IN GOD'S WORDS

As we walk this wondrous and mysterious walk with the LORD I see the importance of following God and His word as it is written. Many Christians talk about the symbolism in the Bible (word of God) and I must agree there is so much I do not understand, but we are not to take the word of God and read or even interpret it as we wish. Our opinion on the word of God matters little to God. His word is settled in the earth and in the heavens. His word is written from His perspective not ours, so when we read the Bible as we wish or interpret according to what we believe we get into great trouble with God and get off track. The Body of Christ today is in a mess because we have “selected reading” when it comes to the word of God and choose what verses we will follow and what verses we will shun at the sake of our spiritual demise. One of the hottest topics in the Body of Christ (other than ladies in ministry and speaking in tongues) is the conversation of our salvation in Christ (which is much more than having our sins forgiven) through faith or grace. There are two camps out there: the faith camp that says we are saved only by faith all we have to do is just believe in faith Jesus died for our sins and when we die (no matter how we lived our life) we will go to heaven and receive our eternal reward. Just believe and that will get us through, well the Bible tells us demons believe. James tells us, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19-20) So it has to be more than just believing and faith. Then on the other hand there is the grace camp who says we are saved by grace (which is true) alone. It is God’s grace that saves us and there is nothing we have to do, except receive of it and when we die we will go to be with the LORD forever and receive our eternal reward. This doctrine is just as bad as the once saved always saved doctrine; when I was nine maybe ten I walked the aisle and made a commitment to Christ and now when I die I will go to heaven and live forever with my reward. There must be more. A few years ago, while in Bulgaria I sat down with a pastor over a cup of coffee (Bulgarians like coffee more than any other country in the world) who told me of his new revelation from God, grace. Well there is nothing new about grace (God changes not), but there are always new twists and misinterpretations of grace. The pastor’s new revelation was nothing more than God’s grace repackaged and wrapped up with a new red bow and sold to his people as something new and fresh, “no matter what you do God will forgive you” and this is true, but this is not God’s grace this is a license to sin and then count on God’s and our brothers and sisters mercy and grace to give forgiveness without any consequence for our action. The pitch is God does all of the work and you can do whatsoever you want to do and still go to heaven. And if you are really saved then God’s grace will prevent you from sinning. Sadly if the members of his congregation have not allowed God to work in their lives (where they are the “workmanship of God”) where they can handle a little bit of Christian liberty (few Christians have) then the pastor is setting his congregation up for failure and a long way back to correction if they can find the way. So which camp is right? Well they both are wrong and both are causing great confusion, schism, and division within the Body of Christ. Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Our salvation (which is much more than having our sins forgiven) is by grace through faith and I will add this process happens in us as we allow God to work in our lives (taking us through some difficult times and situations) becoming (a life-long process) “his workmanship.” We were created by God “unto good works,” and God ordained that we should walk in them. Now the “good works” are NOT the good things we do for God and man, but the “good works” are the things we allow God to bring into our lives that help make us become “His workmanship” conforming us into the image (icon) of Jesus Christ. If we get this wrong and get too far over into grace at the exclusion of faith our lives will manifest a lascivious (showing much interest in sex and lustfulness) life-style where our fleshly sins will rule and reign in our lives. We will know no limits or restrictions (which are what brings us to fulfillment and purpose in God), do what we want to do, say what we want to say, go where we what to go who cares what God wants. This misapplication of truth will get us so far off track and the sad thing is Christians do not even know it. They think they are walking in the light of God’s word, but in reality they are over into presumption (thinking they know the truth, but in reality they are wrong) and far off the path of knowing God. Now just as bad as the grace camp is the faith camp. If we get too far over in faith then we will get over into legalism; a performance based religion where we think must do things (pay our tithes, clean the church cut the church grass, spend so much time reading the Bible or in prayers, and etc.) to please God to be saved and just like when over in grace too far we are over in presumption, wrongly thinking we know the truth of the Scriptures, but woefully missing the mark. Many Christians say the truth will prevent us from falling into either camp, well that is almost right. In John Jesus gives us the key that will prevent us from falling into legalism or lasciviousness. In John we read, “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. 30As he spake these words, many believed on him. 31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:29-32) Now notice Jesus was talking to people who believed He was the Messiah, who believed He was the Son so it must take more than believing to know truth or even become a disciple of God. Which begs the points to be asked, if we only believe are we a disciple? I think if we only believed and then die we may (that is God’s call) go to heaven (and for some that is enough), but to be a disciple of Christ where we can do the things Jesus asked us to do in Matthew 28, “Go ye therefore, and teach (making disciples in the Greek) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20-21) there must be more. The word “teach” in verse 19 and “teaching” in verse 20 is translated from the same word in the Greek: as making or becoming learners or pupils. We are called to make disciples (teaching all nations), to make pupils, to make learners, and to do this we must do more than just believe, there is a deeper level of commitment and dedication we must engage with God to be able to make disciples of all nations. And it is not about truth, but it is about knowing the truth. Truth alone saves no one, but knowing the truth will set us free of ourselves and life’s many troubles and situations. To know truth we must abide in the words of Christ that is what Jesus told the Christians who only believed on Him and if we do that then we will be disciples in deed (action and commitment) and able to do what Jesus asked us to do. Sadly the majority of the Body of Christ cannot disciple someone, because they have never been discipled themselves. There does not seem to be a big desire in the Body of Christ today to make disciples, but there does seem to be a big desire for evangelism. I can get my name up in lights and make a name for myself. And oh the money I can make for God’s kingdom. In evangelism you really do not get your hands dirty, just share the gospel and off you go to the next crusade where making disciples happens every day of our lives as we mentor and instruct people, as we deal with relationships, religion, denominations, attitudes, emotions, and the greatest enemy our flesh. I am not sure when the switch happened to evangelism from Jesus’ words to make disciples, but we need to get back to living Godly lives were we can point at our lives as Paul did when he said, “follow me as I follow Christ.” Now notice the reply of the people, “They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” and “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.38I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.” (John 34-40) Now remember Jesus is talking to people who knew Him as the Son of God, who believed on Him, but seek to kill Him. Jesus cuts to the chase and says, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” (John 8:44-45) Again Jesus was talking to people who thought they were Christians who believed, but in the end they too were over in presumption. You see it is more than truth it is more than believing, it is about knowing the truth, it is about allowing His words to abide in us, then and only then will we be free. My friend we must abide in the word of Jesus by abiding in the word of the Scriptures. If it says (and it does) “we are saved by grace through faith” then believe it and then stake your life upon it. Let’s go back to God’s words and stop trying to be interpret and change up what God is saying (so that we can get a big name or make a lot of money) to us in His Scriptures. They are His words not ours, we are to be His disciples and this will only happen when we allow God’s words to abide in us. Written by David Stahl

GOD GOES AHEAD

One of the most assuring thoughts we can have of God’s love is His ability to go ahead of us. This means He knows what we will face before we get there. This means God knows what we will need in order to do that which He wants us to do before we know we need it. Before we left for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia a brother who had already gave me $6,800 for airplane tickets gave me an additional $2,000 in case we needed the money to secure the venue for the crusade. I have purposed in my heart to return the money if we did not need it well we did not need it for the venue, but for airplane tickets. To make a long wonderful story short we missed (I have never ever missed my fight) our flight (now this was God’s idea I can go into details that will just make you marvel) and needed to head home as planned on 3 June. We went to a travel agent (who confirmed our ticket for our original flight) of a good friend and purchased tickets the same day (which is unheard of in Africa) and the cost for two ticket was $1,826. God had gone ahead to cover the tickets before we left. God had planned for Pastor Foster to ordain Elders and for me to minister in a church where 39 people re-dedicated their lives back to Christ and us leaving was not going to stand in His way. During the service Pastor Abebe was talking about his American friends and I thought he was talking about Pastor Foster and I, well again God has His plans and we have ours. Down the aisle came a team of 15 Americans from Kansas on a mission trip they sang a song and took their seat for the teaching. After the service I asked the pastor where in Kansas they were from and he said, “have you ever heard of McConnell Air Force Base? We are about five minutes from the base.” Which I replied, “as a matter of fact I do. My son Daniel and his wonderful family is taking orders to McConnell Air Force Base.” Who would have believed this meeting happened in Africa? God would have because He goes ahead of us. God goes ahead of us not to make our way easy, but to make our way meaningful and to serve as lessons for our spiritual growth and development. When I heard we missed our flight it was like someone kicked me in the stomach, but even through this God was working in us and our situation. God is always doing this if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. I was brought in the past by the Lord into an intense and pleasant prayer pattern. The Holy Spirit always flooded me with the Lord’s presence and power. The personal joy was so great that three hours in such an atmosphere seemed like merely 30 delightful minutes. It lasted only several short weeks. Then the Lord left it. What a disappointment! I attempted to force its reinstatement by forcing myself to be on my knees daily for long periods of time. But the Lord was no longer interested in continuing this past pattern. He wanted to bring me into another prayer pattern. After some days in my attempt to get the old prayer pattern moving the Lord came and stood behind me and asked, “What are you doing on your knees?” He certainly did not want to be involved in what I was doing. “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, “this is the way, walk ye in it when you turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left,” (Isaiah 30:21) No voice behind you is a good sign. Some believers are distressed over the fact that they never hear God’s voice. Do not be too concerned. In disobedience and out of the will of God the Word says, “You shall hear.” Now that is true and that becomes necessary, but what about a walk of obedience? God’s speaking may be very infrequent or even nonexistent in a walk in His will. Once we are in God’s will there is no need for His speaking unless there is a change in His will. We simply continue to follow in obedience. He goes before us as we follow in obedience. We have heard His direction. On the other hand we may not have been conscience of His leading. Something got us going on the right track. We may hear His voice in front of us as we go in obedience or we may not hear His voice as we continue on the proper path. Do not be overly concerned about His silence, but rather focus your attention on Him going before you. The Lord goes before us. The Lord is there. That’s a fact. If He goes in front of us then He arrives before we arrive. He goes before us. This is a needy and valuable anchor. We should recognize feeling or no feeling that the Lord is present and He got there before we did. This is a tremendously valuable truth to the person who finds himself in the difficult situations and circumstances. It would be to our advantage to know (before we wake up and discover that we are in them) that we are on our way to the wilderness. For if we know we are on our way to the wilderness, it will help to cushion the shock of the wilderness when we do arrive in that land of stark contrast. If the Lord goes before us He knows the circumstances to which we are coming into. This indeed is an anchor for our soul. It will hold us in difficult places. Our Shepherd goes ahead of us. What a great comfort. He knows every place which we experience in the whole of our lifetime. He has been leading you; He has gone ahead. The Lord is our Shepherd who goes ahead; He knows where He is leading me. He goes there before He begins to lead me there. He walks ahead of me as he leads, “When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them as the sheep follow him.” (John 10:4) He allured her into the wilderness, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her. I will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her.” (Hosea 2:14) By His wonderful approaches He allures her. He did not lay all His cards on the table. There are hidden factors. She did not know where she was going. It is in His mercy and love for us God keeps certain factors hidden from us. If we knew that we were going into the wilderness chances are that we would balk and turn another path. But the LORD is clever and entices us, “Come, come right this way.” God’s call is always to come up near Him. “And the Lord said, here is a place by Me and you shall stand on the rock.” (Exodus 33:21) This is the initial invitation; this is the initial leading into the wilderness where spiritual growth and development can happen in us. The promise of Him leading us into the wilderness comes with another promise, “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?” (Song of Solomon 8:5) We go to the wilderness to have our questions answered, where no one can hear us scream. God leads us into the wilderness so we can learn to lean on Him. In order for truth to be an anchor, it must grip our inner being. It is not to be gathered by mentally assenting to it, although that certainly will help somewhat. We must remember truth is not mental gymnastics of the spirit, if we are to have faith in the truth and if we are to gather truth it will be by the Holy Spirit by His work in our lives (through His dealing and judgments) and revelation. God measures man by how much revelation of God he possesses. Revelation is God’s measuring stick. On our part it will necessitate an ongoing surrender to the ways of God. More and more surrender in us the more truth will grip us. Regardless of the circumstances or the situations in which we find ourselves, we will know and live the truth. It will be a sure anchor for our soul. All along the way God made tweaks to us and our plans that improved what we thought should happen. We thought a two day crusade God thought three. We thought a big crusade in Addis Ababa, well God thought a huge crusade (about two hours drive from Addis Ababa) in Nazerate. If God is not tweaking our plans then we are in charge and He is on the side lines. Another brother was to go with us to Ethiopia making us a team of four, but he listened to people as they put fear into his heart. God cannot use a coward either we will trust God or we will believe men. He was not flexible enough in God and lacked the faith to be able to go along for the ride with God. He wanted months of prayer and meeting preparation with all of the churches involved in the crusade, but God does not need such plans all He needs is men and woman with a heart for Him and people, thus he missed out on the many 100s of folks that were saved and rededicated their lives back to Christ, and most important he missed out on the work of God in his life taking him to the next level of power and glory in God. I knew from the start with my brother (he also knew) this was what God wanted to do in his life, but he chose to turn back (not his first time) because of fear and because of a spiritual unstableness in him not getting his way. Ministry is not about us it is about Christ and all along the way God goes ahead of us to make our way rewarding. What a stark contrast and difference in brothers. One could anticipate what God was doing even though he did not have all of the details yet he was led (gave almost $9,000) by the LORD and made a difference in God while the other brother could not anticipate nor had any clue what God was doing because he wanted all of the details, his way, and lost out on all that God had for him. You know wanting to know things got Adam and us into a lot of trouble. Let us just go along for the ride knowing God loves us and goes ahead of us. Written by David Stahl