THE CRUCIFIED LIFE

We live in a time in which the “spirit of the age” has spiritually, made inroads upon us and in the church. The crucified life Christ talks about in the Gospels seems to be non-existent. The influence of this world colors our mind, our heart, and our spirituality leaving its mark even upon our soul. We (that is me too at times) are slow to learn even the simplest lessons in the school of the Spirit. We should never become involved in doctrinal issues, arguing, or splitting hairs over minor points of no real spiritual significance. In God there are absolutes (the Gospel message which we seem to ignore) and then there are optionals (everything else that has little no bearing on our spiritual growth and development) that we seem to want to die for. Rather it should be we are to respond and move in spiritual quickening and revelation, heeding the words of Christ, “But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does. That your alms may be in secret; and your Father which sees in secret Himself shall reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:3-4) This concept of secrecy should not to be limited to the act of giving, as the principle holds true in all areas of Christian witness and ministry. It is a fundamental fact that man seeks expression. He should do so to develop a normal personality and character. This places a responsibility upon us as the flesh nature has become so dominant in man’s methods and that we may unconsciously allow its ways to sweep in and rule even in our spiritual life experiences. These experiences and our expressions also are a reflection of how much of our life has been crucified with Christ. We must remember this clear-cut and poignant truth, “Than which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). This is a truth upon which all real Christian life and spirituality is built. It is basic and fundamental, but at the same time spiritual. Now we should not restrict the meaning of this phrase, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” as referring merely to a function of our physical body. This is a true concept, but far too limited. Whatever has its inception and is birthed from a fleshly origin, forever remains in the realm of the earthly, and fleshly. These cannot under any circumstances become spiritual or bear spiritual fruitage. On the other hand, whatever is “born of the Spirit” (whatever has its inception from and is birthed through the Spirit) is always spiritual in issue and fruition. All the service and work of man (though they may be considered as being “spiritual” by some) are merely a natural and religious expression. They have their origin from within the good, religious nature of man’s being and he gives it free expression in the form of church services, service, and good works. Not being born of the Spirit they can never be spiritual nor can they ever merit a spiritual reward. The ways and methods of man by nature are diametrically opposed to the ways and laws of the Spirit. The question in the last analysis is not, “Is this a true ministry?” It is rather a question of motives and the birthplace of its manifestation; is it of the “spirit,” or of the “flesh?” This is the day of exhibition and exploitation. Many struggle to be seen, heard, and known. This is what man does, but not the Spirit. In John Jesus told the disciples, “He shall not speak of (or from) Himself (that is on His Own initiative) He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it to you.” (John 16:13-14) The Spirit does not detract from, but rather focuses the attention where it belongs - upon the Lord Jesus. If the ministry is truly in the Spirit, the instrument will be hidden. Self-effacement will be the atmosphere. How awkward and reluctant our flesh is when it gets out of hearing and out of sight. When I was pastoring in Germany I was told a mighty man of God was coming from Ghana, well he was a man from Ghana, but he was not a mighty man nor was he a mighty man of God. He started preaching by singing (a typical African tradition) songs to loosen up the crowd, but when he opened up the Bible he spent more time rolling around on the floor like some baby than he did in preaching the word of God. The people loved it! Deceived!! He was a showman he had a great show, but it was nothing of the LORD it was born of the flesh. Most Christians respond to the LORD when given the LORD an opportunity to be expressed, but most Christians are do not give the LORD any opportunity and do not really know how the Spirit of God really moves. They are waiting for some organ roll to thrill them or someone to go up the piano scale effecting our emotions. These ploys are not of the Spirit of the LORD they are cheap parlor tricks to engage our emotion and feelings, a substitute. They are born of the flesh and will never no ever manifest the works of the Spirit and when we separate grace from truth and mix it with theater and showmanship we get a distorted version of God and His precious salvation. Sadly not only men, but most of the church today has lost sight of what it means to be born of the Spirit. You know if we do not have levels of restrictions and limitations operating in our lives we do not have a correct concept of grace thus grace is NOT operating in our lives. Grace does not give us “a get out of jail card” to do whatsoever we want to do, say, or go, but holds us hard and fast to the truth found in the word of God and the word of God spoken to us. In the Old Testament grace (grace is always tied to truth) provided from the truth (by the law) said, “thou shall not kill,” but the grace (tied to truth) found in the New Testament by Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22) In the Old Testament the truth of the law said, “do not commit adultery,” but in the New Testament of grace tied to truth Jesus said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) Did you get that? Not do not do it, but if you think about committing adultery you have already done it. Grace always holds us to a higher standard of righteousness, never forgives laziness and slothfulness and requires discipline and sacrifice in our walk with God and man. In A. W. Tozer’s wrote in his book The Crucified Life he states, “over the last half century a steady decline in the spiritual quality of Christian religion in America, no informed person will attempt to deny. I am not speaking of the liberalism and modernism, but of that evangelical wing of Christianity to which I myself belong by theological conviction and personal choice. I believe the situation has become so serious that the earnest observer is forced to wonder whether our popular evangelical religion today is indeed the true faith of our fathers or simply some form of paganism thinly disguised with a veneer of Christianity to make it acceptable to those who want to call them Christians. Turn to the church page of any city newspaper or leaf through some of the popular magazines today and what you will find there will make you sick at heart. We have come to our present low state as the result of an almost fanatical emphasis on grace to the total exclusion of obedience, self-discipline, patience, personal holiness, cross carrying, discipleship, and other such precious doctrines of the New Testament. These doctrines cannot be made to harmonize with the doctrine of grace taught by most modern church fathers. Certainly, though these teachings are not denied they are either allowed to die from neglect or relegated to a footnote with so many explanations and interpretations as to make them ineffective. The grace that amazed our fathers -- that brought them to their knees in tears and trembling worship has by deadly familiarity become so mundane that it scarcely affects us at all. That which was so wondrous to the Moravians and Methodist and their immediate spiritual descendents had become cheap to a generation of Christians devoted to their own pursuits and engrossed in their own pleasures.” In these days of man’s exhibition we often have become overly suspicious of motives. In some cases one hardly dares to be simply courteous for he will be misunderstood. Someone might think we are attempting to “put something over” if we are polite. But the Word tells us, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2). The disciples on their way to Emmaus, were courteous enough to invite the Stranger to walk with them, and to enter with them into their destination. As the result of a simple act of kindness, a revelation came to hungry hearts. So much of value and real worth often hinges upon a seeming trifle. I cannot begin to tell you how I almost missed God by almost missing the little things He was doing. Remember “little is much, if God is in it.” Do not fear to obey His commands they are not grievous. He is seeking refreshment today. Can you not spread before Him a humble meal in the quiet, hidden place of your heart? But remember, He may not wear the form you are expecting. He often “hungers” in the form of broken humanity. The forms He wears are many. So serve the deep hunger of the needy one and satisfy their need. In so doing you may open the door to a deeper revelation of who He really is. If the words preached do not prick our heart and bring us into a place of reflection and soul searching then what you are listening to is not the Gospel message. If words preached makes us happy and emotional then it is not the Gospel message, it is another message that is anti-Christ or against the message of Christ. The Gospel message must be a mirror to be able to see our heart condition, ourselves, and how much we are NOT like Jesus Christ anything else is a lie and the truth is not in them. My friend there is a cross we are to bear (our crucified life) daily and at the heart of that cross is our will whereby our will to do, say, and go as we will is laid across God’s will for our lives. This cross is the crucified life we must submit to be able to win Christ, to be able to be in Christ, and yes even to be seated with Christ in heavenly places. There is a price we must pay to walk with the LORD, Jesus paid with His life and is the servant greater than the Master? I think not. We too must go to the cross and be crucified on the cross the Father has for us bear. Then and only then will we ever hope to come into the resurrection life of God where we rule and reign with Him in this life and in the next lives to come. Written by David Stahl

THANK YOU

I do not know about you, but to me there seems to be a great lack of common courtesy and civility in the world today and worse this lack of basic manners have crept over into the church. The general rule of common courtesy and decency is to praise in public and discipline (a bad word for most Christians) in private seems to be something I learned in the Navy that does not apply to the Christian world. Did you know God wants us to have more courtesy and manners than those folks in the world? But, that is not what I see going on in the church. Now please do not misunderstand me here I am NOT saying we should do things for God and our fellow man for a “pat on the back” or a “well done,” but when someone does something for you (especially if they go above and beyond what is expected) the least we should say is “thank you.” To do less is nothing more than arrogance and a heart condition that screams of a genuine lack of gratitude and thankfulness to God and man. Paul told the church at Rome, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:21) Not being thankful to God and man most often is due to our imagining we are better than someone else and need not express our gratitude for their service and express they are equal to us. Please let me give you a few examples I have seen recently in my life, examples of things that are not getting better and something I feel God truly hates. You know when we do not “But speak the truth in love so that they may grow up in all things . . .” (Ephesians 4:15) as Paul taught the Church at Ephesus then we are rejecting the truth of the word of God for the person we are to be sharing with. We have rejected the truth for the individual and now the Holy Spirit cannot work in their life. Faith comes by hearing! When we speak the truth and they hear our words have it be; the Scriptures, a thus says the LORD, or holding their feet to the fire on a point of courtesy, morality, or holiness God then can begin to work in their lives. I have a pastor friend in Africa who could not get a visa to come to the States. In the past he had no problem, but with the new regulations and restrictions America has put into place to prevent terrorism he could not get a visa unless tons of paper work was completed on his end and by the people hosting him. Another friend asked me to fill out the paperwork for him so our mutual friend could come, but after finding out the extent of the paperwork and the private ministry information I would have to reveal I declined. Now in the past I have called my State Senator to request a letter from him to be sent to the Consulate or Embassy on behalf of a friend wanting to come to the States. The letter is not you must give this individual a visa, but I am aware this individual wants to come to my States; which is another way of saying please give this guy a visa. I have done this for two other pastors with successful results. Now I do not want to abuse this kindness from our Senator’s office and like to use it only for emergencies, but since he was a good friend I went above and beyond and called. After many days of calls and many emails my pastor friend in Africa got his visa. Wonderful he got his visa, but months later (by chance from my brother) I heard my pastor friend from Africa was in the States. Now here is my point. When my pastor friend from Africa came to the States he never once called or emailed letting me know (just to say hi) he was in the States, and the real kicker is as of this date my pastor friend from Africa has never said “thank you” for helping him get a visa. This my friend is arrogant and a self-serving attitude that God is not happy with. We think just because God dealt with our sin our character flaws have been dealt with also, well my friend I am here to tell you that is wrong thinking. Did you know God is more concerned about our character then He is about our sin, abilities and gifts? He can do something about our sin, abilities and gifts, but our character flaws like not saying thank you is something He expects US to handle and when we allow these to become a major part of our character it destroys our Christians witness and the authority God gives us as leaders and ministers of the Gospel. Bad attitudes and ungratefulness does not speak of a clean and humble heart. There is another example I would like to share with you. I am not sure if a lot of folks know, but I have contacts in the US government from my days as a Joint Medical Planner where containers (40x40 dry wall) can be sent from door to door in some cases for free. Yes that is right for free. I have helped send containers to Nigeria, Kenya, Peru and in the process at different stages of sending container for free through the US government to: two different ministries in Mozambique, one ministry in Ghana, and another ministry in Nigeria. Again to do this I must go above and beyond what is expected in a normal relationship and requires many hours of phone calls and time behind the computer imputing all of the information into a special database I have access. I get nothing for this help (except a pat on the back from God which is enough) only stress and sometimes frustration with dealing with international issues. Of the four containers yet to be sent (for free mind you) the only way I hear from these folks is when I call or email them. Never has any of them picked up the phone and brought me up to speed with what was going on so I could contact my contact (who I really want to keep happy) in the US government and let them know why the delay. Weeks even months go by before I call or email and ask what is going on and usually get something like, “well you know we have been very busy around here at church.” When someone does you a favor (especially when they go out of their way) you should take their time and effort serious and thank them every time you talk with them, not to do so is nothing short of arrogance, selfishness, and self-serving. Not to do so is just a reflection of thankless heart condition. Remember the verse, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:34-35) Whatsoever is in your heart will come out your mouth. Maybe that is why God teaches us to keep our peace? I find people who have nothing seem to be more thankful than people who are trying to protect their treasures. And the reverse of that truth is true; whatsoever is not in your heart (like saying thank you) will not come out your mouth. If you have to force yourself or even make an effort to remember to say things like: thank you, you are welcome, or please (all common words of kindness and courtesy) shame on you it is a reflection of a heart condition whereby God has not been allowed to work on your character. You know the people we really love the words, “I love you” just comes off our lips without any thought or effort, it is automatic they are in our heart and they come rolling off our lips without any pretense or thought. When I call Mike Olufemi (our Operations Director at our Maternity Clinic) in Aveile, Nigeria with our monthly payment for salaries and maintenance Mike starts the conversation off by saying “I love you” and then goes on for about ten more “I love yous” before we settle down and talk business. Mike does not have much (and he is thankful) on this earth, but his heart is full of love for me and God thus, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” What a joy it is to talk with him when he calls two or three times a month just to say “hello” or at the beginning of the month when we send our support. We start our conversation with “I love you” and end our conversation with “I love you” and everything else between is sweet music. This inability to express thankfulness and gratitude is nothing more than a sign our flesh is alive and well and we have not allowed God to deal our flesh a death blow. Our mighty flesh (our ungodly attitude, emotions, and feelings) must be destroyed. How can the might of flesh surrender to the Almighty? It is very difficult, if not impossible. This is the reason why it must be destroyed. We see this in the victory of the Children of Israel over the Egyptians, "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea." (Exodus 15:4) Like the Egyptians our strength and might must drown, but the weakness of the flesh is another story. Weakness surrenders much easier than strength does. And in that surrender the Lord's strength can become what He intends it to be, " . . . And he said unto me, My (the Lord's) grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness . . . " (II Corinthians 12:9) When our mighty flesh cannot surrender, the Lord performs a mercy killing. "But He overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalm 136:15) God intends for our flesh to surrender, this is His intention. We are to have a soft heart where our flesh automatically (this is God’s intention) submits to God’s direction and will in obedience and when it does not submit to God we must allow God to work in our lives to the point where He can deliver our flesh (ultimately) a death blow, if not then the next steps along the continuum of His dealings and judgments in our lives are harder on us and our relationships. And in the end if we do not allow God to work in our lives our salvation (sorry my Baptist friends) could be lost. So how important is saying “thank you?” In the short run seemingly not important after all we have God’s and our brother’s and sister’s grace to fall back on, but in the long run how important is our salvation? “Thank you” for taking time to read this article. Written by David Stahl

ALL IN TIME

One of my easiest times of God’s drawing me in my late teens was when the late Sammy Hall came to our high school in Fayetteville, NC and put on a concert. Wow he was great he had the entire school student and staff on their feet in the gym and to think he was singing Christian music. He shared his testimony of how drugs and alcohol almost ruined his life many of the kids were crying (me included) then he sang a song called, “Plenty of Time” that talked about the many chances this person had to accept Christ, but at the end of his life all he had was time separated from God. Chance after chance to give their heart to the LORD, but they were young and had plenty of time. The last verse goes something like this; before I knew what happened my life seemed to pass away and millions were gathered there for it was judgment day and now here I stand with nothing but time. You know time is an amazing thing in our lives. Did you know time is the only thing in our lives we cannot get back once it passes? Time is not owned by man, but is owned by God. I hear people say (even I have said this before) I would like to go back to the good old days when life was much simpler or when the Spirit of God would fall in a special way, well this is impossible because there is no more good old days anymore they are over we cannot go back. The falling of the Spirit is not dependent on a certain time, but on our willingness to become the vessel it requires to be to have the Spirit of God to fall on and move through. The same for the future there is no future there is only now. Time consists of only the here and now. There is no past or future only the here and now. In Romans Paul said, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.” (Romans 13:11-13) Did you know many people do not know what time it is? Many people are asleep and do not know it is time to wake up before it is too late. Paul said it is “high time to awake out of sleep” or at the beginning of the fourth watch (the morning watch) of the night when it is the darkest. Unless we wake up we cannot “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armour of light.” There is a divine spiritual principle operating here, we must first put off, take off, or cast off before we can put on. And unless we wake up and put on light we will always walk in darkness. Time is defined two ways in the Bible. The first way we can find in Matthew when Herod was talking with the Wise Men, “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.” (Matthew 2:7-8) Here the word “time” is Strong’s #5550, chronos; time either long or short. It is where we get the word chronological or to order of things like; 1, 2, 3, 4 or young to old, day to night, etc. This use of time by God establishes a continuous physical order to our lives and even our universe that can be used to establish a beginning and an end. We see this use of time when God established seed time and harvest. It is a time that physical processes function within and cannot move outside the limitations and restrictions of its sequencing. Now there is another understanding of time used in the Bible that has more of a spiritual usage. Again in Matthew we read, “And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:28-29) Here the word “time” is Strong’s #2540, kairos; a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, a limited period of time. Here Jesus is passing by and some demons cried out to Him questioning Him whether or not He has come to cut their time short. I find it amazing the demons knew of their time to operate and knew of the time in the future when they will be tormented. This word for “time” is more spiritual in nature and projection. It is for a defined duration and for a limited span unlike “chronos” which is continual and must operate well within the bounds of physical order. In Ephesians we read, “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:14-16) Time is often tied in Scripture to sleeping or people asleep spiritually. Time also is often tied in Scripture to God’s will. Here Paul encourages the Church at Ephesus to “redeem the time.” Here the word “redeeming” is Strong’s #1805 which means; to make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good, so that zeal and well doing are as it were the purchase money by which we make the time our own. This can only be done in “kairos” time because this redemption is a short time of acting. All that we do in God spiritually must be done in “kairos” time. God has an appointed time for us to do things and when this time is over we have moved outside the will and purpose God has ordained. When we moved to Germany and started Christliche Gemeinde Stuttgart it was for a period of time. I was not to keep pastoring even though I could and I am sure God would have still continued to bless, but that was not what God wanted for me, my family, and others. I have seen this play out time and time again in my life and in the lives of others. We have a limited amount of time to do things for God on the earth. We have even less time to do specific things God has purposed and planned for us to. God holds everything in His balance scale of time and He expects us to know what time it is and He expects us to move with Him in whatsoever He is doing in and through us. This time thing is amazing. We think we have tomorrow and like Sammy Hall’s song we have “Plenty of Time,” well that is wrong thinking my friend. God’s word tells us that He does not promise no man (mankind which included women) tomorrow. In James we read, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14) In other words our life is like smoke or steam that appears for a short “kairos” of time. I like the question, “For what is your life?” Wow what a question. The answer can be answered by different people in different ways, but all must answer the question it is bound up in this thing called time and in time the answer will be revealed. One thing for sure whatever we do for God we must not be slow at it and not waste time. Remember time once spent can never be recovered, but how funny it is that we can waste something so precious as time. Let us purpose in our heart not to waste the time God has given us. Let us redeem (is a money term) the time God has given us and yield the investment God is looking for in us and the time He has invested in us. You know our salvation is expressed in term of money, our redemption is a term whereby something was bought back. Jesus bought back (redeemed us by the time spent on the cross) our soul through His precious blood. Our life is a mirror in time a reflection of what is. Walter Beuttler said the Holy Spirit was like a camera He revealed an image of reality. So we must desire to become the expressed image (that mirror) of the Father and in time we will be that image as we are changed from glory to glory. Written by David Stahl

UNSEEN MAN

The longer I go with God the more I come to see the unseen man in me. At times this unseen man can me quite ugly and even mean if not checked by the Holy Spirit’s work in my life. Man’s attitude (I include myself at times) is earthly, carnal, and selfish wanting to get all that they can get. Often (even in church) we make our approach to our Christian brothers and sisters in ways to see what we can get from them. This ought not to be. There is a saying today, “he who dies with the most toys wins” so wrong my friends. He who wins in God is the one who does things in life lawfully. Paul told Timothy, “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” (2 Timothy 2:5) In God the race does not go the strongest, fastest, or sure of foot, but to the one who strives within the framework of God’s rules and divine principles, but our unseen man within us wants to operate outside the framework, outside the limitations and restrictions God has established for our lives. This we must never allow too happen in our lives if we are going win Christ. Now God’s attitude towards man is quite different then man’s. God’s attitude is an eternal attitude towards all humanity and is one of a seeking God. Now we may think my friend we are seeking Him, but in reality He is seeking us. As we expose our hearts to Him, He responds. Now at times we may even feel as though we are invading Him or we have taken the initiative and are pushing in from every angle to discover Him, but this is not so, God in His Godly ways is just seeking that which is lost. In Luke Jesus tells us, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) The heart of God is always seeking man. From the Garden of Eden God sought after man not because of man’s sin, but because of God’s love for His most precious creation. I find it odd that God’s most precious creation (man) has hurt God the most. This is a thread that runs throughout the Scriptures a holy God is seeking an unholy man and wants to make the creation like the Creator. It is not the sin of man that stands in the way because sin was dealt with by Christ on the cross it is the contrary nature of the carnal unseen man that dwells within us. Paul knew this truth all too well. In Romans Paul shared his inward thoughts about his unseen man in his life, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” (Romans 7:18-20) We must allow God’s dealings and judgments (through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives) to put to death the unseen man or he will destroy everything we try to do, he will destroy every relationship: our sweetheart, our spouse and children, every church relationship we enter in, and ultimately he will lead us into spiritual death ending us in hell. “Oh wretched man” Isaiah declared; he too knew of the death that dwells within his unseen man. Now the good news is God is seeking man so that we can surrender to His work in our lives. Let us never forget (sometimes we forget) through it all and through all we experience God is still working, still seeking that unseen man to do the work in our lives that must be done. This unseen man takes on many forms both from foes and friends alike. I think when it is our friends that hurt us it cuts us deeper. Karen always tells me I use the word “friend” too loosely and as time goes on I discover the true intents, purposes, and attitudes of my “friends” I find they are not really “friends,” but acquaintances who I have wanted to be more in relationship then what they are willing to give. Remember a man cannot give what he does not have. I had a “friend” over 30 years (in my thinking), but when I woke up and saw as long as I looked up to him and stayed under this direction all was well. When I challenged him in having an equal relationship (as the Bible teaches) our friendship was over. He walked away taking others with him who were still under his spell. Sadly his life has left in its wake a significant list of folks (such as me) that he has turned from and walked away from. Oh well, no real loss I still have the wonderful memories of years of ministry and lives touched in many countries in the world something he cannot take away from me. I still am holding out for the time when we can once again eat, drink, and travel (as the Bible teaches) for God’s glory. The raw truth is we become acquainted with one another; but as for the real inner person, we know very little. In fact, we know little about ourselves at first glimpse. The LORD desires to fully possess us, to shape and mold us into the image of His Son. As we advance in God, the Holy Spirit will keep projecting before us unexplored territory in our lives that we have yet to move into and over which He seeks domain. We say, “He reigns and rules in our heart” and this may be true, but have we given the Lord absolute and perfect control and possession of all the realms within us that are yet to be possessed? We are but little cells within this mystical Body of Believers that has been developing and projecting itself down through two thousand plus years of history. In His time He will lift this Body out of time and present it to the Father. This is the great desire of His heart. He desires that He will have something worthy to present to His Father. Now listen closely here. There is no experience into which the Lord leads us, no matter how profound or revolutionizing that experience may be that will of its self mature us. Many are deceived because they think I have received now I have. We must never allow ourselves to come under the power of an experience and then build our life around it. This is not a question concerning the fact of our salvation, but of how we allow God to move and work within and through us while we are within this present life. Whatever there is of spiritual value within us (that which we will carry into the next age) must be acquired in the here and now; in reality there is no past or future only memories and hopes. All we really have is the here and now for God to work in us. We must ask ourselves has the LORD been able to accomplish within us all that He seeks to accomplish? After we have been released from this present realm (our present life) we cannot come back to choose or decide. We should not be disturbed if the LORD is not using us as a missionary or in some ministry. Unless He has given us this He is not expecting it from us. He had one Paul and one Wesley. He has one of you and you are the only specific edition of who you are. Since this is true He is desirous to bring forth all that the potential within us will allow. Thus our “works” are the technique or the method which He will use to accomplish this miracle of changing us into the image of His precious Son Jesus Christ and equipping us for a higher purpose. If He has called you to be a preacher then preach, if He has called you to be a plumber then be a good plumber. Whatever we are called to do, we are to do it to the “Glory of God” and sing in our spirit while doing it. We often become entangled in the mechanism and forget the objective. We must be careful to not lose sight of our objective. We are to keep it always before us our life surrendered and our whole being moving back again to the heart of the Father. We are being disciplined, educated, trained, and conformed to His image, by the thousand and one things that the LORD throws into our pattern of daily life experience. We may say this is holy and that is secular. To one fully committed to the LORD everything should be holy and sacred; there is nothing secular about it. That is common talk among people who do not know the things of God. Therefore they have categories into which they place certain experiences of life. We never should do this. If I am called to be a good plumber this is a sacred calling. What makes it sacred, the plumbing? No the will of God for my life. None of us have arrived we are in the process of “becoming” (a life-long process of testing, approving, and qualifying for God’s higher life) and we will be in that process until the LORD takes us home. When we were saved the LORD dealt with our sin nature. He can do that in very short order, but it takes a life time to deal with our character. God is more concerned about our character than He is about our talents, gifts, and abilities in Him. After we have gone through several dealings we may feel we have arrived. Then the LORD will say to us, “I have been dealing with your sins. I dealt with all that externally now I want to come within and get a hold of you. Get a hold of that unseen man within.” Did you know truth has a two-fold way of disturbing and moving? If allowed truth will slay us, yet it is the truth that resurrects us. There are two opposing forces and we swing back and forth between them. The LORD talks about death, but He also speaks of life. He not only talks about crucifying, but also about resurrection and life. We are to keep them together, not separated like we do with Mary and Martha. In Luke we read, “He entered a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42) We should never separate Martha and Mary they are sisters in the same family, but having different vocations and talents. Martha has a valid place within us. She represents our activities, our good works, our ministries, and all the things we do. But Mary has a place also. She represents our spiritual aspirations and our desire to move toward God. For years I never understood why Martha got such a bad rap in this story because all we receive at the feet of Jesus must descend and find its place in the daily activities of our lives where it is to become a practical reality otherwise we will become unbalanced. Thus we are not to remain detached in even the most magnificent revelation of life and truth. Now whenever Martha gets up within us and busily hurries around we know that we will not receive a revelation from the LORD in all that activity. We must let Mary arise within us and sit at the feet of Jesus. Each has their proper place and time in which to function correctly in God. Both are essential parts of our spiritual development and growth and must be maintained in the right balance if not we get over in either revelation or demonstration and off track in both areas. Here are some other examples from the Scriptures: “And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, his disciples came to Him: And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:1-3) and “When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And, behold, a leper came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean. Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matthew 8:1-3) Jesus went up into the mount and sat. His disciples came to Him and He taught them, but He did not stay there. Afterwards He went down into the valley among the multitudes, where He was met by a leper seeking help. Here in the valley of life the revelations of the mountain top became a practical reality in our lives. It may take the LORD years to bring us into this balance between our devotion and our works only then will we come into the balance of being and doing that God so desires for us. It is one thing to say we are in Christ, but it is another thing all together different to say we have Christ in us. The more we can allow God’s objectives and ways right of way in our lives the more we will be able to put to death the carnal unseen man within. The more we can operate in the balance of our devotion and our works the more we will be able to come into the things God has purposed for our lives. You know there are people who know not God at all. Then there are people (carnal Christians) who know God only though salvation, but may not know God because their unseen carnal man is alive and well. Their attitudes, motives, and character have not been transformed from the earthly to the heavenly. And then there are people who have allowed God to begin to kill their unseen man, who have allowed God to begin that process of “becoming” we call them Christians with a future because their unseen man is dying. Written by David Stahl

AN EASY WORD

Today in most churches in America not much of God’s word is taught. Oh I know every Sunday morning between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm people gather in church to hear God’s word, but sadly in most churches in America (and I would say most around the world) the people gather in vain, what they hear is a sermon with a good moral meaning or maybe an entrance level salvation sermon, but what is not heard is a “message from God” (God saying something to the people through the pastor) nor is any depth from the word of God taught. Sadly Christians who have been saved for many years sit on the pews year after year going to same church year after year because they are comfortable with the people, they like their Sunday School Class, or they like the pastor, but there has not been any spiritual growth or development in them. They sit there with a big toothless smile because all they have been given is salvation sermons or sermons that beat them over the head about sin knocking out their teeth. Now partly they have some blame in this being comfortable at the sake of spiritual growth and development it is almost as bad as sin. Sin ends us in hell, but not growing up in God ends us in heaven empty handed. I am not sure what God is going to do with those people who lived their entire life for themselves in selfishness and then at the last few minutes of their lives get saved or never come to any spiritual maturity. They will not know God. They will not know how God operates and functions, how He does things. They will not know how the Spirit moves and how they fit into God’s big picture. They will be invited to the wedding feast (our believing alone unto salvation does this for us) based on a last minute conversion and now at the feast they do not know how to act and function because they have never been taught. In Matthew we see this in action. Jesus was teaching the multitudes a parable and in verses 11-14 of Chapter 22 of Matthew we see this play out. Jesus said, “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.” (Matthew 22:11-12) Now Jesus is the head of the wedding feast (the bridegroom) and He saw a man without a “wedding garment” on; now this garment is not salvation it is a wedding garment he is in Heaven at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (or the wedding feast) and the people are the Bride of Christ, but Jesus spots someone who is not wearing a wedding garment. John tells us of this glorious Supper, “And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation 19:5-9) Here the “fine linen is the righteousness of saints” it is NOT the wedding garment it is salvation and the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” is happening in Heaven. When understanding (especially parables) the Scriptures you must, by the Spirit of God, define the verses by the verses that is why the Bible is a Spiritual book it is the very words in the verses that make up the truth that define the spiritual principles and our daily concepts from which we are to die for. There are precepts; where we get our concepts from mentioned in the Scriptures like the Trinity not defined in a singular verse yet the concept of the Trinity screams out to man from each page of the Bible. My friend salvation gets us in the door, but our “wedding garment” is what we have learned of Christ, the spiritual maturity and development we have achieved, but here stands a man with no development, no spiritual growth because verse 11 says the man, “had not on a wedding garment” not an old and worn out wedding garment or even the wedding garment of another person, but NO wedding garment. Did you know all people will not have the same wedding garment when invited to the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb?” Oh no we all will receive different rewards based on what we have learned and done for God, our wedding garment. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15) Here in verse 15 is the man at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” without a wedding garment. Now I am not 100% sure, but I believe those Christians at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” without a wedding garment on will need to be trained by God so that they will be useful to God in the things God has for them to do in the ages to come. Who would want to live their entire life as a Christian and end up in such a situation in Heaven? I believe there will be countless of billions of Christians in this situation. We do not get it all when we get to Heaven (as some Christians believe) if this be true then why live for God now when we could just live like hell now and right before we die repent. What does that say about a righteous and holy God? My friend this is not the way God operates and functions; God expects us to believe on His precious Son, repent (stop sinning), and then grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ, but my friend it takes two things to grow in God: a desire on our part and someone able in God to open the Scriptures unto us. I believe those who the LORD draws by His Spirit have that desire, God even builds (hardwires us) that desire in us “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” (Psalms 42:7) There is a call (by His Spirit) that comes out from the heart of God to all those who answer His call, but how do people end up in Heaven empty handed? Ah the second need; someone (maybe a pastor, teacher, friend, etc.) who can open up the Scriptures to where someone can partake of the life of God contained in the Scriptures. Today not too many evangelists, pastors, teachers today have the ability in God to open up the Scriptures; this requires time studying the Scriptures, time spent before God in retrospect and reflection of one’s motives, attitudes, and character (letting God shine His flashlight on our heart) to become the vessel for which the life of God can flow. You do not get this ability when you get saved, work around the church awhile, finish Bible school with some religious degree, or pastor for many years, but by allowing God to work dealing and judging in our lives. Not too many evangelists, pastors, teachers, friends are willing to endure this so every Sunday people sit on the pews (chairs now for the cool churches) and learn nothing because the speakers have nothing to give of God to the people. I have seen it time and time again. All the people get is some salvation sermon (every Sunday) and no one usually responds, but everyone is happy they went to church. Wrong, wrong, wrong my friend!! There must be more, God expects more. There must come a time when the salvation sermon stops so the people can move away from the cross into the resurrection life of God. Now the cross is wonderful please do not misunderstand me here. The cross is our beginning point in God a most blessed place, but not our ending point. Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) Did you get that? Salvation is not for everyone only for those who believe. Paul did not stay at the cross in God he knew there was more. Where did Paul learn these truths; in all of his religious training when called Saul and in the wilderness (like anyone who wants to become something in God) by the Spirit of God as Paul. There he received revelation. Paul did not stay at the cross he moved on as he allowed the LORD to work in his life. We see that in Philippians when he said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” (Philippians 3:10) Paul was not talking about the cross he was talking about knowing God and the power of his (God’s) resurrection. So too in our lives we must move on from the cross and desire to know Him and His resurrection power, but for this to happen we must have men of God who can teach us the deeper things of God. This is why the church globally is full of babies they have never been taught the deeper things of God. Now many pastors are smart enough to know the deeper things of God will raise questions maybe they will not be able to answer (because they have not studied the Scriptures or allowed the Holy Spirit to work in their lives) so why put up with all of this hassle I will just keep giving “my folks” a salvation sermon and everyone is happy, wrong. God is very unhappy this is NOT God’s intention for His people. Did you know if you want people to like you and give you money just tell them what they already know and what they want to hear. Many pastors have learned this all too well, to hell with spiritual growth and development. They say follow “the money” so true in churches today. Sadly “the money” to many times leads to selfish and self-seeking pastors and church leadership who want to keep their rice bowl intact at the sake of spiritual growth and development of the people. And easy word makes babies who always needs their diaper changed from all of the messes they make! A hard word (a deep word) makes mature men and women who can handle the responsibility and authority God grants to His children. Enough of this easy preaching and teaching! Enough babies in the Body of Christ! We must come to know Jesus Christ before His teaching has any real meaning for us other than that of an ideal which leads to despair out from an easy word, but when I am birthed from above by the Spirit of God I have come to know Jesus Christ did not come to teach us only, but He came to make us what He teaches we should be. And out from a deep word from God we come to know the Father and we come to know what it takes to become like the Son. The choice is ours: an easy word and appear before God empty handed or a hard word (a deep word) and have something to wear a “wedding garment” and something to give God. Written by David Stahl

AMAZING MAN

I do not know about you my friend, but the longer I go with God the more I come to find out just how amazing people are. People do and say some of the most amazing things where all we can do is shake our head. Now I use to think God was amazing, but I have discovered God is more than amazing, He is God He is beyond my ability to understand Him so I just try to walk beside Him daily and do the things He tells me to do and say, but now people they are another thing they do and say some of the most amazing things in the world. Amazingly I was told by a good friend a few week ago that he knew of a pastor who had a congregation of over 200 people and was not a Christian: he married, buried, counseled, preached every Sunday and Wednesday, all of the pastor duties, but was not a Christian then one day amazingly he discovered he was not a Christian. That night the pastor walked the aisle at an old fashion camp meeting (in front of the head deacons of his church) and made it right between him and God, something even more amazing and wonderful to see and hear about. Recently Karen and I have been painfully reminded again just how amazing people can be. The name of the pastor (who I still admire and love) nor the church is not of any real importance, but what is important is the critical spiritual lesson to be learned so that others do not make the same mistakes. Amazing to me there are pastors who do not know much about the things of the Spirit and more amazing they refuse to allow Spiritual things taught in “their” church so that peace can reign, but even sadder also to keep the rice bowls (monthly paycheck and positions) intact. Please hear this my friend; compromising the Word of God for peace at church is devilish. Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:34-38) This pastor who has been in the ministry for a very long time who told me he knows little of the Spirit yet he has asked us to stop attending his church (knowing in his heart God has brought us) because he does not want to deal with all of the questions that come up from my deeper teaching. At first everyone (including the pastor) loved what I had to say, but when I started sharing some harder truths (please read John 6:60-64) to understand from the Bible problems began. Until then all was sunshine and lollipops, but sunshine and lollipops will not get to you heaven as an overcomer. This pastor told me to my face I was spiritual man, yet he also told me he does not want to put up with the hassle. Now we know a man cannot give what he does not have and if you know little of the Spirit you cannot give answers to spiritual questions. Thus the outcome is typical; carnal Christians attack the Spiritual Christian and the Spiritual Christians move on in spiritual authority to the pastor. And as this shame plays out all over the Body of Christ pastors stand-by with their hands in their pockets, after all if people get upset they will not come and bring their money and worse still the Word of God is lost to the people. Personally to me the saddest part of this whole mess was the pastor requested of us not to contact any of our friends we made at church because he does not want our friends to learn anything from us that might rock the boat at church and cause him more problems. The truth here my friend is any pastor who would ask this is selfish and self-centered trying to cover their shame and lack of knowledge of the Word of God. Telling members of their congregation not to go somewhere or not to talk to people is nothing more than manipulation and control which is the biggest sin of most church leadership today. Oh I know the pastor will say he is trying to protect his people, but here too he is wrong because it is not “his people” they are “God’s people” and they have been given the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to help guide and direct them to all truths. If we have a walk with the LORD and are led by the Spirit of God we need no person to tell us who to talk with or where to go. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to do this not man’s. God has given us the ability to make choices and He (God) expects us to make Godly choices that will draw us closer to Him. It has been my observation over the years those pastors who do not work, outside the church, for a living seem to really depend on their rice bowls. When I pastored in Germany I worked two jobs; this way the congregation does not own me thus I could not be pressured by the folks and only responded to God’s desires. Working also helped me to never forget the effort needed to make the commitment and dedication to make it to church. When we started our church two Nigerians, Chuma and Augustine, would travel two hours (one way) to make it to our home group meeting on Wednesday nights I have never forgotten this. When we can feel another’s sacrifice we so appreciate it the more. I am amazed at all of the good works we do to be seen. This is not a rice bowl thing as much as it is a “blow your own horn” thing. David said in the Psalms, “Yea, though I walk (not with our pastor or best friend) through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalms 23:4) We must learn to walk alone with the LORD when in the valley of the shadow of death or we will not be able to recognize our friend who sticks closer than a brother comforting us. If we have been taught the truths of the Word of God and have allowed God to work in our lives we will have a foundation and strength to be able to face anything in God, but if not and all we know is just being saved by grace (which is a critical foundational spiritual principle and a wonderful experience please understand me here), but God has so much more than salvation waiting for us. Salvation from our sin is just the beginning of what God has for us. And please know being saved from our sin does not afford us the rights in God to receive anything else, it just get us into heaven; naked we come into this world and with salvation (which is critical) alone naked we shall inter heaven, but God has so much for us. God desires after salvation, “there grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ. “ (2 Peter 3:18) this my friend requires teaching. Often times when someone is near death we go outwardly in a big show to support the family, but inwardly we do it to be seen of men to hear our brothers and sisters say at church, “what a wonderful dedicated brother or sister to go and talk with so-in-so, how wonderful and dedicated he is.” They even will stand in church and proclaim how the brother or sister is, well if God sends you to a brother or sister keep it to yourself God sees it and that is enough He will reward you in secret. If you stand up and speak of your good works you have your reward in the speaking. Amazingly we go and do things in church often to keep our position in the power structure, well that is not how God operates. God cares nothing about all of these selfish conflicts and power struggles, but cares greatly about our love one for another and our obedience to Him. He cares not what we do for Him (He sees everything), but how we do things for Him and about our heart condition for Him and our brothers and sisters. Did you know just because you do not understand something in God does not mean it is wrong or it is ungodly. Remember in God is not about right or wrong, but holy or unholy, righteous or unrighteous, godly or ungodly. I have been holding many things before the LORD for years and I know (because God’s word is true) in God’s time and when I am able He will reveal them to me. No one person (I include myself here) knows all things and knows what all of the Scriptures are saying, but often to justify our position we find friends to side with us to embolden us to take actions that are not in keeping with God’s word. Make no mistake my friend; in the natural realm if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck, and smells like a duck it is probably a duck, but in the Spiritual realm if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck, and smells like a duck please be careful because in God it may be a chicken. In God things are not always the way they seem. Who would believe God creates darkness? Yet in Isaiah we read, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:5-7) And in a few verses before we read where God gives to his children treasures, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” (Isaiah 45:2-3) Who would believe God has treasures in darkness? In most churches we are told darkness is bad, well now we know better or are these verses wrong? In Genesis before God make light for man He and the Spirit dwelt (Genesis 1:2) in darkness. I wonder how long God and all of heaven existed in darkness? Look into the starry night sky, in the realm of the heavens, and outer space, we see darkness. Look at the bottom of the oceans and seas, darkness. Even man created in the womb not in light, but in darkness. God is not so afraid of darkness I wonder why some many Christians are, maybe they have never been taught? There are two types of darkness in God. The first darkness is that which arises from sin. It is a darkness that is filled with unhappiness and leads the Christian to eternal death. The second kind of darkness is darkness which the LORD allows within our inward parts in order to establish and settle virtue. This is a happy darkness because it illuminates our inward spirit, strengthens it and gives it greater light. We must not try to look for some emotion or even a tender devotion toward the LORD. Only expose our desires to do His will and to be His pleasure. Otherwise we will go in circles throughout our entire life and take not even one step toward God’s goals in our lives, which is more than salvation. An emotional experience with Jesus Christ must not be our goal for it is not God’s goal. I am just so amazed Christians who do not know what other Christians know try to snuff out their light (because they disagree with their doctrine) especially if they are in authority. You can say what you want to about the crime (and it is wrong) of the Mafia, but one thing you can also say about them is they take care of their family. All we have is us. Paul said to the Church at Galatia, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10) Did you get that? We are to “do good unto all men.” The writer of Hebrews instructed the church at Rome, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12:14) then how about the church, “especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” I promise you my friend if you are given the opportunity to share some hard things found in the Word of God you will be the talk and the discussion at church, criticized, vilified, and even marginalized, but that is okay. Peter who at first was not a Spiritual man, but in the end could say, ”And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” (2 Peter 3:15-17) You see the truth is Peter was not as much as a Spiritual man as Paul (and that is okay) was and caused problems for Paul taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. Peter and Paul did not see eye to eye on church doctrine and even got into a fight, “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face (the Biblical way of saying they got into a fight), because he was to be blamed. 12For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.” (Galatians 2:11-12) But in the end (and thank God because Peter was standing in the way of the message and teaching of grace) it does not matter what you know or the number of Bible verses you can quote, but in the end what matters is who you know. In the end, Peter and Paul understood what was really important, “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:6-8) If we can do this my friend we will not worry about our rice bowl, our position in the hierarchy at church (knowing who we are in Christ), or who’s getting the credit, but just be in love with “the man Christ Jesus” our example. Written by David Stahl

RESTRAINT

The longer I go with God the more I am coming to understand just how critical restraint is in our lives. Recently I have lost 73 pounds (and keeping it off) and Karen almost 40 (it is much tougher for women to lose extra weight) pounds this was achieved by restraint in our lives. We restrained ourselves to the same foods and portions so we could measure our caloric intake the secret to reducing weight. We had to be consistent and disciplined two words most people today do not like we seem to want to “go for it” or “just do it.” In the early 60s the hearts desire was “if it feels good do it,” well these mottos to live life by will only bring you to ruin in the physical and in the spiritual realm they will end us in death and loss all along our lives. Our lack of restraint will bring to our lives destruction, loss in every relationship we enter, and ultimately death. If you get nothing from this article please hear this; limitations and restrictions (or restraint) bring us to fulfillment and completion. Without this restraint in our lives we will perish and the less of restraint in our lives the sooner we will perish. In Proverbs we read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18) Now this word “vision” here is the not the word we think of when we think of “vision” oh no the word “vision” here in the Greek means (that right) restraint. So let us cut and paste in this truth into the verse and we get, “Where there is no restraint, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18) This makes sense because a vision in doing something will NOT prevent us from perishing, but restraint in our lives will keep us from getting over into areas where there may not be any coming back to God. The Bible is full of examples of people where restraint was dismissed, even scoffed at, and the people perished. The world tells us to, “get ours” or “be all that we can be,” well that is NOT the message of the Bible. We are not to be all we can be we are to be all God wants us to be and for that to happen in our lives we must function in restraint and limit ourselves to only the things God wants for our lives. At the heart of not restraining our lives is an unwillingness to follow God. At the heart of not walking in the limitations and restrictions for our lives is a selfishness and a desire to do what we want to do and not what God wants us to do. Jesus knew this all too well. In Matthew we read, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39) Apparently Jesus had a will that maybe was not according to the Father, but in the end the Father crushed this will out of Him at Gethsemane. It was no coincidence that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane (which means where oil is pressed) to pray after the Passover Meal. In Gethsemane the Father pressed the life and will out of Jesus. And is the servant greater than the Master? As a matter of fact this was the secret of Jesus’ ability and power; it was not that He was the Son of God, but it was that Jesus was restrained and limited in doing only that which the Father told Him to do and if Jesus operated in this same spiritual principle (and he did) is the servant greater than the Master? In John we read, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:19) Did you get that? “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what He seeth the Father do” But you say Jesus is the Son of God and yes He is, but He chooses to do only those things what He sees the Father doing. What restraint what limitation of unlimited power! We run around proclaiming we have the power, but in reality we see little power moving in the church unlike in past days. I wonder why that is? I wonder what power we could have if we did and said only the things the Father tells us to do? It is odd how when we are under restraint and then when loosened somewhat from that restraint we seems to always go to one extreme or the other this is the danger from coming out from under the restraint of the Spirit of God. We often see that with our children when they leave home for college, etc. they seem to go crazy the restrain on their lives from their parents, friends, etc. has been lifted and now they have a great freedom to do as they desire and get off track, There seems to be a parallel to the reaction: the more restraint one is under the more off track they get when loosened, but thank God for His longsuffering, mercy, and in due time if the word of God has been planted in their heart they will return to the restraint they once knew as a child. That restraint that gave them their home: a happy, warm, nurturing, and safe place to live, that same restraint that established an order in their tiny little world. You know it is funny, but the older I get the more I enjoy restraint in my life. When I was young I enjoyed the wild winds of adventure and excitement, but now that I am older I enjoy the quiet moments of the day, the birds, the clouds, the trees, things I have no control over in my life, but are held in restraint by a loving God. The older I get the more I see I must eat from the trees and garden. The older I get the more I see I must limit and restrict myself to the things of God. The older I get the more I see I must restrict my heart and thinking from things of this world. The older I get the more I see I must limit my words and actions, my ministry, the places we go, the churches we minister in. When I was young I went and did what I wanted to do, but now that I am older I see I must restrict myself to what God wants for our lives. The older I get the more I am coming to understand this verse in John, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” (John 21:18) Here is the limitation, restriction, and restraint of God in action. We have no strength of our own so if we go we must go in God’s strength. And “another (not God but a person) shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” Not too many preachers, pastors, and teachers want this revelation for their lives, oh no most ministers want to go and save the heathens around the world, but are not willing to operate in the restraint of the LORD. Remember is the servant greater than the Master? The only verse in the Scriptures that talks about “restraint” is found in 1 Samuel, but it gets to the heart of the issue. We read, “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. 7And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.” (1 Samuel 14:6-7) What a wonderful promise from the LORD that there is no “restraint” to save! But please notice the armourbearer’s reply back to Jonathan, “behold I am with thee according to thy heart” at the heart of restraint is always our heart condition. It is our heart that must align with what the LORD brings into our lives. There is a small general thought that will keep us on track if we can remember when our desires reach out for the wild things of this world or even those things of God we are not ready for. Did you know just because we do not understand something in God does not mean it is wrong. It most often means we do not have the ability in God to handle the revelation. There are things I have been holding before the LORD for years and in His time (not mine) He will be able to share them with us. We must never push for understanding. Wanting to know got Eve, Adam, and mankind in a lot of trouble. When we do we often get an understanding, but it usually is a wrong understanding out from our inability to wait on the LORD. We must wait on the LORD and He will give us what we need to know. Let us never forget, “others may, but we may not.” If we can remember this single, little thought then restraint is well within our grasp. Written by David Stahl