Casualties of War…
Pr 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ro 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Q. What do ‘carpet time’, meditation, soaking, the green line, the secret of Obed-Edom, and the searing, weeping fire of God experienced in worship have in common?
A. They are all manifestations of the presence of the living God, Holy Spirit meeting with people, directly, intimately, personally, and directly, in their lives.
I have watched some of my best friends, and fellow servants of the Lord die over the past couple of years, and though we are comforted in the truth that we will see them again, I asked God, WHY?
We will meet again, in glory, in heaven, but for now, their death leaves a hole in our heart, and provokes me to write some things that have been percolating within me for some time, as I have watched some of God’s tremendous servants die, or suffer horrible attacks of sickness, or infirmity, when the Word of God is clear:
Ps 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him,
I have watched people who I love, die, prematurely, and have hurt, and mourned their loss.
WHY?
And He has answered, and shown me, and no matter how politically incorrect it may be, I’m going to preach it, for this particular truth, will save many lives….
I heard Rev. Keith Moore preach a message at some point about developing a strong spirit. Brother Kenneth E. Hagin, preached and published a book entitled ‘Developing an Excellent Spirit’, and these foundational truths are what I must share.
It’s really simple, yet incredibly deep.
We are created in the image of God. God is trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We are trinity, spirit, soul, and body.
1 Thess 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is much resource in the earth to develop our body and our soul, but few take the time to develop their human spirit.
I remember my pastor Billy Joe having a vision, a revelation, of people growing up, going to college, going to work, having children, buying a house, perhaps buying a lake house or boat or some kind of toys, then dying and going into eternity, without Jesus, or, if they had somehow become born-again in their life’s journey, stepping into eternity, with little or no eternal reward, because they had developed their soul, at the expense of their spirit, and
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Somebody once made the wise comment: ‘If the devil cannot stop you, he will get behind you and push!”
Seems that I have seen great people, often servants of God, that got ahead of God, and it cost them their lives.
Here in North America, foundations for buildings are generally made of concrete. You generally dig a hole in the ground, then fill it with concrete and steel, and if you have done it correctly, you can build a structure on it.
Someone once said, that you cannot pour concrete in a hurricane, and it seems that the same thing is true in our lives.
Generally, when the storms of life hit, our foundation needs to be deep, well-laid, and able to take the weight of the structure we are trying to build.
Some people have minds like concrete though, all mixed up, and thoroughly set!
In our own particular race, or journey through life, it seems that God is continually going deep within us, setting down deep roots in His Word and His love, so that the structures we build (family, church, businesses, organizations), easily stand upon the firm foundation of our faith, with no great stress to us.
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
1Jo 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So we will face storms, trials, and struggles in this life, Jesus Himself promised them, but we are designed to overcome them all, and the way we must do this, is by faith.
In my book, I talk about the parable of the sower in great detail, but know this: that the spiritual battles we all face, are won, only by faith.
Yet, Jesus loves us, this I know, and Ga 5:6 faith which worketh by love.
Along the road of life, I have learned this about walking with Jesus: sometimes, we need to slow down, to speed up. We need to cultivate quiet, reflective time with Jesus, and allow Holy Spirit access to our deepest hungers, and needs for intimacy, acceptance, approval, comfort, encouragement, strength, and courage.
Job 34:29 When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?
Isa 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:
We are required to walk by, and fight the fight of faith, yet faith works by love. We must learn, in whatever way works for us, to allow the deep roots of God’s love to fill the deepest creaks and crevices in our souls.
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
This is done, daily, personally, in peace, quiet, and rest.
Since faith originates in the report, or comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, then we are shown that the great fight in each of our lives, is for this quiet time, this personal intimacy, the love of our heavenly Father, this one and only thing, that is the most precious thing in any of our lives, that is the presence of God.
As an addict needs their drug, as an alcoholic needs their next drink, as a drowning person needs their next breath, we need the presence and love of God in our lives. Nothing else will satisfy.
His presence is like the water that softens the soil of our hearts, that the Word of God might root, grow, and produce mountain-moving, nation shaking, history making faith!
Mt 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Q. What do ‘carpet time’, meditation, soaking, the green line, the secret of Obed-Edom, and the searing, weeping fire of God experienced in worship have in common?
In what is now known as ‘The Toronto Blessing’, Holy Spirit revealed the love of the Father, to a group of hungry, broken, fatherless people, and when He came, we all fell down, and learned how to soak, usually for hours, on the lines that had been duct taped to the floor, all over the sanctuary. Some wept, some shook, some laughed, some went into a deep peace, other went into a trance like state, and many of us received powerful visions, words, dreams, or out of body experiences in the glory of God.
It was addictive! Yet, in my life, something beautiful began to occur: somewhere during the years I attended the 21 conferences in Toronto, I learned to receive directly from God, home in my bed, listening to the audio Bible, the deep needs met, that my heart hungered for.
I left Toronto in 1997 for Rhema Bible Training Center, and have only been back a couple times to Toronto since, yet still, to this day, ‘soaking’, is part of my experience with God, and though difficult to put into words, it is this ‘receiving’ that is what I am trying to describe here, for I am convinced that this is where the deepest needs of our heart are met.
Brother Hagin used to talk about meditating upon the Word of God, and I am convinced, that He met God this way, quietly spending the needed hours, to get his hearts hungers satisfied, and questions answered.
“Soaking”, has become a term, for this kind of experience.
In certain cases, holy, anointed intercessors, will pray for people, for extended periods of time, while the Holy Spirit, ‘marinates’ them, softening their hearts, and loving out their deepest, sickest secrets, trauma’s, and core pain issues, and showing them how precious they are to heaven, as royal, adopted, children of the most High God.
The Green Line is a humorous reference to the green lines in Dave Roberson’s church, where people are instructed to line up for prayer. I was listening to the band ‘Halo Jordan’s’ song by this title, and it is really funny, but the message is still there, and it is deep. Some of the band members have come out of horrible circumstances, and the drug scene, but they received healing, revelation, and restoration, directly and personally, on the green line. What happened? Exactly what I am trying to describe: Somehow, they were able to meet directly with God there, and His presence is addictive. Their song describes the hunger, and the meeting place they found with God, on the green line.
A friend and mentor of mine, the evangelist Daniel King, wrote a great book, ‘The Secret of Obed-Edom’. I liked it so much, that I read it to my children as a family devotion. In it, he describes the life transformation of Obed Edom, as he encountered, and became addicted to, the presence of God. Clearly, Daniel knows exactly what I am trying to describe here.
Finally, I wish to describe why I have attended Victory Christian Center here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For several years after we had returned from the mission’s field, we were attending three different churches each week, and they are all tremendously strong ministries. Then, I had a face to face prophetic encounter with Billie Joe Daugherty, that kept me up an entire night praying. We had never been members at Victory, and though we had heard much about the ministry, had never attended church there. So, my wife said: ‘Well, we love these other churches, but Chris, you are called to world missions. Do you honestly thing you can fulfill the call of God upon your life in any of them? Why don’t we check out Victory, and see what they are up to?”
That first service, sometime in worship, I had a searing, savage, encounter with our living God, that tore away my thin façade of civilization, and met me in my deepest, most painful places. Again, I was addicted to the presence of God!
Those two encounters, got us hungry to discover more about this ministry, and for the next six months, we were in some type of service, almost every night of the week!
Every week, and now, in almost every service, at some point, I find myself meeting with God, deeply, personally; where God Himself speaks to me, often quite apart from whatever is being sung, preached, or ministered on. When a friend of mine asked me why I had left a previous church, when there was such incredibly anointed Bible teaching there, I found myself saying: ‘You’re right! Pastor _______ is one of the most anointed Bible teachers I have ever heard in my life! Each week, he breaks down the Word in such a way, that it is like he is talking to me personally, and showing me how to apply the Scripture to my day to day world. But, at Victory, I encounter the searing, passionate presence of the living God Himself, personally, and this is what I need in my life right now!”
So why all the discussion, trying to describe this?
Well, the Lord has shown me, that clearly, this manifest, personal presence of God, that fills our hearts, and meets with us, is the difference between life and death.
In the early years, I had such deep needs for a Father in my life, that Holy Spirit would come and meet with me, granting me affirmation, acceptance, comfort, approval, confidence, that empowered me to become the man I am called to be.
In most cases, we, as men derive our self worth, from what we do, accomplish, build, develop, perform. (please read: https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/not-by-works-its-all-about-love/)
God loves us, unconditionally, only because of the shed blood of Jesus, and our self-worth, our work, development, and performance is to be gauged by one yardstick: ‘Did we obey what He asked us to do?”
The Lord has shown me that many have been authentically called into their particular vocations, but have become so busy with the work of the Lord, that we forgot the Lord of the work, and like a hamster on a treadmill, we are running hard, but going no where.
In fact, this is how people die. They either work themselves to death, running, working, and laboring for acceptance, approval, love, encouragement, earthly reward, that they pour themselves out to the point, where they are so poured out, cored out, and exhausted, they cannot receive the deep, intimate presence they need, to restore, heal, and empower them for the next season of life and ministry.
Suddenly, heaven looks really, really attractive….
I remember on encounter with Jesus, on the carpet in Toronto, that bears repeating. My father had died of cancer, the church I had been attending had split, and I was hurting, badly. ,I had shut down emotionally, numb inside. During ministry time, a group of pastors and intercessors prayed for me, and I fell down under the power of God, but felt disconnected from what was happening. I kept whispering, ‘Jesus, I hurt, please heal my heart.” Suddenly, in a vision, Jesus was there! He was kneeling beside my head, and He was angry! He spoke to me clearly:
‘I am trying to heal you, but You won’t let me!’,
Suddenly, I saw the incredible wall in my heart I had erected to protect myself, and somehow, I allowed Him in! Deep, deep, searing pain, began to bleed from my heart, as He surgically opened the wound in my soul. Like a scab being torn off of a puss filled wound, He cut into my emotional pain, and purged, and healed me deep inside.
Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
He literally took out my heart of stone, and replaced it with a heart of flesh again…
Was reminded of the story of Mary and Martha today. Both were in the actual presence of Jesus, able to hear the same teaching, and words from the Masters lips, yet one was busy with the work of the Lord, trying to please Him through works. Mary got instructed, transformed, Martha got rebuked.
When the chips were down, and their brother Lazurus had died, Martha got a sermon, Mary got a miracle.
Seems God is a respecter of persons consecration, and attention to Him..
All comes back to this intimate, quiet time, consecrated to Him, each day…
Here’s how it is working in my life:
Pr 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
I study, I pray, I learn, and while I am working and praying, I deliberately, on purpose, pray in other tongues, usually for many hours each day.
If you have not yet experienced this miracle, please read: (https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/is-speaking-in-other-tongues-of-god/)
Then, at some point in the day, He comes…
When He does, I have learned to go to a quiet place, and let Him marinate me in His presence, as He gently fills every creak and crevice in my soul, and washes, and massages away the stress of the day, and imparts wisdom, revelation,understanding, comfort, healing, into places I had no idea I needed it.
This has been very difficult for a man like me, that is hard wired to work, perform, go, accomplish my To Do lists!
Yet, as important as fulfilling responsibilities is, He is Almighty God!
He can do more, in one second, than I can do in a lifetime, and this I know full well.
Seems as I slow down, He speeds up in my life, and things I have been working towards, suddenly happen, miracles happen, and projects get done!
Let Him search, and reach deep inside of you today.
I know not how to describe it, because, it is a literal, living encounter, with Holy Spirit, that continually recreates us into more than we were, so that
2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Clearly, I see, that this living encounter, with our living God, is the difference between sickness and health, poverty and wealth, burn-out or empowerment, confusion or answers, human works vs the power of God!
Those that find, treasure, cultivate, and seek this, live long, prosperous, victorious lives.
Those that don’t, die prematurely, while those around them, wonder how?
Why?
Just the letter of the Scripture, will not produce this, nor will works of service. We must meet with Him, personally, intimately, daily…
Let’s Pray:
‘Father, only You can grant to those reading this, the experience of Your presence, I am trying, so hard to explain. Please take everyone who reads this, deep into your river, the deeper places of Your heart, Your presence, and feed, fill, lead, reveal to them, Your love, intimacy, person, passion, direction, power, miracles, and grace, in Your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen”