A Test? A New Set of Eyes

Will you,and your church pass the tests that are coming this year concerning persecution for righteousness sake? There are Christians being tortured and killed for their faith everyday all across the world.

Lets not slap them in the face by failing because of a few harsh words. We have failed them enough by hoarding Kingdom finances in this nation.

Many Pastors and Brethren have died for lack of food and medicine. They suffer for The Kingdom under harsh persecution as Shepherds of The Lords sheep in places where wolves devour from the inside and out.


We owe it to them to stay steadfast in prayer for them. To pray that the wealthy ministers of this nation, and other wealthy nations, will have a change of heart and begin to give their excess to The Poor and Persecuted Church across the planet.


It is not a question of who should have what.Time is short.


What do you value.What value do you put on a luxury car/diamonds/expensive watches/million dollar homes?



I pray that Ministers and Laymen alike, all over this planet, begin to see with different eyes. The eyes Schindler was seeing with at the end of that movie, but before the end comes.


When they see a luxury car, they will see 10 churches supported,planted, fed for 5 years. When they see the Rolex they see medicine and shelter for 100 pastors for 5 years. When they see the multi million dollar home, they choose a modest home instead and see thousands,possibly tens of thousands of Christians fed The Word for the next decade.

Can we see with different eyes?????? That is all I am praying, is that we will begin to see with different eyes. We will see stuff as valuable in a different way. Not that we can't have nice things and provide for our families..

Just that what we value will change.

God Is At Work!!!!

It is amazing how God can work in our lives. Just a few weeks ago I was in quite the physical and emotional mess. From about, July to October, I started a downward spiral. From October to the end of the year, I was in complete shut down mode.

I gained a lot of weight, shooting up to 308 at my highest point. I was really depressed, always sick and was generally a mess.

I would give more detail but my wife, and I think she is right, says I have to cut back on putting all my stuff out there and being too open. I love her, she is so wise and doesn't even realize it I think.

The Lord gave me a vision back in October, showing me that it was going to be a hard few months, that His Spirit was the only way I would get through, and just to drive forward to the end of the year.

On New Years eve, with the fullness of 2012, and really the last 20 years in some areas concerning my ministry walk, my christian walk, coming to a head, I had every opportunity to just say, "God failed me, 2012 did not come out as prophesied, we didn't receive a harvest, the ground was hard all year, nothing changed, everything seemed to have failed". The hardest part was the temptation to say, "The Word failed me, God failed me".

I was at work, doing a job that does not bless my soul or spirit. I knew there was a great service going on at church, my family was home bringing in the new year without me, and I was in the same place, in a worse place in some ways than the year before. I really didn't want to hear another NYE service of promises anyway. 2012 didn't work out too well.

But!! God showed up. I clicked on a link and saw that CCC (Christian Cultural Center in NYC) was having a live feed. I started to listen. And God showed up some more. I thanked God for getting me through the last three months of pain and trial, and God showed up some more. I gave my attention to The Word as if I was sitting in NYC listening to Pastor Bernard Live, and you guessed it. GOD SHOWED UP SOME MORE!!

By the time the service was over, and what a service it was, I was full of The Spirit! Something Lifted off of me and I was set free from something that was keeping me bound.

The anointing on me was so powerful. For those who don't know what that is, to put it simply, it is the tangible presence/power of God, gods power on earth to accomplish His Will. Like electricity is power in the natural, think of The Anointing as Power in The Spirit.(But NOT spiritual energy, like new agers dabble in. It is Gods presence and Power, it belongs solely to Him and Him alone)

Anyway, it doesn't end there. I then listened to a service from ALCC here in Syracuse. Called Recompense and Reward. I was well prepared by The Spirit of God to receive the promises of God for the coming year. I don't know if I would have been in the place to receive it if I had not been stuck at work, and "forced" to listen to CCC live feed, instead of being at my church for the service.

When I saw what God was doing and what He had done. Something again broke over me on The Spirit.

Do I know why I had to suffer so much up this point, not fully, but I do know, He was in it with me. Have I had struggles since that night, yes, but I do know I am heading out of the valley toward a glorious mountain top. Has the enemies that bound me for all that time tried to reach their dark little fingers into this year and drag me back, oh yeah, but, Gods anointing has freed me, and they have no claim or hook on me anymore.

Oh The Precious Blood Of Jesus!!!!!!

I share this with you because I want you to know that He is a Faithful God. Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth and He really is with you forever, even unto the end of the age. He has not left you. I know some of you are looking around and thinking, you don't know what I am dealing with, you don't know what I have done, you don't know the temptations I deal with every day. You don't know the thoughts I fight, the darkness I feel.

I sure do. And most importantly Jesus does. The Word says He was tempted in EVERY WAY. He is able to understand, help you and SET YOU FREE!! Matter of fact, he has already set you free, if you have accepted Him as Lord and Savior!!! 

My Pastor today, his book, which I highly recommend, is to the right on the sidebar, gave us a "homework" assignment it was to meditate and speak out loud a scripture from Philippians. I leave you with that scripture in a few different version. Make it personal. Say God is at work IN ME.......

I like the first one the best!!!


Philippians 2:13
New Living Translation (NLT)

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.


Philippians 2:13
New International Version (NIV)

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.



Philippians 2:13
Amplified Bible (AMP)

 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while [a]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and [b]delight.

You Can't Tell Me!

A song for those struggling with depression!



You cant cause me, to run today
You can't cause me, to quit today

You can't keep me, in bed today
You can't tell me, nothin' matters anyway

Because I got The Spirit, of The Lord
I've got The Spirit, of The Lord

You cant stop me, in my walk today
You can't tell me, to run away

You can't force me, to frown and cry
You won't tell me, that I should just die

Because I got The Spirit, of The Lord
I've got The Spirit, of The Lord

Because I got The Spirit, of The Lord
I've got The Spirit, of The Lord

I will stand up, and allow my soul to release
I will face the world, with His Joy and PEACE

I will walk with Him, through the heat of pain
I will call for him ,and He will send me His rain

Because I got The Spirit, of The Lord
I've got The Spirit, of The Lord

Because I got The Spirit, of The Lord
I've got The Spirit, of The Lord

You cant cause me, to run today
You can't cause me, to quit today

You can't keep me, in bed today
You can't tell me, nothin' matters anyway

Because I got The Spirit, of The Lord
I've got The Spirit, of The Lord.....

Every Stronghold Broken!!!

Is it possible to have love and fellowship all around us, and still feel like we have been rejected or left out? It can if we do not allow The Holy Spirit into that stronghold of the soul and mind. We can be surrounded by opportunity to love and be loved, to serve and yes be served, and never see it or enjoy it.


So many leave a place God has ordained them to be, because although they let God bring them so far, they stopped when it came to this one place, a place where closeness and intimacy is. A place where we can cry with a brother or sister. Where we can be transparent with a leader that is offering an open ear.


How much of what we feel to be others judging and/or rejecting us, is, really just our own unhealed feelings telling us that. Or if there is a real friction, how much of that is because we refuse to submit and change? Even if for a time we have to agree to disagree, isn't that what true submission is? Does not The Word say iron sharpens iron?


I am going to change here and say "I", so I can deal with myself, in the hopes of encouraging you.

Am I zealous to a fault, where I speak, write or act without thought for how those younger in The Lord will see it, or comprehend it? Do I take a stand that says "I know what The Lord has told me", yet do not consider how The Leaders above me will have to explain my actions or words?? Or how what I say may effect Gods plan for them and me together?


Am I so wrapped up in how I sense in my heart how the Church should be in the nation, that I forget that what I do and say may just be taking public shots at the church I serve in locally?


Someone said to me today something like "closeness can be scary". Indeed it can be. Submission for so many of us can be even scarier, especially if we feel like we have had to protect and defend ourselves all our lives. Releasing control can be hard and scary.


Relationship, deep relationship, real relationship, so many of us have avoided. Oh we smile, give a high five, chat about work, so many of us never build beyond that. So, when we do begin to draw closer and open up  we find out that, closeness can cause friction. We find out people are human. Instead of letting iron sharpen iron and pressing on with building relationships (building anything takes time, sweat, and sometimes tears). We fall back.


Sometimes we fall back into silence and seclusion. Sometimes just into the shallow, high five, small talk, email relationships we had before. Sometimes, and this is where the heart of this article is shooting at, we reject others, we reject the process, we reject the building plan, we reject everything around us that is crying out for our portion of love and relationship.


Please don't let the enemy stop you now. Not now. Not after all you have been through. Not after all God has done for you and through you. God has placed, somewhere around you,,people who are meant to be lifelong friends, some, not all, very close friends that are so important to your life and, guess what, theirs.


Will you see stuff that stirs those old hurt feelings and make you uncomfortable? Yes of course. Just do the work of the ministry of love and reconciliation and don't give it your attention. Love on people. Join the group that feeds the poor, join that ministry that pulls on your heart, show up for fellowship events,  and be there. Take good advice, if there is something about you that keeps tripping you up and others,well come on now, let it go already, you will be okay. If it is God He will bring it back in a way that doesn't trip you or others...


Love Ya BROTHER OR SISTER!! LETS MAKE 2013 THE YEAR OF RECOMPENSE AND REWARD!!!! Lets allow GOD TO PAY back the devil for all those terrible feelings that have been tripping us up! Every stronghold broken!! None Left for the flesh or enemy to use!

This Is The Year!!!!

This is The Year, of Recompense and Reward!
This is The Year, of The Spirit and The Sword!
 

This is The Year, of His Living and Powerful Word!
This is The Year, of The Glory of The Lord!

This is The Year, of Recompense and Reward!
This is The Year, of The Spirit and The Sword!

 This is The Year, for the Healing of Our Pain!
This is The Year, that The Healer will rule and reign!



This is The Year, of Recompense and Reward!
This is The Year, of The Spirit and The Sword!


This is The Year, that The Lord will Reveal His Power!
This is The Year, of The Church's finest Hour!

This is The Year, of Recompense and Reward!
This is The Year, of The Spirit and The Sword!


This is The Year, YOU WILL see your enemies DESTROYED!!!
This IS HIS YEAR, SO REJOICE, REJOICE AND BE OVERJOYED!

Real Faith Can Cry Out!

Don't let anyone ever tell you that you are whining, complaining or failing in faith when you find yourself continually crying out to The Lord!!!

You are in good company with many great men of God! Including the one that God said was the Apple of His Eye!

Just stay close to Him and end with a declaration of His Faithfulness!!

Psalm 13

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?

How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.

But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.

I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me.

 

 

God So Loved!!! And Still Does

Isaiah 14:12-15

How you are fallen from heaven,

O Lucifer, son of the morning!

How you are cut down to the ground,

You who weakened the nations!

For you have said in your heart:

I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High.’

Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.




The very first challenge to Gods Power, Authority, Sovereignty and Love. Lucifer who was once Gods anointed Cherub somehow steps out of his place and begins to think he is the source of his own life and glorious appearance. Pride rises up and Lucifer challenges the very throne of The Almighty. Lucifer also leads others into rebellion who also suffer the same fate as he. Isn’t that what he did in The Garden, and isn’t that what he is still doing today? Lucifer, now Satan, has been pushing and prodding mankind since the beginning to follow in his footsteps of rebellion and pride.

When The Lord instructs us to worship Him and declare that He is good and His mercy endures forever, He isn’t doing that out of a sense of need for Himself. When He commanded the children of Israel to continually reverence and lift up His Name, He wasn’t doing it because He needs anything or is lacking anything in some way. We hold fast to His Word that declares that He is Good, He is Love, He is caring, He is ALIVE, because it is The Truth.

The enemy never stops trying to tell the world and even the church that God is not fair, that He doesn’t care, that He is the one that kills steals and destroys. Satan is the cause of all pain and hurt, sickness and death in the world. Fallen man in his sin, lust and steals, kills and destroys and they then ask why does God let this happen.

Of all the assignments Satan has sent out, I believe this is the chief one, to point the finger of blame at God and challenge His Throne of Grace and Love. We will combat this assignment with The Word of TRUTH, concerning our Gods Love! Praise Jesus!





Deuteronomy 7:6-9


“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;



Isn’t is awesome to know that God chose us. After all, we are the seed of Abraham in Christ. The blessings, the covenant that God made with Abraham, He made to us through Christ Jesus! And what does verse 8 say?: but because the LORD loves you.

God made His covenant with you long before you ever took your first breath on this earth. He was faithful to keep it, from century to century, millennium to millennium and from generation to generation. He chose you, He made covenant with you, He loved you, and in the fullness of time, He redeemed you. The Love of God is not the emotion that man operates from most of the time. The Love of God is covenant, it is faithfulness, it is loyalty, it is devotion to your well being. He is Love, to deny His Love for you, would be to deny Himself. Praise be to Jesus and The Father of our LORD Jesus Christ!




John 3:14-17(Amplified)



And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must [so it is necessary that] the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross], In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever!

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.



If there was ever a doubt about The Love of God, it is settled right here. God so greatly LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE. What did He give? A half offering, a small gift? No, He gave all He could possibly give. God Himself became man and gave His very own life for the world. I don’t think our human minds can grasp the value of what God did for us in Jesus.

He literally could not have given anymore than what He gave. He not only gave His only begotten son, whom He greatly loved, beyond any human comprehension. He not only laid His life down in “martyrdom” like many saints have. He laid down His very essence. The eternally Holy Son became a curse, became sin, suffered spiritual death for mankind. Jesus,when He walked the earth demonstrated Gods Love for man, by healing all who were oppressed by the Devil.

Always remember there is no separating supernatural healing and deliverance and The Love of God. Every time The Lord heals and delivers through you, you are demonstrating The Love of God and showing the enemy to be a liar.

The World is Standing At Eternity's Door!

Stand Strong! Stand Firm!
His Promises, and Favor, can not be earned!


The World is standing at eternity's door!
The World is standing at eternity's door!


Be Silent, and Know, that He is The LORD!
He shall fulfill His Word!!!!!!    


The World is standing at eternity's door!
The World is standing at eternity's door!


He soon will move His Mighty Hand
And bring ,His People, into a New Land!


The World is standing at eternity's door!
The World is standing at eternity's door!


He soon will shout, through the voice of  Thunder
And the enemies kingdom will fall to plunder!


Soon there will be time no more!
The World is standing at eternity's door!

Soon there will be time no more!
The World is standing at eternity's door!

Soon there will be time no more!
The World is standing at eternity's door!

Complete Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly

The Lord of Hosts is Able!

There is a war coming to our streets. Christian Men must understand the scripture that says "we do not battle against flesh and blood....."  in the days ahead. My spirit is disturbed by what I see. The trickery of the enemy has set up the majority of Christian men,especially in The South, and our inner cities, to fail the coming test and trial.

Gods answer to the darkness IS NOT a Militia, not a Gang. It is not a Gun. It is not wrapping yourself in The Flag and 2 Amendment Rights!

His answer is The Church, Prayer! The Sword of The Spirit,The Armor of God, and The Word of God!!!


I say this by The Spirit of God. You man, need to fully understand this and not allow fear,pride and the flesh to cause you to be swept up in something that plays right into the enemies hand. More to come as The Lord wills.



Ephesians 6:12-13
New King James Version (NKJV)

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.



Psalm 20:6-8
New King James Version (NKJV)

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.



Isaiah 31:1
New King James Version (NKJV)

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
And rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
Nor seek the Lord!

The Transformed Life by John R. Carter

 

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