"The Scattering Movement" by John Burton

To say that I’m concerned would be a gross understatement. There is a scattering movement in the nation that’s causing deep harm to the mission of the church. This scattering of believers is so widespread that we are seeing theologies and philosophies emerging that support the idea that it’s actually healthy to disband and withdraw. It becoming common to hear people say things like, “The church isn’t a building,” or, “I am the church, so I don’t have to go ‘to church’.”

The idea is that people have become so wounded or dissatisfied with their experience in the church that they have decided that it’s not only better but actually biblically acceptable to minimize participation in an organized church setting. This mindset is threatening the corporate mission to a terrifying degree.

YOU ARE NOT THE CHURCH If we understand the meaning of the word ‘church’ we could never presume that we alone are the church. That idea is contrary to the origin of the word (ekklesia, meaning “assembly”). In fact, that word has secular origins. It literally means an assembly of people who have been called together by an authority in the city or region. Wow! That sheds a lot of light on what the church is.

The church is an assembly of people organized under defined governmental leadership. It’s a regular gathering of people who are deeply agreed and in pursuit of mission advance with apostles, prophets and other governmental leaders. Further, the pure definition of the word reveals that it isn’t used as easily in the context of the global company of believers as it is in the regional and local gathering of believers. The definition reveals that it’s a well defined local group vs. a loosely defined larger group of people (who mostly don’t know each other at all).

We can’t be a part of the church if we aren’t gathered together with other parts of the church. Church is corporate. Additionally, the church is a group of people who assemble, fellowship, pray and respond together to apostolic teaching. That can’t happen in a more nebulous global context. The church has inherent in it’s core call the expectation of assembly and a corporate response so as to ensure the local mission is fulfilled. Again, a fulfilled mission can’t be realized without this type of intentional and faithful participation at a local level where communication and commonality are clearly defined.

WHAT ABOUT HAVING CHURCH ONLINE? I agree that there is much to enjoy and gain from this amazing technological world. We can watch church services online (I was watching one myself just tonight), listen to worship, meet Christians in forums and on Facebook, pray for one another and involve ourselves in Kingdom business in very unique ways.

However, if this is the limit of one’s involvement, there are some key issues to be considered:

1. DEVOID OF APOSTOLIC LEADERSHIP— There is most probably (there are exceptions) no clearly defined apostolic leadership involved. We have to know who we’re called to serve with. We have to all hear, together, in our local congregation, how we are to respond in mission advance. What’s God calling our leaders to focus on? How are we to participate? What are the goals? What steps must we take to prepare ourselves to see this come to pass?

2. LACK OF STRATEGIC CORPORATE INTERCESSION— While not impossible, it’s very hard to involve ourselves in the number one purpose of the church this way—corporate intercession. We just have to be together to pray with unity and consistency if we are to have the sufficient strength to see significant impact.

3. NO ACCOUNTABILITY— Accountability and discipline are nearly non-existent outside of the context of the local church. Most who flock from the church and into alternative spiritual activities do so to avoid conflict, accountability and correction from leadership. We have to understand that this is a critical part of the refining process. We must be receptive and humble and ready to be challenged—even if the leaders God established for us are exceptionally flawed and out of touch with our needs.

4. PROMOTES MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH— It can quite easily reinforce a wrong understanding of the purpose of the church. I would say this is the most serious issue. The prevailing thought these days is that the church is there for us. Whatever needs we have, we can get many of them met in the church. So, we attend if we are ministered to. Or, we may determine that we can get what we’re looking for without regular church attendance. So, the church becomes unnecessary to us.

Friend, this concept is a defilement of the church. I can’t say it any less striking than that. We are called to gather together with other believers to intercede for the nations. We are there to give, to serve, to minister, to pray, to grow. The church isn’t primarily there for us, we are to be there for the mission of the church. We may say that we don’t need the church but have we considered that the church needs us? I believe the scattering movement is one of the enemy’s most urgent assaults in these current times. He knows the power of unified togetherness. He used that very strategy when attempting to build a tower to Heaven.

God himself said that the successful plan of unity would actually succeed if scattering didn’t happen! Now, when the church must be together continually as we advance against the kingdom of darkness, the enemy has every intention of pulling people out of that mission. The scattering and loose commitment to God’s method of prayer-driven Kingdom advance is resulting in an weak and impotent army. In a day when less than two services a month equates to ‘normal’ church attendance, I believe we must see the 24/7 church advance in strength, unity, commitment and power. Instead of two services a month, I believe we’ll see it become normal to be in church many times a month as we pray together, receive apostolic instruction, move out in ministry and take the fire of the Holy Spirit to the world—together.

http://www.praytherevolution.com/

"Trends and Presumptions" by Mary Lindow

As I sit here in the outdoors this evening enjoying an unusually cool and brilliantly moonlit sky, I am stirred to speak openly and transparently about the things that God is not only dealing with in my personal journey with him, but also some of the trends and presumptions that occur in the world of “Christendom” when it appears and feels as if the Father God is far off and seemingly unresponsive to the cries of those desperate for relief and merciful compassion.

Through his own personal agony David came to a new understanding of what it really was that God required from man.

ENMESHED INTO DECEPTION
God is not interested in our outward sacrifices or "offerings."
This does not necessarily mean that God never requires outward forms of worship or expression or observances. Many lines of Scripture prove that at times he does. But it does mean that these are not the things that he requires first. If our religious practices contain nothing more than outward actions and performance, then God takes no pleasure in them.

God always looks underneath what goes on outwardly, and looks to the motives and the attitude of the heart. What does he look for there?

David tells us in Psalm 51:16 -17

“For you delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; you find no pleasure in burnt offering.

The sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.”


BROKEN AND CONTRITE
These are not common words to our ears these days!
Just what does it mean when God asks that we have a broken spirit? Does he want us to be beaten down and humiliated? I am sure that this is not his plan.

Then what is a broken spirit?
It is an “inner self” that has come totally to the end of itself. It makes no claims, and offers no arguments.All independence, all self-will, self-promotion, all self-righteousness have been pruned away.

Such a spirit simply turns and trusts completely upon God, not trusting in his own skill, merit, popularity, or ability to influence. This one who has willingly allowed the disciplining of his soul knows that he or she must only trust in God and his unrelenting mercy.

If we will ALLOW him to guide us, HE knows how to produce this brokenness of spirit in each of us. Just remember, he treats us as individuals. And he would never abuse our individuality. He uses just the right amount of intensity needed to accomplish his desires, that we would relinquish our mistrust in his plan and fully step into total abandonment, willingly accepting his plan.

“For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”
Lamentations 3:33

AFFLICTION ALSO KNOWN AS - “DISCIPLINE”
If there was ever a man who had to face affliction also known as “discipline” - it was David. I am amazed that he never became bitter. He even admitted that it did him good! God allows us to come under afflictions/discipline, not because he is mad at us, nor because he has rejected us. It is actually a demonstration of his faithfulness.

When he sees us taking a wrong turn that will lead to our own harm and damage, he allows difficulty and affliction/discipline to turn us back to the way that leads to peace and blessing.

When I say affliction I am not accusing God of bringing about harsh and devastating blows in order to knock us down and break our arms in the process. No! No! No!

In Psalm 119:67, 71, 75 it says:
"I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.
My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.
I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair; 
you disciplined me because I needed it."


WHEN WE ARE "THROWN A CURVE BALL"
How do we respond when we are "thrown a curve ball" and everything we carefully planned out and prepared for suddenly takes a turn we did not expect?

David did not view afflictions/disciplines as disaster. He saw it as a form of correction - something to adjust his life. He was saying, “Before I was afflicted/disciplined I went astray and I suffered for it. Now I've learned my lesson! It pays to obey your word!”


ARE YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF DIFFICULTY, LOSS, OR AN ADJUSTMENT?
May I caution you?
Don't fight back!
And whatever you do, do not argue with God!

Admit that God is dealing with you and allowing an affliction/a disciplining, a difficulty or disappointment, to address major issues of stubbornness, lazy spirituality, dependence upon others for water from the word, and more than often - a sour and willful independence that does not like accountability in every area.


ASK HIM, "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ARE DOING?"
“Am I off the pathway that you have planned and have willfully gone my own way?”

The Lord is seeking, looking, longing for you to turn away from things that are harmful and to bring you back to things that are in his purpose and plan.

If we are willing to learn from these afflictions/disciplines, there will come a time when we will indeed look back with gratitude for the things we have learned and matured in.

My dear friends. We were not created to serve ourselves or to meet our own needs. Whatever we need, the Lord will see to it that we get it, as we move along the pathway that he has chosen. You may be asking the question, “Why is it so hard for me to hear from the Lord at first when it comes to difficult issues and decisions?”

We must understand we cannot instantly “unlearn” what we have lived our entire life. We must as the Scripture says be "transformed" from who we are to what we want to be.

We need to understand with our whole heart that we were intended to be godly in every way. In our relationships with others, and above all, in our relationship with God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. If one is out of order then both will be.

But! As a dear brother in the Lord by the name of Larry Reese says, “We are not to fear the passing of time or fear that we are wasting time by spending time with the Lord, searching out his word, and being still in his presence. You will never lose anything by doing these things!”

TRENDS, BLOGS, AND COMMENTS
It's no secret that social media has become quite a form of communication! One of the problems that can occur when “listening” to trends, blogs, and commentary from others is that sources quoted and information gathered might well be skewed to interject thoughts and opinions into the minds of those who never think for themselves.

Believers in Christ are not to be uninformed, but they are to be wise about what they “ingest and digest” when it comes to the lifestyle of a Christian.

Do not rely upon the wisdom of men to help you to ultimately reach the destiny that God himself paid the price for. He is not an ego-driven maniac looking for his entourage of followers to validate his importance!

He "paid it forward" so that we would have the opportunity to walk upon a pathway, although narrow, that leads to purposeful living and a fruitful reaping of productivity that will only advance us into further opportunities to speak of hope and a purpose for others.

BEWARE OF FALSE HUMILITY
AND THE UNDERTONES OF DISDAIN
If there were one thing that sickens the heart of God it would be underhanded and slippery craftiness oozing from those who resist the full aspect of allowing God to create in them a clean and contrite heart.

It always amazes me how individuals that need notoriety and a place of “mystical” influence seem to be able to cunningly discredit good and godly saints around them who have perhaps lovingly warned them about deceptive practices or micro-management control issues, knowing that they risk the loss of relationship when doing so.

It is as if these individuals secretly feel entitled to sidestep the issue of preferring your brother or sister, and humbly listening to their insights and observances.

Equally amazing, are those who listen to only one side of a conflict or disagreement, and then spiritualize-away the fact that harm or discord has happened.

And so, the Lord allows the difficulties and afflictions to come and expose the areas of favoritism, embracing the “new and exciting” rather than the narrow and at times - dry pathway to mature godliness. There will always be among us, those claiming to have “THE” word of the hour, the “message of the forefathers”, and on and on the platitudes and justifications are listed to justify the mocking and putting down of the simple and unique message of self-abandonment.


LISTEN FOR THE SOUND OF MERCY
Listen to the “tone” in the voice of those addressing the crowd, the congregation, or perhaps a small study group. False humility has a highly "honeyed" pitch of barely restrained condescension, laced with heavy doses of unsolicited advice and counsel.

Rarely will individuals who have an exaggerated view of their own importance allow others to warmly and intimately engage in transparent communication and dialogue regarding the unique and yet equal calling and gifting of each child of God.


NOW IS THE TIME -THE TIME IS NOW!
These words have been spoken out from the Lord over the lives of many who seemingly can hardly lift their heads due to delays, betrayals, losses, and a deep, deep internal anguish. It seems as if God sees greater fruitfulness when we are at the bottom of the proverbial "barrel"!

Those who are forever wishfully proclaiming that the “bad times are over and good times are ahead” are sadly attempting to override the ache of the soul when it longs to return to the comfort zone of self indulgence.

“But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless!”

Jeremiah 7:8


Know this. To avoid the chastening and bruising of our souls is a guarantee that not only will you cause devastating and brutal pain to others, but also most importantly, you shall grieve the Holy Spirit.

I encourage those of you reading and listening, to test the fruit of those who claim to have a special and mystical "in" with the Lord.

The Lord is not one who neither “excludes” nor leaves the broken out in the cold, nor does he invite into his inner courts of wisdom and revelation, those who would use it to their own personal advantage or fame.

IT IS TIME! NOW IS THE TIME! THE TIME IS NOW! It is time to face the chastening of the Lord in the light of the purpose he has behind it. Growing up and maturing finally in the things he has been dutifully prodding you to do for a long time now. Procrastination fellowships with slothful and sloppy approaches to relationship with God and with mankind. For once and for all make the decision to not blame-shift or deflect onto others what God is dealing with in the wickedness of your own soul. Now is the time to be willing to lose your life, to be afflicted -- yes even to the point of having the Lord remove and expose those who have become disobedient, self-promoting, and abusive in the circles you walk within.
“SEE TO IT that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
Colossians 2:8 OPEN YOUR EARS The Lord is speaking! Listen! He has wisdom to impart to you that may well save and instruct others who might fall into foolish behavior. It is not about your comfort, your "wants" nor even your dignity! It’s about a willingness to be the servant of the Savior, and to emulate His example. He Is Speaking...
...Are we listening? “The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,

to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning,

wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
Isaiah 50:4
www.marylindow.com

"There is a Rumbling on the Earth" by Barbara Yoder

I found this word in my file. It was a word I delivered in July of 2005. It was a very strange experience because I was sitting down behind a table we had on the platform at the church. It was at one of the large women's conferences we had, there were about 500 women present. We were in the midst of having a panel discussion dealing with leaders. Suddenly it was as if an earthquake was happening. I could feel this distinct rumble under my chair as if all of the earth under me was shaking. Furthermore, I not only felt it, I heard it. Everything was shaking, everything.

As I read it, I heard the Lord say this word is for now. I did not send it out then. I held onto it. I believe this word will help guide you, create understanding concerning the times and seasons we are in, and give you the key to the door of deliverance.

The Word -

There is a rumbling in the earth. God is rumbling you out of mindsets, positions, identity, locations, relationships, bondages, fears. I was sitting here and I could hear it, I could hear this constant ongoing and seemingly unending rumbling of rocks under us, and it was shaking everything. It was as if we were standing on rocks, round rocks; and they were all moving and rumbling. And they just kept rumbling. We could hardly maintain our footing.

What I want to say is that there is a rumbling in the earth. God has placed you on unsure footing. Because He is changing your mind; He is repositioning your feet, to place you where he has been developing you to stand. Not necessarily geographically but within the place that you are assigned. He is shifting your anointing, he is increasing your strength and courage and even now there is a shaking off of the old. There will be no old left.

Fear not the instability under your feet for it will shake and then it will shake and the shaking will not stop, for the Lord is creating a scenario for massive change. For the Church will not look as it has in the past. So look not to the past, but stand in the present, and look to the future. For the unsteadiness, the insecurity, the instability and the failure to be able to fully define-is of God.

Because he wants you to let go of how you have known things to be; even how you view things; and He wants you to look to Him and to leaders that God has given to you, to reposition you for the new thing.

Fear not the unsteadiness under your feet and also do not try to define it prematurely. As you wait upon the Lord, the Lord will bring the clarity and the definition. But even the instability and unsteadiness has been created by him. There is a rumbling that has already started in the heavens. But the Lord would declare to you that the rumbling is also now on earth under the feet of leaders, for He is calling us out of the old, out of the past, out of that which would trap us in nonproductivity and irrelevancy, to reposition ourselves for the future. And we will not only look spiritually different, but we will not look the same physically, the way we have in the past, for we have entered a season of massive change.

Fear not the rumbling, for I will shake you out of the systems and paradigms that have held the Church captive and I will cause you to be poured out in a whole new way to the world. I am shaking the Church and I am shaking the world. The rumbling will not soon disappear until it has accomplished its full work to shake the Church and to shake the world. For I will have a meeting place with my people, and what is left when the rumbling is done will be a people who release the kingdom of God on earth. And the Church will be poured out into the world. (Heb 12)

As I was pondering this word, the Spirit of God fell on me and I wrote the rest of this now, July 23, 2010.

I am delivering you out of Babylon and I am delivering Babylon out of you. For I will have a people in this hour who like Daniel stood within Babylon but Babylon was not in him. At times fear will grip you like a vise and you will wonder if you can withstand the fear. It will feel like terror will overtake you.

But I say to you it is part of the shaking, I am shaking you out of Babylon and shaking Babylon out of you so that you can stand in the midst and rule. When your shaking is complete, there will come a delivering mantle on you and you will cause the gates of Babylon to shake and its walls will fall.

www.shekinahchurch.org

The Law of Contrast - by Wade Taylor

Many years ago, I was privileged to speak at a ministers retreat north of Anchorage, Alaska. A few days after I returned home, I was able to go to Barbados, an Island in the southern part of the West Indies, for a much needed time of rest, and to spend time in prayer.

When I left Anchorage, Alaska, it was considerably below zero. The wind was driving the snow that was falling, and the cold was bone chilling. When I arrived in Barbados, it was 85 degrees and the sun was shining brightly on the palm trees, especially on the multicolored flowers that were everywhere.

Both Alaska and Barbados were outstanding, each in their own way. I had exchanged majestic mile high, barren, yet impressive, snow covered mountains and ice glaciers for palm and coconut trees, along with the beautiful flowers and fruit trees that were everywhere. The contrast between Alaska and Barbados made a lasting impression on me.

Many Scriptural truths are established thru contrast. An example is in Luke 3:2:

“Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.”

Here, the religious system of that day is contrasted with a man clothed in a leather girdle, alone in the wilderness, but through whom God could speak. The contrast and irony in this passage of Scripture is intense.

“Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests.” The fully developed and functioning religious system of that day should have been able to “hear” the present word of the Lord. Since they could not hear, the Lord prepared an individual who could hear; who, at the appointed time, said something that had never been said before, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”

Another example is the life of Abraham, which is contrasted with that of Lot. Or, Isaac, who is contrasted with Ishmael, or the life of Jacob, contrasted with that of Esau. In the New Testament, Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus, is contrasted with Martha, who served.

As I meditated on the contrast that I saw so vividly between Alaska and Barbados, the Lord quickened these Scriptural contrasts to me, and I saw a principle at work.

In each of the above situations that were set forth in Scripture, through contrast, the natural lineage sought its own way and end, while the spiritual lineage was dependent on an act or intervention of God for its establishment and provision. In I Corinthians 15:45 we are told:

“That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”

Initially, the natural seemed to flourish, but ultimately the spiritual lineage was brought forth to establish His purpose and glory. The contrast in each of these instances in Scripture is very pronounced and meaningful.

Many of us have struggled for years, seeking the higher purpose of the Lord for our lives. Through the goodness of the Lord, as we approach the end-time, this is beginning to change. The “line of the natural” (those who seemingly are being blessed, while we patiently wait and trust), will no longer predominate. We are beginning to enter a “new day” in which the emphasis will be on the “spiritual line” - the bringing forth of the higher purpose of the Lord, by preparing those who are being spiritually stirred; those who are seeking to go beyond their present spiritual experience, to better know His presence, His anointing, and His voice.

In our culture, we have been taught that “bigger is better,” and that “quantity is a sign of the Lord’s blessing.” Yet in the Scriptural examples, this is clearly disproven, as the establishing of the “spiritual line” requires a time of testing and suffering. In each of these examples, the spiritual line flourished, after Divine Intervention and provision.

This pattern and principle will find its full outworking within each of us, who are willing to place the totality of our being, unconditionally in the hands of the Lord.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

The Lord ever seeks to bring forth a “spiritual line” - those who personally, experientially, know Jesus, and desire to walk with Him in the outworking of His present day purposes, as did John the Baptist who, through the time of his separation, became “the voice of One crying in the wilderness.”

If you truly find yourself to be spiritually hungry, and are searching for “something more,” consider that the Lord may be calling you to come apart to Himself.

“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”

“And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not near here: put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place where on you stand is holy ground.”

“Moreover He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people, which are in Egypt, And have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good land and a large, to a land flowing with milk and honey….” Exodus 3:1-8

So also for us, as we turn aside and allow the Lord to have His way in our lives, that which He intends for us is far better than anything that we could work out for ourselves – “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

“But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.” I Corinthians 2:9-10

www.wadetaylor.org

The Transformation from Fragile to Fervent - by Mary Lindlow

If you would ask the true "heart determined" believer in Christ today just what it is that they need now more than ever, it would be totally answered by the very raw words;
“I am need to have full clarity of mind and a fearless trust in the knowledge of how much God loves me.”

WE ARE IN ONE HOT REFINERS FIRE !

People are winding up in anger, disbelief and frustration over this "unfair" season the Bride of Christ is in! It just isn't fair! We have been so good! We have laid down everything! Why oh why are WE being singled out?

I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
~ Psalm. 69:3

“ I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. ~ Psalm. 6:6

Does this sound like you right now?


EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE TESTED SOMETIME!

The strongest impression I have received from the Father about the condition of His Bride is this. When things are going "fabulously" for her, when all of heaven is blessing, she wants to keep it that way!

If she is not in a place of great humility and thankfulness for what the Lord is doing, she tends to assume that,” It’s about time folks knew just how long I've been waiting for them to see just how great this church, or ministry or intellectual skill I've been soooo blessed with is!"

Then comes the attitude that we have to keep it allotted to only a few "real winners" like ourselves, and we become exclusive and look for only high rollers to run with.

And then. AGAIN comes the TEST.
Persecution comes, mug slinging, attacks on personal integrity, character assassination, and again the fiery trial.........of our soul.

TO REMOVE IMPURITIES - GOD USES A HOT OVEN!

These trials as if by fire are only to test our faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and our faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.

“So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
~ I Peter chapter 1: 7

HOW ARE YOU DOING?

The Lord is working the Bride overtime right now to deal with selfish ambition, personal comfort, and any other areas of personal agenda or presumption.

YES! Presumption. We as Christians have often presumed that because we are Christians… we should never experience severe sorrow, grief, loss, or devastation. This “fairy tale” stems from a huge level of denial and total self focus. It is also a very Western culture mindset.

A dear friend of mine who went to China and who was visiting a Chinese underground church group, had reality check that shook her to the core of her faith. She thought that she was coming to this group to “help and bless them.” When they asked her what could they pray for the church in American about in order to bless them she was flummoxed! Her reply was, “We came to see how we might help you!” How can we pray for you?”

The response back was, “Pray that we would not be fearful or silent about the gospel of Jesus we share when the authorities beat us or imprison us. Pray that we remain strong enough physically to endure the persecution we receive and not fear what man may do to us.” SOBERING ISN’T IT!

When others around us are going through loss, trauma, or heart breaking circumstances, sadly, many believers turn away in disgust or even more disturbing, display an arrogant attitude of thinking they are more blessed by God because their lives are not so complex or “shattered” as those around them who must have done SOMETHING wrong to bring these things upon themselves.

Regrettably, some of the pain some saints are experiencing is due to the disobedience of those in the Body of Christ around them! They resist the hand of God and react against others in retaliation toward God bringing correction or exposure to their secret lifestyle of personal gain or need for power!

WE ARE NOT ALONE!

”For consider Him who has endured such hostility by against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.” Heb. 12:3

Admit it! It is hard to not lose heart right now! The world is in a tailspin and lukewarm Christians are showing their true colors! It's time to deal with this! It is NOT going to go away!

AGONY IS MORE SEVERE WHEN IT IS "ENHANCED" BY BETRAYAL!

Jesus went through it. Stephen went through it and so did hundreds of others! AND it hurts, and disillusions, and causes us to be so very very weary!

Luke 21:16
“You will be delivered up and betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and [some] of you they will put to death.

THE TRANSFORMATION FROM FRAGILE ……TO FERVENT IS COMING!

When you may ask?

For my determined purpose is that I may know Him. That I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope…

… That if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead even while in the body.

Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own.

I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do, it is my one aspiration, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
Philippians 3:10-14 (Amplified Bible)

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS THE LORD WOULD REQUIRE:

1.) To gain HIS strength, we must relinquish our power or control over what we think of others. We will be judged by the way we judge others when they struggle. Pious and lofty lectures are not the Kingdom language of healing and restoration. Loving-kindness and Mercy reveal the heart of godly maturity in a believer when dealing with the sorrows and anguish of others.

“Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, Or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs To a heavy heart.” Proverbs 25:20

2.) Reach out in kindness to those under fire. Encourage them to stand. Encourage them to seek the Lord. Bless them and don't talk about them when they struggle!

"The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple."
Isaiah 50:4 3

3.) Get still. Stop organizing, planning, and pushing ahead into oblivion! God really does have a plan!

“Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord, Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become cynical. “ Is. 40:30 -31


4.) TRUST FOR A MOMENT!
It's all about trusting God in the end. Oh yes it is! Will He REALLY refresh us in this time of struggle? His Loving Word says so.

“For I satisfy the weary ones, And refresh everyone who languishes." Jer. 31:25 5

The Lord is producing endurance whether we like it or not!

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; For once he has been approved,
He will receive the crown of life, Which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. “
James 1:12



THE FATHER IS URGING US TO RUN TO HIM.

He is there! Even in the fog of struggle, loss, anxiety, and also in seeming success.

He wants us to be desperate for Him and rely wholly on His voice. To make all of our decisions based on His plan for the whole earth!

Seek Him. Lean into His Voice. Elevate Grace and Mercy…

…And lower your own opinion of yourself and your abilities to “lecture” others into healing or restoration.

WALK SOBERLY IF YOU ARE LIVING IN ABUNDANCE AT THIS TIME, ON ANY LEVEL.

Keep the vigil of prayer you are keeping for others well lit by the reflecting memories of past times when you yourself needed the Merciful Hand of God to lift you from agony and redeem your life from the pit.

Let us be so devoted to the “One” who lavished and spilled out all He had, that we might repeat His actions, and in so doing, bring His Glory to it’s fullest measure and depth.

His Mercy…Endures...Forever.

“Then will the lame leap like a deer, And the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness And streams in the desert.” Isaiah 35:6

http://www.marylindow.com/

"Deeper Identification in the Fire" By Traci Carson

Life is never easy. God never said it was. We all have our ups and downs. I know personally I’ve have walked so closely with the Lord that I couldn’t see myself being anywhere or doing anything outside of His leading. I knew His voice. I felt His very breath upon my face, His touch so gentle across my heart that no one, nothing, no place could take me from Him.

The next thing I knew I couldn’t hear Him, and His presence seemingly diminished. I would find myself saying, “Lord, where are You??... ”

During this time of what seems to be a place of abandonment, we may find ourselves struggling with rejection, lies, and misunderstandings. The more we seek approval from others, the more we find ourselves slapped to the curb.

This experience may not at all be the result of sin in our lives, or even a lack of spiritual growth. In fact 1 Peter 4:12 tells us not to think it strange concerning the fiery trials we go through. The question is… “What will we do when going through these fiery times?”

A few years ago I was taken in the Spirit to the lake of fire. It was there that I was attempting to drown satan, but could not. I was exhausted!! Suddenly, Jesus appeared beside me. He took me over to a dock where we sat dangling our feet in the lake of fire. Jesus then began to speak to my spirit. I remember His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear His voice in the natural. As He spoke, my spirit understood every word. He proceeded instructing me in how to battle, and as He was doing this I was dipping my hands in the lake of fire and washing myself. I was filled with an inner joy and peace as I intensely listened to my Lord. I washed myself in the Fire (His Glory), and looked over at satan and saw him as a scrawny and pathetically terrified being, struggling to stay atop of the lake of fire, but all the while going down, down, down within the flames.

God’s nature is produced in the fire. His fire is a symbol of His glory, and of His purifying and testing. Only that which can stand the test of His Word will survive (Ps.105:19).

“That the trial of your faith being much more precious than gold that perished, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet.1:7)

What I believe the Lord was showing me in the above experience was while my attention was on the adversary during my trials I was expending all my energy towards his wiles and ploys. When I gave all my attention to my Lord He was able to instruct me spiritually. In the natural I was not able to hear Him, it was only by the spirit that I understood that the lake of fire was God’s glory so awesomely powerful that satan could not withstand it. I basked in His Fire (Glory), and the more I basked in His glory, the smaller satan became. I thought, “Is this the one who has made the earth tremble, who has shook kingdoms, who has made the world as a wilderness and destroyed cities…?” (Is.14:13-17)

We may not understand why God allows things to happen in our lives, or why He waits so long to respond on our behalf, but we can be sure that all He allows, and all does agrees with all He is.

Now please don’t misunderstand me, there is warfare and God expects us to stand up and fight the good fight of faith. He has given us weapons for our warfare (Eph.6:10-18), and by His Spirit we learn how to war in the spirit and not the flesh. In my experience with the Lord He was instructing me how to fight in the Spirit and not the flesh. What He was instructing me to do was spend time in His presence, basking in His glory, and resting in Who He is.

Our part is pressing into Him even in spite of our circumstances. Unless we learn to walk through the darkness (lonely, misunderstood, rejected, etc.) we will never learn to drink from the cup of the Spirit from within.

“And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places. That you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” (Is.45:3)

During times of darkness we can’t see the path in front of us. This is where God desires us to depend on Him totally and completely. From the beginning to the end He sees our path. He works out of us a dependency upon ourselves and others, and works into us a “deeper Identification” with Him.

Let’s not misjudge God or the men of God because of our circumstances. In Exodus Chapter six, we see where the children of Israel would not listen to Moses because of the anguish and cruel bondage that was put upon them. They blamed Moses for the hard labor, and here it was God the whole time testing their hearts. The only time they truly worshiped God was when He did signs and wonders through Moses. Then they believed in Moses as Gods vessel. But the moment hard times came they looked for other leaders and other gods.

To become the great warriors God has called us to be, we must worship God in the fire, the fire is for burning all that is not of Him out of us, and refining us into gold where we can see the reflection of Jesus Himself. It was in this place that Apostle Paul was finally able to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ in me” (Gal.2:20). Is this not our goal?

- Traci Carson

www.voiceofthetrumpet.org

What On Earth is God Doing? By David Orton

Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Lk 12:32

The global financial system totters. Whole nations declare bankruptcy. Panic strikes the world markets. Political leaders meet late into the night searching for answers that don’t exist. Militant Islam invades through immigration and population growth. Secularism dominates the public square. And the church pursues cultural appeasement.

The nations are dismayed and men’s hearts fail them for fear. Where is God, and what on earth is he doing? Are there no answers for the nations? Does not God have a plan?

In the face of the economic and societal upheaval of the last one hundred years the Spirit of God cries out that he is the omnipotent One, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and the sustainer of all that is. The 20th century outpouring of the Holy Spirit is testimony to the fact that God is powerfully at work in the earth. On the one hand we have seen an increase of the kingdom in powerful outpourings and revivals, but on the other an increase of world wars, economic dislocation, societal turmoil, and natural disasters.

More going on than meets the eye

Even so, how do we understand these contradictions? Are we being flushed down the toilet as some defeatist end-time theories would have us believe? Or is something more going on than meets the eye?

Paul, facing off with the wisdom of man, declares that, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Cor 2:9

Human wisdom, fed by the five senses and natural reasoning, cannot see the things that God has destined for the heirs of salvation. But fortunately they are revealed to us by the Spirit (see v10). And so, something more than meets the eye is occurring.

Without a revelation of God and his kingdom our hearts will fear when he shakes the nations. This is why Paul prayed that the Ephesians, surrounded by an occult and pagan world, would receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Through seeing the ascended Christ by the Spirit, and apprehending his fullness, as his body, they would rule over principalities and powers.i He had declared to them “the whole plan of God”,ii causing the entire region of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) to hear the word in a two-year period.iii Whatever this whole plan was, clearly the modern church has lost it. Instead we have been fed a ‘part’, a truncated gospel, focusing either on personal salvation and holiness, or the baptism and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The whole plan of God

Prophetically speaking, the church has celebrated the feasts of Passover and Pentecost. In some measure, justification by faith and holiness (Passover) were restored as truths during the 16th to 19th centuries and the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) in the 20th century, but the spiritual realities of the Feast of Tabernacles are yet to be celebrated. With her decline and Constantinian fall the church lost her grasp on the whole plan of God. However, this is now being progressively restored, as the wisdom writer so aptly declared, “The path of the just is like a shining light, shining brighter and brighter until the full day” (Prov 4:18). Over the last five hundred years God has been increasingly restoring light and truth to his people, setting them free from their Babylonian captivity.

And so, what is the whole plan of God? The feasts of Passover and Pentecost, we understand and experience in some measure, but what is the significance of the feast of Tabernacles? Much can be unpacked from the typology of the feasts.iv Nevertheless, we will resist this temptation and focus on only several salient points. Passover was initially celebrated in Egypt on the eve of Israel’s deliverance, Pentecost in the wilderness at Sinai, but Tabernacles was first celebrated in the Land as a celebration of realized destiny and a remembrance of the wilderness journey. As the feast of the Promised Land, celebrating Israel’s final realization of the covenant promises, Tabernacles foreshadows the church finally entering the fullness of the kingdom on earth, despite her lengthy wilderness wanderings.

Like Israel, the church has delayed its entrance into the fullness of the Land despite its celebration of Passover and Pentecost. Even though she has enjoyed the recovery of both feasts over the last several centuries, she still languishes in the wilderness through unbelief. She too has come to her Kadesh-Barnea.v With her nose up against the store window, looking into a land of milk and honey, of God’s kingdom coming to earth in miraculous power, she has pulled back in unbelief. Rather than occupying the land as a holy nation of king-priests and filling the whole earth with his glory she has been seduced by “doctrines of devils”, gullibly believing every defeatist and escapist end-time teaching, conveniently relieving her of the kingdom mandate to disciple nations.vi On seeing the giants of the land, the principalities and powers that rule cities and nations, she has found solace in escapist ‘rapture’ theories that wisp the church out of the world, rather than occupying until he comes.vii

The gospel of the kingdom of God

We have lost the gospel of the kingdom of God.viii The gospel of personal salvation we understand, the message of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, we value; but the message of the kingdom, as proclaimed by Christ and his apostles is all but forgotten. This was the ‘whole plan of God’ that Paul proclaimed to the Ephesians:

8And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Acts 19:8-10

So, what is the gospel of the kingdom of God? It is the good news of a new creation – a new order of God’s government – one of righteousness and justice, bringing peace to all peoples and nations.ix For many, it is a shock that this has already begun in the person of God’s Son. Through becoming man, living his sinless life, learning obedience through suffering, and finally through his death, resurrection and ascension to the Father, the kingdom has come definitively to this planet.

With God becoming man, a permanent shift of cosmic proportions has occurred.x Restored to the image of God, man has been reinstated to the rulership of the universe,xi and the new creation has begun.xii Consequently, we do not look to the second coming (nor to a future kingdom age), to achieve what God has already accomplished in the first coming. The kingdom of God came definitively in Christ when he rose from the grave as the firstfruits of all those who believe.xiii Ascending, as the son of man,xiv to the right hand of the Father he now rules the universe. From this position, he pours forth the promised Holy Spirit, imparting his perfected humanityxv and sonshipxvi to his body, and progressively extending his rule through itxvii until all his enemies are subdued under his feet.xviii Christ is, therefore, in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father until every enemy is defeated.xix He will not return until this occurs.

Every pretender to the throne, every idol, and false ideology – every rebellious human system will fall before Jesus returns. God is shaking the heavens and the earth until only the unshakeable remains – the everlasting kingdom of God.xx And when he does return only one enemy will remain – the last enemy, death. And this will be conquered through the final resurrection.xxi The gospel of the kingdom of God is the good news that the universe is now being renovated – that the creator-redeemer God has invaded time and history, exorcising every demonic force, infusing the world with his glorious presence.

End-time scenarios

Therefore, any end-time scenario, which robs the body of Christ of its mandate to exemplify and extend Christ’s victory in the world must, at least, be seriously questioned, if not viewed as a diabolical lie. Likewise, any view that relegates the gospel to personal faith only, castrating its power to transform creation must be rejected. Every sphere of human endeavour and creativity, including nature itself, is transfigured by Christ becoming man. Christ will be satisfied with the reward of his suffering,xxii returning not only for a bride without blemishxxiii but also a planet leavened and liberated by the kingdom.xxiv The kingdom has come definitively through God in Christ, is coming progressively through the obedience of faith, and will come consumatively at the second coming.

Our Christology,xxv therefore, must inform our eschatology.xxvi Our revelation of Christ, as the incarnate Son of God (i.e. God in a human body in this world), and as the Son of Man (i.e. Man perfected in this world) determines our understanding of end-things. As the God-Man, he is the full stop, the climax of history, and the fullness of the Father in a time-space world.xxvii This is the promised kingdom age.

The old heavens and earth, the old covenant age has passed and the new has come – the new Jerusalem has arrived in the person of the Son.xxviii This will ‘fuss’ with many eschatological sacred cows – with escapist rapture theories, millennial schemes, and not to mention the role of Israel, the church, and the kingdom. Any deferment of the kingdom to another age, or abrogation of it to an old covenant ethnic identity is dismantled.xxix Christ and his body, the new Israel, in which there is neither Jew nor Greek,xxx is the climax of history – the fulfilment of the Edenic promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head,xxxi and thus also, of all the covenants and promises through the fathers.xxxii

Father’s purpose

God’s government in his Son was conceived in the heart of the Father before time began.xxxiii This has implications in how we approach God and our mission in the world.xxxiv If God’s purpose begins in the Fall of man, man and his dysfunction is the centre point. The purpose of the gospel is then man’s rescue and recovery, resulting in an image of God as saviour and healer, in modern parlance, a therapist. This is surely the case in the contemporary western church. Our half-baked theology has hopped into bed with the west’s cult of psychology and produced a monster – a church system geared to the therapy of self. With God portrayed as a ‘Dr Feelgood’ the shelves of Christian bookstores groan with titles promoting a life of maximised living – of emotional, relational, financial and sexual health. However, if God’s purpose begins in himself, the centre and circumference is found in him, in relationship rather than recovery.

Paradoxically, when he is in the centre recovery occurs, for God is revealed as the ‘Father of compassion and God of all comfort’ (2 Cor 1:3-4). As a Father his purpose is discovered in the desire for mature sons.xxxv While, in compassion, he provides for our every need during our infancy, he is focussed on bringing us to maturity, so as to share in the family business.xxxvi Recovery from the dysfunction of sin is necessary in this maturation process. He will not leave his sons in an eternal state of infancy.xxxvii And yet, this is where we want to remain, cooing and burbling in the playpen of personal salvation with our charismatic toys, but refusing the Father’s call toward spiritual adulthood. This then is the gospel of the kingdom of God – a call to mature sonship, so as to share with the Father in the governance of the universe. This is why it is ‘the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom’ (Lk 12:32). God the Father has purposed to rule the universe through mature sons.

Father’s DNA

Jesus is, therefore, the firstborn among many brothers.xxxviii The Father and God of us all has purposed to bring all his sons to glory, not just the firstborn. We all have the Father’s DNA.xxxix As Peter declares, we ‘have been made participators in the divine nature’ (2 Pet 1:4). With the Father’s supernatural genes planted within us, family likeness is inevitable.xl As some have said about my own kids, “The apple sure doesn’t fall far from the tree!” In fact, the power of genetic continuity is downright scary. More often than I care to admit, I hear an eerie echo of my parents or even grandparents in my words or behaviour.

And so, in this climax of history, God the Father will have a corporate Son in whom he delights. Having reached the full stature of Christ, as a fellow-heir with him, it will inherit the Father’s business. Having received the keys of the kingdom, a redeemed humanity will exercise dominion over the earth.

Therefore, there is no room for fear – the Father will give us the kingdom

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i. Eph 1:17-23

ii. Acts 20:27

iii. Acts 19:10

iv. An OT type is a prophetic symbol foreshadowing a spiritual reality fulfilled in Christ and his church. OT

Israel and her various institutions, as types (priesthood, sacrifice, tabernacle, temple, & feasts), all have their fulfilment in the spiritual realities of the new covenant (see 1 Cor 10:6, 11; Heb 8:2; 9:23, 24). All Israel were to gather in Jerusalem, three times a year, to celebrate the feasts of Passover (including Unleavened Bread), Pentecost (or Weeks), and Tabernacles. See Lev 23 for an outline of the Feasts. It is a common failure to so miss the symbolic and therefore spiritual significance of the feasts that keeping the natural and literal is mistakenly pursued. The principle is “first the natural, then the spiritual”.

v. Kadesh-Barnea was where Israel refused to go into the Promised Land because of unbelief (Num 32:8ff; Deu 1:19-38; Jsh 14:6-12).

vi. Gen 1:26; Mat 28:18-20

vii. Luk 19:13

viii. Mat 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Lk 9:2, 60; 16:16; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31

ix. Isa 2:1-4; 9:1-7; Lk 2:11-14; 4:17-19; Rom 14:17; Rev 11:15; Psa 110; Psa 2

x. Rom 5:12-20; 8:18-22

xi. Psa 8:4-6; Gen 1:26; Heb 2:5-8; 1 Cor 6:2-3; 15:27; Rom 8:17-21

xii. 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Isa 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1-5

xiii. 1 Cor 15:20-23; Col 1:18;

xiv. Dan 7:13-14; Mat 12:40; 16:28; 17:9; 19:28; 25:31-33; 26:24; Rev 1:13; 14:14

xv. 2 Pet 1:3-4; Heb 2:10-11; 5:8-9; Rom 8:1-4; Col 1:1-5;

xvi. Rom 8:15-16; Gal 4:6

xvii. Eph 3:10; 1:18-23; Mat 28:18-20; Isa 9:7; Pro 4:18; Eph 4:13

xviii. See Psalms 2 and 110 as the two most quoted Psalms in the New Testament. They show Christ the Son ascending to the right hand of the Father and ruling until every enemy has been subdued.

For Psalm 2, see Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; John 1:49; Acts 4:25-26; 13:33; Phil. 2:12; Heb. 1:2,5; 5:5; Rev. 2:26-27; 11:18; 12:5; 19:15, 19.

For Psalm 110, see Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; 16:19; Luke 20:42-43; 22:69; John 12:34; Acts 2:34-35; Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:3, 17, 21; 8:1; 10:12-13; 12:2.

xix. Acts 3:21; Psa 110

xx. Heb 12:25-27; Dan 2:44; 7:13-14

xxi. 1 Ths 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:20-26

xxii. Isa 53:11-12

xxiii. Eph 5:27

xxiv. Mat 13:33; Rom 8:18-25

xxv. Doctrine of Christ and his work

xxvi. Doctrine of final things

xxvii. Heb 1:1-3; Eph 1:10

xxviii. Rev 21:1-3

xxix. Rom 2:28; 4:10-13; 9:6-8; Gal 6:15; Rev 2:9; Jn 1:47; 8:37-39

xxx. Rom 10:12; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11; Eph 2:11-22

xxxi. Gen 3:15

xxxii. Eph 2:12; 3:6; Rom 11:17; 15:8-12; Gal 3:16; Heb 1:1-3

xxxiii. Eph 1:4-12 ; 3:8-11; Rom 8:29; 1 Pet 1:19-20; Jn 3:35; 16:28; 17:5; 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 1:1-14

xxxiv. See chapter 3, ‘Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today’s Church’ by David Orton (Sovereign World: Tonbridge Wells, 2003)

xxxv. Heb 1:1-14; 2:10; 2 Cor 6:18; 2 Sam 7:14. Please note that the reference to “sons” in scripture is gender neutral, it includes both sexes.

xxxvi. Lk 2:49; Gal 4:1-7

xxxvii. Heb 12:5-12; 2:10; Eph 4:13-14

xxxviii. Rom 8:29; Col 1:15, 18; Heb 1:6; 2:10-12; Rev 1:5

xxxix. Jn 1:12-13; 1 Pet 1:3, 23; 1 Jn 3:9; 5:4, 18

xl. 2 Pet 1:3-9; Rom 8:29

www.lifemessenger.org