HGM FOR 18 DEC 18 WTFMT 59

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-59 TEXT:
" For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

I. GOD'S WILL
A. Confronting a hostile enemy in or out of the will of God makes a heap of difference. Joshua faced the children of Ai both out of and in the will of God. The different results were opposites, one of defeat, one of victory.
B. One of the reasons why most Christians live in defeat today is that they face the enemy contrary to the intentions of God. Of course, they face the world and life itself the same way. They have much in their hearts which is contrary to God, and thus they are defeated, as was Joshua at Ai.
C. The only place of victory is in harmony with God. I cannot depend upon my own spirit, my own thoughts, my own faith, my own strength for victory. Instead of moving in line with God, many work up an emotional stir against the enemy. This seems to fortify themselves. It certainly deludes them.
D. But when you are moving with God against an enemy, the battle is not yours in the first place, and, in the second place, the victory is certain. "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever." (Exodus 14:13) You can't get a better deal, no matter how hard you try. We are not to engage in a struggle with the enemy; we are to engage in a lopsided battle; we are to win the victory.
E. Since the battle is not ours, but God's we can afford to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Even while moving, one can stand still in God. Even while engaged in battle, one can rest. In God one can do nothing and at the same time accomplish mighty deeds. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13) "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." (Hebrews 4:10)
F. If we can surrender our own works and our own strength, and rest in God, He can give us, from Himself, all that we need; He can accomplish His will in and through us.
G. We can meet the problem, the storm, or the difficulty in the power of God. Now that is victory. Catastrophe and defeat occur when we attempt to face and overcome such things in our own strength, the reason why some Christians do not progress. And that also is the reason why some Christians never possess that which God has for them.
H. Let all of life's confrontations take place in God. It is not healthy to confront our enemies outside of God. Only in God will we be able to move forward, will be able to progress in the Lord.

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

A. It is not healthy to confront the enemies outside of God. That would frighten me. Almost anything outside of God frightens me. It would frighten me to choose a mate outside of God.
B. It is rather restful to let God handle things. "To go along for the ride." Then it really doesn't matter what path your life takes, nor what you confront.

A WIND IN THE HOUSE OF ISLAM

I often hear many Christians say, "what is God doing now in the world" I shake my head, and say to myself, "if they only knew what God is doing in the world they would be shocked." And that my friend is why most Christians do NOT know what God is doing in the world. Most Christians (especially in America) are secure (in their once saved always saved doctrine) and safe in their little church Sunday world (and maybe a mid-week service) three fast ones and a slow one, some announcements, pass the plate (cannot forget to pass the plate), maybe a special number or two, no more than 20 minutes of a sermon (sound familiar?), and then off to a local restaurant for the main course. Sadly this not what God has intended for His people when they come together, but this is what He gets in most churches. But what is God doing around the world? Well I will tell you my friend, there is a wind (the Holy Spirit) blowing around the world that is moving millions and millions of people from country to country, that are destabilizing nations. As a matter of fact this move of God is (in my humble opinion) bigger than the Azusa Street Revival of 1906, bigger than all four (1730-1755, 1790-1840, 1855-1930, and 1960-1980) of the Great Awakenings, and only second to the coming of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. What is going on? The Holy Spirit is blowing people groups from one part of the world to another part of the world. If you want to read a good book to understand this mighty move of God I recommend you get the book, "A Wind in the House of Islam" by David Garrison. There are nine geo–cultural regions or "rooms" as David calls them in the "House of Islam" and the Wind of God's Spirit is blowing through every one of them. In every corner of the Muslim world Muslims are turning to faith in Jesus Christ. God is speaking to them in dreams and visions and the result is a historic and unprecedented movement of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in the history of the world. And it is happening right under the sleeping nose of most of the churches. These geo-cultural rooms are found mainly in what many missionaries call the 10/40 Window. The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called "The Resistant Belt" and includes the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. The original 10/40 Window included only countries with at least 50% of their land mass within 10 and 40 degrees north latitude, but the revised 10/40 Window includes several additional countries that are close to 10 or 40 degrees north latitude and have high concentrations of unreached peoples. Approximately 5.04 billion individuals reside in approximately 8,631distinct people groups in the revised 10/40 Window. 5,918 or 68.6% of these people groups are considered totally unreached and having a population of 3.04 billion. This means approximately 60% of the individuals in the 10/40 Window live in an unreached people group. The 10/40 Window is home to some of the largest unreached people groups in the world such as the Shaikh, Yadava, Turks, Moroccan, Arabs, Pashtun, Jat, and Burmese. These are the people Jesus told the church to go after, but sadly we see these people have not been told about Jesus shoot they have not even be contacted. They are still unreached today. And why? Too hard, too expensive, too dangerous, plainly just too difficult. Maybe God made a mistake with these folks. In the last 50 years only 10% of all of the missionaries in the world have ventured within the 10/40 Window. Again approximately 60% of the individuals in the 10/40 Window live in an unreached people group.  So here is the question I have for the denominational missionary organizations. "What happened to Jesus' command to "Go ye" in Matthew 28?" Jesus commanded, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching 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 28:18-20) Maybe "all" does not mean "all." Or maybe they do not believe He will be with them "unto the end of the world." Now I have been to some of these places on the above map and I am here to tell you when you are there you feel like you are at the end of the world, but that is why it is important to know (before you leave) that God will never leave us or forsake us. Let us be honest and truthful my friend the church has significantly and miserably failed (especially over the last 50 years) to do the great commission work as Jesus has commanded and this (believe it or not) is at the heart of this massive movement of people. Now we would blame the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria that caused the people to exodus but not so. God has always used war, famine, and even governments to do his bidding to further the plans He has for mankind, just read the Old Testament and He had not changed. It is the hand of God in these wars and the wind blowing (the Holy Spirit) that is driving the people into places where the Gospel message can be heard. God in His love and mercy wishes none to be lost no not one. Brother Peter tells, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) God desires all to come to repentance and the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ so if the church/missionaries will not go where the people are then God (in His love and mercy) will send the people were the missionaries/church is. And that is what is happening. I have seen it with my own two eyes. The last time we were in Turkey we traveled to the Turkish Syrian (on the border) Town of Aleppo and saw the massive refugee camp. As far as the eye could see was white tents (and all of the things needed for a refugee camp) in the desert. The streams of people head west into Turkey or up from Greece to get passage into the Balkans and follow on into Eastern and then Western Europe. And all along the way destabilizing villages, town, cities, and countries. Like a swam of locus devouring everything in their path. Here the sad truth plays out; the price paid for our disobedience is usually paid by others. This scenario has been playing out since 2015 with no sight of shutting down, yet the world and most in the churches snoozes on. This flood of people will stop when the Holy Spirit stops blowing in the hearts and lives of the people who have never heard of Jesus Christ. But until then people are coming. Knowing the church has missed it in not going what is the church going to do now? What is God doing in the world? Giving the church another chance at the Great Commission. Written by David Stahl

THE WHISPERS OF GOD

Back in September our sleepy little fishing village (population around 10,000) was looking down the barrel (in the middle of the cross hairs) of a category 4 hurricane (winds 130- 156 mph or 209-251 mp/k) name Florence. Thank God it weakened to a Category 1 (winds 74-95 mph or 119-153 mp/k) and turned south at the last minute and we missed the brunt of the winds and storm surge. Still it devastated the area to the point even today four months later people are just getting some sense of normalness. I can remember getting a phone call from an old pastor (Doug Price from Johnston, PA) inquiring about our safety and I told him if Florence take our home we will move to Johnston, PA (and we meant it) and help him with his church. It all seems surreal, but in my spirit I felt a calm and peace that all would be well, but we all know God's ways are not our ways. As Florence drew near the coast it was certain Karen and I had to make some hard and fast decisions. So I did what we all need to do at times like this, ask God what to do and all I got was, "stay put." God spoke small to me, He seemed to whisper to my spirit in an almost quite way. You know often we miss God speaking to us because we have all of these other voices loud in our ears and thoughts. It is not God is not speaking, but most often we lack the ability to hear His voice. So I said okay we will go a school shelter in town. Now again at this time Florence had not downgraded and was still packing winds of over 156 mph. I felt good with our decision for safety and we were staying put as God directed. Our wonderful son Dan in Fort Payne AL over 10 hours by car and another wonderful son David in Greenville, NC about two hours (as well as many other friends) away invited us to come, but God said 'stay put." As the shelter at the middle school in town opened we found out it was built for storms not greater than category 2 (96-110 mph or 154-177 mp/k) and so anyone who signed in at the shelter would be bused three hours away, which is not staying put. What to do now. Here is where if we have a hearing ear we can hear God whisper to us what to do. Now many who say God does not whisper to us, oh yeah? In 1 Kings Chapter 19 we find God whispering to Elijah. "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." 1 Kings 19:11-12) The word "small" here is Hebrew #1851 for thin, dwarf, or whisper. A voice cannot be big or small, but is measured in loudness of sound. You know when we expect God to speak to us we are looking for trumpets to sound, clouds to roll back, thunder to crash, but that is not how God speaks. God is not into the flashy, loud, look at me entertainment projections or even the sad, sorrowful heartfelt tear jerking songs like in most churches of today use to manipulate their people to get them to do things. Oh no the church thinks it is God, but in reality it is nothing more than our carnal, fleshy emotions that moves us to tears or to boast of things we have no intention of doing when the music stops. I always find it funny how while the music is playing and the drums are beating God is in our presence, but once the music stops God seems to disappear. Here in verse 11, "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks" and Elijah expected to hear God in the mighty wind and the destruction of the mighty mountain, but God did not speak. And "after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:" God did not speak after the earthquake. And "after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire:" Surely after the mighty wind, an earthquake, and fire God would speak, but God was silent. What would make God speak if not for these major disasters? Does God not care? Yes my friend God does care and He wants to calm the raging storm, but it is not the wind, or earthquake, or fire He is concerned about oh no it is the storm that is raging in our heart. The fear and uncertainty that fills our heart and head during times like these. A day or so later I was talking to a really good neighbor Mr. Eulyss Stafford (a retired from the USMC and works as a contractor with the Coast Guard, we affectionately call him Prophet) who is a Christian and we told him we were planning to go to the middle school, but we heard they were going to send folks hours from Sneads Ferry and God said stay put. I asked him what was he was going to do and he said he was going to ride the storm out on the US Marine Corps Base at the Hostess House. The Base is self contained and self sufficient and the Hostess House (built in 1954 of steel and brick) provided a hard structure for Category 4 winds, had generators, power, food, everything we will need to ride Florence out and best yet it was still in the area so we could stay put. God spoke again. In my spirit faintly I could hear God say, "stay put and go to the Hostess House." I think God speaks low (like His nature) because He wants us to know we have heard Him speak. There was no doubt in my mind. I heard the voice of the LORD (I have heard it before) and now all we had to do is move in obedience. So in obedience Karen and I drove over to the Base and got a room at the Hostess House (plenty of rooms available is that just like God) and then drove back to our home and loaded up our truck with everything we would need to start our life over. It was quite a humbling experience getting all of the important papers, weapons and ammo, pictures, suitcases of clothing, everything we would need to start over. Driving out our drive way I said, "the LORD gives and the LORD takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD." We arrived at the Hostess House, rode out the storm and had to wait about a week before they opened roads to return home. Just like with Elijah after the storm God spoke. Verse 12 ends with these words, "and after the fire a still small voice." Please notice AFTER the storm. God whispered to Elijah not to still the storm, but to let Elijah know everything will be okay. So too in our lives seldom does God still the storm, but when He speaks is to comfort and reassure us that as He promsied He would never leave or forsake us and all will be well. Now that is not denying the storm, but in the strength of God enduring the storm and out from the storm we are developed and not just delivered. You know if God has to keep delivering us from the storms of life He knows the plans and purposes for our lives He has established are in jeopardy of being lost so he will pick us up and plant us in another field, but we must know we have not succeeded in God oh no we have failed. God wants us to go through life's many problems (in Christ) so that we can be developed and not delivered. While we were at the Hostess House I received an email from a good friend from Africa and he told me I am a man of God I need to command the wind, speak to the wind, command the storm, well the only storm I needed to command was the storm in my heart. If I had not heard God whisper twice and allowed Him to reassure me after the storm then I would not have been able to hold a church service at the Hostess House that Sunday. The Saturday before I was talking with the manager of the Hostess House and I asked him if the Base Chapels were closed and he said yes. So I said, "on Sunday most people go to church and we need to thank God for sparing our lives and community." And he said, "you are right." So I asked if I could hold a service in the breakfast area and he said, "yes, but the Hostess House could not look like it was in support of the effort so Karen and I starting spreading the word of the church service at 12:00 that coming Sunday. I would have never thought this could be possible knowing how the Department of Defense restricts Christian activities. But after the storm (like with Elijah) the LORD spoke and when the LORD speaks (especially a whisper) no one can stop it and only those with an hearing ear can hear it. Written by David Stahl

WTFMT 58 FOR HGM ON 27 NOV 18

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-58
TEXT: "And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done." (Judges 14:5-6)

I. VICTORY

A. As an enemy against the children of God, Sihon became God's enemy. It is not up to the children of God to conquer this enemy by their own strength alone.
B. But as an enemy, judged and defeated by God, he is delivered into the hands of the children of God for the execution of God's will. We may have a will as Moses once did, zealous to get our hands upon the enemies to give them several stinging swats, sending them sprawling to the sand.
C. That is not what God had in mind for Moses, nor for us today. It is God who delivers our enemy into our hands. It is then they become powerless in our grip. We can see this in the case of Samson.
D. A young lion roars against him, and the Spirit of God comes upon him. Samson is not characterized by a spirit which says, "I'll show you that I've got the power!" This is not an antagonistic spirit which comes upon him, making him so mad that he tore the lion to pieces. In the Bible "wrath" is only appropriate in God; it does not belong in the heart of man.
E. Samson "had nothing in his hand." This refers to no natural faculty to execute his feat. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)
F. With Him (in the full sense of the meaning) we have in our hands all that is necessary to execute His will. In the final analysis He give the victory which we think we have won.
G. If there is to be forward moving on in our victorious Christian living, we must deliver ourselves into God's hands, and take our orders from Him. It is not for us to move in our intentions, fulfilling our own wills. It is not for us to execute our decisions upon the enemy. Watch this in the Bible. Read the Bible!
H. Do not spend more time listens to preachers and teachers and reading books than you spend in the Bible. The Bible is your place of anchorage in truth. In the Bible watch the prerogatives of God versus the prerogatives of man. And learn!
I. Moses does not have to change his spirit of peace to one of antagonism simply because the king of Heshbon is moving against him. Moses had never thought that he had to knock over every king in his path. His basic concern was the will of God. God delivers kings into the hands of the children of Israel, who receive the victory God gives.
J. Later, out of the will of God, Israel herself is defeated upon a number of occasions. This whole thing of victory moves upon God's prerogative, His intentions. "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6)
K. Moses does not move against Sihon. "Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz." (Deuteronomy 2:32) David does not move against Goliath. Sihon and Goliath move against the children of God, and thus against God. In Moses and David there is a response from God.

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

A. I am never disturbed by enemies outside my soul. If any enemy sets his power and forces against me, that is his problem, not mine. I have a strong high tower. "For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy." (Psalms 61:3) I have no need to set myself against the enemy. It is not in my heart to strive with the enemy. If it were, it would distract me from my focal point upon God and His will.
B. We are not to be against anyone or anything. We are for God. If God is against someone, that is His business, not mine. My business is to serve God, doing want He wants me to do. If He wants me to confront a hostile enemy and defeat him, fine; that is what I will do, but I will do it in His strength.