appreciate the opportunity to stand by you and minister to you as well. God bless you!
In His Grace,
Sarah
But the bigger news is that this is a move of God's will and because of His divine revelation to us. The Lord put it in my husband's heart over a year ago the idea to get out of the military and move to Colorado. When I first came to Christ, I wanted to be back with my family so much that I wanted to leave my husband and move home (whether my parents knew that or not, I am not sure). We almost got divorced because of my great desire to be with my parents. After committing my life to Christ and deciding to let Him rule and reign in every part of my life in 2007, the Lord began to work in my heart through this need to return home. After awhile, I surrendered my desire to return home to the Lord, and excitedly told Him I would go anywhere He called us to go, and I would be faithful in my walk with Him. For awhile, I looked in every direction, waiting for an answer as to where we would head next - would it be stateside, overseas, Europe, Japan, WHERE in the world was God going to send us WITH the military. Meanwhile, my husband kept talking about getting OUT of the military and it was a thought that I was not really comfortable with....the military paid our bills. It provides us with medical insurance, food on the table, and a warm place to live in....free of charge. The military has the capability to send us to far off lands that we have never dreamed of before for "missionary" work. I was sure that the military was the place for us to be, so I just waited on the Lord for an answer or direction. My husband and I faithfully began praying over our situation for the whole next year.
I believe it was in August when my mind began to realize that God was calling us to get out of the military. While I was driving in my car one day and praising God, and praying, God began to show me a vision in my mind of what was to come for us. It was so powerful that it felt like it took my breath away just seeing it in my mind. My heart was immediately FILLED with joy and I began to praise God loudly, shouting in the car, and crying. I just KNEW that it was our life unfolding before us, as God has shown me so many other visions and given me knowledge about other people's lives to come....I was so excited that the vision was finally about US. He showed me the most amazingly clear images of us living in secluded ranch location of at least 30 acres, with small modular home, and a pond, a barn, and several outbuildings. He showed me that we would be able to look out the windows and see the La Plata Mountain range. It was absolutely amazing to see in my mind. My breath truly was taken away in that moment. This time of vision lasted for about 20-25 minutes, probably one of the longest visions I have ever experienced, and it happened while I was driving (but we were safe, God is good!) I went immediately home and began to pour out the vision that I had seen to my husband. He looked me very in a very casual way and said, "I have been wanting to go to Colorado all along." At this time, I knew the vision was true, but we know that God has His own timeline, so I did not think that this would happen anytime soon. I thought that it must be a future revelation, and that ten years down the road or more, we would find ourselves living in that place doing the kind of ministry that God had shown me.
So, we continued to pray harder and harder, and with increasing passion. Jeff decided that he did not want to stay in his current career field, and he told me that if he did not get a NEW career in the military, we would get out. This was hard for me to accept. I prayed fervently over the decision making process of him submitting his retraining packet. We asked our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with us the whole time as well. I remember one day, I was at the church with a sister getting ready to pray, and we were talking about the things that were happening, etc. She said to me something about moving to Colorado (she is gifted prophetically) and I told her my vision of eventually moving back there. She said no more and we kept praying, but I wondered if it was going to be soon. Waiting for the retraining decision was long and difficult, but in the end, he was denied to receive new training. The thought of getting out NOW became heavier as Jeff began to really seek out employment outside the military. One day, I was praying and the Lord said clearly to me "Pray that you would GO HOME." I told Jeff immediately because the revelation shocked me. Here I was, fully prepared to stay in the military and travel to foreign lands in Jesus' name, and He was telling me to go home to Colorado. I thought, "Right now????" But the Lord pushed in on me harder, and I began to feel a great burden to pray that we would go "home." The last month or two have been a flash in our minds, and God has moved so quickly. We have fasted and prayed, and asked the Lord several times what to do. Jeff put out probably 60 applications and resumes to different companies all over the US - we figured the way home might be roundabout, so we kept our options open. NOTHING happened. No response. So I figured in my own mind, well, this must not be the time. Maybe we go later.
But Jeff was persistent in continuing to apply. He had several very promising job prospects come up, but one went on a hiring freeze (which should almost be over), another couldn't wait for him until April (when we separate), and so forth. One problem after another...just bad timing right, with the economy??? NOT in God's eyes. As we prayed through the process, one day the Lord spoke to me again and said "Are you willing to go and obey me, even if Jeff does not have a job?" This was a real test of my faith. The economy is crashing, all around me I see destruction and downfall, and the Lord wants us to make a move to Colorado with NO job lined up. This is borderline crazy in the world's way of thinking. But God knows what is happening with the economy, and He knows His plans for us, plans not to harm us but to prosper us, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). So I went to Jeff again and gave Him the revelation. He had a hard time with it. I had already told the Lord that I would go with or without a job, I trust in my Lord's character as Jehovah Jihre, the Lord our Provider. But the Lord also spoke to me that He needed to speak directly into Jeff's heart and let Jeff lead this family wherever we go.
So...Jeff and I still decided to go ahead and file for an extension in the military for one more year, due to a lack of employment opportunity. Smart, right? Not in God's eyes. The moment Jeff began to seek the signature of His commander, my stomach got sick. I KNEW we had been disobedient and not followed the Lord's direction in our lives, but I knew it was going to take a miracle of God to give my husband the faith to change his mind. So, it took a few days for the paperwork to move through the channels, all the while, I could hear the Lord crying out to me saying "I didn't tell you to do that." It hurt me that I was disobeying my Lord, my best friend, and the love of my life....and WHY, because of my own fear and lack of trust. That final morning, we found out the paperwork was ready to be turned in for the extension. I couldn't take the heartache I had any longer...I told Jeff my thoughts, and told him we might be making a mistake to extend. And I WAS the one who originally was so bent on staying IN the military. What a change of heart. I began to fast that morning and pray, and seek the Lord for direction. Immediately, He spoke again and told me that we needed to move to Colorado without knowing Jeff had a job. I said to the Lord in the secret place, "Lord, I HEAR YOU, but you are going to have to speak directly to my husband about this. I will not tell him this, you will need to tell him."
That afternoon, when I first talked to Jeff, one the first things out of his mouth was "I think we should move to Colorado without a job lined up." That sealed the deal for me. No more doubting, no more wavering, I knew the Lord had spoken that word with faith directly into my husband's heart. He had immediately answered my prayer. So we made a decision that afternoon to shred the extension paperwork and file for separation, and MOVE to Colorado with employment lined up. It was truly a faith based decision. We are trusting that God has ordained us to move to Colorado to start this ministry, and we are trusting that since God is with us, none can come against us, not even the economic woes of today. It is amazing feeling to trust God that much with my life. But I realize it hasn't happened overnight...it has taken months upon months or daily studying, reading God's Word, His amazing grace, His Presence and miracles in my life building my faith, His daily provision for my family. Walking with God is no passive matter. Walking with God is beyond anything natural, it is something that hardly anyone can imagine, but everyone longs to have. Daily intimate fellowship with Lord of Lords, King of Kings, answered prayers, provision, security and most of all - LOVE beyond all measure.
So...we are on our way to Colorado in April. By the grace of God, we inherited some money by the passing of my grandmother in December, so we will not be without provision for awhile...but it will not last forever, we must trust in God and not in money or ourselves to make this happen. Our lives belong to Him, therefore, He will sustain them. The Lord is currently leading us to the properties (two of them) that closely match the vision which I saw. It would be easier if I was on the ground and could see the land myself, but I am trusting God will make up for this lack by pointing us to THE right property, which we may have found yesterday....42 acre ranch land with a modular on it, with a barn, a pond and several outbuildings. It has the landscape of my vision and a view of the La Plata Mountain range right out the window. God is detailed in his visions, and that is proof that your dreams really CAN come true when you are following God's perfect will for your life.
God WILL get Jeff a job that will meet all of our needs....I just hope He reveals that part of the plan sooner rather than later. But God is good, we will survive and flourish in the land. We have started a website for our coming ministry called "Fire on the Mountain Revival Center." It will be a place of people getting to know the Lord one-on-one, in a personal, face to face relationship. We are going to be teaching people how to meet, and speak with their Lord without any interventions on behalf of man. It is a place for revival of God's people, and evangelism to a lost, dying and hurting world. The Lord is going to bless our ministry with provision that will shared with those in need, including food, possibly shelter, and other necessities for living. We are directed by the Lord to use horses in ministry for the healing of broken people, and teaching them to trust others, and God. We are going to have an outdoor ministry eventually where we take youth and adults into God's creation and teach them about the wonders of the Lord. We are going to be doing baptisms on site, I believe, and we will have a heavy emphasis on worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. It is a place of learning to live in God's Word, and not by any rules and regulations of religion. It is teaching people to walk by faith, not by sight, and to believe in God's grace as their only means of salvation through the blood of Jesus' Christ that was shed on the cross. The Lord has shown me that it will start VERY small in a one room building next to the house on the property, but it will grow to be international. There will be leaders that come from around the world to our revival center to seek the fire of God, to take back to their churches and spread it! It is a mighty vision of God, and we are just normal people with hardly any money, but a whole lot of heart for God. God will provide for all of our needs.
If this vision has sparked something in you, and the Holy Spirit is leading you to give to this upcoming ministry to help us get started. Very soon, after we apply for an EIN number with the IRS, we will be able to begin collecting funds for the ministry to get started. If you are interested in sowing a seed into God's vision for revival in this country, you will have an opportunity to do so very shortly. I do not want to collect money until I have made sure I covered the bases with the IRS....you know how it goes. But we will be an offical non-profit organization called "Fire on the Mountain Revival Center."
For now, you can visit my website (but forgive us, we just started it - needs a lot of work)....but very soon, I am going to start posting teachings in various subjects related to our upcoming ministry and will be giving updates on both this blog and the website about our progress. Please continue to check back in the coming weeks, and months:
www.fire-on-the-mountain.org
If you decide to donate now on the website, I will get you a receipt per the guidelines of the IRS for non-profit organizations. I am going to apply for an EIN in the next 24 hours, so perhaps it would better to wait another day or so to donate.
More than even MONEY, we NEED PRAYER of those who would like to support us as faithful prayer partners. We believe prayer is probably the most powerful thing a Christian can do, so we need a lot of it!!!! If you would like to be a prayer partner, please email me at wildcat_sarah@hotmail.com
If you have any more questions, concerns, encouragements, words from the Lord, anything to share with us, please do not hesitate to email me. I will reply to you ASAP! :-)
May God bless you all as you stand with us in this move of God, and we will appreciate the opportunity to stand by you and minister to you as well. God bless you!
In His Grace,
Sarah
Monday, February 9, 2009
A Husband's Love for His Wife
This morning, I was meditating in my car (while dropping Mariah off to school) about the goodness of what God is doing in my life right now. He is making major changes in the order of our household, in my husband's relationship with Him, my daughter's relationship with Him and others, and I can see God moving through every part of our lives! We received two amazing prophetic words from a very gifted prophet whom you can also write at freeprophecy@gmail.com. His name is Jeff and he has a wonderful spirit, and the Lord speaks clearly to him. The prophetic words we have received through brother Jeff have been rich, detailed, and absolutely "spot on," as to where we are in our lives right now and where we are headed as a family!
Anyway, as I was meditating, the Lord gave me a revelation about the changes in power in our household He is doing right now. There has been a power struggle in our household that should never have been there, but God is patient, and He is teaching my husband and I how to live out a godly marriage. You see, the Bible says that the husband is the head of the wife, and that Christ is the head of the church, but that a husband should love his wife as Christ loves the church. Christ gave His life for the redemption of the church. This is some pretty serious selfless love! In the same passage, God says that wives should "submit" to their husbands in EVERYTHING. What a hard scripture to swallow for many women...but God's wisdom is greater than ours. And....since He created in the institution and covenant of marriage, He should know a thing or two about how it should operate to achieve the greatest success.
Ephesians 5:22-25 (NASB):
"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."
Colossians 3:18 (NASB):
"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them."
1 Peter 3:1-2 (NASB):
"In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word, by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior."
I will be quite honest, looking at the circumstances of my life (and the personality of my husband)...it looked as those I was the more dominant and powerful one in the relationship. Our marriage started out with me being in total control and me putting my husband into submission - which is totally wrong in God's eyes....but it is the truth of the matter for us. As I began to grow in my relationship with God, I began to be convicted of the scriptural truth to submit to my husband in EVERYTHING. That seemed pretty tough for me, going from wanting to be in total control over everything....but I knew in my heart that if God says to do it, there is a great purpose behind it. I know a lot of other women who are in that similiar situation. They live with passive husbands, so they just take control over the relationship and end up leading their husbands, instead of it being the other way around! We do this because as much as we HOPE that our husbands will step up to the plate and lead us, we don't see it happening, so we just take control over the situation. I have learned over the past year that this stems from two major things in my heart - FEAR and LACK OF TRUST in God.
If I trusted God, I would know that He will supply all of our families needs, both spiritually and physically and that His great love for me will overcome any obstacles we face. He can freely deal with my husband's heart in this situation, without me blocking out His Spirit with all my "help." Sadly, it took me about a year to surrender to this truth of God's Word. I stopped telling my husband what to do and started asking my husband to lead. One day, God said to me "If he asks you for the answer to a decision, DO NOT tell him what to do." This was so hard because the situation arose that very same day where my husband was asking me what we should do, and I had to tell him that the decision was completely his alone. The Lord had already told me that He was leading my husband, and that I needed to let God lead him, and let him lead ME. This is the order of marriage by God's standard.
Philippians 4:19 (NASB):
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Does this mean that I do not have any spiritual gifts, or anything to contribute to the greatness of my marriage or the world around me? No. God actually told me that I was powerful in His kingdom, having many spiritual gifts that operated in power. He told me that my husband would be "greater than me" and that my husband was a "powerful man of God." I asked the Lord many times "Why did you give me all these gifts if I was not suppose to be in charge....especially with the gift of leadership?" God answered me, "Because that is meekness (power under control)." God has given me the gifts and the leadership, but He wants my husband to be a steward over ME and ALL the giftings that God has placed within me. God wants me to do His will by practicing submission to my husband's leadings and authority, therefore modeling meekness. This is also to represent the relationship between Christ and His bride (the church). She is powerful because He has made her powerful, but she must be in submission to Christ (the will of God), and she MUST practice meekness and demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit.
Matthew 5:5 (NKJV):
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
So, to come back to the original thought about marriage....God revealed something new about this in the car this morning.
He said to me, "When you are in a marriage where the husband is responsible for leading the family, he takes responsibility over your life and your future. You no longer are responsible for even yourself. He becomes responsible for you and your growth, and he will have to give an account for his family to Christ. In relation to Christ and the church, this is why I (the Lord) do for the church as well. I take responsibility for her, and I love her and keep her."
When God finished speaking, I realized the answer to the question I have been asking for so long. My husband is meant to be responsible for my life. He is in the position of authority, and God has blessed me by taking the burden for my own life off my shoulders. In the same way, God did this when he reached out from the cross with His blood and covered all the sins of those who believe in Him. He is now responsible for keeping you and being responsible for your life and salvation.
I know people are going to come against this revelation because there are many out there who are still trying to earn their way to heaven. They are trying to prove in their lives that what THEY DO or DON'T DO is going to either get them in heaven, or keep them out. God is saying today that He is in control of the lives of His bride, His saints, and He is responsible for bringing them into the Promised Land. When the bride is in submission, she will trust her husband and know that He will love her enough to keep her through all her trials and tribulations. This is further evidence of the truth that we are once saved, always saved, unless we decide to forfeit our inheritance and no longer choose (willfully) to be the bride of Christ. He will not keep us against our own will....but He will keep us when we have our eyes and hearts in submission to Him.
Today, I pray that God opens up your heart to understand the concept of godly submission in marriage, in your personal relationship with Him, and within the church itself. God has placed leaders over you that you must submit to, in order to keep order, and for God to be glorified through the relationship between Christ and the church. May God fill your heart with peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit. I pray that He would help those wives who are struggling to understand their role to submit to their husbands (not because they are lesser, but out of meekness) because it is God's will, and they wish to honor Him. God bless you in Jesus' name, Amen.
Thankful for my husband, Christ -
Sarah
Anyway, as I was meditating, the Lord gave me a revelation about the changes in power in our household He is doing right now. There has been a power struggle in our household that should never have been there, but God is patient, and He is teaching my husband and I how to live out a godly marriage. You see, the Bible says that the husband is the head of the wife, and that Christ is the head of the church, but that a husband should love his wife as Christ loves the church. Christ gave His life for the redemption of the church. This is some pretty serious selfless love! In the same passage, God says that wives should "submit" to their husbands in EVERYTHING. What a hard scripture to swallow for many women...but God's wisdom is greater than ours. And....since He created in the institution and covenant of marriage, He should know a thing or two about how it should operate to achieve the greatest success.
Ephesians 5:22-25 (NASB):
"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."
Colossians 3:18 (NASB):
"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them."
1 Peter 3:1-2 (NASB):
"In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word, by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior."
I will be quite honest, looking at the circumstances of my life (and the personality of my husband)...it looked as those I was the more dominant and powerful one in the relationship. Our marriage started out with me being in total control and me putting my husband into submission - which is totally wrong in God's eyes....but it is the truth of the matter for us. As I began to grow in my relationship with God, I began to be convicted of the scriptural truth to submit to my husband in EVERYTHING. That seemed pretty tough for me, going from wanting to be in total control over everything....but I knew in my heart that if God says to do it, there is a great purpose behind it. I know a lot of other women who are in that similiar situation. They live with passive husbands, so they just take control over the relationship and end up leading their husbands, instead of it being the other way around! We do this because as much as we HOPE that our husbands will step up to the plate and lead us, we don't see it happening, so we just take control over the situation. I have learned over the past year that this stems from two major things in my heart - FEAR and LACK OF TRUST in God.
If I trusted God, I would know that He will supply all of our families needs, both spiritually and physically and that His great love for me will overcome any obstacles we face. He can freely deal with my husband's heart in this situation, without me blocking out His Spirit with all my "help." Sadly, it took me about a year to surrender to this truth of God's Word. I stopped telling my husband what to do and started asking my husband to lead. One day, God said to me "If he asks you for the answer to a decision, DO NOT tell him what to do." This was so hard because the situation arose that very same day where my husband was asking me what we should do, and I had to tell him that the decision was completely his alone. The Lord had already told me that He was leading my husband, and that I needed to let God lead him, and let him lead ME. This is the order of marriage by God's standard.
Philippians 4:19 (NASB):
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Does this mean that I do not have any spiritual gifts, or anything to contribute to the greatness of my marriage or the world around me? No. God actually told me that I was powerful in His kingdom, having many spiritual gifts that operated in power. He told me that my husband would be "greater than me" and that my husband was a "powerful man of God." I asked the Lord many times "Why did you give me all these gifts if I was not suppose to be in charge....especially with the gift of leadership?" God answered me, "Because that is meekness (power under control)." God has given me the gifts and the leadership, but He wants my husband to be a steward over ME and ALL the giftings that God has placed within me. God wants me to do His will by practicing submission to my husband's leadings and authority, therefore modeling meekness. This is also to represent the relationship between Christ and His bride (the church). She is powerful because He has made her powerful, but she must be in submission to Christ (the will of God), and she MUST practice meekness and demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit.
Matthew 5:5 (NKJV):
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
So, to come back to the original thought about marriage....God revealed something new about this in the car this morning.
He said to me, "When you are in a marriage where the husband is responsible for leading the family, he takes responsibility over your life and your future. You no longer are responsible for even yourself. He becomes responsible for you and your growth, and he will have to give an account for his family to Christ. In relation to Christ and the church, this is why I (the Lord) do for the church as well. I take responsibility for her, and I love her and keep her."
When God finished speaking, I realized the answer to the question I have been asking for so long. My husband is meant to be responsible for my life. He is in the position of authority, and God has blessed me by taking the burden for my own life off my shoulders. In the same way, God did this when he reached out from the cross with His blood and covered all the sins of those who believe in Him. He is now responsible for keeping you and being responsible for your life and salvation.
I know people are going to come against this revelation because there are many out there who are still trying to earn their way to heaven. They are trying to prove in their lives that what THEY DO or DON'T DO is going to either get them in heaven, or keep them out. God is saying today that He is in control of the lives of His bride, His saints, and He is responsible for bringing them into the Promised Land. When the bride is in submission, she will trust her husband and know that He will love her enough to keep her through all her trials and tribulations. This is further evidence of the truth that we are once saved, always saved, unless we decide to forfeit our inheritance and no longer choose (willfully) to be the bride of Christ. He will not keep us against our own will....but He will keep us when we have our eyes and hearts in submission to Him.
Today, I pray that God opens up your heart to understand the concept of godly submission in marriage, in your personal relationship with Him, and within the church itself. God has placed leaders over you that you must submit to, in order to keep order, and for God to be glorified through the relationship between Christ and the church. May God fill your heart with peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit. I pray that He would help those wives who are struggling to understand their role to submit to their husbands (not because they are lesser, but out of meekness) because it is God's will, and they wish to honor Him. God bless you in Jesus' name, Amen.
Thankful for my husband, Christ -
Sarah
Thursday, February 5, 2009
For the Love of God...
What would you do to know that God loves you? Would you climb mountains for God, or sacrifice your lifestyle for God, or even dress in a way that makes you uncomfortable for God? What would YOU do to know that God is pleased with you?
It has come up a couple of times in conversation with people this week about what we CAN DO for God with our lives. One lady pointed out that this type of thinking is quite self-centered. We are thinking about what WE can do all the time, and not what God can do through our lives. We take the focus off God and put it back on ourselves. We make ourselves feel good about doing things for God, and making ourselves obedient to His Word. I believe we should obey God's Word as much as possible, and we should strive to grow in our relationship with our Lord. However, when we constantly focus on what WE can do for God, and we get trapped into self-centeredness, we also begin to become self-righteous. We begin to take credit for God's accomplishments, victories and successes in our lives. We conquer an addiction and we say it is because WE stopped drinking, doing drugs, having pre-marital sex, etc. Do we really give God the glory He deserves for everything He does in and through our lives, or are we trying to find works to do that make us glorified in the eyes of others? Are we stealing God's glory each and every day?
I am speaking to myself, as well as to the readers out there. God has laid upon my heart the great sickness in His church of legalism, and He has expounded upon the self-righteousness of His people. When a person becomes self-righteous, he/she becomes prideful, and ultimately becomes judgmental and critical of others who are less spiritual/holy than they are. I think some Christians tend to forget where they came from....and I admit that I have been guilty of this sinful heart attitude as well. Everything started going so well in my Christian walk that I began to feel like I was better than those other "sinners" around me. That is when God revealed my own heart to me in comparison with His holiness. I realized that I had not changed in nature as much as I thought....I still struggle with complacency, apathy, laziness and pride almost daily. I know that God has given me power by the Holy Spirit to overcome sin in my life, but I have also learned that God delivers me from sin in His timing, not mine. I can boldly ask my Father in heaven for grace to overcome sin, but He takes time in working the sin out of my heart and life. It is often not overnight, although I have experienced immediate deliverance from certain long-term sins in my life such as a drinking and sexual promiscuity. I believe the Lord knew that I just couldn't have those sins in my life anymore.
The Lord says He will never give me more than I can bear, and there will be never be temptation that is not common to man....and He always makes a way of escape for me. But how often do I really meditate on the grace of God in my life? Lately, I have been hearing a lot about grace and the Lord has been teaching me that everything I do, and everything I am in Him is because of His grace alone in my life. This is quite humbling to know that I cannot overcome sin without His grace, I cannot wake up in the morning and pray to Him without His grace, and I cannot live a godly life day to day without His GRACE. I thank God that He is delivering me from the sickness of pride in my life...but as He sheds the pride away from me, I am seeing how many of my brothers/sisters in Christ do not realize their own sickness as well. We are not going to reach people with the salvation of Jesus Christ by looking down our noses at others, and judging them for their sins. We have to let God be the true judge in our lives and the lives of others. When someone comes to me with a problem of sin in their life, I usually just start spouting scriptures to make sure they know the sin is wrong and needs to be repented of! But God is showing me that I need to love that person, right where they are. I need to stop judging them for what they are currently NOT, and just hope and pray for them that God will give them grace to overcome sin in their life!!! Probably the greatest destructive force of pride in the church is that it makes us focus on ourselves more than others, and ultimately, the love we have for God and one another starts to fade away. We start comparing everyone to ourselves, and not to the standard of God's Word. Jesus was loving, compassionate and forgiving of even the worst of sinners that He encountered. But lately, many people in the church (including myself) are resembling the Pharisees that Jesus so harshly rebuked rather than reflecting our Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees knew all the scripture, the laws, the prophets, and were awaiting a Messiah....but they rejected the true Messiah and Savior, Jesus. They basically thought they knew it all, and they ended up committing blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the unpardonable sin. They crucified our Lord Jesus, and I believe when we act like Pharisees in the church today, we might as well be doing the same thing.
Join together with me today and make a heart decision (by prayer and God's grace) that you are going to stop being judgmental of brothers/sisters in Christ, and nonbelievers alike. Does that mean we turn a blind eye to sin in a person's life? Absolutely not. But if approach them regarding their sin, let it be done in love and in the spirit of truth. Make loving God and others as yourself the first priorities in your Christian life.
So, what would I do to receive the love of God? Well, instead of trying so hard to earn God's love (which is already there)...I am going to focus on how God has already shown His love for me, through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus on the cross, when He died for my sins and reconciled me back to Himself. I am going to make a relationship with Jesus my first priority, and stop trying to earn my way into heaven. God loves me just the way I am, and He has justified me through Christ's blood, and faith in Him. All I need to do is accept God's love letter to me as truth (His Holy Word) and believe that Jesus' sacrifice was all the payment necessary to pay the penalty for MY sins. Does this mean I am free to sin? Yes and no. Yes, because I no longer pay the penalty of death for my sins, but NO because sin in my life will still bring on chastening of the Lord and lead to my physical destruction.
Romans 6:1-7 (NASB):
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace my increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin."
The more I choose to obey God's commandment, and God's Word, and seek a deeper relationship with God Himself....the more of an abundant life I will have here on earth. If my eyes remained fixed on Jesus, then He will keep me in perfect peace. Who wouldn't want to live a peaceful life admist all the craziness, fear and tragedy lurking around every corner? In the end, I believe as long as I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, I will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).
I have been studying the relationship of grace/works in the gospel of Jesus Christ since the day I got saved. I have heard from others that we are not saved, or will not be saved until we reach the final day of redemption when Christ returns for us. I know that some believe that must continue to do works until that time, and it seems this is to "secure" our salvation by works. Isn't that like earning salvation in our own strength? I do believe that God sanctifies us through and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but as the Lord said to me in prayer one day, "Salvation is MY (God's) ministry." It is not my ministry to save anyone from the depth of their sinfulness, only God can do that through the blood of Jesus. It is also not my ministry to SAVE MYSELF from sin. That, too, is God's ministry in my life. He has saved me by His grace, not by any works, lest I should boast (as God said through Paul). When we focus on ourselves and OUR works, we begin to think we have something to boast about in somehow attaining our own salvation, thus giving way to pride in our lives. I think it is about time we give credit where credit is due - to the One who saves our souls from the depths of hell - God.
I pray tonight that this revelation has blessed your heart as much as it has mine. What a weight God lifted from me when I realized that it was His grace that was my salvation and not anything that I could do. I finally feel free in Christ to receive the abundant life God for me, and live out my salvation here and into eternity with joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. I pray in Jesus' name that God would unveil any pride in your life, and reveal to your heart if you are doing works in Jesus' name to glorify God or to somehow procure your own glory or salvation. May God give you His Spirit that will lead you into all truth. I pray that God would deliver me and you from ourselves and our sins. May God bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thankful for God's grace,
Sarah
It has come up a couple of times in conversation with people this week about what we CAN DO for God with our lives. One lady pointed out that this type of thinking is quite self-centered. We are thinking about what WE can do all the time, and not what God can do through our lives. We take the focus off God and put it back on ourselves. We make ourselves feel good about doing things for God, and making ourselves obedient to His Word. I believe we should obey God's Word as much as possible, and we should strive to grow in our relationship with our Lord. However, when we constantly focus on what WE can do for God, and we get trapped into self-centeredness, we also begin to become self-righteous. We begin to take credit for God's accomplishments, victories and successes in our lives. We conquer an addiction and we say it is because WE stopped drinking, doing drugs, having pre-marital sex, etc. Do we really give God the glory He deserves for everything He does in and through our lives, or are we trying to find works to do that make us glorified in the eyes of others? Are we stealing God's glory each and every day?
I am speaking to myself, as well as to the readers out there. God has laid upon my heart the great sickness in His church of legalism, and He has expounded upon the self-righteousness of His people. When a person becomes self-righteous, he/she becomes prideful, and ultimately becomes judgmental and critical of others who are less spiritual/holy than they are. I think some Christians tend to forget where they came from....and I admit that I have been guilty of this sinful heart attitude as well. Everything started going so well in my Christian walk that I began to feel like I was better than those other "sinners" around me. That is when God revealed my own heart to me in comparison with His holiness. I realized that I had not changed in nature as much as I thought....I still struggle with complacency, apathy, laziness and pride almost daily. I know that God has given me power by the Holy Spirit to overcome sin in my life, but I have also learned that God delivers me from sin in His timing, not mine. I can boldly ask my Father in heaven for grace to overcome sin, but He takes time in working the sin out of my heart and life. It is often not overnight, although I have experienced immediate deliverance from certain long-term sins in my life such as a drinking and sexual promiscuity. I believe the Lord knew that I just couldn't have those sins in my life anymore.
The Lord says He will never give me more than I can bear, and there will be never be temptation that is not common to man....and He always makes a way of escape for me. But how often do I really meditate on the grace of God in my life? Lately, I have been hearing a lot about grace and the Lord has been teaching me that everything I do, and everything I am in Him is because of His grace alone in my life. This is quite humbling to know that I cannot overcome sin without His grace, I cannot wake up in the morning and pray to Him without His grace, and I cannot live a godly life day to day without His GRACE. I thank God that He is delivering me from the sickness of pride in my life...but as He sheds the pride away from me, I am seeing how many of my brothers/sisters in Christ do not realize their own sickness as well. We are not going to reach people with the salvation of Jesus Christ by looking down our noses at others, and judging them for their sins. We have to let God be the true judge in our lives and the lives of others. When someone comes to me with a problem of sin in their life, I usually just start spouting scriptures to make sure they know the sin is wrong and needs to be repented of! But God is showing me that I need to love that person, right where they are. I need to stop judging them for what they are currently NOT, and just hope and pray for them that God will give them grace to overcome sin in their life!!! Probably the greatest destructive force of pride in the church is that it makes us focus on ourselves more than others, and ultimately, the love we have for God and one another starts to fade away. We start comparing everyone to ourselves, and not to the standard of God's Word. Jesus was loving, compassionate and forgiving of even the worst of sinners that He encountered. But lately, many people in the church (including myself) are resembling the Pharisees that Jesus so harshly rebuked rather than reflecting our Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees knew all the scripture, the laws, the prophets, and were awaiting a Messiah....but they rejected the true Messiah and Savior, Jesus. They basically thought they knew it all, and they ended up committing blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the unpardonable sin. They crucified our Lord Jesus, and I believe when we act like Pharisees in the church today, we might as well be doing the same thing.
Join together with me today and make a heart decision (by prayer and God's grace) that you are going to stop being judgmental of brothers/sisters in Christ, and nonbelievers alike. Does that mean we turn a blind eye to sin in a person's life? Absolutely not. But if approach them regarding their sin, let it be done in love and in the spirit of truth. Make loving God and others as yourself the first priorities in your Christian life.
So, what would I do to receive the love of God? Well, instead of trying so hard to earn God's love (which is already there)...I am going to focus on how God has already shown His love for me, through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus on the cross, when He died for my sins and reconciled me back to Himself. I am going to make a relationship with Jesus my first priority, and stop trying to earn my way into heaven. God loves me just the way I am, and He has justified me through Christ's blood, and faith in Him. All I need to do is accept God's love letter to me as truth (His Holy Word) and believe that Jesus' sacrifice was all the payment necessary to pay the penalty for MY sins. Does this mean I am free to sin? Yes and no. Yes, because I no longer pay the penalty of death for my sins, but NO because sin in my life will still bring on chastening of the Lord and lead to my physical destruction.
Romans 6:1-7 (NASB):
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace my increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin."
The more I choose to obey God's commandment, and God's Word, and seek a deeper relationship with God Himself....the more of an abundant life I will have here on earth. If my eyes remained fixed on Jesus, then He will keep me in perfect peace. Who wouldn't want to live a peaceful life admist all the craziness, fear and tragedy lurking around every corner? In the end, I believe as long as I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, I will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).
I have been studying the relationship of grace/works in the gospel of Jesus Christ since the day I got saved. I have heard from others that we are not saved, or will not be saved until we reach the final day of redemption when Christ returns for us. I know that some believe that must continue to do works until that time, and it seems this is to "secure" our salvation by works. Isn't that like earning salvation in our own strength? I do believe that God sanctifies us through and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but as the Lord said to me in prayer one day, "Salvation is MY (God's) ministry." It is not my ministry to save anyone from the depth of their sinfulness, only God can do that through the blood of Jesus. It is also not my ministry to SAVE MYSELF from sin. That, too, is God's ministry in my life. He has saved me by His grace, not by any works, lest I should boast (as God said through Paul). When we focus on ourselves and OUR works, we begin to think we have something to boast about in somehow attaining our own salvation, thus giving way to pride in our lives. I think it is about time we give credit where credit is due - to the One who saves our souls from the depths of hell - God.
I pray tonight that this revelation has blessed your heart as much as it has mine. What a weight God lifted from me when I realized that it was His grace that was my salvation and not anything that I could do. I finally feel free in Christ to receive the abundant life God for me, and live out my salvation here and into eternity with joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. I pray in Jesus' name that God would unveil any pride in your life, and reveal to your heart if you are doing works in Jesus' name to glorify God or to somehow procure your own glory or salvation. May God give you His Spirit that will lead you into all truth. I pray that God would deliver me and you from ourselves and our sins. May God bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thankful for God's grace,
Sarah
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Religion or Relationship with God (Part 2)
Just a couple days ago, I never imagine how the Lord was going to begin to move in this area of my life. The Lord has revealed to me many of the ways that I have fallen prey to the monster of religion and legalism. When I came into a personal relationship with Christ, I did not worry about how I prayed, how I fasted, how I read the Bible, or how I talked about "religious" things. I just wanted God to save me from my former sinful life that wasn't working out, and causing me to be miserable. I remember not having any idea how to "pray" when I first became a Christian. I asked a friend, "How do I talk to God?"
She gave me the most sound advice of "just talk to God like He is your best friend." That started a beautiful daily conversation between myself and the Lord of Lords. Because I was not raised in church, I had no preconceived ideas about what a relationship with God SHOULD look like, so I just applied the desire in my heart to know Him to the scriptural truth of the Bible, and I began talking to God. You can imagine my surprise when I would pray to God, and then something would happen that was just downright strange....the answer to my prayer would just happen - and quickly (sometimes within minutes or hours). This began to grow my faith that God really was listening to me, and He wanted me to talk to Him more. So I just kept talking....something I was really good at....and God just kept listening and answering in my physical circumstances. At that time, I did not know how to "hear" God internally, so I just heard Him by watching Him answer prayer in my life day after day. It was simple, I prayed, He answered.
Then God led me to do a Bible study called "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby. I recommend this Bible study to ANYONE who wants more than a boring religion full of rules...but rather a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ. God used this study to change my life and my relationship with Him forever. I found out that the things happening to me on a daily basis were not some freakish set of coincidences, but it was God trying to establish a real and deeply intimate relationship with me. I learned in this study the ways God communicates with His people, and I began to pay attention to even more ways that God was trying to "talk" to me. I still didn't get immediate internal answers to questions, but I would wait patiently and watch very observantly the world around me to receive God's answers to my prayers. The more I did this, the more God spoke to me internally. My faith began to build, and the next thing I knew, I realized that God was using my own mind and thoughts to speak directly to me. He would give me wisdom for various situations, and one situation would lead seamlessly into another, and then came the day when God answered my thoughts (not even my prayers) with a physical response in my circumstances.
Is this some special relationship I have with God that no one else can have? NO. This is what God hopes to have with EVERY living person. This is how God intended for it to be from the beginning. The problem is, the church is teaching people religion and not how to know God. I believe this is Satan's influence in the church, because if He can get people trapped into the bondage of religion, they begin to believe there is nothing more to be seeking (such as God's very Presence and His face).
You may ask, "What do people mean when they say - seeking God's face?" I can say that I was quite puzzled by this statement when I first heard it from a friend. I have learned over time that seeking God's face means getting to know God personally, and knowing His character well enough that you understand His ways and His plans (before they even happen)....much like you would know a family member or a best friend, or even your spouse. My husband knows me well enough because of our constant contact that he can predict what I will say, how I will react, how I will approach a given situation.....he knows my CHARACTER and he knows WHAT I HAVE DONE IN THE PAST. God gives us both in the written Word of the Holy Scriptures. By studying the Word of God, we can come to know how God has acted in the past, and His very character by what He says about Himself and how He approaches His people.
I know people will say..."Who can know the mind of God?" Well, we can't...but when you are truly a child of God and have been reborn by regeneration of heart (by the Holy Spirit)....you truly do have the Spirit of God living inside of you. And YOU cannot know the mind and heart of God, but God in you CAN. And He can speak to you through your own physical body and outward circumstances by His providence to show you He is real, and that He never changes. Is it a complex way of living....absolutely not! How God does it all, I don't know, but I know it is real...and it is a daily way of living for me and many others.
The #1 problem with people not understanding this is that they have been convinced by their religion that they are actually Christians when they are not. Does this mean they are doomed because they have been duped into believing they are child of God when they are not? Absolutely not. God is waiting for them to make the heart changing decision to follow Him for eternity and to have a relationship with Him.
I do NOT believe that everyone who utters the prayer of salvation is saved. I believe those who are convicted of their sinfulness to a point they cannot go on in their current way of life, and they ask God to save them because of their belief in His grace and power....those who are given a new life and new nature, and a new HEART by the Holy Spirit are saved. I believe in eternal security for believers, unless they commit apostasy by rejecting the gift God has given them after having received it. This is willful and intentional, and not because Satan led you astray....God will deliver you from such oppression. This would be a Christian who decides to reject the sacrifice of Jesus' Christ as having the power to save them from sin, and knowingly and willfully walking away from God permanently as apostasy. I am not even sure that those who truly have God's Spirit within them are capable of doing this, but it is mentioned here in the Bible (so I guess it could happen):
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB):
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of this age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
I think the problem is not with Christians who fall away from Christ's salvation, but more those who think they have it, and have never been reborn again of the Spirit. They are living out religion instead of a relationship with God because they are incapable of a relationship with God, because they have not been restored through the atoning blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Does this sound harsh to some??? Probably. Some will probably even never want to read this blog again because of the truth of this word. But....the Bible says that open rebuke is better than secret love. I would rather you hate me for telling the truth which shakes your world, than for you to love me because I go along with the deception of Satan (which will lead your soul to hell) in your life. I am choosing open rebuke BECAUSE I love you.
Many have considered the following scripture, and I have already heard it interpreted in many ways in the past two years....but I believe God is referring to religious living vs. a relationship with Him.....read it and pray over it for yourself:
Matthew 7:20-23 (NKJV):
"Therefore, by your fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."
God wants to know you personally. Through this personal relationship and the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, He will teach you the way to live day by day. You must be led by the Spirit through this relationship with God. Following the laws and obeying religious rules and doctrines will not end up equalling those who follow the will of God - which is to know, believe in, and trust in God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:2 (NASB):
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ. Does this mean just claiming Jesus name for salvation, NO. It means confessing Christ, believing in Him, and knowing Him personally. He states this in His Word:
John 14:1-7 (NKJV):
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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 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.' If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.
So, let me ask you a question???
If you do not know Jesus personally in a relationship, then how do you plan to know the Father, and if you do not know the Father or know about where He is, then how do you expect to get there when you die?????
Do you think that following some pitiful rules about religion is going to get you to heaven? Jesus told us the way, now those of us who know the Way need to help others find it. Bring them to Jesus and teach them to shed their religion and exchange it for something more precious....knowing God.
I pray today that God blesses each of you with a personal, deeply intimate relationship with Himself. I pray that He opens up a way for you to fall away from religion and fall into Him. I pray that the deception in your eyes would fall away, and that the spirits which have tried to keep you from Him would be bound in the name of Jesus. I pray for your freedom in Christ, and that God would bring you quickly into the abundant life He has for you. May God bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thankful for His Truth,
Sarah
She gave me the most sound advice of "just talk to God like He is your best friend." That started a beautiful daily conversation between myself and the Lord of Lords. Because I was not raised in church, I had no preconceived ideas about what a relationship with God SHOULD look like, so I just applied the desire in my heart to know Him to the scriptural truth of the Bible, and I began talking to God. You can imagine my surprise when I would pray to God, and then something would happen that was just downright strange....the answer to my prayer would just happen - and quickly (sometimes within minutes or hours). This began to grow my faith that God really was listening to me, and He wanted me to talk to Him more. So I just kept talking....something I was really good at....and God just kept listening and answering in my physical circumstances. At that time, I did not know how to "hear" God internally, so I just heard Him by watching Him answer prayer in my life day after day. It was simple, I prayed, He answered.
Then God led me to do a Bible study called "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby. I recommend this Bible study to ANYONE who wants more than a boring religion full of rules...but rather a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ. God used this study to change my life and my relationship with Him forever. I found out that the things happening to me on a daily basis were not some freakish set of coincidences, but it was God trying to establish a real and deeply intimate relationship with me. I learned in this study the ways God communicates with His people, and I began to pay attention to even more ways that God was trying to "talk" to me. I still didn't get immediate internal answers to questions, but I would wait patiently and watch very observantly the world around me to receive God's answers to my prayers. The more I did this, the more God spoke to me internally. My faith began to build, and the next thing I knew, I realized that God was using my own mind and thoughts to speak directly to me. He would give me wisdom for various situations, and one situation would lead seamlessly into another, and then came the day when God answered my thoughts (not even my prayers) with a physical response in my circumstances.
Is this some special relationship I have with God that no one else can have? NO. This is what God hopes to have with EVERY living person. This is how God intended for it to be from the beginning. The problem is, the church is teaching people religion and not how to know God. I believe this is Satan's influence in the church, because if He can get people trapped into the bondage of religion, they begin to believe there is nothing more to be seeking (such as God's very Presence and His face).
You may ask, "What do people mean when they say - seeking God's face?" I can say that I was quite puzzled by this statement when I first heard it from a friend. I have learned over time that seeking God's face means getting to know God personally, and knowing His character well enough that you understand His ways and His plans (before they even happen)....much like you would know a family member or a best friend, or even your spouse. My husband knows me well enough because of our constant contact that he can predict what I will say, how I will react, how I will approach a given situation.....he knows my CHARACTER and he knows WHAT I HAVE DONE IN THE PAST. God gives us both in the written Word of the Holy Scriptures. By studying the Word of God, we can come to know how God has acted in the past, and His very character by what He says about Himself and how He approaches His people.
I know people will say..."Who can know the mind of God?" Well, we can't...but when you are truly a child of God and have been reborn by regeneration of heart (by the Holy Spirit)....you truly do have the Spirit of God living inside of you. And YOU cannot know the mind and heart of God, but God in you CAN. And He can speak to you through your own physical body and outward circumstances by His providence to show you He is real, and that He never changes. Is it a complex way of living....absolutely not! How God does it all, I don't know, but I know it is real...and it is a daily way of living for me and many others.
The #1 problem with people not understanding this is that they have been convinced by their religion that they are actually Christians when they are not. Does this mean they are doomed because they have been duped into believing they are child of God when they are not? Absolutely not. God is waiting for them to make the heart changing decision to follow Him for eternity and to have a relationship with Him.
I do NOT believe that everyone who utters the prayer of salvation is saved. I believe those who are convicted of their sinfulness to a point they cannot go on in their current way of life, and they ask God to save them because of their belief in His grace and power....those who are given a new life and new nature, and a new HEART by the Holy Spirit are saved. I believe in eternal security for believers, unless they commit apostasy by rejecting the gift God has given them after having received it. This is willful and intentional, and not because Satan led you astray....God will deliver you from such oppression. This would be a Christian who decides to reject the sacrifice of Jesus' Christ as having the power to save them from sin, and knowingly and willfully walking away from God permanently as apostasy. I am not even sure that those who truly have God's Spirit within them are capable of doing this, but it is mentioned here in the Bible (so I guess it could happen):
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB):
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of this age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
I think the problem is not with Christians who fall away from Christ's salvation, but more those who think they have it, and have never been reborn again of the Spirit. They are living out religion instead of a relationship with God because they are incapable of a relationship with God, because they have not been restored through the atoning blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Does this sound harsh to some??? Probably. Some will probably even never want to read this blog again because of the truth of this word. But....the Bible says that open rebuke is better than secret love. I would rather you hate me for telling the truth which shakes your world, than for you to love me because I go along with the deception of Satan (which will lead your soul to hell) in your life. I am choosing open rebuke BECAUSE I love you.
Many have considered the following scripture, and I have already heard it interpreted in many ways in the past two years....but I believe God is referring to religious living vs. a relationship with Him.....read it and pray over it for yourself:
Matthew 7:20-23 (NKJV):
"Therefore, by your fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."
God wants to know you personally. Through this personal relationship and the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, He will teach you the way to live day by day. You must be led by the Spirit through this relationship with God. Following the laws and obeying religious rules and doctrines will not end up equalling those who follow the will of God - which is to know, believe in, and trust in God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:2 (NASB):
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ. Does this mean just claiming Jesus name for salvation, NO. It means confessing Christ, believing in Him, and knowing Him personally. He states this in His Word:
John 14:1-7 (NKJV):
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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 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.' If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.
So, let me ask you a question???
If you do not know Jesus personally in a relationship, then how do you plan to know the Father, and if you do not know the Father or know about where He is, then how do you expect to get there when you die?????
Do you think that following some pitiful rules about religion is going to get you to heaven? Jesus told us the way, now those of us who know the Way need to help others find it. Bring them to Jesus and teach them to shed their religion and exchange it for something more precious....knowing God.
I pray today that God blesses each of you with a personal, deeply intimate relationship with Himself. I pray that He opens up a way for you to fall away from religion and fall into Him. I pray that the deception in your eyes would fall away, and that the spirits which have tried to keep you from Him would be bound in the name of Jesus. I pray for your freedom in Christ, and that God would bring you quickly into the abundant life He has for you. May God bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thankful for His Truth,
Sarah
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