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MONTHLY UPDATE FEBRUARY 2013
OPWCI Herald
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 8:37-39
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Friends and Family!
So many people don’t know that Jesus loves them and wants to free them from all the cares of this world. They need to hear about a love so great that a Father sent His only Son to suffer and die so they might live! It was the greatest romance of all
time, but few know the story! Tell somebody about it this month!
As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, let’s remember to not only celebrate our love for each other, but also the love God has given to the world!
Also, let’s love on Jesus this month, and always, for all the good things He has given us and all the wonderful people He has put in our lives!
I love you, love you, love you and so does Jesus!
PLEASE BE MINE! -LOVE, JESUS
Pastors Dr Roy G and Naomi Futch
Pastor Naomi Futch
Inside this issue:
Power of the Church - Pastor Betty Carter
2
Humility- Dr Linda Stiles 4
Definition of Good - Pastor Bill Gentry
5
Dr Marc Carr on Fasting –Part 3
8
Seeking Him - Pastor Earl Green
10
Judgment of Others - Pastor Cate Green
11
Where We Need To Be - Caleb Ferguson
12
Sermon Series Line Up 14
Funnies by Michelle Carr 14
Church Calendar 15
2013
W elcome! We are glad you have come to Worship with us today. It is our Prayer that you feel the Love and Presence of the Lord among us. Our service is not structured like a traditional
church, (thus our ending time is until), but rather we prefer to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit who knows best how to minister to the needs of those present. As we follow His lead, we experience many of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: healing, prophecy, words of wisdom & knowledge, faith, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues and working of miracles as found in 1 Corinthians 12: 8-11.
Orlando Prayer & Worship Center International is an Apostolic Training Center. An Apostolic Training Center, is an equipping center, where the five-fold ascension gifts are in operation as described in Ephesians 4:11-13. We are to train, to prepare, to send out, and to support God’s people for the Kingdom ministries for which God has called them.
Ephesians 4:11-13 "And He Himself gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
As an Apostolic Training Center our ministry and messages are designed to accomplish the goals described above. This will cause through the Holy Spirit, a network of churches and ministries that will operate by relationship rather than by organization or tradition.
TITHES & OFFERINGS
There is usually no call for tithes and offerings. During our Praise and Worship you are invited to bring what the Lord has directed and what you have decided in your heart and place it in the chests of Joash at the front. Please read (II Kings 12:9 & II Chronicles 24:8-12).
In His Love & Service,
Opwci Herald Page 16 FEBRUARY
OPWCI Staff Members
Naomi Futch Senior Pastor Oversight/Apostle
Mark Futch Co-Pastor
Earl Green Associate Pastor/ Music Minister
Dr Marc Carr Missions Director/ Evangelist/Teacher Pastor Bill Gentry Prayer Ambassador
Pastor Betty Carter Teacher/Director of Home Groups
Dr Linda Stiles Prophetess/Director of Counseling/Prophetic Training
Cate Green Co-Associate Pastor/Minister of Media
Cheryl Landry Church Administrator
Orlando Prayer & Worship Center 970 Tuskawilla Rd Winter Springs, FL 32708 Office Phone: 407-617-3204 Website: www.opwci.org E-mail: [email protected] Service Times Sundays at 3 PM Wednesdays at 7 PM
Pastor Naomi Futch
Opwci Herald Page 2 FEBRUARY 2013
Acts 2:17-18 says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on My menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days." Every believer has a call, a purpose, and a gift which are all to be used for the benefit of the Church and to benefit all believers.
Acts 2:42 describes what happened after Peter preached his message on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 souls were added to the church. An explosion happened when every person in the church was valued--there is tremendous value in the lay ministry of the Body. In Acts 6:1-4 speaks of how the disciples released more people into ministry. To release the church to full potential, there must be a release of all believers. Lay people must be acknowledged and released. They must be able to operate in their gifting.
Four things that have to happen for explosive growth of the church:
1. Give people a cause: a cause to come to church, a cause to give, a cause to fight for, a cause to die for.
2. Give people your life. Jesus said in John 10:15, "I lay down My life for the sheep."
3. Give people room-give them some authority-give them resources.
4. Give them away-release them when the Lord calls them out into ministry.
The largest room in the church must be the room for improvement. We must not settle for less than excellence. We have a tendency to substitute the "fake" for the "real." We need
to look for "real" gold. 2 Chronicles 9: 9 & 15-16: "And she (queen of Sheba) gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put
them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon." 2 Chronicles: 12:1-2, 9-14: "Now it came to pass that when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam tht Shishak, kind of Egypt came up against Jerusalem because they
Key to Releasing the Power of the Church by Pastor Betty Carter
FEBRUARY 2013 Opwci Herald Page 15
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Opwci Herald Page 3 FEBRUARY 2013 2013 Opwci Herald Page 14 FEBRUARY
wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah. Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord." Any church which wants to grow and reach the people must seek the Lord and spend the time in prayer and worship and walking in obedience to what the Lord says to do. Seeking the Lord is always our best option for action.
had transgressed against the Lord. vs9: So Shishak, king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the king's house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon has made. (The enemy always attacks the glory and majesty and anointing of God.) Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king's house. And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out, then they would take them back into the guardroom. (Rehoboam settled for less than God's best. He substituted bronze for gold.) When he humbled himself, the
The Gold of Revival versus The Bronze of Stagnation
Obedience Excuses
Power of God Man's Own Power
Sincerity Popularity/Entertainment
Ethics Competition with Other Churches
Integrity Not Fulfilling Obligations
Prayer Hard Work in the Flesh
Commitment Manipulation
I read a statistic that 80% of overall churches in America have either plateaued or are declining. What a sad com-mentary of our present state. It's time for the Church to begin to operate in the pow-er and anointing of the Holy Spirit; time to reclaim the gold and not settle for the bronze. The leadership of
OPWCI is committed to train-ing, equipping, and releasing people to follow their calling, to minister in their gifts, and to walk in obedience to what-ever the Lord has called them to. All we do must be for the glory and honor of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be all the praise!
This is a lesson from the Witness Protection Program
A woman was stopped at an amber light by the driver ahead of her. This annoyed the woman because she was in a hurry and wanted to slip through the amber light before it turned red. She began to gesticulate with her hands and to shout expletives at the driver ahead of her when her attention was drawn to a police officer who was standing next to her open window. The officer checked her license and registration and then asked her to follow him to headquarters. After waiting an hour in an interrogation room the officer finally returned and the, now anxious, woman asked why she was being held.
The officer responded, " When I saw how you were acting and I saw the bumper stickers
Speaker Subject Date
Pastor Earl Green Praise & Worship February 10
Dr Marc Carr Bible Study February 24
Dr Linda Stiles Prophecy March 3
Dr Marc Carr Missions March 10
Pastor Bill Gentry Prayer March 24
Dr Marc Carr 5 Fold Ministry April 7
Pastor Cate Green Administration April 21
Pastor Mark Futch Finance Kingdom April 28
Kingdom Series Sermon Line-up
saying, ' I love Jesus' and ' Love thy neighbor', as well as the metal fish on the back of your car, I thought it was stolen."
Funny Names Courtesy
of Jack Patton
IMA KATT
JUSTIN THYEME
LOTTA SPELLING
SKID ROE
OTTO CARR
HERMAN B. A. BURDEN
MONA LOTT
CANDY KANE
ROBIN PEOPLES
RICH MANN
WILLIE GUNHAM DOWN
IZZY EATON
DAISY FIELDS
IMA HOGG
HENRIETTA FISH
VIOLET FLOWERS
FEBRUARY 2013 Opwci Herald Page 13 FEBRUARY 2013
Humility by Pastor Dr Linda Stiles
"Humility " A word from God's own heart! We have had a glorious crossing over into our "Promised Land” here at OPWCI and as we have crossed, we stand at a deep precipice. A cliff. He has given us His wings to go forth and also this warning. A warning that comes forth from His heart of love and protection for us. That protection is "Humility". Humility, what is it really? What does God want us to know about it in relation to Him and His guidance as we go forth? As defined, humility requires: humbleness, meekness, submissiveness, servility reserve, submission, subservience, subjection, obedience, nonresistance. It's opposite to pride, vainglory and conceit.. There is coming forth a "flock for us to minister to and He has said we are prepared and He is bringing them in but He has this warning for each of us to examine our hearts as deeply as we can by allowing the Holy Spirit to expose any pride, vainglory or conceit. I know some would say ,"I'm not after vainglory. I am not prideful. I am not conceited" Oh--- but listen to your heart- by the very fact that you stated that in your heart-----that has exposed you are in some level or area and God wants to expose it to you, cleanse your heart, clear your spiritual breathing passages and cause you to listen to Him so you may grow closer to Him. He wants you to become wiser in order to accept your calling and place in this going forth. He wants us to be fully used in the lives of these souls coming in, this flock He is bringing in to us for His Glory. As an Apostolic Training Center, the" center" must remain on Jesus and not our abilities, talents, goals and accomplishments. It is not about us being exalted and recognized by man but about doing the Father's business, His will be done. Look around. So much has
been accomplished here on a physical level and also in the spiritual realm but it can all be sidetracked, confused and even stopped if we go forth without examining the areas where we each lack humility. Pray, seek God and let the Holy Spirit reveal to each of us where we lack humility and how it will impede God's will and ultimately His work and callings in and through us .Read I Peter 5:1-11. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. The more we humble ourselves before the Lord and relinquish the prideful areas of our heart, the more grace He will give us to go forth and to do so successfully. That grace we will have to resist the devil and His schemes. Power to accomplish for God springs forth as we submit to His humbling process in us and as we go forth. The level of signs and wonders and miracles we will walk in and be used for His glory will depend on the submission of our prideful areas to God for His Glory. Humility before the Lord brings forth a clarity of mind that only can come through true submission to God and allowing God to be God in our lives as we go forth. Humility brings forth His revelation. We see and hear God more clearly and accurately for we are out of the way. Humility puts God in control, in the drivers seat. It's called the" Humility Express".When we decide to go on it for a ride, it is the ride of our life for it is being driven and steered by God himself. We do we go from here ? We 1st jump onto the "Humility Express" knowing we have our destination as we go forth. There is no free ride on the" Humility Express" It will cost you dearly to allow God to reveal those areas He wants out of you that are an hindrance to His voice but the ticket price of obedience is well worth it. We will stop out into our destinations for Him. Love and blessings, Dr Linda Stiles
Opwci Herald Page 4
what you have and who you have is something that can hinder your relationship with God. To be perfect we should have no fear of losing what we have or rely on ourselves to keep what we have, rather we should ONLY fear the Lord and ONLY desire the Lord.
Job 3:25 says:
“What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”
God tested and refined Job by showing Job that it is the Lord who gives and it is also the Lord who takes away. The test was if Job would maintain integrity, the refinement was showing
Job that the Lord is in control of all things. God allowed that to happen because he loves Job.
So, in our walk we need to remember that hard times are ahead of us and we will walk through many tests. It may hurt and seem unfair, but it’s important to remember that even if we are walking in integrity, we will still suffer if it is for our good. Everything we go through is to perfect us (even though we won’t get there until we die) and bring us closer to God. Our only job is to follow Christ’s lead and do as he says. If we do that, everything else will fall into place.
Where We Need To Be continued
Judgment of Others by Pastor Cate Green
Is there anything that’s more fun than discussing someone else's faults? Just listen the conversations at work, at home and even at church! Humans love the seat of judgment, so is it any surprise that most TV sitcoms are built around people tearing each other down, either behind their backs or right to their face? It's terribly funny on TV -- not at all funny in real life, especially if you are the person being put down.
Jesus and the apostles understood clearly the human tendency to put down others. Among Christians, this even takes the form of questioning another's spiritual condition.
1 Samuel 16:7 says; God doesn't make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but God looks at a person's thoughts and intentions.
We should be like Jesus and do the same. We should not judge a person by his looks or actions but see his heart. We should not listen to gossip and judge others by hearsay.
However, as difficult it sometimes seems, we must try to see the good in people. Jesus saw something good in the woman who was caught in adultery. He saw it in Zacchaeus, the tax collector, and He sees it in ALL of us. When we look at another person and judge, we should remind ourselves that we are ALL God's creation, we ALL have been made in His image including that person you are judging. James 3:9 says; "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness".
We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God, so don’t judge someone because they sin differently than you do!
James 5:9 “Don't grumble about each other, my brothers and sisters, or God will judge you. For look! The great Judge is coming. He is standing at the door!
Remember, if you’re judging people, you have no time to love them.
Judgment continued
Opwci Herald Page 12 FEBRUARY 2013
In the Bible, God referred to Job as a man who
is “blameless and upright”. He was such a good servant that no one on earth was like him! However, he is not known for how good of a servant he was, but rather the suffering he went through. The suffering he walked out was so horrid that people who respected him didn’t even care about him anymore. So, to learn from this story we have to courageously examine it and ask questions we may not want to know the answer to. Why did God allow Job to suffer such torture? He hadn’t sinned against God and, from a superficial level; Job did nothing to warrant what happened to him.
When we became Christians, God changed us from wretched sinners to his righteous children. He sees us not as what we were, but rather who we are after we were reborn and our sin has been paid for. We still go through tough times; we have trials and we suffer…but why? Philippians 2:12 says “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”. Until we die we are not perfect and are in a constant state of refining and changing. God is taking away the bad and replacing it with good. This process is hard but needed. It may not taste good smell good or feel good, but if God allows it, then it’s good. It’s not because God likes to torture us or because he wants to prove anything to the enemy, (He has nothing to prove to the enemy since the enemy already lost when he fell from heaven) but rather because we aren’t perfect yet and God is molding us for His Glory. So…
how is Job different?
Job loved his children dearly and didn’t want anything bad to happen to them as we can assess from Job 1:1-5:
1 “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.”
He made arrangement to atone for his children’s sin so often it became his regular custom. Maintaining purity for his children was done because he feared losing them and what he owned, however, having fear of losing
Where We Need To Be by Caleb Ferguson
Opwci Herald Page 5 FEBRUARY 2013
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heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
John 14:10- “Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
John 10:32- “but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
Ephesians 2:10- “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Matthew 5:16- “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Do not be confused by the phrases “your good deeds”. Jesus clearly indicates that He is not the one who is good, only the Father, and that it is
God’s Definition of Good by Pastor Bill Gentry
We find in our Christian walk that many of our human definitions differ greatly from God’s definitions. Isaiah 55:9 tells us, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The human definition of “good” is currently defined as:
Adjective- “To be desired or approved of” synonyms- nice, kind, fine.
Noun- “that which is morally right or righteousness” synonyms- benefit, profit, advantage, avail, welfare, use.
Adverb- “well” ex: “my mother could never cook this good” synonyms- well, nicely, fine, right, okay.
But God’s definition of “good” is defined more like this:
God and whatever has its origin in God, and only whatever has its origin in God.
God’s definition can be seen in the following examples of Scripture:
Genesis 1:31- “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good”
Luke 18:19- "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.”
James 1:17-“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
Opwci Herald Page 6 FEBRUARY 2013 Opwci Herald Page 11 FEBRUARY 2013
caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir, " she said. "Then neither do I condemn you,
" Jesus declared " Go now and leave your life of sin."
Matthew 7:1-5 "Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, `Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye, then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."
Continued on Page 13
only the Father and those things that the Father creates or does Himself. John 15:4 outlines this for us- “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
In our human minds, a “good deed or good work” would be any time that someone is
cared for, fed, clothed, nurtured or helped or even sacrificing our lives for another or a belief. By this definition, humanists, atheists, and adherents to other religions would believe that they are “doing good works”. However, the one and only true God, rejects EVERY work originated from man and only accepts as a “good work” those things that He initiates Himself.
This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3- “1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
In Paul’s statement “love” is the requisite of all that we do. You see, any of a human’s “good
the Father living in Him through the Holy Spirit who is performing the works. Therefore, Jesus was the vessel or conduit by which the Father was able to accomplish works upon the earth, because God says in Zechariah 4:6- 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
So how did Jesus accomplish this? He tells us in John 5:19- “Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
Jesus was the firstborn among many brethren, as told in Romans 8:29- “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Since we are to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus, we have to operate the same way as He did, by the Holy Spirit. We have to abide in Him (the vine) so that the Father can accomplish His works (the only truly good works ever done) through our lives. It is impossible for us to do ANY good works apart from the Father. Remember, God’s definition of “good” is different from ours. God’s version of good is
Good continued
As I list these scriptures, each one has a story. Note the judgmental attitude of the people and then what God thinks about it.
Luke 19:1-10 “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."
Matthew 18:10-14 "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
John 8:3-11 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was
Judging Other People by Pastor Cate Green
Opwci Herald Page 7 FEBRUARY 2013 Opwci Herald Page 10 FEBRUARY 2013
Seeking Him by Pastor Earl Green
We sing the wonderful song "The More I Seek You" and it speaks volumes of how to maintain intimacy with the Father, through Jesus in the Holy Spirit.
Song of Solomon 3:1-4. (NIV) 1 All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. 2 I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him. 3 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have you seen the one my heart loves?” 4 Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me.
These verses have had several interpretations. But of all of them I feel this is representative of our relationship with Jesus.
We can worship God many times and feel His presence so strong. The next time we can try to get into His presence the same way we did before, but we feel nothing. This is what verse one illustrates. She almost expects him to be there. Notice she is already in bed, yet has not missed him. How many times in our lives have we done that to the Holy Spirit? He's right there inside of us and He tries to get us to fellowship and we get so familiar with His presence that He pulls away so we can notice. If we really want His presence we must press in and seek him with everything in us. When we can’t find Him, we must wait on Him.
Notice verse 2. She finds him gone and then runs out to seek him. She searches until she finds him and then she says she will never let him go. Then she takes him back to her birth place. Almost like us returning to our First Love who is Jesus. When we first met Him.
Of course we know the Holy Spirit will never leave us, but He can be grieved. With such a tender personality why would we ever want to ignore Him. He is Jesus on the earth, with us now and desperately wants fellowship with us. He holds the key to true worship. He holds the key to knowing the pure love of the Father.
Seek Him and you will find Him. Find Him and you will love Him. This process will never end because we will be worshiping Him forever and we will be learning about His love through out eternity!
works” can be done from selfish or ulterior motives such as wanting attention or praise from men or just to soothe our own conscience. But 1 John 4:8 tells us- “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Because God is love, everything that He does is done out of love, and all of His works have a foundation or motivation of love. Therefore, we know if we are operating by the Spirit of God if we are operating in love. Anything not done from a motivation of love is not from God.
Very few of us have given all that we have to the poor or put our bodies into the flames for another, but Paul says even those extreme acts, which appear to be “good works” to our human minds, are in fact rejected by God, and therefore gain us nothing. Muslims die for their faith and soldiers die for their countries, but while those acts gain esteem from people, they are not good works in the eyes of a Holy God. Only if God asks us to give up our life and it is done out of love and obedience to Him is it an acceptable offering to Him. In fact, that is exactly what He requires each one of us to do. Matthew 16:25- “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
We must come to the understanding that we can never be “good” and that we can do no “good works” from ourselves. Only when we surrender completely to God and do His will are we doing a “good work”. So a true “good work” is anything that God does through our lives! The amazing thing to consider is this.
The Father rewards us for those things that He Himself does through our lives! What an amazing and wonderful God we serve!
2 Chronicles
15:7- “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."
1 Corinthians 15:58- “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Matthew 16:27- “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”
One day we all want to stand before the Father and be able to say as Jesus did in John 17:4-
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
Good continued
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Please Look for conclusion of Fasting in Next Month’s Issue!
expected to come into, harmony, orchestration and order with God’s Kingdom. Obedience to God is not injurious or unjust in any way, yet many resist compliance, and for years even decades by remaining misdirected by any number of means all related to self and this world. Why the prolonged misdirection? Because of the prolonged disobedience!
The fast punctuates our complicity, by first, arresting the stronghold of independent thinking and the need to know everything. This, too, is a control issue. The sanctified soul does not need explanation, like ‘why God’ before obeying God. We learn to hear and obey, just because God said so. The ‘check,’ that inner witness of restraint that comes from the Holy Spirit within the human spirit, is vital to the prevention of most disasters. And the human spirit needs development like a child, to discern the prohibition of the Lord as much as discerning His leading. And all else besides His leading is pretty much sin, fueled by our narcissism.
Adam should not have eaten from that tree just because God said not to, yet he did, demonstrating his desire to be autonomous, that is self governing. Often we are no different or better. Man always wants to know everything, first. But God no more gives explanations as to why ‘this or that’ can or cannot be done anymore than a parent gives explanations to a child. It is sufficient to say to a child, ‘because I said so,’ and so it is with God regarding obedience and the fast. Fasting is good for us because God ‘said so.’
of the social order is no prince. Now we as believers, figuratively speaking may be considered princes and princesses of God, and highly favored, etc. Then we should act accordingly by developing and maintaining our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, our actual relationship with God. Whereby we avoid the curse and calamity. It should be obvious we are to live a Spirit ‘led’ as well as a Spirit ‘filled’ life. And both are predicated upon knowing the Scriptures, which would include being familiar with the fast, as led by the Spirit.
Yet it is not the fast itself we look to but obedience to God, everyway. But since it is God who set the fast as a standard, it is sufficient to say: ‘until the purposes of the fast are grasped and made habitual we are to fast because Jesus said so,’ with our benefit in mind. If we pray the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13, and say, Lead us not into temptation, then we must be willing to be led a ‘good’ way to avoid temptation, until the temptation dissipates like vapor which every temptation does when God is present because God has been sought to strengthen us, rather than we attempting to be strong in ourselves against temptation, how foolish.
And if we say, But deliver us from evil, or ‘the evil one,’ then how are we to be delivered if we do not even know how to obey by being led away from evil, and even led away before the Evil raises his ugly head then bites like a snake? And evil just doesn’t happen. The world would be chaos, and life impossible, if controlled by random forces.
Let us briefly repeat ourselves. There is an overall compliance factor about the Kingdom we are expected to conform to. We are expected to obey God. We are
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enhances being Spirit led.
As snow in summer and rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight, or, shall not come, KJV, Proverbs 26:1, 2.
Too often we walk into harms’ way simply because we have no immediate sense of restraint by the Holy Spirit, not having developed or maintained sensitivity for the Holy Spirit. We could say, as snow in
summer is disorder it is as disorderly not to be led by the Spirit of Christ Jesus, though saved by the Spirit of Christ Jesus. It is this very type of disorder that causes the curse to ‘come,’ for the curse, add to, any type of calamity, generally, does not come without cause. Now, generally, curses no more affect the innocent than a bird
passing overhead as the proverb, above, suggests. And the curse, however defined, must include the, ‘absence of God,’ leaving what? Ungodliness or the curse, where everything disintegrates, beginning with social mores and dignity:
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, As an error proceeding from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place, I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground like servants, Ecclesiastes 10:5-7.
Here too, is disorder. The servant, though in human terms is no less valuable to God than a prince, the servant by the standard
We know life is about comfort and security in one form or another, from job, food and pillows to locking the door and national defense. And fasting is uncomfortable. Thus we feel physically insecure and literally unsteady when fasting. We are forced to lean upon God to carry us through the day. And the attitude of independence is broken while dependence is fostered. In the fast we are formed, fashioned and molded more precisely without having to experience other measures used [by God] to bring about the same results. For example:
We know patience to be a mandatory virtue and an absolute requirement for God’s own, and more so for the devout obedient. And obedience has been defined in another place, worth repeating: to be in harmony, orchestration and order with God. Now, how would you prefer to learn these absolutes? Through prolonged and harsh circumstances or by the known provisions of God’s Word? Fasting is a neglected known. The fast is to be understood and accepted as a provision for learning how to yield fully to God in order to come into ‘harmony, orchestration and order’ with His kingdom while living in a chaotic cosmos, unfriendly to our new nature. Victory in every aspect of life can be ours and calamity avoided, if the saint is willing to be truly Spirit led versus actually remaining one’s own god. Fasting
Fasting - Part Three by Dr Marc Carr
