Monday, July 28, 2008
Moved
I have moved blogs. I am currently at www.thoughtsofthenight.wordpress.com It is much simpler to use and I have friends that use that one. Thank you, sorry for the absence. I am going to continuing my postings. Please continue to read. Thanks
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Crying in Us
Galatians 4:3 "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out 'Abba, Father'"
Revelation 22:17 "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come'...."
Roman 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."
There are 3 different longings in us that I have seen. These have been placed in us by God. When we become lovers of God these things are immediately given.
1. The cry of a son. We have a longing in our hearts to know God as the Father
2. They cry of the Bride. We have a longing to be in love with God ravished in intimacy.
3. The cry of the Spirit. We have a longing to communion with God deeply.
Revelation 22:17 "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come'...."
Roman 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."
There are 3 different longings in us that I have seen. These have been placed in us by God. When we become lovers of God these things are immediately given.
1. The cry of a son. We have a longing in our hearts to know God as the Father
2. They cry of the Bride. We have a longing to be in love with God ravished in intimacy.
3. The cry of the Spirit. We have a longing to communion with God deeply.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Combating the Spirit of Religion
1. People with the religious spirit will often see their primary mission as tearing down whatever they believe is wrong. Such a person's ministry will result more in division than in lasting works that are bearing fruit for the Kingdom
2. They will be unable to accept rebuke, especially from those whom they judge to be less spiritual than they. Think back on how you responded the last few times someone tried to correct you.
3. They will have a philosophy that says, "I will not listen to people, but only to God. Since God frequently speaks through people, this is an obvious delusion, revealing serious spiritual pride.
4. They will be inclined to see more of what is wrong with other people, other churches and so on, than what is right with them. From the valley John saw Babylon, but the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10). If we are only seeing Babylon, it is because of our perspective. Those who are in a place of true vision will have their attention on what God is doing, not on what people are doing.
5. They will be subject to an overwhelming feeling of guilt that you can never measure up to the Lords' standards. This is a root of the religious spirit, because it causes us to base our relationship with Him on our performance rather than on the Cross. Jesus has already measured up for us. He is the completed work that the Father is seeking to accomplish within us. Our whole goal in life should be to simply to abide in Him.
6. They keep score on their spiritual life. This includes feeling better about ourselves because we do what we consider to be spiritual, such as go to more meetings, read the Bible more, and do more things for the Lord. These are all noble endeavors, but the true measure of spiritual maturity is getting close to God.
7. They will believe that they have been appointed to fix everyone else. These persons become the self-appointed watchmen, or sheriffs, in God's kingdom. They are seldom involved in building, but serve only to keep the Church in a state of annoyance and agitation, if not cause serious divisions.
8. They will have a leadership style that is bossy, overbearing, and intolerant of the weaknesses or failures of others. However, as James wrote, "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:17-18)
9. They will have a sense that they are closer to God than other people or that their lives or ministry is more pleasing to Him. This is a symptom of the profound delusion that we draw closer to God because of who we are, rather than through Jesus.
10. People with the religious spirit will take pride in their spiritual maturity and discipline, especially as compared with others. True spiritual maturity involves growing up into Christ. When we begin to compare ourselves with others, it is obvious that we have lost sight of the true goal- Jesus.
11. They will believe that they are on the cutting edge of what God is doing. This includes thinking that we are involved in the most important things that God is doing.
12. They will have a mechanical prayer life. When we start feeling relief when our prayer time is over or when we have prayed through our prayer list, we should consider our condition. We should never feel relief when our conversations with the One we love are over.
13. They will do things in order to be noticed by people. This is the symptom of the idolatry of fearing people more than we fear God, which results in a religions that serves people instead of God.
14. They will be overly repulsed by emotionalism. When people who are subject to the religious spirit encounter the true life of God, it will usually appear to them to be excessive, emotional and carnal. True passion for God is often emotional and demonstrative, such as David exemplified when he brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem. (Samuel 6:14-16)
15. They will use emotionalism as a substitute for the work of the Holy Spirit. This seems contradictory to the previous point, but the religious spirit will often take contradictory positions in its drive for self-preservation and exaltation. This use of emotionalism will include such things as requiring weeping and wailing as evidence of repentance, or "falling under the power" as evidence that one has been touched by God. Both of these can be evidences of the true work of the Holy Spirit. It is when we require these manifestations that we are beginning to move in another spirit.
16. They will be encouraged when their ministries look better than others. We could include in this being discouraged when it seems that others are looking better or growing faster than we are.
17. They will glory more in what God did in the past than in what He is doing in the present. God has not changed - He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The veil has been removed, and we can be close to God today as anyone ever has been in the past. The religious spirit will always seek to focus our attention on doing good work and on making comparisons, rather than on simply drawing closer to God.
18. They will tend to be suspicious of or oppose new movements, new churches, and other new things that God brings to life. This is an obvious symptom of jealousy, a primary fruit of the religious spirit, or of the pride that asserts that God would not do anything new without doing it through us. Of course, those with such a mentality are seldom used by the Lord to birth new works.
19. They will tend to reject spiritual manifestations that they do not understand. This is a symptom of the pride and arrogance of presuming that our opinions are the same as God's. True humility keeps us teachable and open, patiently waiting for fruit before making judgments, true discernment enables us to look for and hope for the best, not the worst. For this reason, we exhorted to "Examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good" (1 Thessalonian 5:21), not what is bad.
20. People with the religious spirit will overreact to carnality in the Church. The truth is, there is probably far more carnality in the Church and a lot less of the Holy Spirit that even the most critical person has guessed. It is important that we learn to discern between the carnal and that which is from the Holy Spirit in order to be delivered from our carnality and to grow in our submission to the Holy Spirit. But the critical person will annihilate those who may still be 60 percent carnal but who were 95 percent carnal last year. Instead, we need to recognize that people are making progress and to do what we can to help them along the way.
21. They will overreach to immaturity in the Church. There is an immaturity that is acceptable to the Lord. A two-year-old is immature when compared with a nine-year-old, but that is to be expected. In fact, the two-year-old may be very mature for a two-year-old. The idealistic religious spirit only see the immaturity, without considering other important factors.
22. They will be overly prone to view supernatural manifestations as evidence of God's approval. This is just another form of keeping score and comparing ourselves with others. Some of Jesus' greatest miracles, such as walking on water, were seen by only a few people. He was doing His works to glorify the Father, not Himself. Those who use the evidence of miracle to promote and build their own ministries and reputations have made a serious departure from the path of life.
23. They will be unable to join anything that they do not deem perfect or nearly perfect. The Lord joined, and even gave His life for, the fallen human race. Such is the nature of those who abide in Him.
24. They will be overly paranoid of the religious spirit. We do not get free of something by fearing it, but by overcoming it with faith in Christ Jesus.
25. They will have the tendency to glory in anything but the cross of Jesus, what He has accomplished and who He is. If we are building our lives, ministries, or churches on anything but these, we are building on shaky foundation that will not stand.
26. The number one enemy of the religious spirit is intimacy with God. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3)
We combat the religious spirit by going after the knowledge of God and pursuing intimacy over everything. PHILIPPIANS 3:9-10
2. They will be unable to accept rebuke, especially from those whom they judge to be less spiritual than they. Think back on how you responded the last few times someone tried to correct you.
3. They will have a philosophy that says, "I will not listen to people, but only to God. Since God frequently speaks through people, this is an obvious delusion, revealing serious spiritual pride.
4. They will be inclined to see more of what is wrong with other people, other churches and so on, than what is right with them. From the valley John saw Babylon, but the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10). If we are only seeing Babylon, it is because of our perspective. Those who are in a place of true vision will have their attention on what God is doing, not on what people are doing.
5. They will be subject to an overwhelming feeling of guilt that you can never measure up to the Lords' standards. This is a root of the religious spirit, because it causes us to base our relationship with Him on our performance rather than on the Cross. Jesus has already measured up for us. He is the completed work that the Father is seeking to accomplish within us. Our whole goal in life should be to simply to abide in Him.
6. They keep score on their spiritual life. This includes feeling better about ourselves because we do what we consider to be spiritual, such as go to more meetings, read the Bible more, and do more things for the Lord. These are all noble endeavors, but the true measure of spiritual maturity is getting close to God.
7. They will believe that they have been appointed to fix everyone else. These persons become the self-appointed watchmen, or sheriffs, in God's kingdom. They are seldom involved in building, but serve only to keep the Church in a state of annoyance and agitation, if not cause serious divisions.
8. They will have a leadership style that is bossy, overbearing, and intolerant of the weaknesses or failures of others. However, as James wrote, "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:17-18)
9. They will have a sense that they are closer to God than other people or that their lives or ministry is more pleasing to Him. This is a symptom of the profound delusion that we draw closer to God because of who we are, rather than through Jesus.
10. People with the religious spirit will take pride in their spiritual maturity and discipline, especially as compared with others. True spiritual maturity involves growing up into Christ. When we begin to compare ourselves with others, it is obvious that we have lost sight of the true goal- Jesus.
11. They will believe that they are on the cutting edge of what God is doing. This includes thinking that we are involved in the most important things that God is doing.
12. They will have a mechanical prayer life. When we start feeling relief when our prayer time is over or when we have prayed through our prayer list, we should consider our condition. We should never feel relief when our conversations with the One we love are over.
13. They will do things in order to be noticed by people. This is the symptom of the idolatry of fearing people more than we fear God, which results in a religions that serves people instead of God.
14. They will be overly repulsed by emotionalism. When people who are subject to the religious spirit encounter the true life of God, it will usually appear to them to be excessive, emotional and carnal. True passion for God is often emotional and demonstrative, such as David exemplified when he brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem. (Samuel 6:14-16)
15. They will use emotionalism as a substitute for the work of the Holy Spirit. This seems contradictory to the previous point, but the religious spirit will often take contradictory positions in its drive for self-preservation and exaltation. This use of emotionalism will include such things as requiring weeping and wailing as evidence of repentance, or "falling under the power" as evidence that one has been touched by God. Both of these can be evidences of the true work of the Holy Spirit. It is when we require these manifestations that we are beginning to move in another spirit.
16. They will be encouraged when their ministries look better than others. We could include in this being discouraged when it seems that others are looking better or growing faster than we are.
17. They will glory more in what God did in the past than in what He is doing in the present. God has not changed - He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The veil has been removed, and we can be close to God today as anyone ever has been in the past. The religious spirit will always seek to focus our attention on doing good work and on making comparisons, rather than on simply drawing closer to God.
18. They will tend to be suspicious of or oppose new movements, new churches, and other new things that God brings to life. This is an obvious symptom of jealousy, a primary fruit of the religious spirit, or of the pride that asserts that God would not do anything new without doing it through us. Of course, those with such a mentality are seldom used by the Lord to birth new works.
19. They will tend to reject spiritual manifestations that they do not understand. This is a symptom of the pride and arrogance of presuming that our opinions are the same as God's. True humility keeps us teachable and open, patiently waiting for fruit before making judgments, true discernment enables us to look for and hope for the best, not the worst. For this reason, we exhorted to "Examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good" (1 Thessalonian 5:21), not what is bad.
20. People with the religious spirit will overreact to carnality in the Church. The truth is, there is probably far more carnality in the Church and a lot less of the Holy Spirit that even the most critical person has guessed. It is important that we learn to discern between the carnal and that which is from the Holy Spirit in order to be delivered from our carnality and to grow in our submission to the Holy Spirit. But the critical person will annihilate those who may still be 60 percent carnal but who were 95 percent carnal last year. Instead, we need to recognize that people are making progress and to do what we can to help them along the way.
21. They will overreach to immaturity in the Church. There is an immaturity that is acceptable to the Lord. A two-year-old is immature when compared with a nine-year-old, but that is to be expected. In fact, the two-year-old may be very mature for a two-year-old. The idealistic religious spirit only see the immaturity, without considering other important factors.
22. They will be overly prone to view supernatural manifestations as evidence of God's approval. This is just another form of keeping score and comparing ourselves with others. Some of Jesus' greatest miracles, such as walking on water, were seen by only a few people. He was doing His works to glorify the Father, not Himself. Those who use the evidence of miracle to promote and build their own ministries and reputations have made a serious departure from the path of life.
23. They will be unable to join anything that they do not deem perfect or nearly perfect. The Lord joined, and even gave His life for, the fallen human race. Such is the nature of those who abide in Him.
24. They will be overly paranoid of the religious spirit. We do not get free of something by fearing it, but by overcoming it with faith in Christ Jesus.
25. They will have the tendency to glory in anything but the cross of Jesus, what He has accomplished and who He is. If we are building our lives, ministries, or churches on anything but these, we are building on shaky foundation that will not stand.
26. The number one enemy of the religious spirit is intimacy with God. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3)
We combat the religious spirit by going after the knowledge of God and pursuing intimacy over everything. PHILIPPIANS 3:9-10
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Hunger and Thirst
In light of everything said and done in our life, there isn't much that is going to last. We all know this. It has been taught in the church for centuries and is heard almost daily by anyone near a Christian oriented environment.
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. -John 17:3
God gives things to people in this life that are of Himself. Prophesy, Encounters, and other things of the such. We see these things happening to other people, and we get jealous because it isn't happening to us. Revelations of the things of God are shared with us, we get frustrated and depressed with how little we know.
But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ, more than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. -Philippians 3:7-8
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! -Song of Songs 4:9-10
Beyond all the things that I have gained in this life (dreams, visions, etc......) ALL is loss if I don't know God. And with one glance, one inkling of desire I ravish His heart. I can have all the biblical knowledge in the world, but all is nothing compared to that small desire I have. One moment of thirst, one moment of hunger, is worth more than a thousand years of serving God. You move the heart of God with just that little bit of desire you have. Don't ever think otherwise.
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. -John 17:3
God gives things to people in this life that are of Himself. Prophesy, Encounters, and other things of the such. We see these things happening to other people, and we get jealous because it isn't happening to us. Revelations of the things of God are shared with us, we get frustrated and depressed with how little we know.
But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ, more than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. -Philippians 3:7-8
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! -Song of Songs 4:9-10
Beyond all the things that I have gained in this life (dreams, visions, etc......) ALL is loss if I don't know God. And with one glance, one inkling of desire I ravish His heart. I can have all the biblical knowledge in the world, but all is nothing compared to that small desire I have. One moment of thirst, one moment of hunger, is worth more than a thousand years of serving God. You move the heart of God with just that little bit of desire you have. Don't ever think otherwise.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Finally Here
I finally made it the Night Watch internship. I have been waiting nearly 3 years for this to come. God has finally guided my physical body as well as my spiritual body to this place.
There is an important message I want to say to all. Pay attention to your seasons. If you aren't aware of where you are in God and what is happening to yourself in the point of life, its a dangerous place.
I urge everyone to seek to understand where you are in God. If you don't see where you are, how do you know where to go?
There is an important message I want to say to all. Pay attention to your seasons. If you aren't aware of where you are in God and what is happening to yourself in the point of life, its a dangerous place.
I urge everyone to seek to understand where you are in God. If you don't see where you are, how do you know where to go?
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Secret Place
I am here once again, alone in the dark. In this place I live, breath, and move in God. It is where we are truly expressing our relationship with God.
When the night comes or the morning dawns, what are we doing. Are we truly expressing our love to God? Spending time, time with the Uncreated Lover. Is 5 minutes praying at night and in the morning worthy of the Sovereign from the beginning to end? What has our secret place become?
For many a man in this generation, the secret place has been defiled by the abomination of lust. It has been washed in black by the sickness that has killed many lives. Those of us who know what I am talking about can see this as a chain that has hindered the personal relationship between them and God. Instead of gazing on the beauty of God (Psalm 27:4), men gaze upon the defilement of the image of God. The true opposite of what our eyes are meant to behold. We are created in the image of God, not only to bring glory and reflect Him, but to also glimpse at the beauty of God. I ask you men, are we spending our time gazing on the beauty of God or its defilement?
Women, you are not left out. In the silence, what is it do you hear? Are you hearing mockery? Self-hatred has crept into the lives of women all around the world. Are you hearing "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves."? (Song of Songs 4:1) The heart of God for you, beloved, is one of a ravished lovesick bridegroom. He says you are beautiful. Are you filling yourself with the words of God, or of man?
Beloved! We MUST reform our hidden lives. We need to be in a posture before God that is right. We must tarry with our Lover. We must listen and gaze upon the nature of God. We must be consumed with Him. WE HAVE TO BE IN LOVE!
When the night comes or the morning dawns, what are we doing. Are we truly expressing our love to God? Spending time, time with the Uncreated Lover. Is 5 minutes praying at night and in the morning worthy of the Sovereign from the beginning to end? What has our secret place become?
For many a man in this generation, the secret place has been defiled by the abomination of lust. It has been washed in black by the sickness that has killed many lives. Those of us who know what I am talking about can see this as a chain that has hindered the personal relationship between them and God. Instead of gazing on the beauty of God (Psalm 27:4), men gaze upon the defilement of the image of God. The true opposite of what our eyes are meant to behold. We are created in the image of God, not only to bring glory and reflect Him, but to also glimpse at the beauty of God. I ask you men, are we spending our time gazing on the beauty of God or its defilement?
Women, you are not left out. In the silence, what is it do you hear? Are you hearing mockery? Self-hatred has crept into the lives of women all around the world. Are you hearing "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves."? (Song of Songs 4:1) The heart of God for you, beloved, is one of a ravished lovesick bridegroom. He says you are beautiful. Are you filling yourself with the words of God, or of man?
Beloved! We MUST reform our hidden lives. We need to be in a posture before God that is right. We must tarry with our Lover. We must listen and gaze upon the nature of God. We must be consumed with Him. WE HAVE TO BE IN LOVE!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
God's love in the darkest hour
Sorry everyone for the rough copy. Its an old teaching I did.
We have the basis of relating to God through our victory.
But if we are having a bad day than God is sad
But if we are having a good day than God is happy
But God loves us in our wrestling
When we fail we think God is sad but the fact that we are wrestling for Him and His love, that we are fighting to obey,
God delights in us during our weakness in the midst of the fight
His passion escalates far above that sin because it escalates if we grasp onto the fact then He can lift us out of our pit (psalm
This is just one of the revelations that pull us out of misery and depression
But we fight on the basis of stop sinning (for righteousness), perfection and being like Him is not a basis to fight to stop sinning because we are sinful we fail time and time again so the next day we go dang I sinned again and we accept it as a reality
But when we go dang I sinned against you again you ask why do I do this to you I long to make you happy (We fight because we love Him)
When you fight for loving Him God’s emotions stir beyond our imagination this is what faith is about going “God right now you enjoy me” This is how we partner with God and He lifts us out of the desert, wilderness, pit, valley, whatever…… and we escalate into His true thoughts of us. (Psalm 138:8)
God still hates my sins but the fact we care what God thinks about us that moves His heart
He is not going to change our hearts because we are not emotional puppets (God make me not like it any more) He created us so that we can chose to love Him love that chooses Him
Prayer and fasting make our hearts tender to His and in that we choose what He loves us not to sin
Brings me to my next point that Intimacy is the key to life(John 17:3)
Prayer: communing with Jesus Christ through the Spirit
But what do we pray? Hmmmmm o what if we pray what He wants = talk about what He wants wow what a brilliant idea but is it biblical yes it is!
(1 John 5:14) well what is His will well for starters the Bible is His will
how is that His will? First off the Bible is the word of God duh Christianity 101 but why do we read the Bible? We are not supposed to read the word
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
