Building a godly home 

(even when unequally yoked)

Zac Poonen from CFC India shares this message. There's a wisdom and encouragement here for, like me, who are presently unequally yoked.

Major points...if there is only one whole-hearted follower of Christ in the home, your children are protected from much of the evil in the world...due to the witness and influence of that one spouse.

 "The power of God is greater than the power of Satan," Zac Poonen.


Amen!

Word of rebuke...word of encouragement

Last night at a fellowship/prayer group by phone I participate in, one brother received Jeremiah 4: 3- 4:

 ³For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
 ⁴Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 

I felt convicted led to repent of some things.
Yes Lord, please take away the foreskin (flesh) of my heart...and don't let it be hard to receive your Word.


Another theme...one that the Lord seemed to be speaking several.

"An EVIL generation seeks after a sign..."

Yes many verses speak of the signs and power that do follow the Gospel, but it seems when these signs are exalted and given preeminence...that heart lust and motive is evil.


One sister said, well don't give Satan glory by focusing too much on the amount, depth, and destruction of the false prophetic movement, false revival and false spirits wrecking much of Spirit filled Christianity. Then the Lord gave her this verse...which is truly amazing:


Exodus 9: 16-17
¹⁶ But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. ¹⁷ Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go. 

This is what God was saying to Pharoah.

Compare it to this day. " I HAVE ALLOWED YOU TO REMAIN."
God is completely sovereign.

IN ORDER TO SHOW YOU MY POWER

AND IN ORDER TO PROCLAIM MY NAME THROUGH ALL THE EARTH.


 I have allowed you to remain....in order to (for a purpose- and a good one).

So God is allowing this bondage of His people ( lying signs, false prophetic) to remain...in order to
show His power and to proclaim HIS NAME THROUGH OUT THE EARTH.

God has more power than the devil.
God ALLOWS and all things serve Him...even evil. 

Glory glory Hallelujah!

I confess I homeschool

and therefore
need, 
want, 
earnestly desire, 
and "covet" your prayers. (What a funny Christian expression considering coveting is never good)


Pray for WISDOM, love, mercy, patience, joy, endurance, long suffering...ALL the fruit of the Holy Spirit basically. 


Thank you saints!

Know Ye The Difference

(Been meditating on this all day long...)

I envy people who can hold their tongue. It used to be I could think something without having to verbalize it, but that was a younger version of me, long ago, and with less grey hair. The older I get the less I seem to care about blowback for something I’ve said or for the constraints of political correctness for that matter. 

With age comes wisdom, and wisdom compels us to speak truth, whether unpopular, despised, or detested.
During a recent conversation with a pastor, he asked me a question which initiated an immediate and less than politically correct response. It is not an answer I ruminated upon, it is not a zinger I’d planned to insert somewhere in our dialogue, it just came out without my even being aware of it. 
 
As we were discussing the current condition of the church in general, the aforementioned pastor asked, in an innocent and to my ears somewhat naïve tone, when I thought the great awakening would commence in America. 
 
Without skipping a beat, I looked him in the eyes, and answered, ‘before we can hope for an awakening, those calling themselves Christians must know the difference between idolatry, and the true church.’ 
 
Even after having a few days to think about what I said, I still stand behind my statement. Before we can begin to hope for an awakening, the household of faith must know the difference between idolatry, and the true worship of the one true God.
When God is no longer present in the midst of the congregation, the ceremonies they go through, the programs they put forth, the plays and skits and other things they come up with to fill the few hours per week they’re supposed to put on a show, amounts to idolatry, pure and simple. 
 
Ezekiel 10:4, “Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.” 
 
A great sadness wells up in my heart each time I read the tenth chapter of Ezekiel, because I imagine God causing His glory to hover over the threshold of the temple, holding His breath, wondering if the priests would notice His glory had departed. 
 
How could those who ought to have known God best from among His people not notice He was no longer among them? How could those who ought to have been the most in tune with the glory of God, not begin to cry out and rend their garments the instant the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub? 
 
Worship has become so mechanical, and our ceremonies have been reflexive and routine for so long, that we no longer see the superficiality of our routine any longer. No one asks if God is present, no one inquires as to why the glory of God has not made its presence felt in years and in some cases decades, because it’s all perfunctory idolatry. 
 
As long as the bills get paid, and the lights stay on, as long as we can afford a youth pastor and a music minister, who’s going to notice the absence of God’s glory?
God paused over the threshold of the temple hoping His people would notice the absence of His glory, but alas they were too busy going through the motions, too busy glorying in themselves, too busy reading manuals on church growth and the dynamic delivery of lukewarm messages to notice He was gone. 
 
Ezekiel 10:18-19, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.” 
 
God paused to see if His people would notice His glory had departed, and when they did not, both His glory, and the cherubim who stood guard, -who were they symbolic protectors of God’s people-, lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth.
 
For four hundred years, those of the temple went about their ritual, and ceremony, for four hundred years they practiced their idolatry,-because the glory of God had mounted up, and left the earth-, and for four hundred years they did not notice the glory was absent. 
 
The hour is late, and time is long overdue for those who remain faithful and true to God to cry out for His glory to return upon His beloved. Only the glory of God will restore the church to where it ought to be. Only the glory of God will stir the complacent, indifferent and apathetic hearts to wakefulness, bringing them to the place of true worship before His throne. 
 
Two options remain viable to today’s church: the first is to keep doing what we’ve been doing, to keep clanging cymbals, and banging drums, and manufacturing a glory of our own making, the second is to humble ourselves and come before Him in holiness with repentant hearts, and beseech Him to pour His Holy Spirit upon us, and return His glory to His people. 
 
One thing is certain, if we don’t know the difference between idolatry and true worship, we have never experienced true worship!
 
 With love in Christ,
by Michael Boldea Jr. 

Before Azusa...there was Shiloh

Sound familiar?

Sandford was early attracted to premillennialism, the Higher Life movement, the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and divine healing; and in the 1890s, he created a communal society in coastal Maine, SHILOH, whose members "lived on faith" rather than being gainfully employed. Considered by former members and many neighbors to be a crank and an autocrat who insisted on unquestioning loyalty, Sandford—who had identified himself with the biblical Elijah and David—was convicted of manslaughter in 1911 and served seven years in a federal penitentiary.

BUT, wonder of wonders...
Out of Sandford's Shiloh- came Charles Parham,
and out of his ministry came

William Seymour, of the the AZUSA STREET REVIVAL.

Charles Parnham, Seymour's former pastor and teacher- opposed the Azusa revival, wanting to lead it himself.

By October 1906, Charles Parham was invited to speak for a series of meetings at Azusa Street, but was quickly un-invited. Several reasons can be given for Azusa Street's disassociation from him. Firstly, Parham had personality conflicts with Seymour and wanted to be the chief authority figure of the movement that was taking place, but the presiding leaders of the Apostolic Faith Mission were slow to make any changes to their methods or leadership. Secondly, rumors were surfacing that Parham had been committing sodomy ("an unnatural offense") with young males.[2

So two points I believe the Lord is showing me:

When there is revival and true preaching of the Word- Deception springs up at the same time.
Many of these have come through supernatural signs and visions. (Joseph Smith- Ellen G. White)

Revival/preaching of the Word DECEPTION/CULTS
Second Great Awakening birth of Mormonism through a supernatural sign
Charles Finney 1830's- 1840's same time period!
revivals in upstate NY

early church Gnosticism

AND- Even though Sandford fell into other non Gospel teachings, and Parnham fell away (at least for a while), the outpouring of the Holy Spirit did come, and thousands of lives were changed.

Jesus wins! Hallelujah!

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.( Mt 16: 18)

I will say it again...the Word says...THE GATE OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL OVER IT. HALLELUJAH!!!

Soulish feelings, signs, wonders and works

The lying religious spirit is so subtle.
A person can be listening to Christian music ALL DAY LONG.
Reading the Bible ALL DAY LONG.
Memorizing Scripture
Zealous

and still deceived....@!@@!!!!!!! (not a swear word- just a huge exclamation point)

Friend in question has LOTS of testimonies.
And receives good feelings in the soul from this evil spirit.
It operates in the realm of the soul- feelings, many signs and wonders...dreams, CONSTANT
revelations.

She sounds very happy.

I noticed the same happy sound in ____'s voice,  "yes things are really good here. " But me and others...we sound so serious, sad, concerned, at times angry even.


People say, "we are testing fruit." Then they hear a pseudo peace, pseudo joy...and assume- THAT IS THE FRUIT. But it is soulish and demonic. It is the deception made of sugar.

I noticed the voices of two people I spoke too. Both sounded confident and upbeat. But the ex-(group name)ers sound broken and grieving. They are not confident sounding...careful about what they speak. But the false religious spirit is so quick to call this one a hypocrite and that one a Pharisee. It says " I make religious people uncomfortable."
Or

"Religious people hate me. "

If you speak the Word or test it with the Word...it will attack and demean. You are "religious."
"Traditional." Or what I heard today "In the letter not in the spirit. "

Yes, by God's grace I am not in that spirit. Praise you Lord for that.

I have been called "a slanderer" "unloving" and "judgmental." These are lies...but the enemy knows where to hit. When what it accuses...it actually does. Usually in secret.

The man I know with this spirit, has sent me some really vicious emails. And said I have a spirit of fear...why can't I overcome. He used personal knowledge against me, things I confessed in what I thought was a safe, mature group. JEZEBEL. Then I feel tired, depressed, confused, self doubting. JEZEBEL.


The falling away, from my vantage point is ENORMOUS. And the falling away I am seeing on all sides of me....heart breaking. I feel such grief in my spirit. I can understand Jeremiah's tears...and Paul's cry...I would be accursed just so they would see.

It is such a frustrating thing, speaking to one who has an idol or refuses to hear. So frustrating...like speaking to a stone wall. And in fact you are, but maybe it is sowing a seed of truth that will come to bear fruit in the future.

Lord, please keep me from these idols!!!

Jezebel spirit

I believe that Satan has a PLAN. Intentional, secret, planned...to destroy marriages, churches, and believers. If we do not understand that- we are in danger of being overtaken.

Think about the intrigue of double agents in human affairs...The element of deception and secrecy are powerful.

So what are the areas of your life that are under siege?

What is the state of your marriage?

Are you being attacked by addictions, ungodly soul ties, Jezebel spirits and other deceivers??

How do you feel about your self?

Are you under siege by perfectionism, self doubt criticism? This is a war!!

Let me say it again:

This... is... a... war

What happens in a war? There are causalities...there is combat.

The Kingdom of God suffer violence and the violent take it by force.

Let us VIOLENTLY refuse Satan's Kingdom, rule, outposts and strongholds in our lives.