Called out, not counted out

Posted on February 21, 2015 by awrkhakhaya16

The enemy wants us divided, on the sidelines, fearful, apathetic, defeated, our joy elusive if not eliminated. The word for church in the Greek, which is a very specific language, means “called out from to”. We as the church are called out from the world and called to relationship with the Lord. The enemies of God are clever, crafty and talented at deception and subterfuge. In the third century AD, the devil wisened up and made Christianity the state sponsored, inclusive religion, tolerant and accepting of all rituals, even those associated with Pagan worship. This effectively neutered the church for well over a thousand years, until revival again called revisionists “out of the church to repentance and re-dedication to the Lord. Unfortunately, God’s enemies outlive the short term lives of humans, so over time, this vigilance necessary to remaining a “called out body from the world to” allegiance and service to God has weakened. The church has become infiltrated, tolerant, impure and poisoned by worldly beliefs, rituals, attitudes and unbelievers masquerading as the saved. The question now becomes what shall be done about it?

For the short term, those who see this quenching of the Holy Spirit, this departure from the path to purity and accepted worldliness as a call to condemn church leaders. This condemnation has done even more damage to unstable church foundations and ostracized, banished or rendered impotent those voices and energetic believers who would help heal and reinstate the church to its pure calling. Again, the enemy is clever and plays to the natural weakness and blustery tempers of men, casting us in to the exact unresolvable conflicts that solidify our worldliness and infection. What is truly needed now, and I hear this calling of the Holy Spirit within my own heart, is that those called out must become ambassadors themselves, imploring, praying and calling the remnant of the church to re-dedication to the Lord. This is a difficult process, but logical and consistent with the Word of God, as we are called to loose those worldly characteristics of brawling, argument, discontent, condemnation, anger and critical spirits. We must individually decrease if the Holy Spirit’s characteristic fruits are the increase. The day will never be won with my own skills, attitudes, abilities and treasure. The victory will be the Lord’s and I must dedicate myself to getting out the way, allowing God to rule and reign through the vessel of my worldly body. I believe that those called out or admonished to a return to true Biblical Christianity, must now become the Diplomats required to awake the church for harvest work.

Many claims and few points for evidence require that I must make a better case for my supposition. First, I see very few members of my church, or any church in our region, serving the poor, orphaned, sick, elderly and widowed. Very few members of our church will venture outside to disciple to the lost, whether reaching them at home, public gatherings in neighborhood hot spots. Complacence, solidarity and fellowship have become the mantra of the church, thinking itself comfortable, contented and Holy, residing within the segregated body of loving believers. Daycare, basketball, camps and single day missions have replaced the true work of hospice care, healing, public heraldry for Christ and care for those who have not. We have collectively become a worldly business that displays the name of Christ without the Holy Spirit in residence. But this issues cannot and must not allow us to become divided, for the assets, the bodies, the workers remain within the body of Christ. Leaders, must not become rebel and effectively eliminate their efficacy by simply becoming angry and unforgiving of the “church”, replacing the true enemy with our contempt and condemnation of the church. Judgment is the Lord’s prerogative, we should remain aligned with the duty of love and leadership through encouragement.

Lord, give me the capacity to convince. Allow me to exalt Your Holy Name, knowing that if it is your will the increase, the magnet, the people, the provision will be provided through Your Graces and, riches and Glory in Jesus. Let me not be waylaid, led astray or deceived into prattling about the circumstances or details. Give me an eye pent on eternity. This is not our home, this is my workplace. Let me do great work so that when I come home it is for rest alone. Give me a heart for the lost, sick and dying, giving them a glimpse of Your Glory so that they may turn away from impending precipice. Silence the enemy in my head, unless it is for Your good pleasure and my correction that You have allowed him access to my life. Praise You Father, Bless You Father, protect Israel Lord, turn our hearts to You, allow us to see and crave humility in service to Your Glory. In Jesus’ Name I pray.

Cautiously prepared

Posted on December 9, 2014 by awrkhakhaya16

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Matthew 16:4

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. Luke 11:29 NIV

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; Matthew 12:39

http://lovestthoume.com/FeedMySheep/UntowardGeneration.html

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=20547

Let us for a moment remember the circumstances and try to see through the eyes of Lot as he beheld the unrepentant wickedness of his friends in Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible says that Lot was a righteous man, yet the angels were sent to sternly warn him of God’s coming judgment and that he must flee to save the lives of his family. What on earth could have caused Lot to remain, living in fellowship with pure wickedness? Do any of us believe that a righteous man could remain in the midst of wickedness and not be polluted, poisoned or effected? We want to be tolerant, we want to stay our judgment, hoping and praying that this world will find repentance and belief, but if we are also to remain in the wise counsel of God we must remain apart from that social tolerance and cohabitation with wickedness. Are we standing in Lot’s sandals right now?

The sermon’s links above, given by Greg Gordon are scathing are they not? Yet, they tell the truth of nations, generations and societal erosion leading to our current circumstance where wickedness deliberately seeks to corrupt or contort all innocence. The innocent are under attack by powers and principalities of wickedness. Youth, cannot escape salacious images while simply walking the halls of education. The pure are bombarded by the persistent cries of “tolerance” of every sinful act, while the simple pious acts of the pure are disallowed. We sit in our comfortable seats of hypocrisy not realizing that our cohabitation with the world has counted among the wicked in census. How is it possible, even in the slightest manner that we have become new creatures yet continue to commit the same sins that led us to repent in our first encounters with Christ?

Are we that wicked generation demanding a sign from God, calling us to purity? We shall not receive a sign, we only receive the words of prophets repeating Christ’s call to readiness of saints. Simple Question; why did Jesus repeat parables of readiness, demanding that “believer’s” have oil in the lamps unless there is an implied negative judgment for those who fail to listen to His multiple warnings? He was not telling these parables to unbelievers because He had already established that He used parables so that only those with ears to hear would understand. These warnings are for believers who know the truth but failed to obey that truth. My greatest fear for the Church is the same fear I have felt myself hearing those words from the Lord Jesus, “Depart from me you doers of iniquity, I know you not”.

Brothers and Sisters, we will not be given a sign, we all agree that we live in the “time of Noah” or the “time of Lot” as Jesus indicated would occur in the last days. If you feel safe and secure in your church walls yet you and your church families fail to do the work to prepare for harvest, then you should awake for the Kingdom of God is upon us. If you pass judgment on those around you then go home to commit wickedness and unrighteous acts in the eyes of God, then you should fear His wrath, for it is upon this wicked generation. If you are surrounded by wickedness, seeking to corrupt your children in its unholy desire to corrupt the innocent then flee for God’s judgment imminently follows. Do not expect that angels shall be sent to warn you of God’s impending wrath, for we shall not be given any other sign then the one of Jonah. Repent or face the wrath of God.

Holy Father, awake our hearts and minds to the truth of our era. Lead hearts to You with Your Holy Voice so that they might be saved a day and time of Your imminent wrath. Father let us not tolerate the corruption and corrosive voice of inclusive wickedness, preached by this wicked generation. Snatch us from the field of Your coming judgment. Awake Church, Body of Christ, Bride to the Bridegroom of Heaven, Christ Jesus, soon to return for the faithful. If you do not feel called to do the work that has been prepared for us since the beginning of time then you should be concerned for your eternal spirit, for “Many are called but few are chosen”. Matthew 22:14 In Jesus, Holy Name I thank you Lord for drawing us to a salvation we could not find on our own.

Tell the story

Posted on November 22, 2014 by awrkhakhaya16

Making tents so that no one may say that I have come to tap into their abundance. The Lord has given me two hands, a back and a decent mind, so that I may use the sweat of my own brow to provide for my family’s needs in continuance of our called ministry. Granted it is difficult to work in the world without becoming caught up in the world’s monetary lust and pursuit, but as Paul and others evidenced it is entirely possible. Where is my heart, what do I use as excuse to keep me from ministry? Do I mourn the lack of funds as the prohibitive reasoning behind my giving, or do I give and know “in faith” that God will provide for all my needs according to His riches and Glory in Christ Jesus? Look, I often use excuses, but the difficulty for me is that I eventually must admit to God and to myself that I have been ducking and dodging my responsibility. The only evidence of faith that I may provide is completed work for the Kingdom. Without action, life and faith are mere words.

If my life is Christ living, then it must be lived for others, as Christ has done. It is no longer about me, my wants, my wills, my gifts and my bills. What does God want of me today? Not what is God’s will for my life so that I might find purpose in understanding the entire script for my existence, but understanding what He commands me to do today for the Good of His Pleasure. He Loves them and wants that I remind them of that fact. It is after all that simple. Tell the story, forget the glory, unless of course it is for Him and the marvelous things that He does for all of us.

Lord give us understanding, purpose, reliance upon Your Word and a comprehensive imminence. Let us be fully aware that Your return, if it is to be as a thief in the night, will probably come today, because few of us are expecting that arrival. Give us a heart for service bringing droves of hungry hearts to the cross for cleansing salvation. Take from us the idle self worship which requires we make and covet excuses as to why we are not telling the greatest story we have ever heard. Scoop up the Holy Fire and throw it down upon us, igniting our hearts in passion, worship and praise for Your Glory. A fire that spreads to the hearts of mankind bringing them back to God in fealty and faith. Praise You Lord God for Your righteousness, patience and Truth. In Jesus Name.

The day!

Posted on November 16, 2014 by awrkhakhaya16

Am I preparing for Christ’s return for His Church, tonight? If not then I fail to comprehend, accept or contemplate the principle of imminence. I also have become determined to overlook or ignore that Jesus continued to offer preparedness parables to the faithful. Jesus, although He continually expressed the need to spread the Gospel, so that the lost would find salvation, He repeatedly offered teaching regarding, “being ready” to the saints. Being ready for what, you ask? Thank you for asking. Being ready for His return for the Church.

Jesus’ second coming will be nothing if but spectacular, coming down from the clouds, the faithful behind, to speak into existence the level judgment of the disobedient and salvation to the Jews. Why then did He continually remind the saints that “He would come like a thief in the night”? Clearly He referred to two differing events, one a return to snatch the Church from the judgment to come, which they were not designated to suffer, the next a dynamic entrance to take back the deed to the Earth and pass judgment on the wicked.

The Lord will at some point come to remove the faithful. I prefer to understand and obey His repeated calls to “readiness” as a Christian. Current evidence in the powerlessness of the Church unfortunately cries out to the absence of the Holy Spirit within those who believe they are within the Body of Christ. Since the Lord continually called us to have “oil in our lamps”, being filled, so that we might be found “ready” when the Master comes, then the answer to this questioned readiness resides in the filling of the Holy Spirit. This was one of the Lord’s most frequent topics when teaching to believers. It is essential that we seek to understand this teaching and take adequate steps in faith to making our hearts, minds and spirits ready for His coming.

I look forward to the Day of the Lord. Not because wickedness will finally be dealt a resounding blow by the Creator, but because this world will finally accept that there is one Creator, who is the rightful ruler of all universes, to include mankind. I weep the deception ever present in today’s discussion, I mourn those lost to pursue magic potions, divination and escapism, I crave a day when the truth is no longer argued and we can get about the business of doing the work without question. I want to serve. I don’t want to be king. I don’t want to be God or be honored for how well I’ve worshiped His Glory. That is where satan’s travesty began, probably accepting glory for how well he worshiped God. My pride is just as dangerous. May I lead you to the Cross where you may understand God’s eternal Glory and bask in His righteousness. May I only exist to encourage you and love you in your travails.

I am sorry that the terrorist’s quest for peace with God has left them destitute, angry and misshapen. I pray that the Lord our God, touches their hearts in such a way that the veil of hate is removed from their eyes and they may finally see their sin, so that they may be cleansed by the Blood of Jesus Christ the King. I am sorry that God’s enemies had to suffer death at the hand of our soldiers, I only wish that they had found Jesus reflected in our hearts, words and faces before they found it necessary to enter in war against us. May the fire of heaven rain down upon the enemies of God and may we find it in our hearts to forgive those who have brought misfortune, pain and death to our families. Heal us Father, take from us the bitterness that leads to rage and separation from Your Everlasting Love. Grant this Earth Peace. Lord rebuke Your enemies if it is in Your Will to do so, and let us love them enough to forgive them and change their hearts forever through the Power of Your Love for mankind. In Jesus’ Name.

Quiet Voice

Posted on November 9, 2014 by awrkhakhaya16

Does God show up in your life? Do you generally see Him only in actions, answered prayer or do you feel His guidance in the those quiet, truthful, loving or rebuking moments? How has your faith grown, looking for a measure, empirical response, perhaps miracles or have you gone seeking God’s Will in His word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of the Lord. Does that line from the Bible resonate within you? If the Bible says that your faith will be increased by being washed in His word, why then would you be looking for evidence of God’s Will through manna, birds, finances or floods? Isn’t obedience about following the direction of an authority to whom you have willfully surrendered?

I love when God shows up in song, circumstances and situational salvation, but I crave those moments when I hear and positively respond to His quiet leading within my heart. Think on that for a moment. When the Jews had been oppressed for four hundred years and were set free into the desert to find the promise land they shook their fists at God demanding miracles. Why were they in the desert, because of the miracles of God. We must not, like the unbelievers be reliant upon signs and wonders for proof that God is there.

Faith in God is what it requires to please God and grow. We must therefore counsel our own hearts to listen to sermons, read the Word, go to Bible studies and spend time with the Lord in prayer, for this is the road to faith and relationship with God. Above all I must agree to be honest with myself regarding my own misgivings, expectations and demands upon God before I can righteously align my heart with His quiet urgings. If I am simply looking for Him to show up when I rub the lamp, repeat mantras like incantation or roll the dice in life looking for Him to step in our defense, then we have designed a graven image that is certainly not God. So though you are tired, bored, ill equipped or not “feeling” it, God wants us to gather together to share fellowship, worship and hear the Word, so, just doing it applies. If you want to hear the voice of God then take the time to get to know His voice, so it is recognizable above the din of the world. And we all agree this world and its many screaming voices vie actively for our attention as Christians. We must learn to self-control our focus and apply it to listening, looking, searching and praying for God’s verbal and active participation in our lives. He is inviting us, will we accept and show up for the event? I pray that we have hungry hearts for God’s Word and a lasting relationship found only through the door of Jesus Christ. Amen

If it ain’t working…

Posted on October 20, 2014 by awrkhakhaya16

All around us churches steeped in tradition are languishing, propped up by the faithful few, awaiting, praying for the inevitable. There is no power in the American church, no Holy Fire, saving, healing, sanctifying and transforming from the pulpits to the parishioners. Unbelievers come looking for love, healing and supernatural relationship and are met with pews full of warn out, bitter, elderly, stodgy people who call themselves Christian but resemble Him in name alone. Where is Christ evident in our eyes, hearts and lives. Where is the power of God’s love written upon our foreheads, so apparent that others come to see the Shekinah Glory. Where is the guiding, helping and counseling presence of the Holy Spirit, waiting to give you the words, the energy, the POWER of God to wield on Kingdom’s behalf.

The wicked agenda of self servers is winning in America because their is no other attractive option. Unbelievers are looking for examples of what it means to be blessed by God, yet all they find in the churches or in the desk next to them at work are worldly, frustrated, self-concerned and self-dependent hypocrites who wouldn’t know the grace of God if it bit them in the posterior. Through adherence to worldly, pagan or denominational practices that have no foundation in the Bible, for which most Pastors cannot name their origin or purpose have quenched the Power of the Holy Spirit, leaving Him outside knocking asking to be let in. No bright ideas will save these churches. No Pastor with fancy or spirited speeches will save these churches. No list of tithing special interest givers will save these churches nor will a conformance or capitulation to their tight-fisted demands. The only thing that will heal, build, purify and prosper these churches is a humble review and dedication to responding to the criticism and direction given them by Jesus Christ in Revelation 2 and 3.

We have grown lukewarm or worse yet cold, turning the body of Christ into businesses, that have light bills, food and rent bills which require X amount of monthly dollars. These dollar requirements for a “place of worship” force the pastor and elders into worldly servitude to the bank and other creditors. Additionally, the church is held captive by “special interest” tithers who control the purse strings forcing leadership to either maintain programs and processes that don’t work or pursue paths that are neither Holy Spirit inspired nor steeped in wisdom. Givers are shamed into giving by the passing of the a public offering plate, which is in direct conflict with God’s direction for Spirit inspired offering. We don’t know how many orphans live in our neighborhoods, we don’t know how many widows live within a square mile of our church, heck we don’t even know the people who live in the surrounding homes. We come to church for several hours, if that, and leave just as quickly as we arrived, turning the house of God into a worldly membership meeting that we endure until we can get on to the real business of our Sunday afternoon or Saturday evening. We have become a shell of the Body’s original intent. Perhaps the persecution we all know is not far in the future will once again give us a heart for God and His people.

We need to get about His business. We need to demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commands and answering His call for the remaining lost sheep. He will not prosper disobedient children, just as your Earthly Father would never consider rewarding disobedience. Look, I did not design God, He is not some custom organized servant for my or anybody’s worldly requirements. He is God. He gets to make the rules, not you and certainly not me. We cannot prosper our churches through our own power, authority, gifts or ideas for then it is no longer part of the Body of Christ it is now a self-help feel good shop for new age thinkers. These prosperity gospel clubs are full of the birds of the air who have come to nest in the bountiful mustard tree. They are certain to have true believers in their midst but the majority of these branches will be tossed into the fire at the day of harvest. If there are hungry sheep, I must do my best to feed them. If there are sick, blind, tired, fatherless or forgotten women or children, I have a responsibility to find them and offer assistance. If there is one person within hearing distance of my voice, who has not heard the Word of the Holy Gospel of Christ it is my duty to share the Good News so that they may be saved from eternal separation from God. If our church is dwindling then either what are doing is not what Christ intended or for some reason He has chosen to diminish us. Which is it in your case? If it ain’t working then do something else and you aren’t doing what Christ told you to do then I would start the list of “something else” with complying with His direction.

Salvation, the Love and Grace of God are pure joy, this is what unbelievers crave. Lord let your light so shine through my life and my eyes that those thousands of miles away must come and see the burning fire that you have lit within my heart. I am not the light but that doesn’t mean that I cannot be the best darn lantern ever conceived. Shine for those around you, go find the sick and the lost, then bring them back to fellowship with Saints. Don’t just sit on your keester waiting for them to come in the front door, especially when you refuse to open it up while Jesus is knocking.

awrkhakhaya

Aramaic for the Path to Life

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